12.
Walter swiped his ID card through the security sensor, and waited for the green light to admit him to the infirmary wing of Massive Dynamic. He still couldn't quite get used to the fact that the entire corporate conglomerate was his now; in earlier days, he'd be over the moon at the thought of unfettered access to some of the most groundbreaking science in the world, but now? He shuddered at what was possible, while at the same time still salivating at the prospect of new discoveries.
He juggled the folder that contained his documentation of Peter's treatment with the stethoscope he was trying to drape around his neck; he smiled at the memory of the day Peter had presented him with a brand new stethoscope, replete with hot-pink tubing. "Well, you're the head of Massive Dynamic, Walter – the king of medical research scientists should have the proper tools, don't you think?" he'd said as he proudly put the instrument around his father's neck. Peter had stepped back and looked at Walter. "Stylin'," was all he said as Walter beamed at him.
Walter was about to open the door to Peter's room, when he heard voices from inside; they seemed to be arguing. He opened the door to see Nina and Brandon Fayette in a heated discussion in the corner of the room.
"As I said, why don't we take this up with Dr. Bishop?" Brandon was saying as Walter walked in.
"Take what up with me?" Walter asked.
Nina and Brandon both spun to look at him, startled. "Walter!" Nina exclaimed. Gathering herself, she said, "Oh, nothing, just some protocols. I think we need to establish a few more parameters for certain experiments, but Dr. Fayette, being the Young Turk he is, wants a bit more latitude."
"Well, I hardly think this is the time to discuss that, do you?" Walter said tersely. "Are the vials ready, Brandon?"
"Uh… almost, sir, just have to retrieve the last one. The centrifuge wasn't quite done with it last I checked," Brandon said sheepishly.
"Well, what are you standing around here for, then? Go!" Walter barked.
"Keep it down, will ya? Some of us are trying to sleep here," Peter grumbled sarcastically from his bed.
"Peter!" Walter exclaimed, rushing over to Peter's side. "I'm sorry, son." He placed a hand on Peter's forehead. "Very good," he said quietly. "How are you feeling?"
"A little tired, but I'm okay. Ready to get this show on the road," Peter replied as he watched Brandon scurry away, but not before exchanging an odd glance with Nina. "What's up with those two?" he said in a hushed tone to Walter.
"Who? Oh, Brandon? Oh, I don't know, it's fine. I think perhaps Nina feels he's overstepping his bounds," Walter assured him as he checked Peter's IV port.
"Overstepping his bounds? Always a great quality to have in a lab assistant, huh?" Peter joked, wincing as Walter poked at the IV port in his hand.
The door opened again, and Olivia entered. "So, what did I miss?" she said jovially as she walked over to Peter.
"Oh, I just did an interpretive dance to 'She Blinded Me with Science,'" Peter said drolly.
Olivia leaned down and kissed him soundly on the mouth. "Damn. Sorry I missed it," she replied nonchalantly. Her face still close to Peter's, she said softly, "How ya doin'?"
"Better now," he said, their foreheads touching. "I'm so – "
"Don't you dare," Olivia scolded. "When you're feeling better, we'll talk about what's been going on with you. But for now, I'm not mad. Okay? "
Peter nodded. "Okay. And when this is done, yeah, I have a feeling we're really gonna need to talk."
Brandon returned, wheeling his usual cart full of equipment and vials. "Uh…" he said, casting a glance at Nina, "Here's everything, Dr. Bishop. Sorry for the delay."
"Thank you, Brandon, you may go," Walter said briskly.
"The ice bath and cooling blankets are at the ready," Brandon added.
"That's fine, Brandon. Thank you." At Walter's dismissive tone, Brandon scowled, and left the room.
"A little short with him, weren't you, Walter?" Peter said.
"Hm? Was I? Oh, I didn't notice," Walter said absent-mindedly. "All right, son. I think you know the drill by now," he added solemnly. "I wish there were another way, truly I do."
