I don't own Fringe, thank goodness. I think this is something that doesn't depend on tonight's episode. Fairly in canon I believe. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my little piece.
Olivia was certain that the Secretary's son shouldn't be able to unnerve her so much. Yet he was standing in front of her, smirk ghosting his lips, distracting her from interviewing a witness. He wasn't doing anything, wasn't saying anything, just standing next to her hands deep in his pockets with an inscrutable air about him. Olivia supposed it was inscrutable because he wasn't really there and she didn't know him. Though something tugged inside her telling her that, no, she wasn't making it up and that he normally gave off that enigmatic air.
"Hey, Liv, think you can hurry it up? I wanna get out of the cold," Lee muttered to her as she shook her head to clear it.
She grinned at him and turned back to the clearly freaked out man in front of her, "So, Mr. Rainier, you said that he did something weird before he left with the briefcase? What exactly was he doing?"
Mr. Rainier sighed and dragged a hand down his rather pug-like face, "He said something- gibberish, and then looked to the seat next to him as though someone was there. He listened, you know, like someone…."
"And what did he do after that?"
"He frowned, took the briefcase, brushed past me and got off the bus. And that's when things got… funky. That light and then two… double vision. Lord it made me sick," he moaned.
Olivia patted his shoulder briefly, thanking him. She was about to make her way to her partners before remembering a detail.
"What did he say?"
Mr. Rainier blinked a couple times before his face began to slide into that of a concentrated look. He ruminated a moment as Olivia hopped a little to get her blood flowing. The Secretary's son chuckled lowly at her antics.
"He said," Mr. Rainier's voice was lost in memory. "He said, no, was telling Peter to do something."
Olivia stilled and the apparition to her right cocked his head a tiny bit in thought. She was watching the Secretary's son from the corner of her eye wondering if it was just coincidence. And then she almost scoffed, because in this world coincidences are rarely random, they are indicators.
"To, to try harder," Mr. Rainier finished.
Olivia nodded in appreciation and turned to make her way to the vehicle. Charlie was pulling out his shot and Lee was rubbing his neck in efforts to warm himself. After relaying what she had been told as they rode back to Fringe Division, Olivia shrugged her shoulders as if to ask what they thought. Lee spoke first,
"Are we sure he was talking to the seat next to him?"
Charlie glanced at her, "Well, the woman a seat away said he wasn't talking to anyone as he got on the bus and never received any calls."
"So yeah," Olivia needled, "he was talking to the seat next to him."
"Well, I don't think there is anything we can do about that. We just need to figure out if there is any destabilization," Lee sighed.
They continued to talk back and forth as they got out and rode the elevator. Once arriving on their floor, they agreed on some routes to follow and separated to their respective desks. Hard at work, Olivia suddenly realized she was hungry.
"Hey Charlie," she called out.
Charlie sighed exaggeratedly, "No Liv. I am not getting you anything to eat."
"And don't even think to ask me," Lee warned teasingly.
Olivia frowned before resigning herself to food duty. There was no way she could come back without feeding the guys; she would never hear the end of it. When she had gotten them some midnight food, they talked about the case.
"You know," Lee interrupted Charlie with a contemplative look on his face. "Peter isn't that common of a first name. Maybe we can look up any Peter's."
Charlie made a face at the interruption, "Might be a last name."
Lee sighed, "True. Wait, the Secretary's son was named Peter wasn't he?"
"Is," Olivia corrected absentmindedly.
The guys looked at her. Olivia's eyes widened and she raised a hand, "What? We know he's alive. Just because he isn't here," she pointed around them vaguely, "doesn't mean he suddenly isn't still himself."
She ended strongly, but was receiving looks of slight amusement. Shaking her head, Olivia laughed softly.
"What was he like," Lee asked.
Olivia and Charlie both frowned. Charlie looked over to her saying, "I didn't really talk with him. But Livvie did. He knew her, other her."
"The one that hit you over the head," Lee joked.
Charlie made a face and smacked Lee on the arm. They fought a moment before turning back to Olivia expectantly. She shifted trying to think of the Secretary's son as he was over here. She frowned wondering what he was like over there, if he was any different.
"He seemed… aloof. No, that's not the right word," Olivia squinted racking through similar words. "Disconnected."
"Well, yeah Liv, he's been in a whole different place!"
"I mean he seemed isolated, like he was aware of how much he didn't belong."
