Some months later:
The world hadn't ended, despite Jones' and William Bell's best efforts. The Bridge had been closed to thwart their plans, but both sides hoped that was a temporary situation. Despite the rocky beginnings of the link between the parallel universes, everyone involved knew they still had too much to learn from each other to abandon the hope of reconnection.
Fringe events continued to manifest on a regular basis, keeping Olivia and Lincoln productively employed and continually astonished by the secret mysteries and terrors of their world. Nick reaffirmed his consultant's status whenever a case called for his talents, often providing the critical breakthrough to solve the crisis of the moment...or at least, to mitigate the most dangerous threats.
Nick also started coming around to the Harvard lab when there wasn't a case at hand, helping to pry Walter out of the lab and reacclimate to life outside. "He's suffered enough," Nick said simply. No one needed to comment on the reality that Nick's life would have gone very differently without Dr. Bishop, and he might never have met Olivia and Lincoln.
Outside of work Lincoln and Olivia and Nick were spending more and more time together as well. It never felt forced to include him when Lincoln and Olivia ordered in dinner, or went out to street fairs or the occasional movie. Nick never pushed, always seemed delighted to be invited, and generally made himself indispensable to them both without disturbing the comfortable equilibrium the three of them had found.
Lincoln didn't want to upset that balance either...but he also thought that eventually someone would make the first move. He didn't necessarily intend that someone to be himself—there were days when Lincoln felt that he and Nick were electrons held in the aura of Olivia's fundamental nucleus, caught entirely in her glamour. Part of him, frankly, wanted simply to be the one to say "yes" when asked. But Nick never would and Olivia...to be fair, Olivia couldn't read his mind and she'd already made it clear that she thought her bond with Nick constituted an unfair burden on their relationship. He hadn't signed up to fall in love with a woman who was psychically linked to another man, and she was determined to keep those aspects of herself separate until Lincoln made it unmistakably clear that she didn't need to.
He couldn't quite bring himself to blurt out "hey, how about a threesome" either, so he finally resolved that as usual, Olivia had been correct: better to wait and see what developed naturally.
The three of them usually ended up back at Olivia's apartment after a case, taking time to decompress over take-out and old movies. This latest case had been more absurd than horrific and laughter kept bubbling between them, disrupting the movie no one was paying attention to anyway.
"The look on that guy's face when he turned purple," Nick giggled, and they were off again, Olivia and Nick exchanging glances laden with silent communication along their underlying psychic link, Lincoln doing his best to keep up.
Nick finally sighed and put down his teacup. "You guys, you know, it's not fair." He waved his hand in their direction, encompassing them both in a gesture. "I can feel you, even when I'm not trying. If it was all one sided, I could deal with that, but it's— it's not." He looked at Olivia, then at Lincoln, yearning written over his face. "I can feel that it's not just me."
"Nick," Olivia whispered, and Lincoln could hear the conflict in her voice. She'd continue to deny him for Lincoln's sake, and he couldn't allow that. But he couldn't let Olivia go either, and it had become increasingly obvious that he wasn't prepared to lose Nick.
There was a tangled Gordian knot of emotions between the three of them, and the only way through was to cut right to what mattered. He glanced at Olivia with a question in his eyes, and she nodded without hesitation.
"Here's the thing, Nick," Lincoln said, and his voice was dry but steady. "We're not in high school anymore."
Nick looked at him, startled. It was probably his imagination but Lincoln could almost feel Nick's power reaching toward him, trying to discern his intent. Whatever Nick found much have been convincing, because he let out a low moan and stumbled forward. Lincoln caught Nick's hand, smiling, and then Nick's mouth was on his.
The kiss started hard, almost bruising in its desperation. Making up, Lincoln thought a little dazedly, for all those lost years and missed opportunities. He gave back as good as he got, feeling Nick's feverish excitement leaking around the edges of his control.
"qamuSHa'," Lincoln said when they pulled apart, and he didn't have to strain for the right tone; his voice was already hoarse, his throat full of emotion.
"I said it first," Nick protested, looking like he was about to burst.
Lincoln smiled, mostly so he wouldn't start bawling. "Took me a while to translate."
"You're the one who's good at languages," Olivia said. Her voice was a little rueful as she added, "And emotions."
"Olive," Nick said, low, and Olivia smiled her secret smile and closed the distance between them.
At first their lips touched chastely, like children, the kiss they'd never shared in Jacksonville. And then Nick buried his hands in Olivia's hair and she was clutching at his back and the kiss turned dirty and hot, all tongues and porn moans. If Lincoln hadn't been turned on before he was incredibly hard now, watching them.
Proof, as far as he was concerned, that this was going to work. This part of it, anyway. The rest they'd work out in time.
Nick's expression when they broke apart was joyful and a little dazed. "Oh, I can feel you both. You want this, you want me, I never thought— this is real?"
Olivia lifted Nick's hand to nip at his fingers and he moaned. She smiled and Lincoln knew she was feeling Nick's arousal through their link. "Real enough?"
Lincoln cleared his throat, hating to bring up practicalities. But someone had to. "Before this goes any further we should find...somewhere secluded. Isolated. Just in case."
"In case...oh." Nick swallowed hard. "Right. Don't want half of Boston trying to get in on the action." He grinned, his expression caught between amused and hopeful. "We'll...have to practice. A lot. To make sure I'm not projecting anything when, uh—"
"When we," Olivia started in a throaty voice, and then she trailed off, her expression intent. Nick's eyes went wide.
"Okay, that is extremely not fair," Lincoln told them. "Do we need to set some ground rules about the non-psychic members of this party?"
"We'll show you," Olivia promised.
"You'll feel everything," Nick said at the same time.
Olivia and Nick flashed identical smiles at him. Lincoln realized, a little too late, that between them he was in a great deal of trouble. And possibly physical danger.
There wasn't anywhere he'd rather be.