I hadn't given up on this story, i've just had a lot on my plate lately. I've got another liv/peter story brwing as well as an alt-liv story on its way. But i thought this needed another chapter. I had no idea we had so many lincoln fans out there!

May-September

Lincoln was invincible.

Well, not literally invincible, but he certainly felt that way. He'd been burnt to a crisp by a doppleganger version of his younger brother's girlfriend (if that made any sense at all) and he'd been in a Nanite chamber ever since.

So yes, today he feels invincible. Why today, though? It's the day he gets out of the chamber for the first time. It's somewhere in August, because he when he was putting on a pair of soft white cotton sweats he glanced over at the calendar. Yes, he was totally invincible. He'd survived a 90% burn on his body. With a cocky grin on his lips he stepped into the sunlight to warm his newly generated skin.

He wasn't allowed outside the building, but sitting by the window was close enough. Lincoln sat in the plush chair with a cup of tea in his hands staring outside. The sun was bright today and he could see the busy New York traffic below. The wind stirred the leaves on the street but people walked carefree in close for warm weather. It must have been a hot breeze. He pressed his hand against the glass to feel just how hot it was when-

"It's like 90 degrees out," came a loud gruff male voice. Lincoln turned around to see Charlie, his co-worker slash employee leaning against the doorframe. Lincoln smiled.

"And yet you still wear a heavy jacket."

"My skin gets all creepy crawling when it gets hot outside," Charlie said. Lincoln smiled.

"Right, those bugs like the heat."

"They're not bugs-"

"Spiders, whatever," Lincoln said, watching as he flexed his forearm. He'd never seen his muscle beneath his skin before, but he could see it through the repairing skin.

"Neat," Charlie commented, pointing to his nearly clear skin. Lincoln flexed his arm again and placed it down next to him.

"Liv come with you?" Lincoln asked, hoping to see the girl again.

"Yeah, funny thing about that," Charlie started, watching as Lincoln stared out the window. He leaned against the frame of the door and waited for his boss-turned friend- to look at him.

"What?"

"Livvy's doppleganger got me."

"What?" he said, turning around, mirth in his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Her doppleganger, you know," he said, cheeks flushing red, "Smashed a bottle over my head."

"Wow Charlie, you couldn't tell them apart?"

"You couldn't probably," Charlie said in his defense. Lincoln chuckled. He would always be able to tell his Livvy apart. There's only one thing he'd have to do.

Liv wouldn't admit it aloud, or admit it ever, but they had an affair, a super secretive affair that continued until the point where he got burned to a crisp. He knew his Olive very well. There was nothing that could make him doubt that.

"I can't believe she got you with a bottle," Lincoln snickered.

"She came back for Peter Bishop," Charlie said with a straight face. Lincoln's eyes widened.

"That's a mean joke."

"Apparently the Alternate Olivia is dating him," Charlie shrugged, "Anyway they're gone. But Olivia's not with us."

"What are you talking about," Lincoln growled angrily, watching as his skin faltered in its coloring process. He had forgotten that anger altered the re-growth.

"I mean," Charlie said, walking toward him to stand by the window and watch the people outside, "That she took a fall and hit her head. She's under intensive care at the DOD building."

Lincoln let out a low whistle. She must have hit her head hard. No one just ends up in ICU at the Secretary's private lab. He'd been there once, his father had fallen ill and he wound up under the protective arm of Mr. Secretary and his private doctors. Olivia must have been in serious conditions.

"When will she be better?" he asked Charlie, absently picking at the hem of his shirt.

Charlie shrugged. "Dunno. Soon, maybe."

"I want to see her."

"You can't-"

"Don't tell me what I can or can't do," Lincoln snapped at him, his muscles flexing.

"Agent Lee," snapped his doctor as she walked in. "You must remain calm and keep your blood pressure low, or you will not be allowed to color your pigment naturally."

