Disclaimer: I don't own Fringe.
Author's note: I was supposed to be finishing the final chapter of 'A Moment Lost', when this appeared in my head and wouldn't go away. It takes place between Immortality and 6B. It was initially supposed to be one-off, but now I'm not so sure. I have an idea about where things would go from here, so I suspect sooner or later I end writing more chapters for this. As a result, for now, I'll leave this marked incomplete. Reviews always appreciated. Enjoy!
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It was quiet in the lab, except for the low humming of the machines and Gene shifting in her stall. Peter leaned back from the circuit board he had been tinkering with and stretched his stiff back. Evidently he should take breaks more often. The thought made him glance towards the office, where the desk lamp was shining between the blinds. They had closed another case earlier in the day and having wrapped up everything in the Federal Building, Olivia had escaped to the lab to tackle the mountain of paperwork each of their cases inevitably generated. She had been cooped up in the lab's small office for hours now, engrossed in the task at hand.
Peter pushed his chair away from the lab table he was facing and got up, glad to stretch his legs. Olivia too could probably do with a break, he decided as he headed towards the open doorway. He found her busy typing up a report on her laptop, a distant look in her eyes suggesting that she was only half concentrating on what she was writing. The stack of papers requiring her attention was greatly reduced. Peter leaned against the door frame to simply look at her for a moment. She had taken off her jacket and was wearing only a white short-sleeved shirt that was thin enough that he could almost make out the outline of her body through it. The lamp made her hair almost glow and her brow was creased in concentration. There were circles under her eyes, which spoke of too many hours spent focused on her work and too little time spent resting, as was often the case with her.
Although he made no noise, Olivia seemed to sense that she was being watched and glanced towards the door. When her eyes found him, she looked a little surprised and then one of her eyebrows rose in a silent question.
"I figured you could use someone to tell you that you're working too hard and at the very least need a break." The smile that lit her face made his palms sweaty and he absentmindedly rubbed them against his sides. She leaned back and stretched, unconsciously copying his movements from earlier. This made him smile.
"I could certainly use some fresh air," he started tentatively, "I wondered if you would like to go for a quick walk? Most of the students should have left the campus by now, so we could probably have the park to ourselves." He watched her hesitate and glance at the document she had been writing. His heart fell, certain that she would turn down the offer, but then he saw resolve in her eyes.
"Sure, let me just finish this paragraph I was writing." She started typing again and Peter released a breath he had not realised he was holding.
A few minutes later she was ready and came out of the office, pulling her jacket back on. Peter, who was switching off the machines that were not needed on overnight, noted this with a twinge of disappointment. He had rather enjoyed the tantalising hints of what Olivia's shirt was covering. He turned off the lights and then turned to Olivia, who was now only illuminated through the light filtering through the high windows.
"Ready?"
She nodded and together they exited the lab, with Peter pausing to lock the door behind them. As they headed down the corridor, they heard Gene moo. They glanced at each other, both breaking into a grin.
"I think she would like to join us," Olivia said, amusement clear in her voice.
"Lovely as though she is, I'm not taking a cow for a walk around the campus." He paused for a moment and then added. "Or anywhere else for that matter. Walter wanted a cow, Walter can walk the cow." They both chuckled at the mental image of Walter putting Gene on a leash and taking her for a walk.
Outside the night air was mild, but enough of a chill lingered in the air that wearing a jacket was a good idea, despite Peter preferring otherwise. They headed for the park, where the streetlights were casting a yellow glow on the old oak trees flanking the gravel path. For a while their shoes crunching on the gravel was the only sound they heard. Peter enjoyed the comfortable silence between them. There were many things he wanted to say to her and talk to her about, but he did not feel the need to hurry with any of it. In the end it was Olivia who broke the silence.
"So I read the book," she said, glancing at Peter. He frowned in confusion for a moment and then realised which book she was referring to.
"And how did you find it?" He queried, with a small smile tugging at his lips.
"It explains a lot, actually." Olivia replied, a mischievous smile making her eyes light up. Peter raised his eyebrows, intrigued when Olivia did not elaborate further. Olivia glanced at him to see his interest piqued, but then innocently looked away and kept walking. He laughed softly at her, genuinely happy in the moment alone with her. Peter suspected this was the most relaxed he had seen Olivia in his company since he had told her about his relationship with the other Olivia. The thought threatened to darken his mood, but he deliberately pushed it aside and focused on the beautiful woman next to him.
"What do you think about Walter's latest project?" He asked, changing the subject. Walter had dragged long-suffering Astrid all the way to the Massive Dynamic headquarters in New York to work on his new idea.
"Do you mean his plans to create a device which will enable him to communicate with grasshoppers?" Olivia checked and Peter nodded. "Well, it sounds very…" She struggled to find an appropriate word.
"Walter?" Peter offered.
"Yes," Olivia agreed, laughing, "it's a very Walter project to be working on." They both grinned as they thought of some of the insane things Walter had wanted to do in the lab.
They had walked a rough circle in the park were now heading back towards the university buildings. Not wanting this frail moment of genuine connection between them to end, Peter surreptitiously inched a little closer to Olivia. He let his fingers brush against the back of Olivia's hand, watching her reaction from the corner of his eye. The contact made her look at Peter, a shy smile appearing on her lips. The vulnerability she was showing him made him want to both weep and gather her gently into his arms simultaneously, swearing to her that he would never let her down again. As it was, he settled for the next best thing and boldly captured her hand in his, stopping them both in the process.
"Walter is going to be busy with the caeliferae in New York until late tonight," Peter began, unable to quite keep his nervousness from his voice. "I wondered if you would like to come back to mine and I could cook some dinner for us?"
