* Hello dear readers! Thank you for stopping by and reading my fic. I appreciate and love every one of you. In my writing, I love making parallels between the corresponding chapters, so try to catch all the references I make to the last chapter in our universe. Anyways, as usual, nothing is mine. And reviews are greatly appreciated, I LOVE ANY FEEDBACK. I'm new at all this, so tell me if there is something I'm doing wrong. Thank you.*

CHAPTER 4: CRASHING DOWN (OVER THERE)

It had been exactly one week that Olivia had been staying with her mother. She had been back in her universe for that same amount of time, and had yet to return to her apartment with Frank. He was still gone in North Texas, but she couldn't even handle going back to her old apartment at all, with or without Frank.

She felt guilty just thinking about him. Her feelings were confusing her. Every time she thought of what she had done, a part of her felt happy. But she shouldn't feel good about what she had done. She had betrayed the man that loved her, and the man that she loved in return. She loved Frank. Not Peter. Right?

Olivia was eating breakfast in the small table in the warm-yellow kitchen. She could remember convincing her mother to paint the walls yellow, to add a bit of cheer to the room. She was reminiscing about that day when her mother entered the kitchen with a sigh. Olivia knew why her mother was upset. Her mother knew something was wrong, but Olivia wouldn't budge. No matter how many times she pleaded to know what was wrong, Olivia just smiled and said her auto-response, "Nothing."

She was keeping her troubles to herself, and not letting anyone in. It was something the other Olivia did. Not her. She had never bottled up everything inside before. She had always felt like she could trust the people in her life with anything. Until now. She could always tell her mother anything before. But what was she supposed to say? Nothing Olivia said to justify why she had been so isolated and withdrawn would be an acceptable response.

This morning though, her mother had had enough of the "I'm fines" and the "Nothings." She just wanted to help her daughter.

"Olivia, we need to talk."

She looked up innocently, as if she had no idea what her mother meant. Marilyn sat down in the chair opposite Olivia and waited for her to spill her heart. But she didn't. Olivia kept quiet, and it was this simple action, or non-action, that led to Marilyn breaking.

"What happened to you, Olivia?" She leaned forward in her chair, placing her hands on her daughter's. Olivia pulled her hands away.

"I don't know what you mean," she shot back.

"Yes, you know exactly what I mean. For the past two weeks, you haven't been yourself. First, you're acting strange, ignoring my calls and forgetting our lunch plans. Then you don't come home for three nights and when I call your office, I get your voicemail. Then all of a sudden, you're on my doorstep practically begging to stay with me. No explanation, nothing. I'm just worried, Olivia. What happened with Frank?"

Olivia finally raised her eyes to meet her mother's. She's surprised that her mother assumed it had anything to do with Frank that she finally started to tell the truth.

"It wasn't Frank."

"Then who was it?" her mother asked gently. She touched Olivia's hand once again, but this time Olivia didn't shy away. "Lincoln?"

Olivia smiled at the absurdity. She knew better than to have a relationship with someone on her team. She only wished the other Olivia had known this as well.

"No, it wasn't Lincoln. He had nothing to do with it."

"Olivia, you can tell me what happened. I'm your mother, and I love you. I will always love you, no matter what."

Olivia swallowed back the tears that had threatened to escape. She shouldn't be crying, it meant being weak. It meant admitting everything that happened to her in the past nine weeks had indeed taken its toll, no matter what she tells anyone at work. But Olivia missed her mother so much during her time on the other side.

"Mom…" Her voice came out hushed and broken. She couldn't believe she's telling someone this. She's going to sound insane. But someone needed to know. Olivia couldn't keep this secret bottled up inside any longer. She'd burst. "I'm going to tell you everything. And I know you're going to want to interrupt, but can you please let me finish first?"

Her mother was taken aback, but nodded her head. "Okay." Then she squeezed Olivia's hand gently, reassuringly. That was all she needed to start.

"I haven't been here for the past eight weeks." Her mother opened her mouth to interrupt, but Olivia talked louder. "I was on a mission from the Secretary. He sent me to an alternate universe."

Those two words hung in the air like humidity, but when her mother didn't comment, Olivia continued.

"This other universe is like ours, but slightly different. There are versions of us Over There." She stopped to gauge her mother's reaction, but her face was reserved. Olivia took a deep breath before continuing.

