Ideal Normalcy
By Cortexikid
Chapter 2: Fire and Fear
A/N: So, with a burst of inspiration that randomly attacked me, I've decided to make this fic a tad bigger. I don't have any desire to make it huge (as some of it I would consider never to be a possibility of actually gracing our screens) but it will be just one or two chapters more than I first anticipated, so yeah.
WARNING! A little bit of teasing for my proper M-rated stuff to follow…I haven't upped the rating yet, but tell me if I need to, please!
Oh and THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you who have reviewed, favourited, alerted etc. this story, it means the world to me! You rock! =]
Flickering glimmers of harsh light flooded her senses. A sound, so rapid, like the wings of a frantic hummingbird, rang in her ears. She struggled against the restraints, willing her head to turn just that minute fraction so she could catch a glimpse of…
Him.
She could feel the heat before witnessing the flame. White hot and furious, it licked the inner contours of her body, rising like a pit of loathing deep in her chest. It was surging through her veins, setting alight this wondrous feeling of power, more so than she had ever experienced in her entire life. She felt unburdened almost, uplifted, enlightened and in control of her surroundings for the first time in many, many moments.
Direction was never the aim. Even if it was she was unsure of how exactly to achieve such a thing. She could feel his eyes on her, watching intently behind his protective glass. Eyes so familiar to her but so very, very hardened, so she focused all her attention on them. She would not let him stare her down. Not like this.
Not ever.
The explosion shook the ground beneath her feet and the very fibre of her being…
The very last thing she saw was him, furiously waving and barking orders at unseen allies. A small, sly smirk graced her lips…that was her cue to leave.
Olivia awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright in her bed. The after affects of her dream, memory, etched into her muddled, sleep-ridden brain. They had become a regular nightly occurrence of late. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she wiped the beads of sweat that glistened her forehead. She took two deep breaths trying to regulate her frantic gasps.
"Livia?" a groggy yet concerned voice whispered into the darkness.
She turned slowly to her left, a small smile sneaking onto her face without her permission.
"Sorry…just a dream, go back to sleep," she murmured, shifting in the bed slightly, preparing to get out.
"Oh no you don't," came the speedy reply as a pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around her waist from behind and pulled her back down onto the mattress.
The disobedient smile grew larger as the room was illuminated in a soft, bed-side light and she was confronted by her late-night companion. Hands, soft but sturdy, cradled each side of her face as two blue-green eyes stared down at her, twinkling brightly.
"Peter, you should go back to sleep, we have work in the-"
"-Shhh…" he interrupted quietly, a finger pressing to her lips. It must have been the exhaustion in her because otherwise she never would have let him away with shushing her. But, tonight she felt herself comply and she was rewarded with a cheeky grin and a soft peck on the cheek.
Now, she couldn't have that.
His lips connected with her skin in a gentle touch, barely heavier than a butterfly's wing. As he pulled back to gaze down at her once more, she raised her signature eyebrow, biting her bottom lip.
He knew what that meant.
Slowly, she encircled her arms around his clothed back, stroking the fabric over his shoulder blades lightly with her fingers. Peter responded happily, suddenly wide awake, his hands trailing down each side of her body, stopping to clasp her waist, his thumbs rubbing circles into her exposed flesh.
"What happened to work tomorrow?" he murmured into her ear, his hot breath ricocheting off her skin causing a fleet of goose bumps to appear. She could barely contain the goaded shiver that threatened to escape her.
"I did say you should get some sleep…" she mumbled, adopting an innocent tone, before her nimble fingers travelled down, tantalisingly slow to the hem of his t-shirt, "but then you started to tease me…and I don't like being teased," she finished, a full, sly grin plastered on her face as she expertly removed his t-shirt at lightening speed.
If the man weren't used to such a thing, he would have been surprised at her vigour. Shaking his head, he laughed lightly, before being cut off by his girlfriend's lips capturing his.
