A/N: Woo, Chapter 10! This is my longest chapter to date. You're welcome.
Thanks for reviews! I'm so glad people are liking the story. I finally mapped out some major storylines, and I have an idea of where things are going now. I may also do a couple short prequels to this (which would double as one-shots) and a sequel depending on the reception.
Without any further ado, here's chapter 10!
After apologizing about twenty times to Rachel for leaving her alone with the kids, Olivia and Peter got into Olivia's Volvo and drove to Massive Dynamic. Peter was shivering in his peacoat as he cradled his coffee mug between his palms. He'd had about 15 minutes to shower and get in the car, and his hair was nearly freezing in the chilly late December air. "So why exactly did Broyles demand I come in on my day off?" he asked, annoyed.
"Apparently there have been some developments in the Alex Jefferies case," Olivia replied.
"The kid from the other side? What else has happened?"
"I'm not sure. I was just instructed to come in and bring you," Olivia shrugged. "I guess we'll see in a few minutes."
When they arrived at Massive Dynamic and got past security, Nina greeted the two of them warmly, embracing Olivia. "So nice to see you again, Olivia. We really need to catch up soon. And I need to see that little girl of yours!" Nina gushed. "How's she been doing lately?"
Olivia smiled, "Etta's great. Kind of a fireball. But I agree, we should set something up! Rachel and the kids are in town for the next few days, you must come over for dinner."
"I would love that! Now, before Phillip gets too impatient, the body is in your lab, Peter," Nina said, turning to face him. "Brandon will catch the two of you up to speed quickly, I'm sure.
As soon as Olivia and Peter arrived at the 23rd floor, Brandon greeted them, "Good morning Agent Dunham, Peter. How much has Agent Broyles told you so far about our discoveries?"
"So far? Next to nothing," replied Peter. "What is exactly is it that you uncovered?"
"Well naturally," Brandon began, "we reaffirmed that the victim was indeed from the Other Side. Aside from his show me card, he had a $20 bill with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s face on it. We also checked into Alex Jefferies. He's a high school student in Marlborough. Attends the Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter School. He's a bright kid, near the top of his class. But, what I'm getting at is we were able to track him down. He's definitely not the kid currently lying on our table. It's probably safe to say the boy we have really is his doppelgänger from Over There."
Peter and Olivia frowned synchronously. "So he is actually from the Other Side. That still doesn't explain how he got here," Peter said, brow furrowed. "The bridge is down. The link between our universes has been severed. As we've seen in the past, there isn't quite a safe way for someone to pass between universes, unless—"
"Unless they can do so independently. The way the cortexiphan kids crossed over," Olivia finished. "Brandon, did you run a tox screen on the vic? See if he had anything abnormal in his system?"
"We did, but your standard screen doesn't check for the presence of drugs like cortexiphan. I'll tell the lab techs to examine his blood samples more carefully, specifically looking for that," Brandon said, making a note of it in a legal pad.
"You may wanna do a spinal tap," Peter suggested. "Although cortexiphan is often injected into the bloodstream, it may not be traceable there. In my experience, it stays dormant in cerebrospinal fluid, in much the same way that the varicella-zoster virus does, potentially for years after treatment."
As they continued to talk the biology and genetics of exactly how cortexiphan interacted with the body, Olivia's eyes glazed over. It was just like being back in the Kresge lab with Walter and Peter talking science that went over her head. "Alright, well if you boys got everything under control here, I'm gonna go to the federal building and see what Astrid's managed to dig up on the case."
After Olivia left, Brandon and Peter continued talking the case. "Since he is confirmed to be from the other universe," Brandon explained, "we're trying to see if we can get in contact with them. We really don't have any way of investigating the case since all of the evidence aside from this body is… unreachable, to say the least."
"How are you going about getting in contact with the other side?" Peter asked. "Did you find something in Walter's notes?" Since Walter had disappeared and the scientific examination of Fringe events had been taken over by Massive Dynamic, the team had extensively catalogued Walter and William Bell's past experiments, hoping to gain some of the background knowledge that Walter had on different events.