The two men raised their eyebrows at her. Olivia let out a frustrated sound,
"He's hard to read. But he seemed like he was trying to figure something out."
She didn't say anything else already seeing the skepticism on Lee's face and frown in Charlie's eyes. Lee cracked a joke and got the three back on track, but Olivia had the weirdest feeling in her gut. She ignored it until nine hours later when she finally made it home after wrapping up the case. As she sifted through possible meals, Olivia stretched her neck. Nothing looked appetizing so she closed her fridge and headed to her shower.
Lying on her bed, Olivia was just drifting off to sleep when something in the air shifted. Opening her eyes, Olivia saw nothing, heard nothing out of the ordinary. She wondered if the Secretary's son was going to show up again to talk with her. But he didn't. And she wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not. Shifting, Olivia cast her memory back to the times she met with the Secretary's son. The first time he sort of creeped her out with his recognition. The next time she was a little more ready, but he seemed like he was holding something inside that was hard to deal with.
Olivia flipped onto her stomach and punched her pillow angrily. Nothing from that should have given her the depth her hallucination had spoken with. He had a familiarness she couldn't quite settle with. And the way he smiled at her seemed like he expected her response and thought it was cute. Olivia Dunham was not cute, she thought, good looking but not in any way were her actions cute.
After a fitful sleep, Olivia got up and showered. Colonel Broyles had given the three the day off to rest up. Normally, she would have been happy with the day to relax, but for some reason Olivia felt fidgety- anxious to get back into work. She supposed it was because Frank was still in North Texas and she would most likely be alone all day. Olivia started when her phone rang.
"Hello," she questioned. Silence echoed. She had the weirdest feeling of déjà vu as the phone remained silent as she said hello again. A garble of static and then she heard it as clear as day.
"Livia."
"Peter," she breathed. She almost could hear the impish grin.
"Olivia?"
Her head snapped and she gave the phone a confused look, "Mom?"
"Yes, Olive. Who's Peter," her mother asked congenially.
Olivia furrowed her brows and her eyes darted about the room, "Sorry just watching the television. How are you?"
"Oh, I'm doing fine," her mother responded without the tinge of the doubt she surely must be feeling. "I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch with me. I know Frank is out of town."
"Sure, that sounds great," Olivia smiled. She finished her call and as soon as her mother hung up Olivia pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it. Not entirely knowing why she put it back to ear as the dial tone buzzed.
"Oh, Agent Dunham! It is you isn't it," the confused and gleeful voice of, of…Walter waved over her. Frightened, Olivia hung up and set the phone down forcefully, walking away from it. She shakily dressed in something more suitable for lunch with her mom. As she finished putting on her jacket she wandered over to her mirror and leaned forward to get a good look at herself before her mother arrived. Her eyes were more guarded than she ever had noticed. Olivia couldn't exactly determine what it was. She tilted her head.
"I must be going crazy," she whispered. "Hearing voices and seeing people that I don't know."
But that didn't ring true in her heart. She blinked and Olivia could see the doubt enter her own eyes.
"Is this going to be my life now," she demanded herself angrily.
The reflection looked back at her just as angry. The fear of hallucinating closeness to the Secretary's son and the tenderness in the Secretary's other self for the rest of her life had her briefly think of telling Colonel Broyles or Lincoln or Charlie. Someone.
"You can't do that Liv."
There over her shoulder was the reflection of the Secretary's son. She spun around and stared at him. He gave her a reassuring look and to her wonderment she actually felt reassured.
"Why? I'm imagining people that I shouldn't be."
The Secretary's son's face twitched indefinably before he said unhurriedly and lowly, "If you tell them that you're remembering- you won't be any use to them. They'll kill you Livia."
He looked at her with an unfathomable sadness. Olivia shook her head slightly.
"Remembering?"
"Yes, remembering," the Secretary's son repeated moving closer to her. "You belong with me."
Olivia gasped at the familiar words. Her companion smiled at her,
"Liv, you've got to trust yourself."
She moved towards him hesitantly. Reaching out, Olivia laid a hand on his chest, over his heart. His hand rested on hers. She frowned before resting her head on his shoulder. He felt solid, though she knew that even if she was who he said she was, she still shouldn't feel him. But the indescribable peace that washed from his touch, just his hand on hers and her head on him, flowed through her and made her briefly believe him.
And then her doorbell rang and she opened her eyes to see an empty space in front of her.