"You wanted to see me father?" Twenty year old Olivia Bishop stood in front of her fathers desk.
United States Secretary of Defense Walter Bishop looked up from the file he was reading. "Olive! Please have a seat!" A large smile threatened to split his face in two; his children were the only ones able of such a feat. "How goes your studies?"
Olivia sat down and an easy smile pulled her lips up. "As well as can be expected. Lincoln assures me that I have nothing to worry about."
"Yes, well, your brother was always an optimist." Walter folded his hands on his desk. "Have you decided what you wish to do once your studies are complete?"
"Lincoln and I were just discussing that. And we've decided that we want to go into Fringe Division." Olivia paused then continued. "If that's alright with you?"
Walter was thrilled but was careful not to show it. "Have you talked to your mother about your plans?"
Olivia sighed and slumped in her chair. "She doesn't want me or Lincoln anywhere near Fringe Division but she has accepted it as our choice." She smirked and sat up a bit straighter. "She said there was no point in trying to change our minds because we're as stubborn as you."
"A trait that is most admirable." Walter commented. "I'll inform Colonel Broyles that he'll be receiving two new recruits once your military training is complete."
"Did you want anything else or just to ask me about my life plans?" Olivia asked smirk still in place.
Walter snorted. "My silly little Pea." He referred to her by the pet name given to her by him when she was little. "Can't a father worry?"
Olivia rolled her eyes at the use of her pet name. "Must you refer me as a tiny yellow vegetable?" She questioned grumpily.
"Green dear." Walter automatically corrected. "Peas are green."
"Yeah well I'll believe it when I see one. I still say its something you made up." Olivia shot back. Little green vegetables? Yeah right. If there was such a thing then she was married to King Charles of England.
Walter regarded his daughter for a moment. "I'll bring you back some when I make my next trip to the outer states."
Olivia nodded seriously. "You do that." Blinking she reached up and touched her phone that looked like an ear cuff. "Bishop." She greeted and listened to the person on the other end for a moment. "I'll be right there." She touched it again. "I gotta go father." Standing she moved around the desk, placed a kiss on his cheek, and headed for the door. "Lincoln got himself into a scuffle and the doctors need me to give blood." She made a face. "I'm surprised I have any left."
"Your brother does have an extraordinary ability to get into trouble." Walter watched her walk to the door. "Tell him I expect him for dinner tonight. No excuses!" He called as the door shut behind her. Once alone he takes a moment to contemplate the photo that sat on the corner of his desk. It was a family photo taken on Olivia and Lincoln's birthday; they shared a birthday but Lincoln was a year older than his sister. Olivia was nine and her brother ten and Walter had decided to take the family to Martha's Vineyard for a long weekend. It was the defining point in his relationship with his children. It was on that trip that they truly came together as a family. Reaching down he opened his desk drawer and removed another photo, one he kept hidden, and brushed the dust off the glass. It was taken in one of the many labs that were at his disposal and sitting in the center of the photo sat two frightened children. He could still remember the day as if it had just happened; the day he became a father once again.
"What was so important that I had to be summoned from my meeting?" Secretary of Defense Walter Bishop demanded to know as he entered the lab. He took quiet satisfaction watching the lab technicians scramble out of his way. "I haven't got all day!"
"There was a situation Secretary." Head Scientist Arthur McNair said as he approached the man. "Please follow me." He headed through his lab and stopped in front of the glass of the isolation room.
Walter followed the man without question until they reached their destination. "Situation?" When the other man didn't respond he followed his line of sight into the room. Just beyond the glass and sitting on the single metal table housed within the room were two children; a boy and a girl. Both were dressed in what could only be described as white pajamas and nothing more. "Explain!" He demanded of the still quiet scientist.
Arthur cleared his throat and tore his eyes away from the two kids. "They came through an anomaly two hours ago. Major Broyles had them immediately brought here for containment and assessment."
"And?" Walter still hadn't taken his eyes off the pair inside the room. "What did you find?"
