Epilogue

Olivia's sleep must have been deep and dreamless, because the next thing she discerned was the touch of a hand on her shoulder. Her eyelids flew open and a name escaped her throat as if on reflex: „Peter!". Pictures of the burning building, of the two crazed monsters, of all the blood, blood, blood flashed through her mind, of black, billowing smoke and sirens, and above all Peter's wrecked body, the terrible gunshot wound, his lacerated back... So much blood! It was only when the bright, white light stung her eyes and she felt a soft mattress underneath her back that she realized she wasn't outside the club anymore. Above her hovered a familiar face, but as had been the case with Hanley it took her a while to remember who the person with the large, concerned eyes was.

„A-astrid?", she mumbled after a minute or so. Her tongue felt heavy, fuzzy, as if it had been anesthetized, and the name sounded somehow wrong in her ears. But Astrid just smiled and padded her on the shoulder that she had never lost her comforting grip on.

„He's alright", she whispered and added something that Olivia didn't even hear. It didn't matter. Alright. Peter was alright. Thank God. Relief washed through her, soothing her, and suddenly she felt sleepy, far too sleepy to stay awake for much longer, and so she drifted off again, back into a peaceful sleep.

The next time she woke up, Astrid was sitting in a chair beside the bed, reading in some kind of magazine. Next to her, a bunch of pretty flowers had been placed on a table, and beside that Olivia discovered an IV stand, which appertaining tube went into her right hand. The left one was heavily bandaged and hurt like hell when she tried to use it. Actually, just about everything did. Especially her mind.

„Careful with that", she heard Astrid say as a comment on her trying to raise her arm. „It's broken."

Broken. Huh. That explained so much. Broken... Oh God...

„P-peter?", she whispered and found that her tongue was much easier to move this time while at the same time feeling like she had rubbed it on sandpaper. Ouch. But probably not nearly as hurtful as Peter's back. Or his stomach. Or his head. Or...

Astrid got up and interrupted her thoughts with one of her brilliant smiles. „They got him on the operating table just in time, don't worry. The bullet hadn't hit anything vital, and he got a transfusion for the blood loss. A few weeks' rest and he'll be as good as new. Don't worry, Olivia. He'll make it."

Though Olivia still felt relieved deep inside, she couldn't control the anger that grew in her now that she hadn't had to fight for Peter's and her own life anymore. „But I do worry!", she exclaimed and made a feeble attempt to sit up, but had to find out that she couldn't even raise her head more than a few inches. Still she went on: „It's my fault he got into this mess in the first place!" Every single thought of blame and fear and anger about her rash actions that she had managed to keep at bay until now came flooding back to her and she felt tears sting in her eyes, but was somehow able to fight them down.

Astrid raised an eyebrow at her violent reaction and Olivia couldn't blame her. Usually she was the quiet, logical one, thinking before she spoke, but recent events seemed to have really gotten to her. „This mess?", her friend asked in a surprised tone of voice when Olivia didn't act upon her facial expression. „Maybe I should tell you a thing or two about the cute couple you brought down two days ago."

The question hidden in those words was rhetorical, and Astrid treated it as such by simply ignoring Olivia's attempt at interrupting her with a „Two days...?" and pulling a file from her bag. Though her mind was still trying to tell her how stupid and selfish and reckless she had been, her curiosity piped up and she listened intently while Astrid read aloud.

„Morgan and Mortimer Croft, twins, 33 years old. Former Cortexiphan trial children." At that, Astrid and Olivia exchanged a long, sad look that more than any words captured their mutual discontent concerning Walther's and Bell's experiments. „According to Walther, they showed real promise. Fantastic regenerative abilities that could be transferred to others. Unfortunately, they were joined by some mutations after some years on the drug; according to Peter, you did acquaint yourself with them, so no need for details." Olivia nodded in agreement and thought back at the gruesome fangs with a shudder. „The interesting part is, according to this file, they both died in a fire at their parent's home. The whole family did."

