Pinky Swear by asesina
disclaimer: I don't own Fringe. Mr. Abrams does.
a/n: first Fringe story. Oneshot. A brief scene from Olivia and Rachel's childhood.
Rachel is 6 and Olivia is 9. Set in the mid 80s in Jacksonville, FL.
It only took Olivia Dunham 35 seconds to figure out that something was wrong with Rachel. The elder Dunham glanced expectantly down the hallway of the tiny Jacksonville elementary school, but her younger sister was nowhere in sight.
"Rachel, hurry up," Olivia muttered under her breath. She pulled at her tightly-wound braids and kicked at the loose yellow tile under her foot.
Olivia frowned and began counting in that slow, deliberate way that her mother had taught her.
"One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi..."
After the twentieth Mississippi, Olivia gave up. She paced down the hallway to Rachel's classroom in the first grade wing.
The entire wing was desolate, save for a middle-aged teacher who was packing up his briefcase.
"Mr. Morrison?" Olivia called.
He turned around in surprise and smiled at Olivia.
"Hello, Olivia. Who are you looking for?" he asked curiously as he set down his briefcase.
"Rachel. She's about ten minutes late today, and the rest of her class already left," Olivia replied.
"I did see her standing by Ms. Feldman's door before, but I'm not sure where she is now. I'm sorry, Olivia. Let me know if you don't find her soon. We will have to alert the principal and possibly the police if she is missing," he said grimly.
Olivia chewed on her bottom lip and nodded nervously.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
He offered her a consoling smile as she ran from the room to check the girl's bathroom across the hall.
Olivia's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the small, dimly-lit bathroom as she began searching for Rachel.
When she came to the last stall, she found that it was locked.
"Are you in there, Rachel?" Olivia called softly.
After a seemingly endless silence, Olivia heard a quavering voice reply,
"Liv?"
"What are you doing in here?" Olivia asked. "Will you let me in?"
"Yeah, but we can't go home," Rachel sniffled.
"Why not?" Olivia called, feeling a soft wave of worry tugging at her heart.
"'Cuz I saw him hitting mommy," Rachel said in a tiny voice.
She reached over and unlocked the door so Olivia could come in.
"Who was?" Olivia asked, trying to quell the anger and disgust in her heart.
"Johnny," Rachel whispered, saying the name of their step-father like it was a curse.
"What did he do when you saw him?" Olivia asked slowly.
"He said that if I told anybody, he would send me far away so that I couldn't see you or mommy ever again," Rachel managed. She began to cry angrily, and Olivia encircled her tiny shoulders in a half-hug.
"Well, I won't tell him that you told me," Olivia said with a reassuring smile.
"R-really?" Rachel asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Yeah, and I won't let him do that to you or mom," Olivia added with a bigger grin.
"Now, do you want to go home?" she asked as she helped Rachel stand up.
"'Kay. But don't tell Johnny, Liv!" Rachel implored.
"I won't. I swear," Olivia said firmly.
"Pinky swear?" Rachel asked hopefully as she extended a tiny finger.
Olivia chuckled and finally circled her pinky around Rachel's.
"Pinky swear."
They left the cramped bathroom and walked down the yellow-tiled hallway to the front door of the school.
Their house was only a few blocks away, so Olivia felt safe enough taking Rachel home.
Rachel took Olivia's hand and smiled up at her protector, her hero, and her big sister as they headed down the palm-lined sidewalk to their house.
End.