A/N: Tag/rehash for the ending of Worlds Apart from both Olivias' perspectives.
Disclaimer: Nope.
Olivia Dunham is going to miss over there. The other Fringe team with their cows and their weirdness. The coffee. The lack of people trapped in amber. The rainbows. She will never forget it. She looks across the room at her doppleganger. There is a tiny smile on the other Olivia Dunham's lips and sadness in her eyes.
"Don't stop looking up." That's what she had said. Olivia hopes that one day they will be able to turn the machine back on. Mostly because she wants the healing of her world to continue, but also because she wants to see them again.
They have changed her in ways she couldn't have foreseen. She blinks, surprised at the intensity of her feelings for all of them. Astrid, who is patient and kind and so unlike the Farnsworth on her side. Walter, brilliant and mad and irritating Walter, whose approval means so much to her. Peter, who is just as brilliant as his father and almost as mad in his own way. And then there's her, then there is Olivia.
Olivia looks at herself, the version who is clad in black and blonde, and smiles. For a while, she hated the woman whose life she had once stolen, hadn't understood her and hadn't cared to. Now she wishes she had more of the quiet strength, more of the unshakable focus, more of the power that the other Olivia Dunham has.
They are different as much as they are the same and Olivia wishes she had known her other self longer or better. She is so focused on watching the woman across the room that she almost doesn't notice when Lincoln Lee walks towards her.
Her heart contracts painfully like it always does when she sees the man who both is and isn't her partner. Still, it's getting better between them, getting bearable…or it was. With how much time he spent on her side, Olivia has almost forgotten that this Lincoln belongs to the other side. It takes her breath away, the thought of being without him.
She looks over to say goodbye, to tell him he needs to get back to his side, but he's standing at her side just as determinedly as her old partner did. She still doesn't know what she wants to say when he gives her a little smirk, one so familiar her mind goes blank, and says, "I thought you could use a little help."
There is still a question on her lips, but his next words dispel it. "I'm going to need you help finding an apartment."
She doesn't know what to say. But, she realizes, there will time for them to talk later. Hours, days, years even. The amount of joy that accompanies the thought surprises her. She doesn't need to look over to know that he's there, standing firm, like he always will be. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him smile.
"That's it. It's time." Walter's voice makes her knees quake, her head spin. For so long, the goal was to destroy the other side, to make them suffer for what they'd done. Now, she doesn't want to imagine life without them. She can't imagine it.
She looks at Walter, at Astrid, at Broyels, at Peter, at Olivia. She will miss them all. She nods at her double, knowing that she will understand. There isn't time for words, just looks. She fills her eyes with the sight of them, standing just beyond the edge of her world. She wants to thank them. She wants to say she'll miss them. She wants the bridge to stay open. She doesn't want it all to end this way, this soon.
The other side begins to flicker and fade. Olivia's chest tightens. She fixes her eyes on her double. The other woman shivers like a reflection in a pool of water. Then, just as suddenly as the bridge appeared all those months ago, it disappears. The other side is gone, beyond their reach.
Olivia gasps. Beside her, Lincoln sucks in a deep breath. She looks over at him, barely able to comprehend the feelings bubbling beneath her skin. "I'm going to miss it over there." She says, not really thinking. He has given up so much more than her and she knows it.
"Me too." He just agrees. His voice is sad, but also hopeful and she finds that she somewhat shares that sentiment. Maybe it isn't forever. Maybe they'll be back. Maybe her world will keep on healing. She takes Lincoln's hand and leads him away from the bridge room and out into the world that now belongs to them both.
Above, the sky is slate grey. A faint, misty rain is falling over the city. Olivia looks over at Lincoln and he smiles. "Come on." She tells him and pulls him further into her-their-world.
But for a moment, she stops, glances back, and looks up. And then, she smiles.
Olivia Dunham is going to miss over there. The brave Fringe team that fought for their slowly healing world. The technology that was years ahead of theirs. The things that she learned. The people she met. She won't forget it, not from either of her timelines. She smiles a little, catching the eye of her redheaded double.
The other woman belongs in the struggling world. She has a fight in her, a fire that Olivia admires. She might bend to the point of breaking, but she will never, ever give up. She is the sort of woman who won't stop looking for rainbows, even if she hasn't seen one in twenty years.
It has changed Olivia, knowing her, seeing this incredibly different version of herself. It isn't just their Olivia. They've all changed her in a thousand tiny ways. She isn't the woman she was when all of this started and she's glad of it.
She looks at the strange, brilliant version of Astrid. The successful, vicious Walter . The fiery, passionate Olivia. They have all left an impression on Olivia Dunham, one that she can't erase. She glances over at Peter and he smiles at her. She smiles back, knowing that she will still have him when the dust settles and the other side is gone.
Her eyes sweep the room and she sees Lincoln Lee on the other side, standing beside the other Olivia. For a moment, her chest tightens and something like jealousy rushes through her. But it goes as quick as it comes. The woman who had a claim over Lincoln Lee is gone, wiped clean by the man standing at Olivia's side. She looks at Peter and then back at Lincoln. She made her choice a long time ago.
She finds it in herself to be happy for the other Olivia Dunham. She knows Lincoln, knows that he is like them both. He loves without thinking, without being able to stop himself and Olivia knows he will make the her doppleganger very, very happy.
She watches him, sees him smile wider than she had ever seen him smile and she knows that this is right.
"That's it. It's time." Walter's voice is harsh blow. Olivia bows her head, steels herself for the mounting explosion. She still can't quite believe it. She remembers to countless hours spent trying to destroy the other side. It seems so immediate, so near. Like she could reach for those times and they would be there again.
But, it has all come to this. This is the end of their story together. No longer will they be two worlds linked. After this moment, they will once again be two worlds apart. No one else will see the world that is so similar and so different from their own.
Olivia looks at her double. "Don't stop looking up." She wants to say again, but knows that it is a moot point. That woman, the one clad in red hair and cargo pants, will never, ever stop looking toward the skies. She will never lose hope.
She looks at Lincoln standing stolidly at her side. She smiles at the man who was her partner, letting him know that she approves, that this is the right thing for him to do. He doesn't smile, but meets her eyes. She doesn't mind. His smiles aren't for her, not anymore.
Then, the other side begins to fade in and out of existence. She looks at her doppleganger, wonders if she will ever again see herself with red hair and a cocky smirk. She will miss the woman, more than she expected. The Olivia from their side once stole her life. But now, Olivia wants to keep her there for just a few minutes longer.
But, the machine is shutting off, shutting down and the other side is fading fast. Olivia takes a deep breath and watches as it disappears from her view. She can't quite believe it. The other side, just as close as they have ever been and, yet, farther away then ever before.
For a moment, there is silence. They all stand for a minute, motionless and stunned.
"I think I shall miss them." Walter says what Olivia is sure they are all thinking. "More than I imagined."
Peter looks back at the man who is and isn't his father. "Come on." He claps Walter on the shoulder. "Let's go home." Peter leads the way through the bridge room, out of the building and outside into the dull light of late afternoon. The sky is steely and heavy with clouds. Olivia looks up in spite of herself.
"What're you looking at, 'Livia?" Peter is at her side.
"I'm looking for a rainbow." She tells him, not bothering to explain anymore.
"Did you find one?" His lips quirk in that smile she loves.
She smiles back, knowing that he will always come back to her, no matter what. "Not yet." She admits, threading her fingers through his. "But I will."
A/N: How awesome/sad was Worlds Apart? It was a perfect set-up for the season finale. My goodness, I'm still kind freaking out. Also...who's super excited Fringe got renewed for a 5th season? Anyhow, my freaking out aside...review and all that.