thank you my lovely 4 reviwers! not quite the jump i saw before, but it's quite allright. In this chapter we see a little more back story. We see a little more about Peter and what made him how he is right now. anyway i cranked this out between homework assignments. The next one may be up by thursday at the latest. Anyway i hope i can get a few more reviews. Even if you want to critiize, please. i want to hear what YOU are thinking!

t for language and implications.

summary: Peter is the man he didn't want to be. But why?

She didn't say much on the plane ride over to New York. It was partly because she was asleep for some of the trip and partly because she was busy calculating things in her head. She had studied her father as she was falling asleep, watching him through shaded eyes as he stared out the window. He draped one leg over the other, his ankle hooking on his knee and his hands holding a glass of whisky. She noticed he remained unmarried and she wasn't sure if she was happy about that or upset. Her eyes wandered from him to her brother whom seemed to be absorbed by something in his hands.

She felt a pang run through her heart when she looked at him. Her mother only had her. She knew it for a fact. And yet here sat a man that looked like her father with red hair. Had he already had a family before he met her mother? Did he really love her mother at all then? These questions clouded her mind as she made a list of the things she knew about her father. Her father was a liar. Maybe not a liar, but he wasn't telling the truth. Was he leaving out parts for her protection or for his own? She also knew her father was checking his words. Was he doing this because he was the secretary of defense? That raised another question. How did a 'bartender' go from being a no one in one world and important in the next? Did it have to do with her 'grandfather'?

But as she filled her mind with those questions, her body begged for sleep, and she fell asleep on the plane, only to be awoken by a gentle nudge on her shoulder. Peering open one eye she rubbed her cheek and sat up, Peter right next to her.

"We're almost home," he said gently, but the words wouldn't sit with her.

"You're almost home," she corrected him groggily, and he chuckled under his breath as she stumbled up to stand. Righting herself she got off the plane and into yet another limo, heading off to New York City. It was just barely getting dark outside, and she figured it must have been around 5:30 in the evening. Her 'brother' climbed in after her and shut the door. He hadn't even spoken once to her yet, but she could see by the flexing of his jaw that he was every bit as uncomfortable in her presence as she was in his.

"Are you married to his mom?" Lauren asked bluntly, sick and tired of the silly lies her father was telling.

"No."

It was said with such frankness that she had to believe him. She looked at her father and then over to her 'brother' who stared at her blatantly. His gaze was critical and she frowned at him. His own smile was drawn into a frown itself, the lines on his puppy dog face drawn downwardly. His eyes judged her critically and she looked away from him.

"So tell me," she said, "Why did you come over to my world if you had a family over here?"

"It's not that simple."

"Of course it's not," Lauren answered angrily. His cryptic manner was bothering her immensely.

"Did he kidnap you too?" she said, turning to address James.

"No," he answered shortly. He wouldn't even look at Lauren. The temper inside Lauren flared but she kept it down, turning to stare out her own window.

"Dinner will be at the house tonight," Peter announced emotionlessly, "Tomorrow Lauren, James will take you shopping for clothes."

"You still live with your father?"

"You don't?" he asked her. Lauren's jaw snapped. James knew very well she didn't.

"No."

Just then the car pulled to a stop and a valet opened the door for them.

"Welcome home, Mr. Secretary."

James stepped out first and Lauren followed, gazing up at the large lavish building. She hadn't been to New York before, but she guessed this was near 5th avenue by the passing ladies dressed formally on the streets. Peter stepped from the limo and nodded to the valet before stuffing his hands in his pockets and heading into the building. Even the doorman greeted him as Mr. Secretary. Lauren trailed behind her father and brother as they entered a private elaborate elevator. She stared at the mirrored floor as it lifted them, carrying the three to the top penthouse of the building.

The view was more than amazing. The apartment looked out over the entire city, lights just beginning to glitter over the surface of the river swimming by the city. Lauren took in the luxurious place, ornate and antique furnishing decorating the gold and rich colored sitting room. She could see a set of entirely glass stairs to her left meeting a marble floor and a hallway down that direction. To her right she could hear the bustle in a kitchen, off somewhere behind the dining area that was placed over there. Another hallway extended down her right, and she could see a matching staircase further down. The place was over the top, a place fit for an extremely arrogant man.