"We were looking into using the typewriter that Ms. Sharp had used to communicate with William Bell, when he was Over There. The only problem is, we're not entirely sure where that ended up—on their side, that is. We have Nina's typewriter, but after Dr. Bell was taken into custody, we were unable to learn whether or not a message could be received by someone helpful," Brandon said.
"Has anyone even tried sending a message? That would probably be the easiest way to potentially confirm that method of communication," Peter said.
Brandon looked embarrassed, "Well, no. Not exactly. We wanted to get Agent Broyles's opinion before sending something. We have been required to have any messages approved by the Department of Homeland Security before they're sent."
Peter sighed, "Okay. Then it appears we better get to work drafting something up."
By the time Olivia picked up Peter from the federal building and the two of them got home, it was already 7:30 pm. As soon as Olivia closed the garage door, she called out for Rachel, intending to start a long winded apology. Rachel rounded the corner and waved at Olivia, her ear pressed to her cell phone.
"Uh huh, yeah, that would be wonderful! I'm sure the kids would love to visit," Rachel paused as the person on the line responded. "Tomorrow works for us, definitely. I can be at the airport whenever… Okay, 8:30? Sounds good. I'll tell Ella and Eddie. Thanks, Nina! Love you, bye," Rachel finished, hanging up the phone. "Nina's flying the kids and me to New York to spend the day with her tomorrow," she told Olivia enthusiastically. "I told her about everything with Greg and she's gonna have me meet with one of the company's lawyers. She said she will take the kids to the Met and the Statue of Liberty during the day!"
"Rach, that sounds perfect! Nina has amazing connections, I'm sure she'll make sure everything goes well," Olivia replied with a smile, hugging her sister. "I'm so sorry you've been alone with the kids all day. Work is…"
"Crazy, I know," Rachel finished with a smile. "Don't worry about it. They were great. We just hung out and watched movies and Etta and Eddie played games, since the weather was so terrible. Oh, by the way, Nina isn't the only adult I spoke to today," Rachel told her sister, her tone changing. "Greg called."
Olivia started, "What did he say to you?"
"Liv, don't get worried. He called to apologize about everything that happened. He said he's getting help."
Olivia sighed, frustrated. "That doesn't excuse the past. You can't just let him off that easy."
"Don't worry, I didn't. I'm still going through with the divorce, I think. But I do need to talk everything over with him. Like the adults that we are," Rachel said.
"When did you get so wise? I thought I was supposed to be the older sister," Olivia teased her.
Rachel smiled. "I think your wisdom has been rubbing off on me. I'm gonna go check on Eddie and make sure he's still getting ready for bed. I'll see you in the morning," Rachel said, kissing Olivia on the cheek. "Love you!"
Peter walked into the kitchen as Rachel was walking out. "Etta is in bed and almost asleep," he announced. "Long day?"
"Always. Especially since I didn't sleep so well last night."
"I've been meaning to ask you about that. What's up? Are you okay?" Peter asked, concerned, as he poured two glasses of scotch.
Olivia sighed. "I've always been a bit of an insomniac, Peter," she smiled weakly at him, "you know that."
Grasping her hand, Peter led Olivia into the living room. "I know that. But something seems… off about you."
"Really, it's nothing," Olivia reassured him. "Don't worry about me."
"If you insist," Peter said reluctantly. "Want to watch a movie or something?"
"Sure," Olivia smiled, "Your pick."
Peter stared at their small movie collection for a few seconds before popping one into the DVD player.
"The Artist? Really?" Olivia asked. "There's no way I'll stay awake for this whole thing," she remarked, finishing off her drink.
"Good," said Peter, taking a seat next to her on the couch. "You need sleep."
"Mmm," Olivia hummed contentedly, snuggling into his chest. "I love you, you know."
"I do," Peter smiled, running his fingers through her hair.