Chapter 26 – Mysterious Girl
Daniel Hollands stepped inside his boss' office. Saying that he was surprised when he saw whom it was that had summoned him - besides Colonel Broyles - was putting it mildly.
None other than the Secretary of Defence, Walter Bishop dominated the office, although currently all he was doing was standing to the side of the Colonel's desk.
Daniel had seen him a couple of times, always from afar. His imposing figure transmitted an aura of authority, bordering on arrogance. Being in his presence gave Daniel an uncomfortable feeling; a tension in his muscles, accompanied by tightening of his stomach.
This wasn't the kind of person you would wish to find yourself crossing.
"You must be Agent Hollands." The Secretary extended his hand towards Daniel.
It took the Fringe Agent a few seconds to react, taken by surprise that Walternate knew who he was.
"That's correct Sir," he said accepting the man's hand.
"I'm Secretary of Defence Walter Bishop," he introduced himself, totally unnecessarily; there was no one working at Fringe Division who would not know whom he was, even if they'd never before met him personally.
"It's an honour Sir," Daniel said before releasing The Secretary's hand.
"Please sit down Agent Hollands." Colonel Broyles waved his hand, motioning him to sit in the chair in front of his desk. He had Daniel's personnel file displayed on the embedded terminal.
Feeling the tension building and uneasy with doing so, Daniel took his seat, eyes shifting between Broyles and the still standing Secretary.
He wondered what on Earth a powerful man such as Walter Bishop could possibly want from him.
"Mr. Hollands..." Walternate started circling the office until he came up behind Daniel. The Fringe Agent felt the Secretary's eyes on the back of his head.
The unconformable feeling deepening in the pit of his stomach.
"You've been with Fringe Division for what now? Five years?" The Secretary continued his graceful stroll around the office, until he once again arrived to stand next to Broyles' desk.
"It will be six years next November Sir."
"Very, good." Walternate gave a slight smile, then changed his line of questioning, "I see that you're from Lewiston, Idaho."
Feeling off balance by the shifting and seemingly inconsequential topics, Daniel hesitated before answering, "Err… actually I was born in Camden, Maine, but we moved to Lewiston when I was a child, my mother is from there. Things got tough in Camden after most of the area was ambered."
"Yes, I remember that incident," the Secretary offered with a nod, then added, "Quite unfortunate."
Daniel would almost have sworn that he saw a hint of emotion breaking through from behind Walternate's impassive mask; something between sadness and anger.
"Honestly I don't recall much of it Sir," Daniel elaborated "I was only five years old. But it's something that bothers my parents greatly to this day. They lost a lot of friends and relatives from my father's side of the family."
"We all have lost someone to these terrible tragedies that afflict our world." The Secretary said, then he paused for a few seconds.
Daniel noticed how his eyes settled on a picture standing on the Colonel's desk.
The young Fringe Agent followed his gaze and found in a simple, but well-crafted frame an image of Col. Broyles son.
Walternate shifted his eyes back to Daniel, whose attention snapped back to him when he began to speak. "Family is very important Mr. Hollands, I'm glad that you and your parents were fortunate enough to survive such a terrible ordeal."
"Thank you Sir," Daniel said. His mind was racing a thousand miles per hour, trying to figure out why the Secretary of Defence was suddenly so interested in his family history.
To his knowledge, neither he, nor his parents, had ever crossed paths with the man.
"If I may ask, do you see them quite often?" Walternate asked.
Daniel was starting to feel increasingly uncomfortable at the line of questioning, he cleared his throat nervously before asking, "Whom Sir?"
"Your parents," Walternate pressed on. "I assume they don't live in New York."
"No Sir. They still live in Lewiston. But I go there whenever I can. I actually came back from spending my leave visiting them a few days ago."
"Good, good. It's important to keep in touch with your loved ones. I'm sure your parents appreciate that."
"Yes Sir, they do." Daniel shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "And so do I."
"I'm sure you do." Walternate gave a slight smile, though Daniel felt sure there was something unpleasant, just barely concealed under it.
"They visit you too here in New York, or perhaps other family members?"
"Yes, they do. My uncles too."
"And cousins?"
Daniel raised an eyebrow and answered, "I don't have any cousins Sir."
The Secretary nodded. "So, this girl..." Walternate swept is hand above the surface of Broyles desk. "Is not a relative of yours?"
An image he recognised immediately, of a young blond girl, appeared on the embedded terminal.
