AN: The teaser just wouldn't leave me alone. Unbeta'ed due to the rush to get this out before this week's episode, so all mistakes are mine. Feel free to point them out so I can correct them.
Since my birthday came and went and nobody gave me Fringe or its characters yet again they're still not mine - darn.
"The only way to find Olivia is through him," Peter said, pointing at the still form of the Observer who was lying on a gurney in the Harvard lab, a bloody bandage covering the wound in his chest.
"Peter, you're not suggesting…" Walter broke off, unable to utter the crazy notion this man who was not his son was implying.
"Why not?" Peter replied, deadly serious.
Astrid had followed their exchange, getting increasingly nervous. "Suggesting what?" she asked.
"He wants to go into the Observer's mind," Walter explained.
"Can you do it?" Peter enquired, in the same serious tone of voice.
"If he dies," Walter pointed out, "and you're in his mind, you could well die too."
Peter took a deep breath. "It's a chance I have to take. He told me Olivia needs me, and he made his way here in spite of his condition only to deliver this message. She must be in deep trouble, and I'm not standing idly by if there's even a smidgen of a chance I could get to her."
Walter's left hand began to twitch, as it always did when he was agitated. "I see your point, Peter. But I'm not sure… it's a very complex procedure."
"You can't be serious!" Astrid exclaimed.
"You've done it before," Peter insisted, completely disregarding Astrid's objection. "In my timeline, you merged Olivia's mind with John Scott's as he was near death after the explosion."
"Really? How extraordinary!" Walter said thoughtfully, his interest obviously piqued.
"You called it 'synaptic transfer', Walter, and 'shared dream state'," Peter explained. "Does that ring a bell?"
Walter rubbed his forehead as if it would help him remember. "I believe I did some experiments on the subject back in 1976. Synchronizing the electric fields of two distinct minds to allow the sharing of information across the unconscious state."
"That's it, Walter, that's just it."
"Hmm," Walter mused. "You would have to be heavily drugged, though."
Peter waved that away. "I know. A mix of Ketamine, Neurontin and LSD, correct?"
"Okay you two, that's it," Astrid interrupted. "You must be completely out of your minds. Is this even science?"
A wistful smile played around Peter's mouth. "My words exactly, Astrid, when Olivia was the one to get into that tank."
"Wait… what? What tank?" Astrid was thoroughly confused now.
"The sensory deprivation tank, of course!" Walter exclaimed. "That would do the trick. I'd have to insert an electromagnetic probe into the base of your skull as well, though."
Peter winced. "I know. That's the part I'm looking the least forward to."
Astrid stared at him. "You're actually considering doing this."
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "It's the only chance we have. And I know that it works. I saw Olivia do it for the man she loved. It's only fair if I reciprocate."
"Even when you weren't that man," Walter pointed out, blunt as always.
Astrid cast him a scathing look and came a few steps closer until she stood right next to Peter. "I understand," she said kindly.
Peter took a shuddering breath. "I only just found her again, Astrid. I can't lose her now."
Walter clapped his hands together, breaking the tender mood. "Time's awasting, and our eyebrowless friend here is deteriorating as we speak. If we are going to attempt this procedure, we better do it now."
"I"m ready," Peter announced, and Astrid chimed in, "So am I."
Fifteen minutes later Astrid had warmed the water in the tank to body temperature and had added a healthy bagful of salt to make it buoyant.
Peter had disappeared into Walter's bedroom to undress, and now showed up wrapped in a tattered old bathrobe. Astrid noticed that he looked pale but determined.
Walter swooped in with a bundle of electrodes and began placing the first batch along Peter's hairline. Then he asked him to open the robe so he could continue on his chest.
Peter did as he was told, but by then Walter's hands were shaking so badly that Peter gently took the electrodes from him.
"It's okay, Walter, I know where they go," he said softly.
Walter swallowed convulsively. "Peter, I'm having second thoughts. Even if I managed to establish a connection between Agent Dunham and John Scott in some other timeline, at least they were both human. We have no idea who or what this man is, or if his brainwaves are even compatible with ours. I'm wondering…"
'Well, there's only one way to find out," Peter interrupted him. He had just finished sticking the last electrode to his chest, right above his left nipple. "And look on the bright side, we may finally get some answers what these guys are about."
Astrid approached with a black piece of plastic that held two wicked looking prongs. "I found the 'Walter Bishop Faraday Harness', Walter. Here's the probe."
"Thank you, my dear. I will go and connect it to the equipment."
As Walter left to attend to his task, Astrid approached Peter and expertly slid an IV needle into the back of his hand, taping it down securely. When she was done, she looked up into Peter's face. "How are you feeling?"
Peter started to say 'I'm fine', but then he looked into Astrid's deep, soulful eyes and realized she would look right through his white lie. "Petrified," he admitted.
"You will be okay, Peter, I'll keep an eye on things. And on Walter," Astrid promised. "I'm not letting anything happen to you on my watch."
Peter smiled, touched by her reassurance. "Actually, that's not what I'm scared about. But Walter - my Walter once said something about the Observers, that they're not human and that they don't think like we do. What if I can't get a connection with this guy? What if our thought processes don't match? How will we find Olivia then?"
Astrid was kept from replying by Walter's return. The black probe in his hand was now trailing wires. "Are you ready? he asked Peter.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Peter sighed.
"You better sit down for this," Astrid suggested, pulling up a stool.
Peter smiled at her concern. "Don't worry, I won't topple over. We've done this before, remember?"
Astrid returned his smile. "How could I forget. But that's not what I meant. You're just so freakishly tall, and I think I can do a better job at eye level."
She made Peter take off his robe. Underneath he was only wearing his boxers. When he was settled on the stool she took the probe from Walter's hands and inserted it with a quick, sure motion.
Peter hissed in pain as the prongs dug through the muscle in his neck, then gasped as a burst of pain flashed through his brain as if he had touched a live wire. "Shit, that sucks!" he ground out.
"The discomfort should only last a second, son," Walter hastened to assure him. Peter was too preoccupied to notice the form of address, but Astrid raised a surprised eyebrow at Walter, who tried to cover his embarrassment by grabbing Peter's biceps and pulling him to his feet. "And in you go, down the rabbit hole," Walter exclaimed, leading Peter to the open doors of the tank.
"Just what I need, a Lewis Carrol reference," Peter groused good-naturedly, "let's hope I'm not about to meet the Mad Hatter."
He stepped into the tank an slid into the briny, warm depth. Walter's face was swimming above him as Peter relaxed into the water. "You must listen to my voice at all times, Peter, I will guide you and bring you back."
"I will. Thank you, Walter," Peter replied. Then the heavy doors closed above him and he was left in darkness.