„Then how...", Olivia began and Astrid explained eagerly: „Our best guess is that they faked their own deaths, somehow. There wasn't much left to identify, but there were four people, two adults and two children, and what was left was a clear match. But now that we knew what to look for, it was easy to follow their trail through unsolved murder cases where the victims were completely drained for blood. A couple of years ago, a club was opened in L.A., but it burned down after almost a year and killed thirteen people. Next, they tried in New York, then Seattle. It's like they attempted to criss-cross the country to bury their tracks. The same M.O. over and over again. They would probably have done the same here if you hadn't stopped them."

Astrid's words did soothe her just a little bit, just enough for the self-destructive thoughts to crawl back into the back of her mind.

„But how... how did you... And...", Olivia tried to ask, but there were too many questions wandering around in her head and she didn't know with which one to start.

„If you're wondering where the rescue came from all of a sudden, it's with courtesy from yours truly", Astrid replied with a smile. „Remember that cute coroner who was supposed to call you?"

Of course Olivia did. The whole thing had started for real when they had found the body. So she nodded; though she really couldn't remember whether the man had been 'cute'.

„Well, he called shortly after you had left and told me that we should take a look at the body. Once Walther heard about this, he was hooked, so we drove down there and had to agree with the man: That poor girl was completely drained for all blood, and the slit throat was nothing but a ruse to hide two tiny holes in her neck. You know how Walther is – 'This reminds me of the time Belly and I...', 'I remember when Belly and I...', … Well, you get the idea. And so did he. He found the file with Morgan and Mortimer, but that wasn't enough. Luckily for you, your sister called too and wanted to tell you that she remembered something Emily had said, and from that point on it wasn't too difficult to see the greater picture. And to send for backup."

„I see...", Olivia muttered silently. So luck. Luck had been the only thing standing between her and a death that could have come directly out of a horror movie. „Rachel, is she...?"

„She has been here together with Ella yesterday and earlier today, and she will be back soon. She's pretty shaken up after everything, but we've offered her psychological assistance and once it became clear that you would both make it through, she got a lot better. We all did."

Olivia sighed inaudibly and closed her eyes just for a second. She could feel that her body still needed rest and probably a few days' worth of sleep, but there was something else she needed to know before that: „When... when I was in there... it was like I had been poisoned or hypnotized or something like that. What was that?", she wanted to know.

„It was some kind of poison. According to Walther, they used it to calm down their victims – some kind of natural anesthetic that calms you down at first and then … well, frankly, makes you high. Once you've been injected with it, they could make you do anything they wanted and you would be happy to do it. Add the right atmosphere and you have yourself a very drinkable crowd and no witnesses. Unless, of course, you're immune."

„Like Peter", Olivia remarked.

„It wasn't a natural immunity", Astrid explained. „Do you remember that stuff he drank in the lab? Apparently the enzymes in the liquid neutralized the poison from those two psychopaths too. We found it in its natural form in samples from Emily's blood."

Of course Olivia remembered, and the memory brought with it another wave of bad conscience. „I'm sorry we didn't tell you", she said. „We should have informed you –"

Astrid gave her a warm smile with just a hint of a lopsided grin. „I thought it was just a date? At least that's what Peter said. I think his exacts words where: 'Next time, I choose the time and place.'"

Olivia couldn't help but smile at that last comment herself. Even after being through hell for her, he was still trying to protect her. She remembered that warm feeling she had had inside when he had tried to make her smile despite his terrible condition; it was the exact same thing she felt now. And apparently, it was pretty obvious to Astrid what she was thinking, because her friend and colleague just kept smiling. Time to change the subject, Olivia thought and said with a grin: „Date or no date, Broyles is still going to kill me, isn't he?"

„We'll see", Astrid replied more or less reassuringly. „Now I'll get something to eat and you should get some more sleep. The aftereffects of the poison are quite strong, so Walther thinks it'll take a few days more to wear completely off." When she got up, she placed the file on Morgan and Mortimer on Olivia's bedside table and looked at her one more time before leaving. „Everything's alright now, Olivia. That's what counts." Then she gave her another smile and closed the door on her way out.

Olivia looked at the white wall in front of her for a while, recapping what she remembered, until she could feel how drowsiness was about to overtake her once again. In her head, Astrid's words kept spinning right up till her eyes closed shut: Everything's alright now. That's what counts.