TITLE: Five Things That Never Happened to Olivia Dunham
PAIRINGS: Olivia/John Scott
CHARACTERS: Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, John Scott, Walter Bishop, Charlie Francis, Phillip Broyles, Olivia's Mother, Rachel Dunham, Olivia's Stepfather
GENRE: Angst, Romance, Character Death, Murder, Marriage
RATING: M
SONG: "Dare You To Move" by Switchfoot
WORD COUNT: 1535
DISCLAIMER: not mine
1.
She spots the man she's been seeking here in hot Baghdad. "Peter Bishop? Olivia Dunham. I'm with the FBI."
He doesn't look impressed. "Okay."
"You've heard of flight 627?" she asks, trying to keep her friendly smile from looking too forced.
He nods. "The Hamburg flight, of course.
"You may be able to help us with that," she says pleasantly.
He seems a little confused. "No, I think you've got the wrong guy."
"Your father is Walter Bishop."
She can see his body language change immediately. "The last time somebody asked me that it was an accusation," he says darkly.
She tries to remain calm. "Well, he's the man we're looking to speak with, but due to his current status, you're the only one who can provide us access."
"And what possible help could that man be to you? And what is it exactly that you're expecting me to do? Hop on a plane with you back to Massachusetts? I just got here, honey."
"I can have you on a return flight here in four days, but first—"
He cuts her off. "Let me save you the time. I'd rather stay here in Iraq. That's how much I want to see my father."
She hates begging, but she has to do anything for John. "I'm going to beg you as one human being to another. Your father may be able to save someone who is dying. Someone I care about very much."
"Sweetheart, we all care about someone who is dying," he smirks. "I can't help you, I'm sorry."
Olivia realises she's going to have to play hardball. "I know why you're here. I have your file."
He looks a little panicked. "What file?"
Now it's her turn to be in control. "The one the FBI would say doesn't exist. And it has everything. Where you've been, what you're running from. And what you need while you're here. So, either you come with me, or I let certain people know your whereabouts."
Suddenly, gunfire erupts in the hotel lobby and Olivia feels a bullet go through her left shoulder as Peter Bishop collapses at her feet. She drops to her knees, trying to escape the volley, but obviously the target has been hit. Bishop's green eyes are large and he looks a little scared as he coughs up blood, lying in her arms.
"Too late," he wheezes and last piece of hope she had slips away.
2.
"Oh my god!" Olivia pants.
They're in the same sleezy motel they always use, sweaty and sated.
John is lying next to her, very close. "What?"
"This bed is loud," she states, still slightly out of breath.
"You think?"
"We can't keep doing this. Sneaking around," Olivia insists.
"Department is not a massive fan of office romance. The policy seminar was endless, wasn't it? Kept finding myself staring at you, I decided to move my chair to stop," he purrs into her ear.
"Well, I think Charlie knows," she says nervously.
"No, he doesn't know."
"Well, I think he does."
John is sweet and affectionate with his caressing fingers. "If he knew, we would be transferred. The idea somebody making a call whether not you and I get to live in the same city is unacceptable to me. Anyway that's just a preamble to a kicker, which is that…I love you."
Olivia is a little startled at the words and feels relieved when her cellphone begins to ring, excusing her from having to reply. As she leans over to reach for it, John stops her.
"Not now Liv. Just let it ring," he says firmly.
"But it could be important! What if it's the case I keep hoping for? The one that defines who I am and what I do?" she says, nervous that he's going to make her respond to the four-letter L word he just said to her.
"There will always be other cases, Olivia. Many others."
Her phone stops ringing and his starts.
"Are you going to get that?" she asks.
"No. I know this is possibly the worst place to do this...but I've been carrying this around with me for weeks, waiting for the right time to give it to you..."
He leans over the edge of the bed, pulling up the dress slacks he'd tossed onto the floor thirty minutes earlier and pulls something out of the pocket that makes her heart positively stop. A small box, which is opened to reveal a small glowing diamond…
"John..." her eyes tear up and she can see his nervous, expectant smile.
"I love you, Olivia Dunham. Will you marry me?"
--
Eight months later she's standing at the alter in a white wedding dress, custom fitted to accommodate her swollen belly. She'd gotten pregnant in that sleezy motel room the night he'd proposed to her, the night she'd ignored the phone. She had to quit her career at the FBI so that they could stay together, but she's found a pretty good desk job with the Boston police. Charlie was pissed of course, and yes, she had missed a really interesting case the night she and John decided to make their relationship official, but she's hoping that after the baby's born and she gets back in shape, she can work as a detective for the police force and maybe make her name that way, solving crimes and helping the powerless.
Olivia wanted to wait on this wedding until after the baby was born, but John said he'd never forgive himself if he didn't make an honest woman out of her first.
"An honest woman?" she says quietly as the pastor goes on and on about different Bible verses.
"Of course, Liv. I know you'd never lie to me," he whispers, holding both her hands.
She nods, because of course that's true. Honesty is very important in a relationship. "And you'd never lie to me."
Here in this house of God, John just smiles.
3.
Charlie keeps giving her funny looks, ones that seem caught between confusion and disappointment. She doesn't want to talk to him, or anyone else for that matter. Everyone in the office has been treating her with a mixture of disgust and fear—they know she was involved with John, they know John was a traitor, and now while he sits in a special prison cell, they doubt that she's loyal either. Olivia wonders if it would've just been easier if John had just died in that final car chase…
4.
Charlie has been pulled aside by Agent Broyles, in a dark side office.
"I'd like it if you took this to Agent Dunham." Broyles puts a metal lock box on the table. "John Scott's personal effects. It would seem some of them were intended for her."
Broyles walks out of the room, dialing a number on his cellphone and once Charlie knows he's alone, he opens up the box and immediately spots the little ring box that makes his stomach sick. He lifts the lid and pulls out the engagement ring, which is icy cold to the touch. Inside it's been inscribed, 'Always' and he gags. So it was true. He'd been right.
He puts the ring back, closes the little box and with only the slightest hesitation, slips it into his trousers' pocket. He closes the lid to John Scott's lock box and takes it to go find Olivia.
5.
Nine-year-old Olivia stands in the entranceway of the dark house, the gun heavy in her hands. She's waiting and waiting and waiting and it feels like a gazillion years have passed since she grabbed the firearm from the drawer near his bed, since she heard his car and realised that he was turning back around.
He's opened the door and there he stands, looking surprised that she's got the gun pointed at him She pulls the trigger but nothing happens. She panics, looking down at the weapon, trying to figure out why it isn't working. Why isn't it working?! She should just have to pull the trigger—
"It's called a safety, you stupid shit!" her stepdad snarls as he closes the distance between them in a few strides and takes the gun out of her hands. She hardly has time to realise what's happening when she falls backwards, a loud noise like a gunshot—
Oh. Oh! She can see the front of her nightgown has a crimson blossom of blood blooming across her chest, like a red daisy. Her stepdad steps over her body as she lays on her back staring at the ceiling, warmed by a puddle of her own blood. Somewhere in the distance she can hear her mother screaming and her stepfather shouting and the gun going off again...she closes her eyes and wonders if that's her sister screaming now...
Her body is white hot in pain, but her mind feels very clear and she can picture a brown haired boy with the most beautiful green eyes sitting at a diner with a man that could only be his father. They're smiling and laughing and drinking root beer floats...
'I would have liked to meet them,' Olivia thinks as she feels her last breath pass her lips.