A/N: Hello hello! This one was inspired by a song by the amazing band Milo Greene called "Burn Us Both Alive" (you can watch a live performance on youtube) and it made me think of Lincoln and Liv when I first heard it. This stand alone kind of travels through time a bit, snapshots of their relationship, really. So I hope you like it! It's a bit shorter than I usually write, but again, these are just drabbles, so they're not meant to be long :')
Please review if you read! (I don't own any of the characters, Fringe, or the song)
Even if your heart stops, I'll be there to hold you up. And even as the world turns, I'll be there to watch the fire burn, burn us both alive.
He's never had to question what he would do for her. He knew that, worst come to worst, he would try to move the world if it meant it would help her. He would give his own life, if he thought that it would make the world a better place for her to live in.
And now he was thinking for two people. There was her son to consider, after all. It was strange, he thought, that he could feel such affection for a child that wasn't his, was not even at all related to him. He felt it though. He felt the fierce protection that a parent would feel for their child, and it was the same thing. He didn't question the limits he would go to protect them.
It seemed like with every passing day, he had to protect them more. Hell, he almost lost them both before Henry was even born. The world was literally falling to pieces around them, and while they tried to live a normal life, it was impossible to ignore. They were doing everything they could to try to patch the holes that Walter Bishop had ripped through their world (and while he would never admit it out loud, he sort of felt bad for the alternate version of his boss; a man who went through hell and back multiple times as a result of what he did. Sometimes Lincoln thought that he had paid for his mistake enough), but most days it seemed like a lost cause.
They were relying on the Fringe team on the other side to do most of the work, which neither Lincoln nor Olivia were completely comfortable with. While they were resigned to the fact that their alternates weren't the evil people they were told they were at the beginning, they still didn't know them. They could only hope that they would realize what was at stake. Not one universe, but both. The end of two worlds as they knew it.
Most days, they ignored what was going on. They'd work a case, go out for dinner afterwards, and come back to Olivia's apartment. They'd lay on the couch with Henry and watch some meaningless TV, and try to ignore the small signs that things were headed south, and quickly.
For Lincoln, the possibility that the world might end made him a rather emotional person. He wanted to tell her all the things that he's kept inside all these years. Saying you love someone as they're dying in your arms isn't exactly the same as telling them when things are normal. Doesn't carry the same weight, somehow. He wants to tell her. He doesn't.
One day, at Liv's apartment after a particularly bad case, she had simply looked at him and said, "Stay". He never left. He never left, and she never brought it up again. It was easy. They lived together. He cooked, she did their taxes. IT was never anything they had to think about. It was natural.
If it was strange to her, she never said anything, and he didn't voice his feelings; in fear of complicating something that felt so effortless. To this day, he's fairly certain that he's told her he loves her three times, but she's never said it back.
They aren't a physical couple. He kisses her cheek; she lays her head on his shoulder occasionally. He's never pushed his limits in this part of their life together either; he didn't want to scare her, or try to convince her of what he knows she feels too fast, afraid she'd run from him.
The world is ending. It's ending, and they both know it, and they both try to deal with it in their own ways. He goes to the gym, and tries to punch out his frustrations. She runs. She runs like she's trying to run away from their world altogether. Believe it or not, he's suggested exactly that. "We could start over," he said one night. When she looks at him, he can't tell if she's sad, scared, or angry.
"They'd never let us stay there." She said quietly, and he dropped the subject, wondering if it was even worth it, considering the speed at which the other side was starting to deteriorate as well. They'd have a year longer than this side, maybe two. He knows this for a fact. Astrid told him. He never mentions it to Liv.
Henry is a year old now. He's walking too, which both excites and terrifies Lincoln. He baby-proofs the entire apartment, frustrating Liv to no end, though she secretly finds it endearing. Henry doesn't walk so much as he runs everywhere – his momentum is too much for him to control. This involves a lot of catching. Catch Henry before he runs off the balcony. Catch Henry when he runs into the back of Lincoln's legs, nearly falling backwards. They're exhausted, but at the same time, incredibly happy. This is around the time Lincoln thinks maybe he should propose. He doesn't.
One night is particularly bad. The power is out, everywhere, from what Fringe Division can tell. The earthquakes that had been so prominent the week before have subsided, for now. 4 year old Henry is afraid of the dark, and Lincoln and Liv are out of ideas of how to cheer him up. They decide to play hide and seek, and Henry wins every single round (their apartment is only so big), and this time Lincoln and Liv are hunched behind the couch, trying not to laugh as they can hear the pitter patter of Henry's feet on the wood floor.
They lock eyes, and something changes inside of Liv. She kisses Lincoln then, hard and desperate, and full of pent up emotions. "Mommy, Daddy, ew!" Henry squeals once he's found them, and Lincoln grins against her lips. Liv can't stop laughing, which makes Henry laugh, and the three of them are suddenly happier than they've ever been.
"He called me Daddy…" Lincoln laughs out, and Liv looks at him, that happy spark still in her eyes, and he knows. He knows that she finally, finally feels what he feels and he knows it's all going to work out. If he has to stop the world ending himself just so she can have a future with him and their son (because Henry really was his son now, biological specifics be damned), he would do it.
Even if your heart stops, I'll be there to hold you up. And even as the world turns, I'll be there to watch the fire burn, burn us both alive.
