Title: I'm Scared
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Summary: What happens when the world that's resting on your shoulders drops?
Warnings: I'm still new to the fandom and rough on the characterization. Also, this is the product of Writer's block.
The rooms that had previously housed overinteligent scientists crunching numbers to divert disaster had emptied. All had given up and gone home for the night, resigned to discovering the building that was stolen on the morning news. She couldn't really blame them, they had left the computers running. In fact, that was all they could do, no other solution had been found. Despite knowing this logically, Olivia felt abandoned, as if they had left her in front of an army all by herself. The isolation that was so often her comfort became her enemy.
She looked out at the city through one of the massive windows, determined to catch a glimmer on one of the buildings she saw. It didn't help. Her conscious effort was in vain. Olivia was lost. She was sad, she was pissed. But, she wasn't scared. What would she do in the morning when she awoke to the news blaring out how many people she didn't save? She would have to carry on knowing that her failure had cost not one or two lives, but hundreds. Already she could anticipate the feeling of the city after the tragedy of a "terrorist attack". The funerals and memorial service. The one she would attend without crying, because she had forgotten what that was like. Forgotten how to be so sad that she sobbed herself to sleep. She was angry at everything that went wrong in her life. At her step-father for not fearing death, the FBI for making her unafraid to kill, at John for making her unafraid of everything else.
She walked into one of the rooms closer to the centre of the building with fewer windows. So she wouldn't have to witness the event she stood vigil for. Surprisingly she found Peter there, standing by one of the computers, typing furiously.
"Hey, I figured if I could shut down all the non-essential functions, I can make these things run faster." The small smile he gave her said so many things. He realised it wouldn't be finished, but maybe a small enough number of buildings that they could evacuate the buildings in time. He wasn't hoping for a miracle, he was refusing to give up. He was refusing to let her fight alone.
And then there was someone she could talk to. Someone who could continue for a little bit longer when she admitted she had already given up. "It's too late. I failed. I failed and I'm supposed to be the one who can stop things like this." It was a task she had been entrusted with by a man who had tormented her in her childhood, but something that needed to be done nonetheless. Something she could not let ruin another's life like it had ruined hers.
Peter seemingly sensed her hesitation, her self-loathing and pain. They both moved closer together. "Olivia. You... I've never met anyone who can do the things that you do" He had voiced her own thoughts, but made it sound wonderful. A compliment. Confirmation that she wouldn't need to face everything alone, even if she was supposed to. Reminding her that she could do this.
She needed more than words for comfort. He was so close. She could smell his clothes, his hair. She could see the shadows under his eyes reminding her that she was not the only one to endure several cross-country flights in quick succession. Her heart was pounding, adrenalin making her tremble, tears starting to fall despite her earlier doubts about her ability to shed them.
She vocalised her emotions before she even realised its significance.
"Peter. I'm scared."