Liv scoffed at the question. She flexed her shoulders, and hopped onto a nearby table. Leaning forward she interlaced her fingers and poised them on the table between her legs. She just stared at Olivia. Olivia could see an array of emotions flitting across her face. She was so caught up trying to decipher the expressions, some familiar others not, that she almost started when Liv answered her,
"Not much of a choice. I only have clearance to be here, at the hotel, and at the bridge." She swung her legs slightly to the side so that she was completely facing Olivia. She had a restless energy about her; one that Olivia often recognized in herself, but while Olivia's restlessness tended to manifest in controlled, tight movements, Liv's restlessness was more fluid, random. She swayed back and forth on the table, studying Olivia with a gaze that missed nothing.
"What were you doing in the tank? Not crossing over were you? You know there is procedure for that now." The sarcasm lilted teasingly in her voice. The accompanying half smirk stirred the same reaction from Olivia as it usually did; but slapping it off wasn't worth possibly causing a war between universes.
"No, and it's none of your..." Liv interrupted her, leaning even farther forward on her arms, her face cocked slightly to the right,
"We even have some of the same scars." She casually leapt off the table and walked down the steps to stop a few feet in front of Olivia and the tank. Her eyes trailed over Olivia's underwear clad form with such meticulousness that Olivia's body no longer felt cold. Against her wishes, she burned from the inside out. She imagined that the water that trailed down her skin would surely evaporate before it reached the floor. Olivia refused to buckle under the intense scrutiny, instead settling her gaze on Liv's face, trying to understand. Trying to understand how this redhead could have the same crinkle in her forehead when she was concentrating; trying to understand how it was she was biting her lip in the same way; trying to understand that burning in the pit of her stomach.
Oh she hated her. The thing that bothered her is why she hated her. Was it because she took her life; because she had escaped all the shit in her life and was proof of how she could have been; or most disturbing of all was it because of how Liv made her feel? Off balance didn't even begin to describe the feelings she had in the presence of her Alternate. They were like two objects that weren't supposed to touch. The friction when they were in proximity to one another was so intense that it left her chafed raw by the end of the interaction. And as much as that friction and vertigo made her want to run, there was another force pulling her forward, that part she knew Liv felt too. Their interaction was against nature.
It was this force that pulled Liv even closer to Olivia's erect form. Liv's breath was hot on her neck as she traced a scar that went from her collarbone to her sternum,
"You got this when you were 6." Olivia's mouth fell open slightly, in part due to her words, in part due to Liv's voice in her ear as she traced back and forth over the scar. It was long healed, just a small crescent,
"You had just learned how to ride your bike; there was a ditch at the end of the driveway. There was a dog; you swerved into the ditch. It took seven stitches." Liv paused and finally looked up from the scar, meeting Olivia's eyes expectantly. Olivia swallowed, her voice steady but slightly rough as she replied, "Eight. There were eight stitches."
Liv's mouth quirked, an indulgent half smirk, but this time it looked different to Olivia. This close, she could read every minutia of expression in her face. Liv's eyes betrayed a softness she wasn't used to seeing. For once it was Liv who broke their eye contact after a few lingering seconds.
Liv's hand moved from her collarbone to her ribs, Olivia unconsciously hissed out a breath as Liv's other hand came to join it, they were sure yet unnervingly gentle. A gentleness that Olivia had not felt in some time; a gentleness that led her body to betray her, igniting her senses, ever so subtly clouding her mind like someone had removed some of the oxygen from the room.
"I don't have this one." Olivia's eyes darted down even though she knew what scar Liv was currently tracing.
"No you wouldn't." Liv's fingers stopped abruptly against her skin,
"They're from him." It wasn't a question. This was too close; Liv was too close: it was too much. Olivia flung Liv's hands away and backed up a few steps,
"Why are you doing this? Why are you asking these questions?" Her hands were waving now, little drops of water flinging in every direction as she spoke. She couldn't have stopped at that moment if she had tried.
"Why do you care? You just want to know how lucky you got? How much worse it could have been for you? Congratulations, you're the lucky Olivia Dunham. I was tested on as a child." She took a step towards Liv and took a small amount of satisfaction as she watched her take a step back.
"They pumped me full of drugs, both legal and illegal. My stepfather abused me and I shot the bastard. My mother is dead. You keep blaming me for not trusting but you don't fucking understand that there has been no one to trust. No one."
