"Sometimes, when I got lonely, I looked up the other Soldiers. The other Recruits." Nick said, sitting in the lab with Olivia, Astrid and Walter. "I found Ethan a while ago. I told him about us. About the Manifesto and our… fate, I suppose you could call it." He smiled slightly. "He didn't know, but he understood. He already could control his ability. He was using it a lot. He was really good at it. He could control it." He laughed a little, in a self-depreciating way. "Not like me."

"Not like me either, Nicky," Olivia said gently. "Go on."

"It was a long time ago. Before I was put into St. Jude's. But he lived in Hong Kong." Olivia blinked in shock.

"Hong Kong? You went all the way to Hong Kong?" She asked. Nick smiled.

"Of course. Wouldn't you?" He asked pointedly. She frowned, then nodded.

"What's his last name?" She asked.

"Call," Nick answered. "Ethan Call. And I'm coming with you." Olivia smiled.

"I figured. I wasn't going to wake you up and then put you back under after only an hour." Nick smiled slightly, then looked around Astrid at Peter, who slept fitfully on the couch. "Could I…?" Olivia frowned in confusion, but nodded.

"I'll go ask Broyles to look for Ethan Call." She said. Nick nodded, then went over to Peter. As he crouched next to him, Peter opened his eyes.

"Oh, hey Nick," he rasped. "You look good."

"You don't," Nick said dryly, and Peter smiled.

"Yeah…"

"Look, Peter right?" Peter nodded. "I know about you and Olive." Peter shook his head and jerked it in the direction of Astrid and Walter, who blissfully hadn't been listening. "Oh… It's a secret?" Peter nodded. "Okay. Well, I know, because I know Olive. And listen. If we get out of this. If you ever hurt her in anyway, I will hunt you down," he looked into Peter's eyes. "And kill you."

There was a silent moment, and then Peter, unbelievably, started to giggle. He collapsed into fits of laughter that even the fits of coughs they caused didn't stop. Nick was extremely affronted, to the point that he barely reigned in the emotion before it seeped into anyone else.

"I mean it!" He snapped. "I will!" Peter only laughed harder, to the point that he was able to sit up and clap Nick on the shoulder.

"Oh geez," he giggled. "Laughter is the best medicene. Oh, thanks man."

"I was being serious." Nick muttered sullenly, and Peter looked up, grinning wanly.

"I know. I'm gonna count on you for that, Nick," he clapped him on the shoulder again. "So you better not screw that up, okay?" Nick blinked in surprise as Peter settled back down onto the couch and flung his arm over his eyes.

"Right…" Nick said blankly, standing. "You're crazy." Peter looked really close to laughing again, but managed to get control of himself. "I thought I'd gotten away from the mad people." Peter looked out from underneath his arm and grinned fiercely.

"Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here."

--

Cars zoomed down the cramped streets of Hong Kong, and people shouted the sharp tongue of Cantonese across the loud rush of the city. Olivia and Nick walked determinedly through this, both unable to speak Cantonese. Olivia couldn't help but wonder if Peter would have been able to speak Cantonese. He had, after all, traveled extensively. Perhaps he, like this Ethan Call, had been an expatriate to Hong Kong many years ago, after Amsterdam or Tokyo or Baghdad.

They approached what appeared to be a strip club, or a fancy escort service, with a neon sign of a woman in a martini glass. They shared a half-amused, half-awkward look. Olivia attempted to recall that she'd shared minds with him during sex, but it failed to make this any less awkward. In fact, it made it worse, to the point that she wondered why she'd even thought it up.

To his credit, Nick was remarkably calm as they walked in. The place was large, with wine-red carpets and plush chairs around dark, shiny table-tops. Scattered around the room were see-through tubes with scantily clad women dancing in them. Olivia glanced over at Nick, who was looking determinedly at anything but the tube women. Olivia laughed softly and shook her head, looking for Ethan. The place was full of Chinese men, mostly older, wealthier looking ones, sitting with younger women, sometimes doing more. A young American shouldn't be too difficult to find.

"One of these things just doesn't belong here," Nick sang in a rather serious tone, making Olivia grin as he pointed out a young man sitting at a table, drinking shots. Olivia nodded and walked towards him, Nick close behind.

The man looked a bit like Nick, but he reminded her more of Peter. He had thick brown hair and a short beard, with large blue eyes and an extremely handsome face. He wore black pants, a white shirt, and a black jacket. The way he held himself reminded her terribly of Peter, and when he glanced at her, she had to stop herself from smiling vapidly at him.

"Hey, I remember you," he said, his eyes going to Nick. "You're… uh…" he snapped his fingers. "Don't tell me. Nick!" He pointed at him in triumph. "Right, the… Recruit." He smiled at Olivia. "Who's your friend?"

"Agent Olivia Dunham," Olivia said shortly. "I have a few questions to ask you." Ethan frowned, then gestured for them to sit. They sat across from him as a pretty Chinese waitress walked up.

"Uh, a scotch please," Ethan said. "You two want something?"

"Just a coke," Nick said with a smile.

"I'll have a scotch on the rocks," Olivia said. The waitress nodded and made to leave, but Ethan stopped her.

"Can I pay now? I don't want to skip out on accident, and with this crew, I may have to leave in a hurry." He said charmingly. The waitress nodded, and Ethan reached into his wallet. Olivia watched him pull out a piece of paper crudely mimicking an expensive bill. He flipped the piece of paper casually over his fingers, and when he gave it to her, it was a piece of expensive paper money. "Keep the change." The waitress beamed and skipped off, a hop in her step.

"How did you do that?" Olivia asked. "You made that piece of paper look like a bill."

"Once, I looked it up," Ethan said, tucking the wallet back into his coat pocket. "Some guy wrote a paper on it. I can control the way light hits things and change their appearance and texture for hours at a time." He grinned. "I assume you're another… Recruit?"

"You're the Guardian," Olivia remembered Bell saying. She wondered whether she should tell Nick, but decided that now wasn't the best time.

"Yes," Olivia said.

"What's your ability?" He asked conversationally. Olivia smiled, but didn't answer. "Okay, Snow Queen. What do you need?"

"What do you remember of the Cortexiphan trials?" She asked bluntly. Ethan's jaw clenched, and he leaned forward, pressing his fingers into a steeple as the waitress placed their drinks in front of them.

"Bits and pieces." He said shortly. "Like any other childhood memory, you know?" Olivia nodded. "Why?"

"Do you remember a girl by the name of Alyssa Weiss?" She asked. Ethan considered it.

"Dark hair, big eyes, didn't like pills?" He asked. Nick nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"We need to find her. And our scientist has a theory that you and Alyssa may have created a bond, without knowing it, that was strengthened by the Cortexiphan to the point that you could find Alyssa." Olivia explained quickly. Ethan thought about it.

"So you want me to go back to America so I can go through experiments to find a crazy girl?" Ethan asked. Olivia nodded. "And what would I get for it?" Olivia considered it.

"Well… My specific division deals with crimes committed by strange circumstances. If you help, I won't arrest you for fraud." She nodded towards his wallet. "I doubt you have much real money in there, and my boss understands Fringe Science enough to believe my story." Ethan looked at his scotch and sighed.

"Plus," Nick put in. "Answers." Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"Answers…" he said softly. He then sighed. "Fine. I'll come."