"Nine weeks ago, there was a breach in the Opera House in New York. Five people from the Other Universe crossed over to ours. One of them was the alternate me. When they tried to return to their universe, the Secretary took their Olivia and told me to replace her. I went back with them, to the other side."

Olivia purposefully left out the minor details of why the alternates had come here in the first place, and who the alternate Olivia had come with.

"The Secretary had their Olivia over here, and she eventually worked for our Fringe Division, as you probably already guessed." Her mother nodded for her to continue, but Olivia wasn't going to go down that road. She needed to talk about her own time in the other universe.

"My mission was to infiltrate their Fringe Division." She also left out important details of her mission. She wasn't sure anyone was supposed to know, let alone a civilian. She was breaking all kinds of protocol telling her mother everything she was.

"And I did. No one on their side noticed I wasn't her. I had assistance from our side, of course, but not once in eight weeks was there any shred of doubt about who I was."

Olivia paused. She was getting to the complicating part, for her at least.

"But since I had to be her, it meant I had to keep up any relationships she had."

Another pause, and Marilyn squeezed her hand again. "It's okay, Olivia."

"The other Olivia was in love with a man on their team. He was all she had. And I had to keep the charade up so he wouldn't get suspicious. Mom—I…"

Tears welled in her eyes, but Olivia didn't let herself cry. She couldn't believe herself. She had gone soft, because of the enemy.

But were they really her enemy? No. She couldn't doubt herself. The second she doubted everything she had been told, everything she had been fighting so hard for, they would win.

"I betrayed Frank. I let him down," Olivia finally admitted. Her mother got up from her chair and kneeled down beside her.

"Olivia," she sighed. "You can't think like that. I know you would never do something to intentionally hurt Frank. You did it because you had no choice. It was the right thing to do. Right?"

Olivia looked down at her mother and shook her head. "That's just it. I don't know anymore. At the time, I thought it was for the mission. But now…"

"Do you still have feelings for this man?"

How was she supposed to answer that? She didn't even understand her feelings, hadn't had enough time to truly decipher them herself. Everything was so confusing. She just wished she could go back to the way things were before.

But she knew there was no going back.

She had to face her feelings head on. Which meant admitting to herself, and aloud to her mother, that she did still have feelings for Peter.

Slowly, Olivia nodded. "I do," she said weakly. Her mother made an undistinguishable noise and before Olivia could stop it, she was engulfed in a hug. She was about to shy away from her mother's touch—she felt so unworthy of it—but then she decided that she needed this.

If there was one thing she learned about the other Olivia from her time over there, it was that she shied away from anything that admitted she was weak. This habit she had of hiding from the people who cared about her, from blocking them out, was what enabled her to take the other Olivia's place at all. No one on their side truly knew their Olivia.

So she didn't care that it meant being weak. She hugged her mother back. Olivia needed to reestablish all the things that made her who she was. Or she would lose herself.

"Thank you," she said when her mother pulled away.

"Olive," her mother sighed, placing a hand on Olivia's cheek. "I'm glad you told me, about him."

"It feels… good, actually," Olivia said.

Marilyn continued to smile at her daughter lovingly. "I'm glad it helped."

Olivia stood up suddenly, motivated by the sudden relief from having that secret on her chest. "I think I'm ready to go home."

"Are—are you sure, Olivia?"

Olivia smiled. "I am. I'm going back to the apartment."

Marilyn looked both happy and sad for her daughter. It was like having to say their goodbyes when Olivia went to college all over again.

"I'll miss having you home."

"You can still come see me," Olivia said. "And we're still on for lunch."

At this, Marilyn smiled broadly.

"Lunch it is."

Olivia went upstairs to pack her bag. She was surprised at how few items had escaped the suitcase. It was as if the bag was ready and simply waiting for her to realize that she was ready, too. She picked up her new backpack, having lost the one she intended to bring back with her from the other side. The one with the only thing she wanted to take back to this world. A reminder of Peter.

But now, she realized she didn't need the strip of pictures. It had been a stupid idea to want to bring them back in the first place. It would only hurt to remember her time on the other side. And she was moving on, anyways.

With any luck, Frank would be back soon and they could rekindle their relationship. She would feel like she belonged again.

