It's back folks. Do your happy dances! I guess I had a case of the jitters with my first draft. I never have patience with posting my work and all this really needed was some moderate retooling. It's still has everything I intended to have. Dark stuff. I dont wanna spoil it all but it's M for a reason and you click the link cause you're willing to take such risks. Yessum. Okay, here we go...
At a young age, Olivia would learn that no good deed goes unpunished.
She thought perhaps, it was normal to be treated like dirt for doing so much good.
******
It all started with her best friend in first grade.
Every Monday, Olivia would spot fresh bruises and scratches on the girl's arms and legs when she came to class. Even at her age, Olivia knew that someone had to be informed about this, despite her friend's constant begging to keep quiet.
Months passed and the bruises got worse. That's when Olivia decided to drop the bomb. She informed their teacher…who then informed Child Protective Services. Her friend was taken from her home and placed in foster care.
Instead of thanking Olivia, her friend shoved her in the mud screaming words of hate and resentment for taking her parents away from her. Instead of becoming a hero, nasty rumors declared Olivia a snitch. Her friend would never speak to her again…nor would anyone else at that school.
She would never have another friend again after that.
******
She wished that Rachel had heed her warning to stay in the bedroom while she went to put an end to it.
Instead, her shrieking was the first thing Olivia would hear the moment she pulled the trigger. She would've killed her stepfather at that moment, and put a stop to her family's suffering, but she couldn't let her sister witness anymore bloodshed than she just did.
Rachel was left traumatized. Their mother would not see Olivia as a protector, but rather as a threat to the family. Regardless of the abusive bastard her stepfather was, even the social workers were looking down on what Olivia did. After weeks of subjected hearings, a compromised was finally met.
That year, against her own will, Olivia would be shipped off to a military boarding school…
Because of what she had exposed her sister to, her mother thought it best for Olivia to never come home again…not even for Christmas. Though it didn't matter to Olivia what anyone in her family had to say. Even now, she stood by what she did…what had to be done…even if she was alone on it.
The military school would be a bitch to her in the early years but in the long run, she could see herself becoming a person who was meant to make a difference. Her decision to become a soldier, and a FBI agent was based on the hope that someday her desire to protect others…to do what's right…would be something that was praised and not condemned.
******
When the third woman came to her, Olivia knew that she had to put a stop to Sergeant Harris. Sanford was a well respected, not to mention heavily-decorated, Marine. To persecute him of such a severe crime would cause chaos, but protecting the women in her department was in her right…in her duty of helping everyone.
Her supervisors didn't think so. But the evidence against Harris was overwhelming. They had to let him go, though they were not happy at all about losing one of their best military officers and would look down on Olivia from that experience.
Several friends and family of Harris would later approach her…to metaphorically and even literally spit on her for her actions. And fellow female soldiers would be scared away from speaking to her…including the very ones that came to her for help to begin with.
******
By this time in life, Olivia had gotten used to the idea that she would become an undying martyr to the people she'd protect. She would risk her own life for them when they needed her, but once the danger was over, they would reward her by striking her back down with hate and anger. No one ever thanked her for the countless lives she saved, not even the victims themselves. But plenty of them scorned her. Plenty did.
The right thing was everything. That was why she put up with the hate…with the scorn. Protecting the innocent was always right even though none of them ever appreciated what she did. It wouldn't stop her, though. Her principles would make the pain less tolerable with every ungrateful life she saved.
But now, it was Peter's turn and she didn't know if she could stand it.
His face turns icy cold with horror the moment he finds her sitting there, on the warehouse floor, by the man she just killed and quickly it turns to rage and fury…no doubt at her. No doubt, like the other lives she had protected, her unselfish, sacrificial act to save the lives of the Bishop men has somehow angered him.
"I know…" There's no emotion in her voice when she finally breaks the silence. "It's because I came here alone isn't it? Go ahead…be mad at me."
To add insult to injury, his look of anger seems weighed down with fear and trauma. Perhaps he arrived just at the very moment she was beating the suspect to death.
There is confusion in his fear-stricken eyes…and absolute concern as he finally finds it in him to join her side on the ground. "God…Liv…no…I…"
"I kill the man whose been trying to hurt you and your father and you're mad about it…yeah…I lost control…it happens."
He doesn't want to touch her in her damaged state but he has to. She doesn't realize what just happened…or what she just went through...but the evidence was all over her. "What the fuck are you talking about?!" He has no choice but to gently grasp her arms and slightly shake her. Maybe she was frozen in a state of denial. "Can't you see what he's done to you?"
There is no state of denial…only the awareness of Peter's anger on her mind. She has no reason to keep her attention on the shredded fabric clinging to her…giving her almost nothing left to hide from him. There's not even an wince of pain to feel from the searing bruises and cuts that spread further south of her waistline.
All she was aware of was that she was feeling ungodly cold…and wet.
To her surprise, the anger in Peter is held back. "Liv…please…answer me." His tone seems to have change to one of desperation and sorrow and she knows what he is speaking of, but she doesn't feel it for herself. She only sees the experience as a minor setback in a martyr's journey…one of many.
And everything happened the way as it normally did…almost as it should be.
She had a father and son to protect from an unknown assassin, and went alone to confront the man. Once she identified one Martin Shepard…she has marked him as the enemy, and must pay whatever price that will come from doing so. As with her past foes, Shepard would strike back at her in a haunting way. It's been done before…with birthday cards, arrogant threatening superiors…even the little girl's parents threatened to sue Olivia for making false accusations.
It would seem almost laughable that one man would alas succeed in overpowering Olivia Dunham. But she found the pain and the humiliation of Shepard's assault almost poetic. The dousing her with freezing cold water afterwards, was a rather different take on the ordeal. Even then, her thoughts were with the people she needed to protect, and Shepard remaining alive would accomplish nothing.
She was forced to act quickly when left bleeding and panting on the rough dusty floor...her hand opting to grab the lead bar over need to shield her shame. The choice was good and she found her moment as Shepard was zipping up his pants. The precision wasn't perfect, but she only needed a few blows to his skull to ensure both victory and justice.
Where Peter feels guilt in having not found her in time, Olivia only feels guilt in having to keep the cycle of the martyr going…to sacrifice a bit of herself so that another could spit on her for it. She does not feel a wave a shock through her soaked, violated flesh…until she feels an unusual weight added to her back. Peter's coat becomes fully wrapped in her before she finally snaps back to reality.
"Are you…mad at me?" she awkwardly asks. "For killing Shepard?"
It terrifies Peter that her thoughts and concerns would be elsewhere other than the severe damage she just endured. He only plays along if it really helps her. "No," he says gruffly. "I actually feel a little better now knowing that YOU killed him."
He's too focused on carrying Olivia out of that warehouse and getting her to a hospital to notice the warm glow on her battered face. She's saved him and he was grateful (though not in the same way she saw it).
It was only when she would be released from the hospital days later…with Peter standing there and taking her into his arms, would Olivia finally feel appreciation for her "sacrifice". It was the first embrace she ever recieved from someone she protected in all her years as a martyr.
When she sheds her tears into Peter's shirt, he knows that her mind is completely elsewhere. For now, he supposed that it doesn't matter. There would be plenty of time for recovering and he had no plans to leave her side for any minute of it.
He could now only hope that Olivia would get through this. And as much as he hated to admit, he was actually anticiptaing her return to a life protecting others…but this time without having to be a martyr a hundreds times more.
He's praying to god for this as she has already made enough sacrifices as is.