A/N: Yeah, lame title. I hate titles. And this one's really short. Review, please? :)
He's doing the job he's given himself, to feel needed, to try to help, despite the circumstances. No use worrying, pacing. He needs a purpose, even if it's a lie.
She enters, pauses at the doorway. He makes casual conversation. Anything but think about what's happening.
But she's the opposite. She jumps in, delving into the topic his mind labeled as taboo. For once, she lets her helplessness out.
"It's too late. I failed. I failed, and I'm supposed to be the one who can stop things like this."
He thought he'd felt helpless. But he was nothing compared to her. Olivia Dunham, the ever calm and composed FBI Agent, is falling apart in front of his eyes.
The suffering she'd experienced, Nick Lane, in a drug-induced coma, because he's a menace to himself and others, and all the other children – these experiments were conducted specifically to prepare Olivia and the others for this. And they were all for nothing.
He stops everything, because helping her is more important than helping them.
"Olivia. I've never met anyone who can do the things that you do."
She doesn't believe him, he knows. But for a moment, she's that small, frightened Olive, only looking for comfort, somewhere to hide from it all.
She whispers his name, and he loves the way it sounds on her lips.
He cradles her face in his hand, and the feel of her skin creates a lump in his throat.
"Peter, I'm scared."
"Don't be." And he goes for it, only a halfway conscious decision. Maybe it's just instinct.
And she pulls away.
Rejection washes through him, but he pushes it away. Because there's something in her eyes that's more important right now.
He pauses, analyzing her face. "What?"
"Peter, I'm scared."
And she leaves him standing there, out to save the world.