Peter's heart raced in his chest as Olivia nibbled roughly on his lower lip. The kiss deepened, their tongues wrestling for dominance as they usually did. Olivia ran her hands down his bare chest, only halting as she reached the fascinating line of light brown hair that travelled from his navel. Peter could feel the smirk beginning to form as she further lowered her hands with deliberate impatience, reaching out to drag down the plain black boxers that were now covering the evidence of his obvious enjoyment.
"Nuh uh," he said suddenly, pulling his lips from hers, clasping her hands in his and looking deeply into her eyes that were now heavy lidded, clouded with desire.
"Peter-"
He cut her off with a chaste kiss to the nape of her neck, teeth gently nipping and sucking as he pulled the tank top over her head. It seemed he wanted to level out the playing field. His mouth left her neck, leaving a hot trail of kisses around her throat, down her collar bone to rest on her breasts, that were now, he noted happily, laid bare in front of him.
He looked up at her, then, as she lay half naked underneath him. She was gazing down at him with those same desire-ridden irises, and yet, he detected a hint of something else there entirely. A shine, a small glint of something behind those complex orbs as she gasped out little turfs of breath, her hand raising to stroke his hair.
He knew there were more being said silently at this moment then either of them were willing to admit, so he raised up on his elbows and met her lips, softer this time, slower than before.
And then, he felt it. And so did she. Like they always did.
I love you.
The infamous, unspoken words between them. The three little words that always made an appearance at times like these, always silently, and for that the two were grateful.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how he looked at it) Peter realized that this was a night that Olivia was feeling particularly impish. Meaning, she used his temporary moment of "weakness" to turn the tables on him.
"Humph!" he exclaimed, his lips never leaving hers as she flipped him over, quickly straddling him.
Softly, she broke the kiss, pecking him lightly on the jaw, before staring down at him, her beautifully olive eyes glinting triumphantly at her success. Peter just shook his head, laughing a little, before reaching up and laying a biting kiss to her breast, his hand massaging the other.
Though she'd never admit it, Peter had the most profound effect on Olivia, especially in moments such as these. She fought the urge arch her back and groan (as she knew that would just be too easy) so, she decided to inflict her own form of 'render-him-idiotic' blissful torture…and with an IQ such as Peter's, Olivia took special pride in her efforts.
"Peter…" she murmured, her breath bouncing rhythmically against his ear, as she slipped her hands down into his boxers.
"Olivia…" he whispered, half-groaning in response to her wandering hands as he fought to keep his eyes open. Olivia leant forward, her soft hair tickling his chest as she bent her neck to kiss him.
And that's when he saw it. The small, oddly shaped, black and red tattoo…
Peter's eyes snapped open, his breathing jagged as he frantically searched his surroundings. It was considerably darker, he noticed, as his gaze flickering to the television in the corner that was casting an eerie glowing shadow into the dimly lit apartment. He didn't remember falling asleep. Frowning, he continued to look around and realized his was on Olivia's couch.
Turning his head to the left, his eyes were greeted by a calming sight, Olivia, the real Olivia was curled up, fast asleep. As the dream-turned-nightmare remained etched into his brain, he found himself staring down at his companion. A frown graced her face, a crease forming between her eyebrows as she shivered a little.
Before he knew what he was doing, Peter shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her. She stirred for a moment, turning in his direction. He just hoped she wasn't having a nightmare - he really didn't want to wake her up, this was the first real rest she'd gotten since they sedated her in hospital.
He kept his gaze on her, longer than necessary, drinking in her form for the first time since she returned. He hated thinking back to that painful time when she came hurdling back to this universe (literally), badly damaged (both inside and out) and so…fragile, so…un-Olivia. He knew, logically, that was mere days ago but now, now that she was home, he hoped, damn-near prayed (almost) that this was the road to a full recovery.
He tried talking to her about it, hoping and wishing she would open up to him. But, so far, she was practically mute on the subject, only providing the necessary details, ala she was the real Olivia, the other was from Over There, she was captured (Peter didn't have to guess by whom) and held against her will. But she wouldn't budge on the rest. Her lips remained tightly sealed. And it was killing him.
He couldn't bare the thought of the unknown - his mind was going into overdrive as he imagined what his…father…could have done to her in those many days of darkened incarceration. It made him sick to his stomach thinking about it, and his imagination was hell bent on destroying him. That's when the nightmares started.
