I wanted to wait for after tonights awesome ep! And it was awesome! I cried…it was soo good. Anyway, 14 reviews, I think I died! Please keep them up and I promise I will have the next chapter up by Tuesday or Wednesday :D
Reference: Lines from the Pilot, Unleashed, White Tulip, Reciprocity, Rufus (The Ghost Network)
Chapter 20 – Coming Back to Me
Peter and Olivia walked the halls together, neither really paying much attention to anyone until they came up to Charlie and Sonia. "Hey guys!" Sonia's smile grew when she saw Peter with Olivia. She reached over and gave Peter a hug which he return and smiled, "Good to see you two getting along. I know Peter can be an ass so don't be to worried if you have to hit him Liv." Sonia and Peter had known each other since Junior High and had been friends but closer now that they all hung out together. "HEY! Come on Sonia, you know that's not fair!" Peter whined but laughed, more like grimaced, when Olivia slugged him none to gently in the arm. He rubbed the arm before turning to face her, intent on returning the attack, but the smile on her face stopped his dead in his tracks and he just laughed.
It was a good time in all their lives.
"Ok everyone, next week we will be taking an excursion to Harvard University. While we are there, you will be asked to have a look around the school and get an idea of what University life is like. Every student in the year level is required to go and only a doctors certificate will be accepted should any student not turn up. Mr. Bishop, you are not excused from this trip, even with a doctors certificate." The teacher made his way around the class handing out permission forms as Peter groaned and rubbed his hand over his face.
"Why would he not accept a doctors certificate from you?" Olivia turned and whispered in his ear. Peter turned and face her, his eyes shining with some form of guilt, "Last time we had an excursion, I... I forged a doctors certificate. I don't actually know how they figure it out but they did and so now they are very cautious when it come to me. They won't even accept a real certificate anymore" Olivia only nodded before turning back to her form and starting to fill it out.
Peter watched her for a moment before thinking back to the week before and his conversation with Eddie. He had been putting off talking to Olivia about it and he knew that he needed to sooner rather than later, biting the bullet Peter turned to face her. "Olivia will you promise me you will be careful when you are walking home?"
Olivia turned to face him, giving him a confused look. "Why?" She laughed at little at his random protectiveness. "Please Livia. Just be careful when you are on your own." She could tell that he was being sincere and so she just nodded, agreeing with him to make him feel better.
The week passed with not much happening but as the trip grew closer Peter became more agitated. He was snapping at everyone and when Olivia when to ask him about it, he just told her to drop it before storming away. He should never have gotten angry at her and he knew he would have to apologize, he was just never really any good at them. It was less than an hour after he'd snapped at her, did he go and find her once more.
"I'm sorry." Olivia looked up at him from her homework she had laid out on the library table. "What?" She raised and eyebrow at him and waited. "I said, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you before. So I'm sorry." He watched as a huge smile formed on her face, "Oh Peter, forget about it!" She laughed and shook her head, he laughed along with her before taking a seat next to her and just watching her work.
He was quiet on the bus towards the University, he sat by himself and when Olivia did go and sit next to him, he just turned towards the window and watched the world go by. Olivia had even tried to grab for him hand as they walked but he just shrugged it off and continued walking ahead of her. It wasn't the first time he had been to Harvard and every time he had been there, it was always bad. As they passed a small entrance at the side of the Kresge Building, Peter froze. He glanced around before waiting for the group to continue walking without him and he snuck off down to the basement. There were many other classes happening while Peter walked through the halls, School of Public Health, that's where he was always told his father worked.
Weaving his way down staircases and halls, he finally found himself in the basement and standing in front of the double entrance to the lab he had tried to forget, Peter picked the padlock, with considerable ease, that had been locked to the door, pulled the chain and the police tape away and snuck inside. Standing on the landing, he glanced down and found much of the old lab was covered in dust and blankets. Memories came flooding back to him and he knew from that moment, he was not going to sleep well tonight. Slowly he stepped down the small staircase and looked around.
The smell of dust was strong as he took in the tables and shelves that had once been covered in experiments and chemicals now lay abandoned and empty. Boxes of files and books and information lay open and that was the first thing Peter went for. He was hoping that he might get an insight into this deranged man. It spoke about mixing DNA's of several different species of animal, another was about time travel and the last was about alternate universes.