Daniel was taken by surprise. "Melissa" he said, his voice low. He looked between Broyles and Walternate. "Has something happened to her?"
"Is that her name? Melissa?" Broyles queried when he finally spoke.
"Yes Sir, Melissa Givens, but she isn't my relative. She's... a friend"
Both Walternate and Broyles exchanged a look. Daniel was becoming more restless by the second.
"She was here a few days ago, visiting you," Broyles prompted.
"Yes Sir, she was in town and she gave me a call. She came to meet me and we were supposed to go out for drinks that night after my shift was over. But unfortunately her aunt got sick and she had to go back to Chicago that same night."
"She's from Chicago?" Walternate asked.
"Actually she's from Boston." Daniel noticed the slight flinch that affected the Secretary's face when he mentioned Melissa's home town. "But her parents died when she was a child, during the Boston outbreak and she moved to Chicago to live with her aunt."
Daniel found himself squirming in his seat once more, anxiety taking a hold of him. "Sir, may I ask why you're questioning me about Melissa? Is she in some kind of trouble?"
Walternate drifted a few steps towards the glass wall that separated Broyles' office from the Fringe Division's bullpen.
He stopped midway and turned around to face Daniel, who had twisted in his seat to follow the Secretary with his stare.
Walternate paused for a beat too long, then disclosed, "She may be the daughter of a long lost friend of mine." The pause and the delivery of the explanation troubled Daniel.
He knew this was not even close to the truth, even as the Secretary continued, embellishing the lie, "I've been looking for her for a long time. If she really is whom I think she is, her father was a very dear friend and I would love to meet her."
"I see," Daniel kept his eyes on the Secretary, feeling very much like a prey animal being stalked by a predator, though he tried to keep his expression neutral.
Despite the fact that he believed the whole story to be off, he didn't see that he had any choice but to play along.
"I would appreciate immensely if you could tell me more about her." The Secretary walked back towards Broyles' desk and leaned against it - a move which Daniel interpreted as an attempt at forced casualness, a posture which seemed completely alien to this man – just to Daniel's left. "You see, my friend was also from Boston, he too died during the outbreak along with his wife. His daughter was also thought to be lost, but a few years ago I received news that she may had survived."
"Of course Sir, that makes sense." Daniel gave his best attempt at a sympathetic smile.
He still wasn't buying it, but as he had no choice, he told Walternate what he knew about the girl. "I met her when I was on leave in Lewiston, she was passing through town on her way to Chicago. It was a chance encounter, I witnessed her being attacked by two lowlifes..." Daniel sighed thinking about what those men could have done to her. "They had intended to rape her, but they didn't know who they were dealing with. Even though she was outnumbered, and smaller than her attackers, they didn't stand a chance against her. She immobilized both men single handed, before I could cross the street to intervene."
"That is quite impressive." Walternate stated, again flashing just a glimpse of that oddly wolfish grin.
"You have no idea Sir. I was on my way to my uncle's dinner when I spotted the two men harassing her, one of them armed with a gun. I shouted from across the street. It wasn't much, but it was enough to create a distraction, one that she took full advantage of. She grabbed the gun from the first goon and while it was still in his hand she shot the other one. Then she wrestled with the guy with the gun, she decked him within seconds, dislocating his shoulder in the process. By the time I got to her, she had the two men restrained and she was pointing the gun at me."
"Again... most impressive," the Secretary muttered, his calculating eyes fixed on the young Fringe Agent.
"Based on what you say, I assume she belongs to a law enforcement agency, or has some military training." Broyles assessed.
"Not that I know of, Sir. When I asked her where she had learned to fight like that, she told me she had been raised in a tough neighbourhood." Daniel shrugged.
"So you only met this woman a few weeks ago?" Broyles elicited.
"To be more precise, only last week. But it was quite an introduction." Daniel gave a tense smile.
"Indeed it was," Walternate said with a raised an eyebrow.
"What more can you tell us about her?"
"Not much more Sir. After the attack I offered to help her with the local Police, which she was grateful because she was in a hurry to get to Chicago. I persuaded her to join me for something to eat at my uncle's dinner and after that, she left. Then she showed up here a few days ago, like I told you before."
"And she went back to Chicago that same night she met with you here?" Broyles inquired.
"Yes, Sir. Melissa received a call about her aunt being admitted to hospital. She was really upset about it." Daniel explained.
"And you haven't talked with her since then?" Walternate inquired.