"I know, Dad, it'll be fine," Peter assured him. "Let's go."
Walter nodded, and silently began the treatment, following the same procedures as the previous time. Peter took deep breaths to calm himself, in anticipation of his previous reaction.
A minute passed, but Peter had no reaction. "Walter, what's going on? Last time, I was practically seeing pink elephants on parade and spontaneously combusting."
"This is very interesting," Walter mused as Olivia took Peter's hand. "Perhaps the modifications I made to combat the mutation also changed the absorption rate."
He was about to insert the digital thermometer in Peter's ear, when Peter suddenly gasped, his back arching, and his eyes rolling back in his head. Olivia grasped his hand more firmly. "Walter, this isn't like last time," she said, frightened.
"Peter?" Walter said, a hint of panic in his voice. "Peter, this is your father, Walter Bishop. Can you hear me?" He grasped Peter's face in his hands. "Peter!"
Peter's eyes came to focus on his father's. "It is my fault… " he murmured, before going completely limp, the monitors next to the bed flat-lining.
"Step back, Olivia," Walter said brusquely, lowering the head of Peter's bed to a flat position, and throwing the pillow behind his head to the floor. "Nina, get – "
Nina was already wheeling a crash cart over to the bed while Walter lowered the front of Peter's hospital gown to expose his chest. She prepared the defibrillator, and calmly handed the paddles to Walter.
"Thank you," was all Walter said before calling, "Clear!" Olivia and Nina stepped back as Walter shocked his son, Peter's body jerking off the bed violently before coming to rest again.
Olivia looked desperately at the monitors, breathing a sigh of relief when a rhythm returned to the screens. "Oh, God," she whispered, her hand over mouth.
"He's still not breathing," Walter said as Nina – as though reading his mind – handed him an ambu-bag, which he placed gently over Peter's mouth and nose, and squeezed. Air hissed from the bag into Peter's lungs, his chest rising and falling.
"Walter?" Olivia said in a small voice.
Nina placed her arm around Olivia's shoulders. "He's doing everything he can," she said, trying to reassure Olivia.
"Ah!" Walter exclaimed. "What was that?" He leaned down close to Peter's head. "Yes! There you go, son. Deep breaths…" He paused. "Well, all right, shallow ones will do for now. That's a good boy." He tentatively removed the ambu-bag from Peter's face, satisfied at the shallow breaths he heard coming from his son. Smoothing Peter's hair, he repeated. "That's my good boy." Only then did he allow his hands to begin shaking. "Oh, dear," he sighed, staggering back.
"Walter, are you all right?" Nina said, grasping Walter's arms.
"Of course," he said. "Of course…" Clearing his throat, he picked up an oxygen mask and placed it on Peter's face. "There, that's better. We'll keep him on O2 for a few hours, and let him rest." Peter's face turned into his father's touch. "Oh, my, someone doesn't want to sleep," Walter said cheerfully. "We could never get him to sleep when he was little. Son? Peter, are you back with us?" He watched as Peter's eyes opened briefly, then closed again, but not before a tear escaped and slid down his cheek. Walter wiped it away with his thumb. "There, now, it's all right. You just sleep now."
Olivia stood on the other side of the bed, and kissed Peter's hair. "You're gonna be fine, baby," she said, not sure if he could hear her. "Second time's the charm."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Nina stayed for a half-hour after Peter's treatment, standing silently in a corner watching Olivia and Walter hovering on either side of the bed. Peter awoke occasionally, and would smile weakly to reassure them both. "I'm okay," he repeated more than once before slipping back into sleep.
Feeling she had outstayed her welcome, Nina decided to track down Brandon Fayette and get to the bottom of his presence in the sub-basement. "Walter," she said softly, touching his shoulder, "I'll take care of logging the treatment in for you, all right? You stay here with Peter."
"Yes, yes," Walter said, his voice shaky. "Thank you, Nina," he said, without taking his eyes off his son.
