Background information- People who were dosed with cortexiphan(the drug that Olivia was dosed with along with others in Jacksonville, Florida) have been disappearing. Peter wants to help Olivia with the case because Peter knows that Olivia was dosed. He doesn't want anything bad to happen to her. Olivia tries to locate the last survivor, next to her, and warn her of the disappearances.
The story begins…
"Peter, would you stop?"
Olivia asked him. She tried to be calm. He was only trying to open a bag of chips he bought at the airport. But how could she be calm when someone was about to go missing. That was her mission. This time, it was personal. Olivia had been dosed when she was three. She remembered every bit of the experiment that was performed on her. She was only three but Olivia could even recall the clothes that the scientists were wearing.
"Honestly, Olivia, what's wrong? You're never this grumpy and angry. What's up?"
"I don't know, Peter, I guess it's just that somehow, I'm involved in this."
"I know that you were dosed but that doesn't mean that what happens to them will happen to you. You know better. Also, if I am correct, you somehow think this is your fault."
"I don't think…I know that it was my fault-"
"How?" Peter interrupted. He was getting mad now. He loved Olivia but hated when she tried to torture herself with blame. He didn't know if she thought it made her stronger but whatever the case, she did not deserve to take blame for everything bad that has happened.
Olivia turned into her airplane seat and settled in for a nap. It would be at least an hour before they landed.
They were on their way to Katherine Greene's house. Katherine Greene was the last survivor, next to Olivia, and Olivia had to take her into protective custody with the FBI. Olivia and Peter were clueless as to how the others had gone missing, but all they knew was that, since they disappeared, no one anywhere had seen them.
Peter watched Olivia as she fell asleep next to him. He almost wished the plane would start crashing so he could tell her that he loved her, and then crash and die. She'd never be able to respond. No rejection.
Peter's stomach dropped as they hit turbulence. Walter had told him night after night about being careful what you wish for. As soon as the turbulence was over, Peter shooed Walter from his mind. There were more important things to think about.
When the plane was about to land, Peter buckled Olivia's seatbelt for her. He didn't ant to wake her up. She looked so peaceful. Olivia had been extremely stressed over the last couple of weeks. Peter couldn't help but think that her stress was mostly his fault but in this case, it was a good thing.
Starting at the exact moment that Olivia had made the connection between the cases, Peter had warned her non-stop to look after herself. Walter had said she could move in with them if she needed to be looked after. He had also suggested that her and Peter could share the only bed that held it's place in the corner of their hotel room. Olivia had politely declined and walked away.
He plane landed with a thud, waking Olivia.
"Good morning sunshine," Peter joked, "thought you'd never wake up."
"Oh, I shouldn't have fallen asleep."
"Why not, you looked like you needed it."
"Yeah, I did need it, but now I want to fall back asleep." She sighed, " Today is going to be a horrible day."
"Well aren't you just a bucket of joy." Peter said sarcastically. Olivia smiled and got up to grab her bag from the overhead compartment.
They walked off the plane and took a car to Katherine's house. She was expecting them. Charlie had called earlier to say explain. He was so helpful but Peter thought that Charlie was a little too kind to Olivia. The man would walk on water if Olivia asked him to. Not that Peter wouldn't too, it's just that he hated competition. Especially when your opponent was so much better than you.
Maybe the plane crash wasn't such a bad wish after all and Peter had high hopes for the flight home. He just hoped he didn't have to take Olivia with him.
When they got to Katherine's house, Katherine invited them in, already knowing who they were. So no introductions were needed. She made them coffee and sandwiches. Peter ate one but Olivia honestly didn't feel like eating with them. To think of it, she really hadn't wanted to eat much at all in the last few weeks.
Katherine suddenly stands up.
"Miss Greene, are you alright?" Olivia touches the elderly woman's wrist to try to sit her back down. When she touches her skin, though, she burns Olivia.
"Damn It!"
"What happened?" Peter asks, full of concern. Olivia can't tell if it's concern for Katherine or herself.
"Go get some ice and a cloth. Rinse the cloth in cold water. She's burning."
"What's happening to me?" Katherine asks.
Peter comes back with ice and a cold, wet cloth. Olivia applies the cloth to Katherine's head and sits her back down. The cloth starts to get warm. Peter takes it and turns it over. There is black char on the back of the cloth. Katherine is burning from the inside out.