"No Sir."
"Very good." Walternate nodded "May I ask you a favour?" The Secretary stood next to Daniel's chair.
The Fringe Agent straightened in his seat. "Of course Sir."
"If Melissa happens to contact you again, would you give me a call?" The Secretary handed Daniel his business card.
"Yes Sir," Daniel took the card and gave it a quick glance before putting it in his jacket pocket.
"But please, don't tell her anything. If she really is who I think she is, I would very much like to surprise her." The Secretary's lips twitched slightly at the corners.
It disturbed Daniel, as he couldn't tell exactly if it was a smile or a sneer.
"Of course Sir," Daniel replied and did what he could to return the smile.
"Thank you for your time Agent Hollands. That will be all." Colonel Broyles dismissed the young agent.
Daniel got up "Thank you Sirs, excuse me." He nodded towards both Broyles and the Secretary.
Then with a great sense of relief, he swiftly left Broyles' office closing the door behind him. Daniel huffed and swiped his forehead with the back of his hand. What the hell had just happened? What did Melissa get herself into?
He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves, then walked back to his desk, his mind running at a thousand miles per hour. Something was going on and he intended to find out what it was. He sat down and swiped his hand on the surface of his terminal, bringing it to life.
From the menu he chose the 'Citizens Index' and selected the small magnifying glass indicating the search option at the right uppermost corner of the screen. A prompt appeared waiting for his input.
He reclined in his chair, wondering if what he was about to do would get him in trouble. Daniel spared a furtive look around. The bullpen was filled with agents, each engrossed in their own tasks. He snorted to himself, wondering why he was worried if someone was watching what he was doing, when everything they did there was logged and recorded.
He looked up and he could see through the glass wall of Colonel Broyles office that the Secretary was still there. Daniel pondered on whether or not he should go ahead with what he intended to do. It was obvious that his boss and the Secretary would learn about his actions sooner or later.
But the questioning he had been subjected to, seemed almost surreal by now. What was the Secretary's interest in Melissa? What was his genuine motive for all his questions?
His curiosity got the better of him. He guessed that taking a peek wouldn't hurt. Besides he could always justify his actions by saying that he was trying to learn more about the girl, in order to help the Secretary.
With his mind set, he typed 'Melissa Givens' into the search field and hit 'send'.
"According to the computer, Agent Hollands was telling the truth Mr. Secretary." Broyles swiped his hand above the embedded terminal on his desk, closing the window with the program that had been analysing Daniel's reactions as he submitted his answers to the questions they had asked.
"Yes, that much seemed obvious." Walternate took a few steps towards the glass screen, and stood casting his gaze over the activity in the bullpen - the main work floor of Fringe Division - from his bird's-eye position.
"He was just an unfortunate mark, a convenient means for her to get what she needed." He turned around to face Broyles. "Still, we should keep tabs on him, there's always the possibility she may contact him again."
"Of course Sir." Broyles nodded. "I think it's obvious that 'Melissa Givens' is an alias," he added.
"Yes I believe so," Walternate reflected as he returned to the desk.
"Nevertheless we should seek to verify this. Look for activity and transactions under that name during the period falling between my return from the Other Side and the prisoner's escape. She must have travelled from Noyo County to New York during that time and according to our good Agent Hollands, she did it on our side. Clever girl, she knew that would be the last place we would think to look for her after she killed Newton on their side."
Broyles swiped his hand again above his desk. "She seems very resourceful and a tenacious, skilful fighter," he said while browsing through the Local Law Enforcement joint database.
In a few seconds he had located the Lewiston Police report documenting the attack on a young woman named Melissa Givens.
"The Lewiston Police Department corroborates Agent Hollands account about the attack on the girl. One of the men involved required surgery after being shot." Broyles paused and leaned a bit further, making sure he was reading correctly. "He lost his genitals," Broyles divulged, eyes widened with his disturbance.
The Secretary glanced at the report, his expression remained blank. "Yes it appears so. She is proving to be a truly remarkable adversary."
"And she seems to always be a step ahead of us." Broyles stared vacantly at the report, his brain trying to make sense of the odd puzzle that was the mysterious girl.
"First she intercepted your son when you were about to meet him on the Other Side. Then she infiltrates one of the most secure facilities in the United States with such an ease that the feat would put any top ranking CIA agent to shame." Broyles sighed, his eyes shifted to the Secretary "We have detailed intel on every agent they have on their side, but yet we have nothing about this girl." He shook his head "Sir, do you have any idea of who she might be and what her motives are?"