As she turned to leave, she heard Peter's voice. "Nina?" She turned back to face the bed. "Thank you," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she replied, "I didn't do anything, dear, but you're welcome. I'll see you all later," she added, and left the room quickly. As she looked down the hall, she saw Brandon Fayette waiting patiently by the elevator, seemingly waiting for her. "Have you been here all this time?" she asked testily.
"I have," he replied coolly. "I thought we might continue our conversation. Or rather, you could continue your accusations."
"I don't like your tone," Nina snapped.
"I don't like being accused," he retorted.
"All right," she said, taking a cleansing breath. "Brandon, what were you really doing in the sub-basement? And how did you get the access code?"
Brandon hit the elevator button. As the doors slid open, he ushered Nina inside. "It was easy to hack, actually." He pushed the "Restricted," button and swiped his ID card.
"Access restricted," the voice droned. "Password."
"Would you like to, or shall I?" he said to Nina. When she didn't reply, he shrugged and pulled a small device from his pocket, holding it against his throat. "Suit yourself. Peter Zero," he said calmly.
"Access granted. Welcome back, Dr. Bishop."
Nina stared in disbelief. "It… it thinks you're Walter? Where did you get that device?"
"From the boss," he said cryptically as the doors to the sub-basement opened. "I'm sort of his proxy here, so he gave me this little gizmo to approximate his voice."
"Walter never said anything to me about giving you access."
Brandon shrugged again. "Guess you're not as vital to day-to-day ops as you think," he said cheerfully. He gestured to a chair, and as Nina sat down, he said, "Look, whatever you think, I'm doing this for everyone's good. The Boss gave me access for research purposes. And having access to this lab has helped me help him with his work to save his son. So, what's the problem?" He took the seat opposite her nonchalantly.
"The problem, Brandon… " Nina leaned forward. "Is that Walter Bishop doesn't know that this lab exists." Her eyes narrowed. "You work for him, don't you? The other one. Walternate. You're the Brandon from the Other Side. The Secretary probably had a similar project to the one William Bell initiated here."
Brandon's mask of cool slipped, but only for a moment. "Busted," he chuckled. "He asked me to stay behind and see what kind of Peter Project you guys had compared to his… which was a bust, by the way. The old man didn't have the stomach for it, it seems."
"Where's our Brandon?"
"Oh, don't worry, he's safe and sound on the other side – lucky son of a bitch," Brandonate groused. "I can't believe he let the bridge close without pulling me out."
"You have my sympathies," Nina said sarcastically.
"Thanks," he replied with equal venom. "Anyway, I figured that since I have access to this wonderful genetic toy box, why not use it? This Walter is way too damaged to come up with a truly viable treatment for poor, poor Peter, so I took it upon myself to help the process along. Isn't that what the project was started for in the first place?"
"So… you're using genetic materials from the project to enhance Peter's treatments?" Nina asked incredulously.
"Yup. Worked pretty well the first time, but I have a feeling there may be other variables at work here. Still, doesn't hurt to try it one more time, right?" He stared at Nina, gauging her reaction. "Seriously, Ms. Sharp, if you're worried that your little secret is going to get out, don't. I mean, could you imagine the fallout if word got out that Massive Dynamic was engaging in human cloning? All those government contracts, and money from the DOD and NIH… poof!" He snapped his fingers. "I'm tellin' ya, catastrophic!"
"Yes, well… thank you for your discretion, Brandon. I agree, it's best that we keep this strictly between us. No need to tell Walter – I mean, this Walter. My Walter… just keep your mouth shut, all right?" Nina rose suddenly, and rushed out of the lab.
As the doors closed behind her, Brandonate grinned. "No problem, Ms. Sharp. This is gonna be fun." He turned to the sliding wall, behind which lay the subjects of the Peter Project. "Okay, boys, who's next? Eeny, meeny, miny, mo…"