"Oh my God. Peter, what do we do?"
"I don't know." Both of their voices are filled with panic. Katherine closes her eyes. She falls back and Olivia knows she's dead. There's nothing she could do to help, but still, she believes it was her fault. Peter turns Olivia away, but not fast enough. Olivia still sees the woman, who they were talking to a moment ago, burst into flames and turn to ashes. All in a matter of seconds.
Olivia is so afraid that she's shaking. She knows she can't let Peter see her this way so she composes herself, straightens her shoulders and walks towards him.
"Olivia…we need an antidote. Now. We need it now!"
"Bu there's no one left. What's the point."
"You're left. I'm not letting this happen to you. There's no way in hell you are going to get hurt while I'm around."
Olivia can tell that Peter is angry. At her? At Katherine? At himself? She doesn't know. What she does know is that he only wants an antidote to save himself the trouble of watching that happen again. The world wouldn't change one bit if she died, so what was the point? If she died today, what was wrong with that?
Olivia would didn't want to say anything, but today on the plane, she had secretly wished that it would go down and crash. She just wished she didn't have to take Peter with her.
"I should call Broyles. I need a CSI team down here right away."
"I'll uh…I'll umm…"
"Just stay here."
"Can do."
At the airport, Olivia and Peter checked into their flights silently and quickly. All they wanted was to get the hell away from here, and fast. Now, they were on the plane and Peter was sitting next to her. She was worried about him. He hadn't said one word to her the whole car ride. He simply stared straight ahead, almost without blinking.
Olivia tapped his shoulder.
"Peter, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm just trying to find a way to word what just happened so that Walter won't be to worried about you to work. I certainly can't find an antidote to this cortexiphan crap, so he'll have to."
"It's only me left. There's no point in trying to find a cure." Peter looked at her with wide eyes and she continued, "Walter won't be too worried anyways. He'll probably forget what ever happened and just continue on with life. Don't worry yourself over something so stupid."
"Olivia-"
"No, end of story. Look, I don't care about death anymore. Only the deaths of other people are important to me now. Today, I wanted the plane to crash. I prayed with all my heart that I would just die."
"You have some serious problems." Peter would never tell that he was praying for the exact same thing. He turned in his seat and faced away from Olivia. After a while, he fell asleep.
The next day at the lab was hell and a half when Peter woke Walter up early to start on a cure. Walter was every bit as much worried about Olivia as Peter was. Astrid, they had not yet told. All she knew was that some people wanted an antidote to the cortexiphan and it would have to be kept secret from Olivia. Broyles was in on the plot and would be travelling to see William Bell this afternoon.
Olivia had gone to Nina Sharp to ask permission to see Dr. Bell, but Nina turned her down. Broyles was the only one who was able to see him from the Fringe Division of the FBI.
Olivia had been given the day off and she gladly took it. Peter thought it was a god idea for her too.
Broyles showed up at the lab in the evening to deliver some good news.
"Dr. Bishop, as you know, I went to visit Dr. William Bell today."
"Oh, and how is Bellie doing?"
"He's fine and healthy. Anyways, I know that you have been working on a cure and so I thought it would be appropriate to ask him in he had one. Turns out, we were in luck. He gave me this. Put it together and read the instructions. If anything is changed, she will die. We have to give her the antidote at the exact time, in the exact place on her body, which is in her neck, and if any of the measurements are changed by a ml, she will die."
"Wow."
Peter was listening and walks over to Walter. He puts a hand on Walter's shoulder.
"No pressure, eh?" he says.
"I assume you will try your hardest to save Agent Dunham. I appreciate your hard work and determination. I wish you the best of luck. Thank you, once again."
"No problem" says Peter.
The next day, Olivia wakes up Peter by knocking on his hotel room door.
"Olivia. What are you doing here?"
"I just felt really bad that I took the day off when you and Walter were stuck at the lab. Also, I wanted to say sorry. I didn't mean to get mad at you and you're right. I should really take better care of myself. If it makes you feels better, I won't talk about my own death anymore. I know you guys worry about me. I'm not saying you should but I appreciate that. But still, don't go looking for the antidote. I just want to live the rest of my life without trying to find something that may or may not exist."