Walternate had a sombre look on his face. The girl was obviously becoming more than a mere inconvenience. "Not yet," he answered after a brief pause. "I will send word to our Agents on the Other Side, but I doubt that they will find anything more about 'Melissa Givens' there either."
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.
"Come in." Colonel Broyles ordered.
At his invitation Agent Astrid Farnsworth entered the room.
She walked towards Broyles' desk and stopped before him. Her gaze settled upon him, uncomfortably direct, yet somehow also strangely weightless, as if she were somehow viewing you from the separation of a zero-g environment.
Her eyes drifted slowly as she began to deliver her assessment of her findings, as if contemplating something inconceivably far away. "Sir, there are no records of any access in any terminal of Fringe Division, regarding the security codes active on Liberty Island, last Sunday between 11:15pm and 11:50pm. I have also expanded the search to other facilities of Fringe Division here in New York and I have also found nothing," she reported with hardly a pause between words and her strange delivery in expressionless speech.
"Thank you Agent Farnsworth, you're dismissed." Broyles waved at the agent.
Astrid spun around instantly - still on her other plane of existence - and walked back towards the exit without further comment. She closed the door behind her, leaving the two men alone once more.
"It seems Ms. Givens is also very good at covering her tracks." Broyles commented as he reclined in his chair.
"Indeed she is." The Secretary moved to stand once again at the glass wall. His eyes roaming the large room filled with Agents, yet his mind focusing somewhere else.
"Someone like her poses an enormous threat to our side Sir."
Walternate turned his head slightly towards Broyles. "Yes, I am inclined to agree," he said, then returned his attention to the hub beyond the glass once more.
Broyles got up and came to stand beside the secretary. He was often drawn to this viewpoint, where he could survey his agents, all hard at work. Observing them, witnessing their efficiency and endeavour often came as a comfort to him.
"We have one of our very best agents Over There Sir. An agent that happens to look exactly like the woman that girl went to such great lengths to help escape. We must take advantage of that."
The Secretary's lips twitched slightly on the corners. "I am very much aware of that Colonel Broyles and rest assured, I fully intend to."
"This wasn't exactly how I had envisioned our first date," Peter stated, then took a sip from his Styrofoam to-go coffee cup. He and Olivia were parked up outside Joseph Feller's apartment building, sitting side by side in her SUV and were on the lookout for the shapeshifter.
"We could always make out on the back seat," she said without taking her eyes from the building's entrance and also taking a sip from her coffee cup. Her face remained impassive, not giving any hint of how much she was enjoying their exchange.
Peter slowly turned his head towards her, giving her a pointed look. "I'm so going to hold you to that."
Olivia bit her lower lip, attempting to conceal her smile. "A lingering teenage fantasy Bishop?"
"You're kidding me?" Peter chuckled, "A hot FBI Agent, in the back seat of her government issued SUV? It's every boy's dream." He leaned slightly towards her. "If you said you'd throw your handcuffs into the mix, I think I may have an orgasm right now."
Olivia snorted, almost choking on her coffee. When she got herself back under control she responded, "Just, try not to stain the seat please."
Her lips kept twitching, unable to contain the indomitable smile that had made itself at home on her face. She couldn't help it. The playful banter between them had been absent for so long. She had missed it as much as she had missed him. The novelty was in the sexual innuendo creeping comfortably in. It surprised her how easily they both had adjusted to their new situation.
While they were on the Other Side, she had made clear to Peter how she felt about him. And he had chosen to come back with her. However this was still all very new and with everything that had happened since that confession, they had been denied the opportunity to be together by themselves.
Until now.
"Although I wonder…" Peter broke the comfortable silence that and fallen upon them "What would happen this time if we really did it."
Olivia squinted her eyes at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"The last two times we..." Peter paused and gave a slight, almost nervous chuckle. "After Jacksonville, our almost date. That was when you found out the truth about my origins, right?"
Olivia gave a slight nod. She took another sip of her cooling coffee and diverted her eyes back to building's entrance. The memory of that day was still painful for her.
"Then when we first kissed on the Other Side..." Peter paused. Olivia looked back at him. He smiled, although with a hint of sadness. "You were captured and the switch made, and if it weren't for Etta..." His Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
He diverted his eyes towards his coffee cup. He cleared his throat after a moment of silence.