"James will show you your rooms," her 'father' said from behind her.

"Multiple rooms," she murmured in a disgusted tone. Peter laughed. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"You sound just like me when I was your age," he said, his hand brushing her shoulder. She side-stepped away.

"Well I've been told I'm your daughter."

"You don't believe me?" he asked, feigning hurt in his voice. Lauren clenched her jaw again.

"No," Lauren said turning to him, "Because the man my mother told me about certainly couldn't be you."

Lauren had spotted James and twisted away from Peter as he froze there. There was something in her voice that sent an uncomfortable chill down his spine. Could have possibly been that she had told him the truth? Or was it because she had openly shared a memory of any kind with him? Was she taking to him already? He figured that's what it was- she was beginning to like him. He let a self-centered grin spread across his face as he turned his back and headed for his room.

Lauren had followed James down the hall and down yet another hall, stopping at a set of doors. His shoulders hunched and then he straightened out, standing up tall and stepping aside.

"These are yours," he said stiffly.

"Don't sound too excited," Lauren murmured.

"I won't."

Lauren glared at him angrily before opening the doors to the lavish suite room. To her left was a private bathroom and to her right was a closet.

"Do your rooms look like this too?" she asked, completely overwhelmed by the colors. Red was draped everywhere.

"Exactly the same."

Lauren looked at James. He was a tall, pride-filled man of around 25 with green eyes that mirrored her own and red hair. He looked identical to his father, her father.

"How come you're mother didn't marry him?"

"What?"

"Why didn't your mother marry him? She could have had all this."

Lauren spread her arms to signify everything. James looked at her, his eyes narrow as if she had just insulted him.

"You're mother had a choice to love him," he began, "My mother didn't."

Lauren's eyes went wide in terror. Her father was a liar, sure, but a bad man? Could it be possible? Before she could ask James if he meant what he had said, there was her father's voice ringing out for them. He turned faster than she could blink and she followed him down the hall and into the dining room.

The table was laid out with a gracious meal, Peter seating himself at the head of the table. Lauren took a seat down away from the man that she came to dislike more and more. He said nothing to her when she sat down, and they ate in silence. Lauren finished and sat there, fiddling with your napkin.

"You must be tired," Peter said, "Go ahead and go get some rest, you have a big day ahead of you."

"Okay," Lauren responded, heading off to her room. Peter watched her go and remained silent. He turned to James.

"How does she seem?" Peter asked. James shrugged.

"She doesn't believe you," he responded, "She's stubborn."

A ghost of a smile drifted across his face at the memory that Olivia was just as stubborn.

"Anything else?"

"She misses her home," he continued. James had always had an uncanny ability to read emotions. That was perhaps the reason for his doctorate in psychology. "And she doesn't think you're really her father. She has some memory, some childhood something that contradicts your existence and she clings to that. Maybe a story she heard from her mother. So she doesn't believe what you've got to say."

Peter stared down at his plate. He used to hate lying. Many years ago he was broken apart by lie after lie. James's mother was proof of a lie. But the moment Peter left, the moment he decided and picked this side, he became an entire web of lies himself. He lied to himself because he didn't want to remember. He knew if he thought about her, alone and cold and giving birth to a beautiful baby girl in the lonely bright lights of Massive Dynamic that he would skip universes again. He would go back for her. But he lied to himself. He told himself she didn't want him. No one wanted him. But his father here wanted him.

So he found a way to justify him being here.

With a shove he left the table, wandering down the hall, intent on telling her the truth about himself. He was going to tell her that he left her mother, that he was the cause of any suffering she had, and that it was a good thing to tell her he had died somewhere. He was almost to her room, raising his hand to knock. What good would the truth do? He remembered both times he had heard the truth. They damaged. There was no healing. If he told her the truth, she'd hate him even more. He decided that for tonight, the truth would hurt her. She had just got here and he didn't want her to leave. Peter turned on his heel and went the other way quickly. Lying would be enough for now. He quickly composed himself and headed to his room.

Lauren had cried herself to sleep that night. Feeling alone and empty. Peter would never know.

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