Title: Her Brother's Keeper
Chapter: 1
Rating: T
Summary: Just a little Peter and Olivia ficlet set after the end of season 4.
Author's Note: I know I should be updating Son of Men (I promise I will sometime this week!) but I couldn't help putting this little piece out there. I had the initial idea for it at while back while I was talking with my lovely betareader about the whole Henry/Henrietta thing. Well, the whole conversation culminated in the idea for this fic which, honestly, I never thought I'd write. After the finale though, I couldn't help but write it out today. It's just spellchecked, not beta'ed, so all mistakes are mine. There's gonna be a second part to it which I'll put out in the few days. Hopefully ;)
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The bedroom lay dark and silent when Peter walked in. Under the covers, he could make out Olivia's slender figure. Her face was hidden in the pillows, sheets pulled up halfway over her head. This was how he had found her after he had gotten back from the grocery run an hour ago. After everything that had happened the last couple of weeks and the many sleepless nights they had to endure, he was glad she finally allowed herself to rest. For her, and for their unborn baby.
Thinking back to that moment a few days ago when she had told him that she was pregnant still brought a smile to his face. A couple hours before that, he had held her lifeless body in his arms, had cried at the thought of having her lost forever. But she had cheated death, had come back to him, and if that hadn't been enough of a miracle, there now was a healthy child growing inside of her womb. Their child.
Granted, it had come absolutely unexpected. Their relationship had been anything but ordinary from the beginning, and the question about having children had never really come up before. When she had told him about making sure their new place had a nursery, he had hoped there was more to it than her just testing out the waters. She knew how he thought about children. When she then had asked him if they ever would have a normal life like everyone else, he was sure that she was not just scared about her new-found abilities. There was something different about her, about how she handled what was going on around them. He had never seen her so scared in his whole life.
And now, for the first time in years, freak scientists had been defeated and impending doomsday averted. There was no more battling the universes, no more fighting to stay alive. No more experiments or monstrosities. Nothing. They were done now, they had done their deed. From now on, it would be just them, and their baby. Nothing else mattered.
But then, at moments like these when he was surrounded by utter calmness and he knew that the world would continue turning even without his interference, he had time to think. Not about what lay ahead of him, but of everything that had passed. About the world that no longer was, and with that, he also had to think about the one person he had never met and would never get a chance to know. His son. Henry.
His little face would be etched into his memory forever, and even though September had told him that he was the child that was not meant to be, he would be the child that would not be forgotten.
No matter the circumstances that had brought him into the world, no matter that he had been born to the wrong Olivia Dunham, as September had said, Henry had still been his son, his flesh and blood. He would have loved him like only a father would. Fate was granting him a second chance now, and if he was sure of one thing, it was that he was not going to screw this up, whatever the cost. He would make sure that this child, the child that Olivia was expecting, would be safe and sound forever. That nothing could take him or her from them, and if something or someone tried to interfere, he would fight until the bitter end. For his unborn child. And for Henry.
Ever since September had told him about Henry, he had debated with himself whether or not to tell Olivia. Now, looking at his sleeping girlfriend and knowing that she was carrying their child under her heart, he knew that telling her was long overdue. If he wanted to do this right, she had to know about the son he had had with the other Olivia Dunham, even if the boy no longer existed in this world. Or maybe just because he no longer existed.
Silently, he crept into the bedroom and sat down on his side of the bed. The mattress shifted slightly under his weight and he heard a low moan coming from his right. With a comforting smile on his face, he lay down on the bed and turned to his side, coming face to face with Olivia, who was looking at him through half-closed eyes. He brought his hand up to her face, carefully pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear before his palm came to rest against her cheek, his thumb gently brushing over her smooth skin.
"How's the headache?"
"Better than the nausea," came her mumbled reply as she turned closer into his comforting touch.
"I guess I don't need to ask you what you want me to cook for lunch then."
Her answer was a deep groan while she shook her head at him slightly.
"Got it. No food."
"I'd just like to stay in bed and sleep for a little while longer."
She moved closer to him, molding her body against his in a perfect fit as his hand snuck over the curve of her hip and found its preferred spot on the small of her back. Her hand came to rest against the back of his neck, fingers traveling into his hair, playing with the few short curls that had grown out at the base of his skull.
"Liv," Peter started, and she immediately noticed the serious tone in his voice. With a kiss, she silenced him, telling him "we're fine" and that he didn't need to worry about her or the baby.
But he just shook his head at her, "There's something I need to tell you."
He paused for a moment, drawing in her expression which still was that certain look she always gave him when they were alone, the one that told him just how much she loved him and needed him, now more so than ever. And that just made it all the harder. It still pained him to think about the moment when he had told her about the other Olivia Dunham, about how that loving smile had drained from her face slowly as the realization hit just what exactly he had been telling her. He'd never forget the night when she told him that everything had been taken from her and that she couldn't be with him anymore.