"Anyhow," he continued. "I wonder what will happen when we do make out for the first time. Maybe a comet will collide with Earth causing a massive extinction event." Peter gave another nervous chuckle.
Olivia kept her eyes on him.
She knew what he was doing. Using humour to try to make light of recent events that had caused so much heartache to them both and had come so very close to driving them apart.
But she understood that it was also his way of saying 'I'm scared of what might happen if we do this'. She couldn't blame him for feeling that way. Sometimes it seemed like the universe held a grudge against them.
Olivia also knew that he was mostly worried for her. That somehow he could hurt her, even unintentionally. It was evident that Etta's account of events which would have taken place if she hadn't interfered, was fresh in both their minds.
It was obvious that Peter was still having a hard time coming to terms with the consequences of his actions after finding out about his true origin. Of what would have happened to Olivia if Etta hadn't come along.
The FBI Agent smiled at him and reached for his face, she would not to allow him to make himself suffer any more. She caressed his light stubble with the back of her hand, revelling in the feel of the small hairs against her delicate skin.
The fact that she was the one to initiate that kind of intimate gesture, gave her an overwhelming sense of happiness. Goosebumps erupted across her skin at the feel of his face against her hand.
Since the first days of their partnership, Peter had always been there to give her emotional comfort through his touch when she needed it the most.
He was a tactile person by nature, she had learned that early on.
Even during those first unassuming encounters, his touch imparted warmth and strength and had an undeniable calming effect on her; keeping her grounded during those troubled and stressful early days at Fringe Division.
Olivia found it odd back then. She wasn't the kind of person that would actively seek that kind of intimate contact, especially with someone she had just met. But with Peter she found peace in his touch and quickly found herself craving it, especially during the more difficult cases that kept landing in her lap. He supplied that simple contact, time and again, just when she needed him to.
She also knew that he reacted instinctively out of concern for her, there was no ulterior motive behind it. Peter had always let his guard down in those moments when he tried to soothe her; when she'd allowed herself to become consumed by a case.
She could not fail to see his compassion written so clearly on his face, nor to feel the tenderness of his touch, every time he had reached out to her to comfort her.
She realised now that Peter had cared about her since the beginning and marvelled at how quickly she had come to rely on his support. Later as their relationship evolved, she started craving for his touch for a whole different reason. She had been afraid to admit to herself at the beginning, but she wasn't afraid any more.
Now she was the one seeking contact with him, openly, without reservations. It felt heavenly just to be able to act upon her impulses and to see how much it was appreciated in return. It also awoke a much deeper kind of craving in her.
Her hand fell to his neck, and she pushed herself gently against him. Olivia brushed her lips against his and she felt his hand on her waist, drawing her closer to him.
He deepened the kiss and she welcomed it smiling against his lips. It was the go ahead that she needed to pour everything into the heated kiss.
Over There, their kiss had been probing. She had been afraid that he might reject her. But as he accepted her, it became a gentle expression of implicit love. This time it was filled with so much more. She ached for him and showed it as her tongue gained entrance to his mouth, battling with his own.
Olivia held nothing back, only stopping when breathing became a necessity, still only leaving his mouth after biting his lower lip. She had let it be her way of saying 'Let's put the hurt behind us. I want to move on, with you'.
She took a deep breath to recover from the kiss. Her body flushed, heating up in places that had been dormant for too long. Olivia feasted on Peter with her eyes.
His raged breathing and flushed cheeks showed that he was every bit as aroused as she was. Her eyes slid lower, and at finding further evidence her eyebrows arched appreciatively and her teeth worked at her lip.
Feeling a little guilty, not to mention frustrated herself, she drew in a cleansing breath and worked at reigning in her wandering mind. "So Bishop, are you still afraid the world is going to end if we make out?" She wiggled a teasing eyebrow.
Peter blew out a shaky breath then chuckled. "Sweetheart, if that kiss was any indication of what 'making out' with you will be, I wouldn't care less if the Universe explodes afterwards. I would surely die a happy man."
Olivia snorted and shook her head, sliding back in her seat. She shifted her gaze towards the entrance of the shapeshifter's building.
Peter's eyes remained fixed on her. Reaching out a hand he gathered a loose strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear.
"Unfortunately I don't see that happening anytime soon," he said ruefully as he continued to caress her face, an almost apologetic smile on his face.
Olivia squinted her eyes, silently questioning him.