"Olivia, it's too late."
"I know. I should've apologized sooner but-"
"No. I mean it's too late for you to stop us from looking for the antidote. We already found it with the help of Broyles and Astrid."
"What happened….how did you…whatever. I'm not asking questions."
"Thank you, because I'd rather not answer them. Yesterday was hell."
Olivia looked at her feet. She tried to hold her head high and be brave and strong but how could she? For once in her life, someone cared about her. She'd felt that way with John, but after he died and she began to see his true colors, she knew that he'd never loved her anyways. Now, she understood that Peter really cared about her.
Olivia looked at Peter who looked right back at her. She thanked him and kissed his cheek before walking away and turning the corner to get to the elevators.
Back at the lab the next day, Peter is called into Olivia's office.
Walter and Astrid watch him go in.
"Wouldn't they make a lovely couple, Ostrich?"
"It's Astrid, and yes. They would make lovely couple."
In Olivia's office, Peter sits leans at the edge of her desk and she stands near the door.
"I need to ask you something."
"Alright. Go ahead."
"It's a really big favour…"
"No problem, just ask."
"Alright. Well, if, in the hypothetical case, something goes wrong and the antidote doesn't work, then will you stay in Boston. Just for a month. I just need to know that Walter will be fine and Astrid won't have to find another department to work in. But especially Walter. I know you don't like him much and I know that right now I'm pretty much keeping you here by force, but just don't let everything fall apart."
Peter laughs. "You are so wrong Olivia. You took me here by force, but I'm staying here because I want to. I promise that, if in the extremely unlikely case, something goes wrong, I will look after things here until they don't need, me anymore."
"Thank you, that's really a load off my mind. I've got to go find Broyles so, I'll see you later."
"Wait."
Peter grabs Olivia's wrist but quickly lets go. When he looks at his hand, it is red and burned.
"Olivia, are you alright? Look, you just burned me."
"I'm sure it's nothing."
"It's not nothing. Look-"
"No, Peter, you look. I don't need to be looked after. I'm not a child. Leave me alone. I'm fine."
Olivia leaves the office and the lab. Peter waits for a little bit before leaving. When he does, Walter says to him, "I thought you were good with the ladies, son. Olivia was crying when she left her office. I've never seen her so weak. She was almost shaking."
"Oh, no. I've got to go find her. Astrid, do you mind-"
"keeping an eye on Walter? Got it!"
Peter leaves the lab in search of Olivia. Astrid turns to Walter.
"Dr. Bishop, Olivia was not crying. She was just pissed off."
"Oh, I know that Asteroid, but it got rid of him, didn't it. Let's make popcorn!"
"Peter is going to kill you." she said with a laugh.
Outside Harvard, Peter looks to where Olivia parks her car all the time. Right in front of her car is a big white ambulance.
Peter's stomach drops and he sprints towards Olivia. He's never bee so afraid in his life. If something happened to her, he would follow through with his promise, but would probably crash his car after everything she asked him to do was done. He would leave his money and home to Walter…Astrid could have whatever she wanted but nothing of his was worth keeping anyways.
As he finally got to the parking lot, Peter noticed that it was a dark haired man in the stretcher. He didn't look burned at all. Olivia might be okay!
He ran to her SUV and looked in the window. She was still there. She was stuck behind the ambulance so she couldn't move her vehicle. Relief swept over Peter. Words could not express how happy he was.
In one swift movement, Peter opened her door, took her face in his hands and kissed her. He was surprised when she started to kiss him back immediately instead of pull her away. He didn't know why he did it, but he was glad he did.
"I thought you were dead. I saw the-"
"Ambulance. I know."
"I thought you were crying. I came to find you."
"Crying? I was angry, but not crying. Who said I was crying?"
"Walter."
"And you-"
"I know, I believed him. Any money he's sitting with milk and a snack watching Spongebob with Astrid."
"I'll bet. Um, thanks for coming over here. Nice to know someone cares."
"Of course I care, Olivia. I love you."
"I love you too. I'm sorry it took so long for me to say it."
"It's fine. I should probably get back now, Walter stays up all night if he watches too much television."
"Yeah, you'd better go. See you tomorrow."
"Bye, Liv.
With that, Peter walked away a changed man.
Please leave comments and reviews. This is my first story. No flames please.