He had thought they had moved past all of that just to have it ripped away again when he had stepped into the machine. Having her at his side and not being able to really have her had been worse than the distance she had shown him in the other timeline after she had found out about his betrayal. For months, looking at the women he loved but that didn't even know him, let alone love him back, had been agony. He'd gotten another chance with her, had made himself a home with her and now... he had to tell her something that could possibly rip everything apart once again. There was nothing worse than having to lose Olivia Dunham all over again. But he also knew that if he didn't tell her now, if she found out eventually, it would make matters even worse. He had to tell her about Henry, and he had to tell her now.
"I had a son in the other timeline."
He saw the smile fade from Olivia's face, felt her fingers still their movements on his neck. And then there it was again, that look on her face, that look of surprise, of doubt and of hurt. He had vowed to himself that he would never do anything that would cause her to look at him like that, but yet, he had done it once again.
But as fast as her expression had switched to that look of hurt and sorrow, it changed into comfort and compassion. She moved slightly, bringing her forehead to rest against his, and then closed her eyes while she inhaled sharply.
"Why did you never say anything?" she finally found her words again, and her hand left its spot on her neck to find his, fingers immediately intertwining.
"I didn't know until I came back to this timeline," he replied, his voice cracking slightly, "September told me when I went into his mind."
For the longest time, there was silence between them. All Peter could hear was Olivia's breathing and feel her thumb brush gently across the back of his hand. She knew where his son had come from, he could tell. He would give her all the time she needed to talk, he wasn't going to pressure her. At least now she knew, and could deal with it whichever way she wanted. Stay silent and do nothing. Be mad and scream at him. Or do the one thing he hadn't really expected.
Her voice was nothing but a whisper against his lips when she formed two short words to say to him. "I'm sorry."
His heart was aching with so much love when he heard those words from her, he couldn't help but let out a short chuckle before he pulled her into a gentle, loving kiss. It never ceased to amaze him just how unpredictable Olivia Dunham could be. She always seemed to care and had so much compassion in her that he had never seen in any one person before. He had just told her that he had had a child in the other timeline, a child that had been born to her alternate, and yet, she seemed to care more about what having lost a child he never knew meant to him than about his past betrayal. And that was part of why he loved her more than life itself.
"What was his name?"
There was so much love in her voice, so much empathy, that for the first time in his life, he asked himself what he had done exactly to deserve this woman. This was not her usual demeanor of "I can cope" when she didn't want to reveal her true thoughts and feelings to him. This was genuine down to her very core.
"Henry."
For the first time since he had learned about his son's existence, he said his name out loud. It rolled off his tongue as if he had said it a million times before, as if he was meant to say it day in, day out. Yet that little boy who carried that name had ceased to exist when he had erased himself from this world almost a year ago.
A year. Henry would be a year by now. He would probably walk, maybe talk. For a moment, he allowed himself to think about that bubbly little boy that Henry could have grown up to be. All the things he could have done with him, everything he could have taught him...
"Henry," Olivia's voice brought him back to reality, "It's a pretty name."
"I never meant for any of that to happen," he told her, and he had difficulties holding back the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes. Tears of sorrow for never being able to hold his son in his arms. Tears of love for the woman who was still standing by his side, even after everything that happened. And most of all tears of happiness for that little miracle that they had created, for their unborn child.
"I know."
Her voice was so soothing and comforting, he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. A single tear trickled down his cheek, but she immediately leaned in and kissed it away. Her damp lips lingered against his skin, savoring the feel and taste for a moment before she pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes.
"I don't know what it feels like to lose a child, especially one you never got a chance to know. I can only imagine how much it must hurt." She let go of his hand and placed it against his chest, right above his heart. "It'll heal with time, I'm sure."
Peter couldn't help but let out a short chuckle, "This is absolutely not how I expected all of this to happen."
"You want me to cry and scream at you? Would it change anything if I did?"
She was right, it wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't undo what he had done and most of all, it wouldn't bring Henry back. They both had had their share of hurt and sorrow because of what the other Olivia Dunham had done to them. And if there was any indication that they had moved on from that, that it all lay in the past, that what had happened did not matter anymore, it was this very moment. The very moment they lay in their bed together with the knowledge that there once was a child born to Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop that no longer existed. And that there soon would be another child born to Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop, a child that was supposed to be born and grow. But most of all, a child that would be loved.
"Have I ever told you just how much I love you?"
As he said it, her lips curled into that smile he loved so much about her and her eyes started to sparkle like they always would when he said those three little words to her.
"Not today," she teased him, which brought a smile to his face as well.
"I love you," he whispered right before he placed a tender kiss on her lips while his hand moved from her back and came to rest on her stomach, "Both of you."