The tense quiet that followed hung in the air. There was a sharp edge to the silence, her pain-leaded voice had altered the atmosphere. For the first time that evening, Olivia felt bare. The silence was pierced by a ring, via a cell phone issued by fringe division for her Alternate while she was in this universe. The way the redhead awkwardly cradled the cell was an unmistakable sign that she was from another universe. An observation that sounded far too normal in her mind. Her face, previously flushed from their interaction, drained of all colour. Liv's mouth fell open just slightly as she focused on the voice on the other line. The restlessness was back. Olivia had a feeling she knew what the call was about.
"Yes sir. I understand sir. I'll let her know. We'll stay put." Liv hung up the phone and roughly tossed the phone onto the table. It skidded across the slick surface hitting a beaker and shattering it. Liv ran her hands through her hair. Olivia absently cataloged it with the other gestures and habits they had in common.
"What did they find out about the shape shifter, and why do we have to stay put?" Liv's fingers were lightly pinching the bridge of her nose, taking deep breaths,
"The last crime scene found blood and we thought it was the shape shifters remember?" Olivia nodded impatiently, "and?"
"And... it wasn't. It was a match for Olivia Dunham. Essentially us since we're genetically the same. It either came from one of us or there's another one of us out there." Olivia let out a ragged breath and a self-deprecating snort, "God I hope not." Liv smirked, for once the two of them were on the same page. Liv's expression turned serious again as she turned her gaze on Olivia, a gaze that misses nothing.
"What?" Olivia balked, hands jerking in question before crossing over her chest. She was realizing that she'd spent a long time standing in her underwear at this point. Liv's expression didn't waver, but her eyes were open, surprised,
"You don't suspect me of being involved with the shape shifter. They found our blood, my blood at the scene..." She trailed off, before her face broke out into a wide grin, "you're beginning to trust me." Olivia quirked an eyebrow at that, "Not quite. But I am learning when you are and when you are not lying. I'm learning to read you."
Liv's smile got even wider and her eyes were now dancing with barely contained amusement, "What are you reading right now?" She made her way back towards Olivia, continuing to advance even after Olivia began backing up. A few seconds after Olivia's back collided with the tank wall, Liv's hand made a resounding thud as it landed a few centimeters from Olivia's head. For the second time tonight their breath mingled together. Their chests were heaving now, close enough that Liv's cotton shirt was starting to become moist and cling to her stomach.
Liv's smile softened. She raised a hand and hesitantly ran it through Olivia's hair. Removing the hair falling into her eyes and slowly tucking it behind her ear. Liv's voice was quiet, like she was talking more to herself than anything else, "Life is funny, isn't it? Nurture and Nature. Our nature is the same, but our nurturing... has been quite different."
There was a sound of breaking glass. Olivia found herself pinned to the tank wall one second, spun around and hurled into the tank the next. Liv joined her with a splash a second later, shutting the tank door. The only light in the tank came from a yellow light shining from somewhere under the water. The effect cast a soft amber hue onto both Dunhams, highlighting the vibrant contrast of their hair.
Olivia opened her mouth to object, but once again found herself pinned to a wall. Liv had one hand against her mouth and the other tightly gripping her waist, fingers resting just above the hem of her underwear.
"You must be quiet," Liv's voice was the barest of whispers, "it's the shape shifter. I did not have my weapon and you," her eyes darted down at the miniscule space between their bodies, "surely didn't either."
They both stood frozen against the wall of the tank as the seconds ticked by. They could hear muffling sounds of things being moved around. Liv's hand had dropped from Olivia's mouth to the base of her neck. Said hand was currently pulling ever so lightly at the hairs at the base of her scalp, eliciting a feeling Olivia felt was very distracting given their current situation.
Is this how she was to die? Stuck in a tank submerged in lukewarm water, pressed against a wall by an alternate version of herself? She wasn't ready for this yet. The observer; he couldn't have meant this. Breathing was becoming difficult again. Sensing this shift, Liv tightened her grip,
"Calm down." Olivia didn't think she could. She grasped both of Liv's shoulders, nails digging in. Her eyes were squeezed shut.
"Look at me." Liv's voice was quiet but demanding. Olivia opened her eyes, and her mouth fell slack,
"You're shimmering." Liv's brow furrowed in confusion,
"What does that mean?" Olivia wrapped her arms around Liv's waist and pulled her until their fronts were tightly pressed together. She tucked her face into Liv's neck and breathed out a sigh,
"It means hold on." The world went black.