As Peter watched emotions flicker over Olivia's features, he was again certain that she would pass on his offer. Fear, hurt and hesitation warred in her eyes, together with hints of something that made Peter's heart beat faster. In the end, however, just like before, all her mixed feelings were replaced by resolve.
"I think I'd like that," she nodded and looked at her feet, thereby missing the relieved grin that appeared on Peter's face. They headed towards the parking lot, still holding hands.
"Peter wait," they had got to his car when Olivia suddenly stopped and Peter immediately thought that she had changed her mind. "I left my laptop in the lab. I really should go get it, just in case some drunken students decide to break into the lab and discover that alternate realities exist."
"Of course," Peter nodded, doing his best to conceal his relief, and together they headed back towards the lab.
They were just locking up the lab for the second time, Olivia having picked up her laptop bag, when their pleasant evening of infinite possibilities came to an abrupt halt. Further down the corridor, away from the exit, a portal suddenly shimmered into existence. They both whirled around to face it and saw that on the far side, the other Olivia stood watching them. Her hair was red again and she wore her usual utilitarian clothes. They stared at her with obvious apprehension, secretly surprised that she had not crossed over already. Behind her red-haired counterpart, Olivia thought she could see a familiar looking lab and she shivered involuntarily.
"Peter," the other Olivia said, hesitation and something else, longing or love perhaps, making her voice husky.
"What do you want?" He asked, his voice suddenly unsteady. The Olivia by his side turned to watch him, her face unreadable.
"There's something you need to know," the other Olivia began, but Peter interrupted her. "Let me guess, you missed me, quite liked living in this world, would like to play us unsuspecting idiots a little more and you are hoping that my Olivia will agree to switch places with you?" Without realising, he had taken the blond Olivia's hand into his once more.
"Actually, I am here to get you to come home," the redhead said hesitantly, hurt at his words obvious in her eyes.
"I am home," Peter said coldly.
"Peter, you need to come back to your real home," she tried again.
"Why?"
"Because I'm 15 weeks pregnant." She unzipped her bulky jacket, revealing her slim figure, which was just beginning to show a gentle swell on her belly.
As Peter did the mental math and the words sunk in, he glanced at the Olivia by her side. She had reached the same conclusion as he had, just as quickly, and he could feel a tremor running through her body. She had become ghostly pale and looked like she might collapse at any moment.
"You now have choice," the other Olivia broke the silence that had fallen while the other two digested the shocking news, "you can either choose to come home to your real parents and your baby, or you can stay with your kidnapper and never see your child grow up."
Peter tried to think of something to say, but his mind had gone completely blank. Whatever consequences he had imagined resulting from his affair with the wrong Olivia, this had never featured on the list. Too late he realised his mistake, having been so focused on the blossoming relationship that he never thought to consider birth control. His Olivia recovered first, while he was still trying to take in the enormity and impossibility of the choice facing him.
"If you go back to the other side, Walternate is going to use you to destroy this world." Peter could detect a hint of panic in Olivia's voice and his face darkened as he saw the sense in her words.
"I am not going to let that happen," he said, looking at the woman beside him with what he hoped was reassurance and determination.
"But he has leverage now," Olivia pointed out quietly. "I doubt you will sacrifice your own child to defy him."
"So this is just a ploy to get me to win the war for you," Peter raised his voice and turned to look at the pregnant Olivia, "and the baby will ensure my co-operation?"
"No," the other Olivia shook her head. "Mr Secretary is genuinely delighted about the pregnancy and he would never do anything to jeopardise his only grandchild's safety."
"You clearly have no idea what he is capable of," the blond Olivia interrupted. "I on the other hand got to know him pretty well while he was experimenting on me."
"I'm sorry about everything," the red head said, addressing her blond counterpart for the first time, "I was just doing my job."
"I could shoot you in the stomach now," Olivia replied, her voice utterly cold, "and I would still be doing my job. You don't even understand what you have gotten yourself involved in, just by blindly following orders. Your wonderful Mr Secretary has declared a war on our universe because of a crime committed by one man. Only a handful of people in our universe even know about alternate universes. It is only your side that is at war and because of that, six billion innocent people in this world will die. But of course it's all fine, because you're just doing your job."
Peter and the other Olivia were momentarily stunned by the harsh emotion in Olivia's voice.
"Besides, you already took everything from me," the anger in Olivia's voice faded into bitterness, "and now you decided to come back for more?"
"I didn't plan for the pregnancy," the other Olivia defended herself," it just happened." Olivia was about to respond when Peter spoke up.
"If I go with you, it's because of the child and not my real parents or you." His insides ached at the heart-wrenching sob of grief that escaped from the Olivia beside him. "The Olivia Dunham I love is the one next to me and not you."
Peter felt Olivia's fingers slip from his grasp as she moved away from him. She turned to head to the exit. "Olivia?" His voice was filled with confusion and sadness, which made Olivia pause and look at him over her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Peter," she whispered, "but I can't watch you leave." She turned to go, but not before Peter saw cascade of tears spill down her cheeks. He called her name again and this time she kept going, rounding a corner and vanishing from sight. As soon as she knew Peter could no longer see her, her legs lost their strength and she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She hugged her knees to her chest and began to sob.
In the meanwhile, Peter turned to the other Olivia, who recoiled at the dark fury on his face. She felt something inside her crack at the hostility he was exuding. She had expected him to be shocked, scared even, but never this angry. Despite it all, he was still willing to accept the consequences of his actions, but Olivia knew in her heart that they would never be a happy family.
"That baby better be mine," he said bitterly as he walked through the portal.