"I can say for certain that they are not from our world. Their blood work has come back with traces of an unidentifiable substance. Our best guess is that its some sort of drug but other than that…." Arthur shook his head. "It's going to take our teams awhile to analyze it. I've also arranged to have all the standard tests performed on them in the morning."
Walter had tuned the other man out as soon as he said they weren't from their world. These two children were from the very world that had stolen his own child just six months ago. It was almost like the universe was trying to even itself out. If that was the case then these two were important in some way to the other side. "What are their names?"
Arthur nervously fiddled with the cuffs of his lab coat. "We tried to separate them when they first arrived and both protested violently and loudly. From what we gather the girls name is Olivia, or Olive, the boy calls her both and his name is Lincoln." He gathered up a pad that was stuck to the wall on his left and thumbed through the information. "Tests have shown that the girl is around seven years old and the boy is closer to eight. They share the same blood type but aren't related."
"Cancel the morning tests." Walter informed the man. "I'll be taking personal responsibility for them." He motioned for the guard stationed outside the door to open it.
"Is that wise?" Arthur blurted then busied himself with the pad again before reattaching it to its previous location.
Walter glared at the man before striding into the room. It may very well be a bad idea but he had a feeling that these two were important to the other side and he had all intentions of taking advantage of that. "They will be coming home with me." He knew the scientist was still outside the room; watching.
Seeing the very man that experimented on them caused the two children to huddle together. "Please no more." Olivia begged in a small voice. "I'll be good, I promise!" She swore.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Walter soothed and noted that they seemed to flinch away from him, interesting. "I'm sure you never meant to be bad Olive." He kept his voice calm and inviting. "I'm not the same man that hurt you. He was a very bad man but I am not." He assured. This was better than he had hoped. Whoever these children were they had contact with his alternate self; the very man that had stolen his son away.
"You're not Walter and Belly?" Lincoln asked as he tightened his arms around Olivia. "You're not going to test us anymore? Or scare Olive?" He questioned innocently.
Walter smiled, a small one but a smile none the less. "I have no intention scaring either of you. Actually I was thinking that I'd take you home with me and my wife could make us some pancakes. Do you like pancakes?"
"What about my mom?" Olivia asked. "She's going to be worried."
Lincoln nodded his head. "My dad will be worried too. We shouldn't have even been at the daycare but the school was closed and our parents couldn't find anyone to watch us."
"I'm sorry but your parents won't be coming." Walter tucked away the little tidbits of information for later study. "There was an accident, I'm sorry." Sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind. It was better this way. "I promise nobody will harm you." He told them seriously.
The days events were almost too much for the youngsters to process so when the man that wasn't Walter but was offered them safety then weren't inclined to turn him down. "Pancakes?" They asked in unison.
Walter chuckled. "Blueberry pancakes." He herded them out of the room and motioned to the guard. "Find them suitable clothing."
The guard nodded and hurried off with the two children in his wake.
"Once they are settled then I will bring them back for testing. But for now they are in my care." Walter informed the still present scientist. He waved the man away and proceeded to make several important calls while he waited. So by the time the two children were returned to him dressed in tiny fatigues with the pant legs and the sleeves rolled up he had already filed the necessary papers releasing them into his care. Being Secretary did have it perks. Three months later Olivia and Lincoln became Bishops. And as time passed the two became less of who they were and more of who Walter wanted them to be. Memories of their past lives were lost, replaced by new ones, and nightmares faded until one day nothing of their former lives existed. He had stolen from the other world the same that had been stolen from him; innocence.
Blinking Walter pulled himself out of the memory and placed the photo back into the drawer and closed it. Pressing a button on his desk he called up Colonel Broyles office located inside Fringe Division. "Hello Colonel I have some wonderful news. My children have decided to take you up on your offer. They will be joining Fringe Division as soon as they complete their studies and receive the necessary clearances. Yes, I am extremely proud. That will be all."He ended the call and with a deep cleansing breath returned to his work.