Some were glimpses of Olivia being held and having tortuous things done to her, others were of him blissfully unaware that he was being intimate with the wrong Livia and others were like the one he just awoke from, his Livia's escape from that man, the pain she went through, while he was busy sleeping with her doppelganger.
The uncharted guilt plagued him every day of her return as he thought, really thought of his behaviour with Alt-Olivia the last few weeks. He had his suspicions right from the start (he does know her well after all) but he kept putting the little…alterations down to - he cringed just thinking about it - the awkwardness between them.
Really, he felt just, idiotic and more than a little narcissistic as he remembered himself, less than a month ago, explaining away all of 'Olivia's' "weirdness" on what happened between them Over There. He was plain disgusted with himself as he finally figured out the truth. How could he be so stupid? It seemed, when it came to matters of the heart, having an IQ of 190 means not a damn thing.
He thanked his lucky stars that it never got physical between him and the other Dunham, he really didn't think he could handle that if his guilt-o-meter was anything to go by now. He felt sick as he reflected on the kiss that happened between, the one that felt so very, very wrong…
As his eyes passed over Olivia's sleeping form once more, he thought back to the real kiss, the one that caused his heart to damn near stop.
You belong with me.
The four greatest words he'd heard in his thirty two years of life.
That was what it was supposed to feel like. Not the, travesty that he felt when he kissed…her.
Sighing, he decided that he couldn't just sit here all night and watch her sleep (even though that's all he wanted desperately to do) so he made plans to make some coffee, just to give him something to do. Just as he was about to stand up, Olivia made a noise and began tossing. He tried not to think of what the noise sounded like…a whimper. She was definitely not having a good dream.
"No…don't…" she whispered into the gloom, beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead.
Before he could stop himself, Peter reached out and cupped her cheek, preparing to wake her. But, gradually, he felt the tension leave her body and the mumbling stop. She was still now, almost relaxed, her breathing deep and even.
When he was satisfied that she was okay, he let go of her cheek, barely restraining himself from kissing her forehead, cheek, lips…Sighing, he stood up and stretched, his aching muscles groaning in protest.
Realizing that continuing to sleep in a seated position would take its toll on Olivia's already wounded body, he considered moving her into her bed before quickly remembering that Olivia would probably not be impressed by that decision.
Going with the safer option (she was the one with the gun after all) he gently placed his arms under her knees and as attentively as possible he shifted her until she was lying down. He knew she must have been exhausted as usually she was such a light sleeper and would wake at the smallest of noise but now she barely moved an inch. He felt himself staring down at her again, drinking in her face that was covered physical evidence of her ordeal. A large faded purple bruise that engulfed almost the entire left side, a split lip with evidence of dried blood, a long, jagged scratch starting from her under right eye…all of it, proof of the horrid truth that Peter wished more than anything that he could have experienced and not her.
Anyone but her.
Sighing, (he had been doing a lot of that lately) he took one last look at her, before turning on his heel and making his way into her kitchen. Emotionally, he felt useless, obsolete, he couldn't…wouldn't out of fear, try and make her talk about everything, but he felt, he needed, to do something, anything useful.
Rummaging in her cabinets, he was thankful that Rachel had packed them full with food as he decided that if he could not help Olivia emotionally than perhaps he could at least help her physically and prepare her some proper food to eat. Of course, Olivia being Olivia, she would probably refrain from eating it, but he had to at least try.
And then maybe, after he tried this, he would gain the courage to try broach something he found a little more fearsome…
A/N: Okay so I decided to stop it there. I do have more written (where Olivia and Peter finally talk it out about what exactly she went through etc.) but I think that that would work better as a separate chapter. I will have an update ASAP.
The next chapter will focus more on Olivia's point of view (what's going on in her head etc.) as this chapter was all Peter.
PLEASE PLEASE let me know if I should bump up the rating to 'M' now (as there will more than likely be more of the above to follow that is a lot more in detail) or should I wait until that particular chapter is written and then bump it up?
I would love a review or two lol =]
