Adjusting
Spoilers: All Seasons
Disclaimer: I only own a few of the Cortexiphan kids and Callie in this fic...nothing else unfortunately. JJ Abrams owns the rest.
Peter opened his eyes and groaned, wondering if he had passed out while talking to his fathers. If he had passed out or been rendered unconscious that meant that Olivia had been left vulnerable to his sadistic biological father and her double. That very thought made him ignore his pain and sit up. He was clearly in Massive Dynamic's Medical Wing and he immediately spotted Olivia on the couch-bed that laid against the window, she was sleeping peacefully. She looked a little thinner, about the same as when he met her…her face wasn't as full as it had been the last time he'd seen her and her hair was loose instead of in a ponytail.
The door opened and he found it was a doctor, she smiled and moved to him. "Welcome back Mr. Bishop, how are you feeling?"
"My head is pounding and every muscle in my body feels like Osmium."
"Considering you've been brought back into existence after being out of it for five months, feeling anything is a very good thing."
"What are you talking about?"
"All I am cleared to know is that you've been out of existence for five months, that before a week ago you were never even born. Agent Dunham and Miss Sharp can explain better, after all I only have medical clearance."
She left and Peter looked at Olivia, he smiled and wished he could get out of bed to kiss her awake. Her eyes fluttered and she opened them, smiling.
"You're awake," she sat up and Peter visual examined what he saw...she was exactly like when they met proportionally which meant her diet was mainly cereal, whiskey and little sleep. "Welcome back."
Olivia walked over to his bed, stopping only long enough to check a small pouch at her waist. He saw it was a diabetic meter but he knew Olivia wasn't diabetic. "What's going on? They said...I don't understand."
"Apparently when you used the machine, you wiped yourself from history. The only thing that saved you was my universe-defying ability to recount every memory of my entire life...I couldn't forget you. At first I did but after two months things seemed off and I began remembering. Once I remembered enough I wished you back into existence...if that makes any sense."
Peter reached up and cupped her cheek, "I never question anymore because it's pointless...you can do anything you set your mind to." Looking down, he touched the pump. "New timeline so new conditions?"
"No, Cortexiphan levels are extremely low. Apparently when they fall below a certain level I fall into a coma and my brain activity ceases or goes haywire...depending on the level. When I crossed in my car, first time and my body didn't know how to compensate. Returning home, I was prepared so I only had a seizure. This time I used a portion of it to bring you back so to avoid levels dropping they've had me on this for a week. I get it taken out today."
"Taken out?"
"It's fed into a port on my spine." She smiled and rubbed his hand, "it's fine...I'd do it all over again. I have good news...and news you don't want to hear."
Peter sighed, "tell me the good news first."
"We closed the bridge, the worlds are apart now and there's no way to cross without starting the entire thing over again. Their world is healed as is ours."
"What's the bad news?"
Olivia shook her head, "Walter had a stroke the day we closed the bridge...we were celebrating after over pie and milkshakes. He died from a blood clot two days later. Astrid and I were with him when he went, the funeral was a month ago...white tulips everywhere and we buried him next to your mother. I'm sorry...I know to you it was just moments after stepping out of the machine and seeing him."
Tears laid in her eyes and on her cheeks, Peter reached up and brushed them away. He'd grieve later when he was alone, he wasn't the type to grieve in public...not even with Olivia. "Did he remember me at all?"
"No, it's as if you never existed. Now we remember but those dead can't be undone...only those alive remember." She curled up beside him and he held her as she cried, Walter had been a better father-figure than her stepfather and the man had frequently used her as a lab rat since childhood. Peter knew Walter's death would changed everything in how their team worked...hell how their home worked but part of him was grateful Walter didn't remember because it gave for a more simpler and peaceful death with no regrets. Part of him was also grateful Olivia had been there...the good daughter who loved her father no matter the wrong he did.
Adjusting to his new life would be hard but with Olivia they'd make it...life would be less hectic without Walter but in someways no two AM wake ups or nude tuesdays would make it a lot more dull. Peter wasn't sure he was ready to face that life...at least again.
A/N: Things change but things also get better...he and Olivia struggle but a simple little girl with a big heart and a life of tragedy changes their lives.