Chapter Two –

Everything has a place, and every place has a name, but none of them remain the same.

Olivia stood on the hard wood floor of her Apartment entryway feeling like a soldier in a foreign land.

Feet braced wide in a in a defensive posture, Olivia surveyed her home. On the outside everything looked the same; the same furniture, the same layout; the same lamp and table; couch and chair…but she knew it would never be the same.

She had heard often times from victims of break-ins that it took a long time to feel comfortable in their own homes again; they often spoke of feeling violated, of being strangers in their own homes.

Olivia's home had not simply been invaded; no one had come in and taken her things, this stranger taken her life.

Olivia had been violated in every way possible, her home; her work; her persona; even the man she loved; all stolen from her in her own bed. And what was worse; the people she loved, the Man she loved had not noticed a thing.

Olivia left her place in the foyer and walked to the bedroom.

She refused to think of it; even in her own mind as her bedroom—nothing in this house could ever be just hers again.

Still there were some things Olivia could not bear to leave. She took a suit case from the closet and began wandering through the house.

She took the picture of Ella and Rachel from the shelf; and the two of her and her mother.

She took one with her and Walter, they were in the lab with Astrid behind them she was smiling and he had half a cotton candy stuck in his mouth, this was the way she wanted to remember him the most, his eccentric goofy side, not the dark brooding man tortured by his own inner demons.

Olivia had enough demons of her own to deal with.

She did not take the photo of her and Peter; though it was a snapshot of her, and not the Other. She did not want it in her suitcase.

Olivia didn't need a picture to remind her of Peter's face; he had haunted her dreams for years; and haunted her conscious mind on the other side; the only face she could see now was the one he wore when he told her about the other Olivia, when he looked her in the eyes and told her he'd been with her, while she realized he'd been happy with someone else while she'd been gone.

Olivia moved on from the shelf taking two of her favorite books from the collection pleased to see the dust on the jacket; at least she could be certain these had not been touched by the Other.

Olivia passed slowly through each room adding various knickknacks to the case, when the case was barely half full she had nothing else to add to it.

Returning to the bedroom Olivia set the case on the bed; already striped of its sheets and pillows, she had not been able to do the laundry the previous night as she had intended, and Olivia doubted that if she'd washed the items a thousand times they'd never feel clean again. So Olivia set out to find something else to wear, something untouched.

Digging through the bottom drawers in her dresser she found a really old worn pair of jeans with a hole in the knee and frayed hems, College jeans; cadet jeans, she had not worn these in years; and judging from the fact that they were still buried deep in the drawer neither had the Other.

Pulling the jeans out to rest on the suit case Olivia continued searching through her drawers eventually finding a shirt folded deep in the bottom that seemed untouched. Then returning momentarily to the kitchen she retrieved the kitchen trash bags from under the sink and began piling the clothes left in the dresser and closet into the large black casings. Piling them by the apartment door she returned to the bedroom picked up the jeans and shirt and carried them into the bathroom.

As quickly as she could Olivia striped her clothes and showered; ignoring the puff that hung on the wall of her shower she used her hands instead to make a soapy lather. Bypassing the brush and comb on her vanity top Olivia finger combed her hair and pulled it back into a low bun again. Not bothering with the makeup on the counter Olivia rinsed her mouth with mouthwash ignoring the toothbrush and then methodically dumped everything in the bathroom into another large bag and piled them by the door.

The jeans were just a bit snug; but they were worn and soft and the t-shirt though wrinkled from the bottom drawer was a neutral color and would blend in almost anywhere. Olivia caught her reflection in the mirror and for a moment could see the girl she used to be in college…all that was missing was a hat and a shoulder bag.

Emerging into the living room Olivia flipped open the borrowed gov't laptop that she'd been handed a few days earlier; her personal laptop having been confiscated as evidence with the Other's files.

Flipping it open and on Olivia quickly brought up the local craigslist and scanning through the Wanted section found a family that was in desperate need of furniture after a house fire. Without a second thought Olivia flipped open the phone and dialed the number listed.

The sky was a dark grey, heavy with rain when Olivia left the apartment. Emerging into the parking lot with the small red suitcase and her keys she approached the black SUV that she had driven so many times; that Peter had driven with her riding shot gun; pouring over some file or photo while Walter carried on in the backseat.

Climbing into the front seat and tossing the suitcase to the side Olivia started the engine and pulled out of the complex.

Heading down the road with no particular direction in mind Olivia came to a stop sign and there on the side of the road was a 'Buy Here Pay Here' car lot. A dark olive green hard-top jeep with a scratch on its right bumper was parked on what little grass there was out front.

It looked strange to see such a vehicle in this urban jungle. The car looked trapped and out of place, encased in the flimsy plastic flags proclaiming a sale the jeep vaguely reminded her of a caged zoo animal; pacing its confines and dreaming of wild open spaces. The jeep was a caged animal in the lot the way Olivia was a caged animal in her apartment, in her job, in this city…in every aspect of her life.

Olivia instantly loved the thing.

Pulling a u-turn she made it into the lot and entered the tiny office building to make an inquiry about it. It was in good condition; and ran well, without carpets or frills it was a 4-wheel drive off-roading machine built for finding the freedom she so desperately craved.

Three hours later Olivia left the lot having traded in her SUV for some cash, the title and keys, her new atlas map added to the faded red suitcase. Olivia once again hit the streets looking nothing like the former agent she had resembled just this morning.

Flipping through her Atlas Olivia closed her eyes and picked a place and then grinning pointed the car in the direction of a different kind of unknown. The first few fat raindrops tapped against the hard top as she merged on the highway and settled in for the drive.

The city was weeping for her as Olivia's tail lights disappeared from view; swallowed up by the rain.