"So, Dr. Bishop thinks we will help you be able to cross over to the other universe?"
"He does."
A man sits back in one of the chairs at the lab. His hand drapes over into the lap of a woman next to him, where their fingers are woven together. A third man stands several feet away, arms crossed defensively over his chest.
"There are still over a dozen Cortexiphan subjects unaccounted for. Prudence dictated that we determine what we might be dealing with in the future," Broyles tells Olivia as they walk down the long, white hallway of the Massive Dynamic facility.
"So you woke all three of them up?" she questions.
"Actually, five," he informs her. "We've tracked down some others."
"Okay."
They approach a door, and through the window she sees them, siting at individual tables.
"About six weeks ago, Massive Dynamic proposed a series of experiments to help them gain control of and repurpose their abilities. These three have been quite successful."
"Olive, why do you want to cross over?"
She sighs. "Because someone I care about was taken, and I am the only one who can bring him back."
The man sitting in front of her nods, understanding, and glances at his companion.
Olivia looks to the other man across the room, keeping his distance.
"James Heath can now cure disease, not cause it."
He hasn't spoken since they arrived. He still harbors some hostility towards Walter.
"Olivia?"
"Sally Clark is becoming a fully functional pyrokinetic."
The woman smiles. "I'll help."
"Me too," the man next to her chimes, smiling brightly at Olivia.
"And your friend Nick Lane's empathetic transfers can now be controlled."
James uncrosses his arms and lets them fall to his sides, and he takes a step closer. "I guess I'm in, too."
Olivia looks at the three people in front of her.
"Thank you," she tells them, the only familiar faces left from her childhood.
"Alright, Olivia. Just relax. You remember."
"Not fondly, but yes."
"Asterix, start the drip."
Astrid goes to Olivia's side and starts the flow of Cortexiphan.
"Are you sure we don't need to be dosed?" Nick asks from off to the side with the others. He watches Olivia intently, nervously.
"No, no. Your abilities are completely active, while Olivia's lie dormant in her brain. And, when the time comes, we will need you three to remain grounded to this universe whilst Olivia crosses over."
He sighs, and Sally grips his hand.
"It's okay, Nick. I'm fine." Olivia tries to smile at him, but it is weak and unhelpful.
He smiles back anyway.
Olivia starts to feel the effects of the drugs, and her head rolls back into the headrest.
When Olivia opens her eyes, she's not in the lab anymore. She's in her apartment.
"Hello?" she calls out, and it echoes slightly.
"Liv." John walks out of her kitchen, and her stomach turns. "There you are. We've been waiting for you."
"Who's 'we'?" she asks cautiously.
"Who else?" a voice asks her, and her heart aches. Charlie joins John in the kitchen. "Don't you miss us, Livvy?"
"This isn't real. You're not real," Olivia tells them, but she's the one who needs convincing.
"Real is just a matter of perception," a third voice says from behind her, and it's this voice that hurts the most.
"Peter," she whispers, and a hand slides on to her waist. She turns into him almost reflexively, and he's glimmering.
"Stay here with us," they all say simultaneously.
"I can't. I have to save you," she tells Peter.
"What about us?" John asks, pulling a gun from inside his jacket. "You can't just leave us."
Charlie moves closer to John and says, "The boy. Kill the boy."
Olivia reaches for her gun, and finds it in Peter's hand at her waist. "I need to go home," he whispers into her ear.
He releases his hold on her, and the gun clatters to the floor. When Olivia looks up, John and Charlie are in a heap on the floor.
But John's still alive. "You killed us. And for what?" he chokes out.
Olivia turns back to find Peter holding a glimmering woman in a tight embrace. She's facing away from Olivia, but looks back over her shoulder at her.
And they're her eyes.
Olivia gasps as she pulls out of her mind and she finds Walter's face.
At first, she takes comfort in seeing Walter; it means she's back. But then she feels that hostility, that anger creeping in.
"You did this to little children?" she remembers.
The others in the room watch her intently.
"Olive?" Nick asks, looking concerned.
"Let's go," she says hastily, standing from the chair and ripping the IV out of her arm.
Walter takes them to an opera house in New York, rambling on about how it's somehow a thinner spot in the fabric of the universe.
While Nick, Sally, and James are talking to Walter, Astrid goes to Olivia, sitting in a theater chair a few empty rows away.
"You okay?" she asks.
"I'm fine," Olivia lies.
"No, you're not," Astrid says gently. "What's wrong?"
Olivia sighs. "When I was under, it was different from last time. It felt more…real."
"Well, what did you see?"
"John. Charlie. Peter. Another version of me."
"Oh, Olivia…"
"And I know it's stupid of me, but what if when I get there, he won't want to come back? I mean, it's his universe."
Astrid places a hand on Olivia's. "That may be his universe, but this is his home. With you," she says. "He loves you, Olivia. And even though you don't see it yet, it's true. Don't overthink it."
Olivia nods, forcing a small smile.
"I think we're ready for you, Olivia."
The four ended up on stage, Olivia in the center while the others made a circle around her.
"Concentrate, Olive. Feel this universe slipping away and let yourself pass through to the other side…"
Olivia squeezes her eyes shut and thinks about what she saw. Peter and her glimmering, the deep green eyes a mirror of her own.
It's quiet for a while before Olivia speaks. "Walter?" she asks, eyes still shut.
There's no response. No sound at all, actually.
Olivia opens her eyes, and suddenly feels sick.
The whole room's glimmering.