"That means a spray tan for you," sing-songed Charlie as Lincoln glared at him. He didn't say anything but moved to the chair that sat by the window. Sitting down, Lincoln outstretched his legs and inhaled deeply. He missed being outside. He could feel his muscle mass deteriorating every second and it irked him to no end to know that it will be painful to rebuild it. He never was really brute force (that had always been Nick, but God knows where that scrape was anyway?) but he was fast, speed wise.

He not only could feel his body deteriorating by the moment, but he felt stupider, like he was losing brain mass as well. Known for his impeccable science skills, he didn't want his intelligence to waste away while he sat in a regenerating chamber. Deciding he didn't want to sit still and think he turned and looked at his doctor.

"Could I get something to read, or listen too?" he asked lowly, unhappy that she had snapped at him earlier.

The woman stepped over to him and looked at his skin closely, mostly examining his ears. After a few feather-light touches she stepped back and wrote something down on that ominous clipboard before speaking.

"I can't give you an earpiece Agent Lee, " she started, "But I can get you a book."

"Great. Something on negative matter rings or energies," Lincoln said with a less than charming smile. The woman grinned back at him and then left the room, leaving him and Charlie to themselves again.

"She's hot," Charlie commented with a grin.

"You're spoken for," Lincoln said with a smile.

"Anya would agree though," Charlie said with a laugh in his voice.

"Sometimes I think you're dating a man," Lincoln asked. Charlie shrugged.

"We just get along, really well," he answered. "Hey, why don't you ever read anything light?"

"Light?"

"Negative matter rings," Charlie commented, taking the seat next to Lincoln in the window. His skin had become considerably less clear than when Charlie first saw him, but the pale color was still there. "Come on, read something else, like actual fiction."

"I have no idea what that is," Lincoln mocked, laughing at Charlie with his eyes. "No thanks."

"Come on, there must be some genre you like to read."

"None," Lincoln lied, covering what he knew would give him away. Charlie grinned.

"You like those books, don't you?" Charlie teased.

"If by those you mean non-fiction educational science books, then yes," Lincoln answered, tipping his head back over the side of the chair. He looked up at the plain white ceiling and grinned, feeling the muscles working on his face.

"I mean those books," Charlie said, "The ones Liv reads occasionally."

"And what kind of books would those be?" Lincoln asked skeptically. In truth he would read those books, occasionally, but Charlie would never let him live that admittance down.

It was an ex-girlfriend that actually got him to read one of those romantic type novels once. She was rich beyond her wildest imagination, a beautiful flat in upper New York with furnishings that could rival the current king of England himself. She was brilliant and perfect, a light and happy soul that loved him unconditionally. There was just one issue with her-wel not her, him. He just couldn't love her. But for a long while, six months, he could love her just right. Course it broke his heart when they broke up, and course it broke his heart when that scientist from the DOD married her, but it was worth it. He smiled and shook his head.

"Liv actually reads those things?" Lincoln asked, though he knew very well she did.

"I saw it in her locker once."

"Of course you did," Lincoln teased, watching as Charlie watched his face. Just then Lincoln's doctor reappeared with a book in her hands. She set it down on the table next to him.

"You have another hour before you have to go back Agent Lee," the woman scolded. Lincoln gave her a charming smile and she turned, shutting the door so Charlie and him could be alone.

"She's a fun one, isn't she?" Charlie commented dryly. Lincoln shrugged.

"Takes things a bit seriously," Lincoln murmured, opening the book that was placed near him. Charlie remained with him for a few moments longer before Lincoln looked at him.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Lincoln teased.

"Oh, where?" Charlie asked, a grin on his lips.

"Like work."

"Even when you're half fleshed you're still bossy," Charlie murmured.

"I figured it was your lunch time, that's why you're here," Lincoln said, "And yes, even while I'm half fleshed, I'm still your boss."

"Yes sir," Charlie mocked. He stood up and grinned at Lincoln. "It's good to see you man."

"Aww," Lincoln grinned. Charlie looked at him patiently. Lincoln nodded. "It's good to see you too."

"Feel better man," Charlie said, lightly touching his back. Lincoln nodded before returning to his book.

Charlie was the only one that ever came to see him.


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