Because no matter how much she pretended that she belonged with Peter on that side, in order to keep up the charade, every time he called her name, brushed her hair behind her ear or caressed her gently, she knew it had nothing to do with her. He was doing everything for the woman he loved. The woman he belonged with.

And she felt angry for ever have been placed in a situation to jeopardize that. And she knew who was behind it all.

Olivia picked up her suitcase and left the room, not even looking back once. She hugged her mother on her way out and they said their goodbyes.

When the taxi pulled up to the curb, she gave the man her Show Me. When she smiled at him politely, the man's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Olivia?" he asked. She peered in the cab and her trained eyes caught the name Henry Higgins on his Show Me. The name didn't ring any bells.

"Do I know you?" Her eyes were like daggers, and suddenly Henry knew he had made a mistake. He tried to cover it up, but Olivia saw right through it. He had encountered the other Olivia before.

"I'm not her."

Henry nodded once and Olivia took her Show Me back. She got in the taxi and waved goodbye to her mother. She gave him the address to her apartment and he pulled away.

She could feel his eyes on her through the mirror and she looked at him.

"Something wrong?" she asked, annoyance seeping into her tone. She would never be able to escape her.

"It's nothing. I've just seen someone who looks just like you." Henry laughed lightly and Olivia raised her eyebrows, egging him on. "It's just… the last time I saw her, she told me some ridiculously far-fetched story and I never saw her again."

He looked at her again, gauging her reaction, but Olivia's face was emotionless.

"I… I figured she was put away, you know, for other people's safety."

Olivia shook her head. How much had the other Olivia told him? I guess she had no options, no one on this side she could trust. She trusted just about anyone with her secret to get back.

"Henry," Olivia interrupted Henry's rambling, an obvious attempt at fixing his earlier mistake. "She made it back home."

He stared at Olivia, not knowing whether he should acknowledge what she was saying. Something in her expression though convinced him that this Olivia could be trusted. He nodded. "Thanks."

"What…" Olivia paused, "what was she like?"

Henry looked at Olivia through the mirror. He saw desperation, and fear etched on her face. "She was passionate. Adamant about getting home. Would do anything to go back home. She was like a broken record, always saying she had to get home—to a parallel universe—and she didn't belong here. She said…"

"It's okay," Olivia said quietly. "You can tell me."

"She said they were trying to convince her she was someone she wasn't."

He looked at Olivia once more in the mirror. Olivia nodded, saying yeah…me. At that moment, Olivia knew what the Secretary had been doing to her, to the other Olivia, to everyone in both universes was wrong. No one individual man had the right to take away people's free will. And that's essentially what the Secretary was doing. Olivia's view suddenly shifted. She no longer saw herself as fighting against the other side. She had been there, lived among them for eight weeks, even fallen in love with someone from that side. She knew they meant herself and her world no harm. They were all victims here, with the same villain.

They were all on the same side. And maybe what Peter said to her on that dark, cold night, when he had gone to get her coffee, about there being another way to end this war, had some merit. Maybe one world didn't have to die for the other to survive. Maybe they could all live together, in harmony.

All of her preconceived notions of who was the hero and who was the villain, who was in the right and who was in the wrong, came crashing down. There could be another way. Peter was right. And now it was her job to help the rest of her world see what the Other Side already knows: that they were not at war.

But to achieve this end, something—or someone—had to give.

"Henry?" Olivia asked after he didn't continue talking. "Did you help her?"

"I got her as far as Liberty Island. Did it help?"

Olivia nodded, and smiled. "Yeah. It did."

For the remainder of the ride, Henry was considerably more cheerful. They talked about the other Olivia more, but Henry didn't press for details on why someone was brainwashing her. He didn't ask about the parallel universe either, partially because Olivia believed Henry thought that was all nonsense. When they pulled onto the curb in front of Olivia's apartment, he helped her with her suitcase.

"Take care now," he told her.

"Thank you, Henry," she said sincerely. "For everything you did for her." Olivia knew that since her doppelganger was like her in so many different ways, she had been desperate to return home. She needed some hope to cling to, anything to help her. Henry had been her hope. And for that, Olivia was very grateful. She would need her other self if she had any hope of ending this unnecessary war.