After reading for more than 15 minutes, Peter's head spun. Everything he thought he knew was a lie and he felt most of the anger he had bottled away for so long begin to come to the surface. Everything he knew about this man was a lie but Peter still couldn't understand why he was never told. Toothpaste Company my ass Peter thought as he dropped the files back on to the table.
Peter's left hand reached out of an old beaker that was sitting on the bench next to him and he swung around and yelled as he threw it again the entrance wall. It was just as he let go of the beaker and watched it smash against the door did he notice Olivia standing there. He watched her jump and cover her head with her hands, to stop the glass from hitting her. "Oh, Livia. I am so sorry. I didn't hear you come in." Peter came up to her side and inspected her hands and face, making sure that nothing had hurt her. "It's ok Peter. I'm fine. What are you doing down here anyway?"
She stared to walk away from him, across the landing and towards the old offices, Peter just watched her, every movement she made and every thing she touched, he could tell she was inspecting, trying to learn everything she could from little amounts of information. Before he could stop her, she came to the first door and read the name of the dusty door. "Dr. Walter Bishop?" She spun around and face him, her eyes wide. "You're father worked here?" She watched as Peter only nodded. Peter took a seat against the wall on one of the lab table and just looked out around the old lab. He felt Olivia come to sit next to him and speak, "Who was he?"
He laughed slightly, "Depending on who you are talking to my father was a scientist doing research for a toothpaste company, this is where he worked. He is also without a doubt the most self-absorbed, twisted, abusive, brilliant, myopic, son-of-a-bitch on the planet…" He turned to face her, just watching him with sad eyes, "…But he was really a part of a classified US Army experimental program called Calvin Genetics. They gave him the resources to do whatever work he wanted. Which was primarily in an area called "fringe science." He turned completely to face her once more.
"My father used to attach wires to car batteries and shock me, he used to say he was accumulating data. I hated my father before he left and I hate him even more now." Peter pushed himself off the table and walked over to one of the old desks, he pulled out an old photo of him and his mother and father before turning back to her, "This man, this parent, caused me so much heart ache when I was a child. And I am glad he is gone, glad he was taken away the way he was." Peter picked up the photo frame again and dropped it, causing it to crash to the floor and echo off the walls of the huge lab.
Olivia chose to speak, but first she came to his side and place her hand on his back, he was hunched over the table, both arms outstretched and leaning on the side of the table, "Peter, what happened?" Is was quiet, a whisper, but she felt his shoulder's drop and she knew he had heard her. He sighed and turned to face her, he placed his hand on her arm, just below the line of her t-shirt, "There was an accident one night at the lab, my father was arrested. His assistant, Carla, was killed. He has spent the last four or so years at St. Claire's Mental Institute. The courts found him unfit to stand trial." Peter shook his head and dropped his hand from Olivia's arm. He looked around again, "I haven't been here since I was about 9 years old we had just gotten our dog back, Rufus, and I wanted to surprise him. Walter yelled at me for even coming into the lab and from that day on, whenever I was supposed to come to the lab, I was scared."
"HEY! What are you doing in here? Ah, Mr. Bishop I should have expected you to break in to somewhere while we were here but I'm surprised to see you here Miss. Dunham." Peter and Olivia shot up at the sound of a teacher's booming voice. "I think this detention will bring you to a suspension Mr. Bishop." Harris voice was evil and his smirk was much worse. As Peter groaned, Olivia jumped in, "Sir, this wasn't his fault. He came to find me and make sure I was ok. I saw the police tape and was interested."
Harris just hummed, "Fine, but get out of here right now, both of you!" Peter grabbed for Olivia's hand and pulled her from the lab before Harris was able to say anymore. "Dunham! I'd be very careful who you hang out with!" Harris' voice echoed as they continued on down the hallway.
Olivia stopped abruptly when she came to seat outside the building. It was under a large tree, its branches hanging over, causing shade to form. She took a seat and Peter followed. "Peter why would he want to expel you?" Olivia leaned closer to him, knowing that whatever it was, he wouldn't want to talk about but she hoped he would tell her anyway. She watched as he sighed and dropped his head, "He used to be my teacher and he was always trying to find a way to get rid of me. I'm a smartass you see and teacher don't like that."
