A/N : spending Christmas at work seemed to have awaken my muse. Reviews are always appreciated, good or bad, they make me happy. I don't own Fringe, no copyright infringement intended.
Olivia Dunham, Special FBI Agent, had requested a few days off from her superior Agent Broyles, a few days after insisting that she was fine and wanted to go back to work as soon as possible. She needed to work, to take her mind off of some matter. The problem was, that certain matter was a member of the team, Peter Bishop.
Peter Bishop, first an arrogant con-man she needed to bring back to the States, in order to save her lover. But he'd quickly became more, a friend, a confident, someone she could trust blindly. Someone she had slowly fallen in love with. Someone who had broken her heart.
She'd said she was fine. She'd had endured torture, had had to live through her alternate self's life, faced death, crossed to another universe and back. But she claimed that it didn't affect her. In some extent, it had, she still had doubts about some memories she had – were they her own or her alternate's? – but all she wanted was to pick her life up where she left off. Put her footing back into its track, and forget about it all.
She wished it could have been that simple. She thought she had her life back, her crazy, classified job at the Fringe division; her family, her friends; and Peter. She'd made it back thanks to him. Or moreover, thanks to his hallucination. Why had she seen him, of all the people she knew? Deep down, she believed that her feelings for him were so strong that even brainwashing couldn't erase his memory.
That was the hardest; she could not forget him, as much as she wished she could. She could not forget his betrayal, with the other her. She could not forget that before it even begun, their relationship had ceased to be what it was.
So she did was she did best; she hung onto her job, to stay sane. She burrowed herself into cases, keeping her mind busy, in a feeble attempt to gain her life back. Telling Peter how violated she felt, a few days earlier, had not made it better. She thought that perhaps, if she expressed herself out loud, she'd have some sense of closure. She didn't.
Getting rid of some of her belongings, cleaning and rearranging the furniture in her apartment, washing all of her clothes, twice, hadn't helped, either. For the first time of her life, she felt utterly depressed. And alone.
Her cell phone vibrating pulled her out of her musing. The screen flashed Broyles. There was a new case, a man found dead in his house by his wife. The coroner couldn't find a reasonable explanation for his death. Her superior and friend informed her that the Bishops and Agent Farnsworth were already informed and on their way. She hung up and quickly gathered her gun and plate before leaving her apartment.
Walter Bishop, scientist and former psychiatric patient, was running one of his numerous strange experiments, assisted by Agent Farnsworth, who had no choice but to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't blow the building up.
Peter had been offered to take part of it, but he had quickly refused to participate in his father's eccentricity. He needed to be alone, to figure out what was going on with his life. A few weeks earlier, everything was going smoothly. He'd grown closer and closer to Olivia Dunham, who had all but crossed universes to bring him back to her. He'd finally reconciled with his father, the man who had raised him. He'd had some closure with his mother, still alive over there. He'd found his home, a place where he felt safe and loved.
He'd came back from the alternate universe with whom he thought was Olivia. Their relationship had quickly became more, and they'd felt into each other's arms, sharing everything from breakfast to bed time. He'd felt utterly happy, then, his life whole and complete. But he should have waited for the other shoe to drop; of course, it couldn't have been real. He'd sensed something was off with her, but he'd put the nagging feeling in a corner of his mind and simply enjoyed what they had.
And how deeply he regretted not trusting his instinct. He'd confronted her about it, but he should have insisted. He should have seen it. To say love was blind was too easy. He hadn't been blind. He had been reckless. He should have known better.
Astrid Farnsworth's cell phone rang and she quickly answered, keeping an eye on Walter. Broyles informed her of a new case, and expected to meet herself and the Bishops as soon as possible. He added that Olivia Dunham would join them on location, her days off being over.
She asked Walter to get ready and went into the office, where Peter seemed to be sulking, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He had dark circles under his eyes, sadness and anger written over his face.
"Peter? We have a new case". His shoulder tensed, and he barely nodded, making no attempt to stand up.
"Broyles is already there." He swallowed in one gulp the remaining liquor and placed the glass on the desk, turning to look at her.
"Olivia will join us, too." She saw his eyes cloud, a frown forming on his forehead. She knew something had happened between him and Olivia a few days before. It had taken a few days after Olivia's return, but she could see something was definitely broken between them. It pained her, the situation they were both into. They deserved none of it, but then since when had life been fair?