OK, I decided to update even sooner than I'd planned because I've got some stuff to do this evening... so here it is, a little more backstory and it's a bit longer this time!


It had started off as a normal case – as normal as one of their cases could be. A report of an alligator in the sewers led to the discovery of something that was definitely not a thirteen-foot long reptile. Olivia, along with the rest of the team, was expecting nothing more than a relapse of the sewer monster that had attacked Charlie several cases back, but upon actually going down into the sewers to lure and capture the creature, they were met with something that no one expected. When Peter and Olivia, armed with raw meat and tranquilizers and backed by Walter, Charlie, and two other agents arrived to where the bio-scanner had determined the monster's location, they found themselves at a dead end. Confused, the group turned to find that the creature had lured them into a trap. That, and the fact that there was more than one of them. Olivia shuddered at the memory of looking into the red eyes of not one but three beasts, and remembering feeling the realization seeping through her veins that they were all fucked if these animals could outsmart an elite FBI team.

In that moment, Olivia had, for the first time on a case, truly believed that she was going to die. It had hit her suddenly and she panicked. Adrenaline and fear coursed through her veins like a searing poison as the beasts slowly flanked and cornered them, the tranquilizers having no effect and bouncing off their hides with a gentle tinkle of metal on metal. Olivia hadn't been alone in her fear – Charlie had looked grey as a ghost and perspiration had covered his face. The other two agents had had facial expressions of someone who was looking into the very gates of hell themselves. Beside her, Peter was rigid and his jaw was clenched, probably to keep himself from screaming. The only one who wasn't scared in the least bit was Walter who was watching the beasts in awe and mumbling something about how clever the creatures were.

Images and memories of pivotal moments and important people in her life had flashed through Olivia's mind in a blur. To her surprise, most of the flashes were of the man beside her – Peter, her one constant and someone who'd always stood by her through everything. Her eyes had locked on Peter as her back hit the wall that they were being backed into. Deep growls signified that the beasts were making their last moves before attacking. Olivia thought fast, panic overtaking her every function of her body and she grabbed Peter's hand with her own.

"Peter… P-Peter…"

When he didn't shake her off and instead squeezed back, Olivia lost it completely, gripping to Peter's jacket and clinging to him. He responded with an arm around her back and Olivia's heart nearly melted. Then it dawned on her – if they died, then he would never know how she felt, how she'd had a mad crush on him from the minute they'd met in Iraq, that it had grown into a strong affection as she'd gotten to know him better; that over all this time, she might even love him. But in a few minutes, he would never know any of that. The time was now or never.

"Peter?" she'd whispered his name softly so that only he would hear it. Peter had looked down at her and there was no way that anyone could have mistaken the look in his eyes to be anything other than care, concern… and something else that Olivia couldn't name, but he gazed at her in a way that had made her blood pressure increase another few beats. "I… I – Iloveyou." Olivia said in a rush, but she knew it was true – she, Olivia Dunham, loved Peter Bishop. Blocking out the scarred gasps, the ragged breathing of the rest of the team, and the growls, Olivia reached up and pressed her lips to Peter's in one last attempt to show him how much she cared before they were killed in this dingy sewer by genetically fucked up creatures.

For one, glorious, heavenly moment, Olivia felt Peter's lips moving against hers, slow and gentle but deeply passionate.

BANG.

They'd broken apart at the deafening sound of a military-issue combat shotgun going off from behind the creatures, hitting it in one of its hind legs and crippling it. More shots were fired as soon as it was noted that damage had been done, along with howls and roars of protest – pure chaos had erupted in the small sewer line.

Weaponless, Peter had immediately thrown himself on top of Olivia, slamming her back into the wall and knocking the wind out her in a whoosh of breath mixed with a gasp of surprise. Sometime during the attack from whoever had swept in last minute to save the day, presumably another team of agents, Olivia had clued in to the fact that they had not died, and that they were not going to die any time soon thereafter. She'd grasped this when Peter was still covering her, shielding her with his own body as debris rained down and the enraged creatures thrashed about.

She's done nothing short of professing her untold love to Peter, and now she was going to have to live with it.

Fuck.

After each creature had been declared one hundred percent dead by the back-up team, Olivia and her weaponless team, who'd been flattening themselves against the wall for the duration of the tussle, began to make their way out of the sewer to be checked out by the medical team that was always on stand-by.

Olivia vaguely remembered being escorted into the back of the ambulance and doing everything in her power to not look at Peter (or anyone else for that matter) even though she could almost feel her skin burning under his perpetual gaze. As soon as she'd been cleared to go, Olivia had made a beeline for her SUV, jumped in and drove home before anyone could do anything about it.

That had been four hours ago, and she had been walking the streets for the past two in a vain attempt to clear her head, but it only resulted in giving her more time to think.

Turning the corner onto an even quieter street, and aiming to stop at the bakery at the other end, Olivia continued to walk until a familiar voice called her name from behind and she froze in place, her heart hammering like a bass drum in her ears. Olivia braced herself for whatever would come, turning slowly to face that whom she knew it must be, and wishing that she'd just dug that damn hole.


I'm really crazy to be writing two multi-chapter fics at the same time.... so Pebbles gets updated next, then this one! Please review, I'd love to know how i'm doing!!!

xoxo