He was covering up his emotions with sarcasm and humor and so Olivia just allowed him to continue, but he didn't. "Come on. Lets get something to eat. I'm hungry." He grabbed for her hand and almost dragged her towards the small strip of café's and shops that lines part of the campus. "So how is Rachel doing, after the whole Greg-stepfather thing?" Peter sat next to her on a small bench that he had found at one of the café's. He was close to her and could feel the heat coming off her body. He felt her shoulders drop in a sigh. "She is doing ok. They are getting back together. I'm worried about it but she won't listen to me." She shrugged again. "It'll be alright Liv. If she is anything like her big sister, she'll be fine. She is a smart girl."
Peter glanced out over the almost empty court and his eyes fell on someone walking towards them. He froze in his seat, Peter glanced back to Olivia who smiled sweetly at him, seemingly thankful for the reassurance he was giving her. "Ah! Peter." A voice sent shivers down his spine and as Peter looked up he found Eddie standing not to far away. "Eddie." Peter's voice was cold but as he glanced back at Olivia he noticed that she knew something was going on. "Peter, what are you doing here? I thought you would never come here again."
Eddie glanced around at the campus before coming back to look at them. "And who is this…" he motioned towards Olivia with his hand outstretched, waiting for a handshake. Olivia knew better though, the way Peter had straightened next to her, she just smiled and shook his hand, "Olivia." That's all she gave and as Eddie smiled back at her, she felt uneasy. Eddie turned back to Peter and spoke, "Nice," before turning on his heals and leaving.
Peter sighed. He was gone but when Olivia placed her hand on his thigh causing him to look at her, he knew she wanted answers. "Peter, what was that?" She looked up at him with concern is his eyes. His shoulders dropped, "Please Peter…" He placed his hand over hers, still sitting on his knee, and squeezed it gently. "A couple of years ago I went a bit crazy. The thing is, I'm not even a gambler. I just…saw an opportunity and it bit me on the ass." He couldn't look at her, couldn't bring himself to look into her eyes.
"And the whole criminal thing people were telling me about?" This caused Peter to look up at her. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally turning to face her. "I'm not proud of much of what I have done, Olivia. I need you to understand that. But "criminal" I guess. I am very good at reading people. What they need, want and I am also very good at knowing how to get it. How to make them believe anything I want them to…"
"…a con man…" her voice was soft, but not scared. "…in a word, yes. I could probably convince you that I am an expert in any field, any subject. I can thank my father for my IQ but I haven't put it to very good use." He looked down, her hand never left his thigh and he was thankful for the contact. "I haven't cared for anyone but myself in a very long time. Other than my mother, I have never really seemed to care what happens to anyone else, whether it'd by my hand or someone else. There are time I get protective, I was in a fight last year because a guy was hitting his sister, so I hit him back. But other than that I have this pull inside of me that pretty much makes me feel like I could go form country to country conning people and not even caring." He looked to the side and watched as her face fell slightly. "Olivia, I have never lied to you and I would never lie to you. I told you I'm not proud. I don't want you to see like that. Like a criminal." He leant in closer, hoping she would smile.
And she did. "Peter I don't see you as a criminal. I know you, better than most, you've made bad choices, we all have. You can be better if you want to be better." She placed her free hand on top of his that was sitting on hers, on his thigh. They smiled at each other, knowing that she meant every word. Peter entwined his fingers with hers, reveling in the feeling of just being able to be close to her. "Hey guys!" They both looked up to find Charlie and Sonia coming their way, "What happened to you too? Suddenly you were both gone." Olivia felt Peter's hand tightly slightly in her and she looked back at him with a warm smile, never breaking the contact between them. "Come on, we still have to look at the other side. Please!" Sonia's excited voice made them both smile and for a moment forget about what they were talking about.
"Yea she has been like this all day. Come on before she drags me all over the school alone!" Charlie's quip only received a glare from Sonia but she turned to Peter, a playful smile on her lips, "Please Peter you know how much I have wanted to come to this school. Please…" She battered her eyelashes at him, mock flirtation and he laughed, "Yea alright lets go." As he stood, he tugged on Olivia's hand and she rose with him, their hands still together. As they walked behind Sonia and Charlie, who were bickering, Olivia pulled on his hands gently, causing him to look down at her, "I trust you…" she leant up and placed a small kiss on his cheek, smiling back at him and looking ahead.
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