HORRENDOUS EVENTS
September has seen all possible futures, and in each one, Olivia Dunham must die. A short look at some of these possible futures. Round Four of my SWB Initiative.
Horrendous Events
Chapter One
He arrives as she is released and lands on the ground in a mangled heap. The Boy comes to his senses after a brief coma due to their linked psych and immediately rushes to her side.
It has started.
"Olivia?"
"Liv?"
"Sweetheart, can you hear me?"
The Boy gathers Olivia's prone form into his trembling arms and holds her close, smoothing down her hair in a soothing act of comfort. She does not speak – she cannot, not after what she has just done, but focuses on drawing oxygen into her damaged lungs and fights to keep the grimace of her face each time she inhales. He sees it all. So does The Boy.
The Machine, as they have grown accustomed to calling it, looms in the background of this horrendous scene.
He knows it is horrendous even though no one else does yet. After all, it is why he is here: to witness something horrendous. How very odd that this horrendous event threatens to sadden his indifferent self.
He remains hidden in the shadows; it is time for him to merely observe. He must not alter this one course.
"Olivia? 'Livia, please – not like this. You promised me. You promised. You promised our d-" The Boy – Peter Bishop, who is a boy no more – is crying now, something September has not seen him do since childhood. But the horrendous thing that is happening is reason enough to cry, even for a grown man.
"Peter…" A faint whisper escapes Olivia, the one he is here to watch. She is pale and weak; putting two universes back together is quite a feat and has obviously drained her – has obviously led to this horrendous event he is now witnessing. It is his fault. It is his people's fault.
But there is nothing left to be done, not anymore. There is only an observation to be made.
"Liv, please, you have to come back to me. You can do this." Peter Bishop holds his dying wife and does not let go; watches as she struggles to do the simplest of tasks – breathe. He is helpless as she lies dying. Peter Bishop does not like being helpless – September knows this. And in this one moment, he can empathize.
He holds her close, and does not let go, not even when the little girl, with her fair hair and twinkling eyes so much like her mother's, comes rushing in.
"Mommy!"
Olivia Dunham is truly a remarkable person – remarkably strong-willed. It is this strong will, the very one September has observed for years now, that allows her to inhale and find it in her broken self to comfort her daughter, a mere child of four years.
"Hey, baby girl."
Her father does not let go but the one they call Etta climbs into his lap, a safe haven from monsters and bad people and reality. And when she hears her mother utter those few words, she starts crying.
"I love you. Both of you."
"So… much."
"I love you too, Mommy." She hiccups out the words, fat tears rolling down her cheeks, and this is the truly horrendous part because the Observer has watched this girl for her entire life and to know that this is the beginning of the end for her – and thus, for everything - is a sort of sorrow to him; an alien pain.
"I love you, Olivia. Always." The Boy – he will always be The Boy – lightly brushes his beloved's bloodied hair back from her face to look into her eyes, with their fading twinkle, one last time. Her lips quirk up in a familiar smile, one that September himself has been on the receiving end of, on precious few occasions. Peter lightly presses his own to her smiling ones and carefully, cautiously, rests his forehead against hers. It is a nice moment before the storm; one to carry when the aftermath inevitably starts.
And then Olivia Dunham, savior of universes, is no more.
And in that one moment before the little girl flings herself into her mother's limp arms, before grief threatens to consume her and her father and her world for months, she breaks and turns into something no one will ever understand.
Etta grows up in that one moment when pain and anger and a need for revenge flash simultaneously in her eyes, and she is her mother's child, there is no doubt.
It is… an important event.
But no less horrendous.
He will miss her, he supposes.
His friend, Olivia.
I have no idea where that came from.
Blame the bunnies.
I think we're in for maybe two, three more chapters after this. Maybe I'll go up to five. But that's the maximum. They should be quick – I'm not particularly fond of long, drawn-out death scenes, you see. The tears start coming around the five-hundred-word mark, usually. So these shouldn't take long.
Plus, I'd like to get these up before the two-part SEASON (not SERIES, and yes, I will keep stressing that – Season 5, Fringies!) finale starts and this goes completely AU and irrelevant.
Well, that went well, as far as angsty 'back to fandom' pieces go… I suppose. See you all around. Remember: reviews are better than a box of Kleenex. And don't forget to check out the SWBI and some upcoming pieces for this round. More information on the SWBI itself can be found below.
Thank you for reading, everyone, and I promise: this has a happy ending, as unlikely as it seems.
E Salvatore,
May 2012.
The Screw Writer's Block Initiative (SWB Initiative) is open to everyone – and I mean everyone – who's ever won against writer's block. And if you're battling it right now…well, you've got perfect timing! Focus on a small plot bunny that just won't leave you alone and write a one-shot of your choice. Be sure to mention the Initiative or SWB Initiative. Come on, let's kick writer's block's a$$!