"First of all..." He explained "I live with Walter, in case you have forgotten. Although I'm sure he would love to see us make out, as disturbing as that sounds." Peter shook his head and chuckled, making Olivia smile.
"And currently..." he continued, "our grown-up daughter from the future his kinda of living with you. And she, I'm sure, would not appreciate seeing her parents going at it."
Olivia took his hand from her face and kissed the knuckles of his fingers.
"For your information, our grown-up daughter actually volunteered herself to stay with Walter, so we can go out on a date. She even suggested that she could stay a night at her grandfather's so we could..." she left the innuendo hanging in the air, again the eyebrows lifted and Olivia bit her lower lip suggestively.
"She did?" Peter raised his own eyebrows.
"Hm-mm" Olivia nodded, unable to hide her own smile.
"I knew we had done a great job raising that girl." Peter grinned at her.
Olivia chuckled again. She didn't remember the last time she had felt so elated. The muscles in her face were almost aching from the permanent smile she'd been wearing.
"I've been meaning to tell you something." Peter broke the gentle silence that had once again fallen between them.
Olivia shifted her eyes to him and nodded, encouraging him to continue.
"When I was in the tank, trying to remember the events from Noyo County," Peter began, "I inadvertently ended up reliving a memory from my childhood, one that I had forgotten about altogether."
That caught Olivia's attention. Like her, Peter's childhood memories were jumbled. She was curious to know what he had remembered.
That he thought it was something relevant enough to share with her in this moment, made her all the more curious.
Peter seemed a little uncertain about how to proceed, making her curiosity spike.
"What do you recall from your childhood in Jacksonville?" he ventured. "Have you remembered anything more from the time at the day-care, or do you recall visiting there when you were about six years old?"
The question caught Olivia totally by surprise. What did the day-care in Jacksonville had to do with Peter's childhood?
She was about to answer when she caught sight of movement in front of the shapeshifter's building, in the periphery of her vision.
Olivia's attention snapped back to the building's entrance, where she saw a short, heavyset man leaving the building.
"Peter look." She nodded with her head towards the man. "I think that's our guy."
Peter studied the photo of Feller they had on the dashboard, then compared it to the man strolling casually from the building.
"It's him all right. And I bet he's taking the electromagnetic cubes with him," he said.
The shapeshifter had turned his back to them, revealing a full backpack strapped to his shoulders.
Joseph Feller got into a car that was parked a little further up on their side of the road.
"Here we go." Olivia started her SUV, preparing to follow. "Let's see if I'm right and he will lead us to her"
Olivia's plan was to intercept her doppelgänger. Not to arrest her unless things got out of hand. In any case, she had no intention of holding her, she would be of little use to them stuck in a cell.
She needed her to be in possession of the missing machine component, the one that would see her mission completed and should therefore allow her to return to her side.
That way Olivia hoped to prevent more incidents, costing lives, from occurring.
She also hoped to somehow get through to her, make her see that they were not the enemy.
By giving her what they needed, Olivia expected that the gesture alone would help her see that they had no ill intentions towards their world or their people.
But Olivia knew there were risks involved.
For starters, even with Etta's knowledge about the events in their timeline, there was no way to be sure that Joseph Feller was really in touch with her doppelgänger.
They were relying solely on Olivia's hunch.
According to Etta, as a result of Newton's demise at her own hand, Feller would likely have become Walternate's senior Agent embedded on their side.
Therefore it was reasonable to assume that he would also take on Newton's role as her doppelgänger's handler.
Olivia followed the shapeshifter's vehicle through the streets of Medford, always keeping a safe distance.
He was heading south on Forest Street, then took a right and turned on to Lawrence Road.
Olivia did the same, but as she turned she was taken by surprise.
Ahead, the street was blocked due to what appeared to be a recent accident, no law enforcement agents or paramedics were yet on scene and so the traffic was attempting to sort itself out before becoming snarled up and subjected to a lengthy holdup.
Being one of the last cars to turn into the road, the shapeshifter's vehicle would be one of the ones who found it easiest to turn before it hit the stationary traffic.
Indeed he was already turning in the road up ahead, and was soon on his way back towards them, with other cars following his lead.
"Oh shit," Peter said the very thing that Olivia was thinking.
They were caught by incoming traffic behind making it impossible to reverse the car.
She tried her best to make her own turn into the other lane ahead of Feller, but so was the other vehicle in front of her.
In any case, it was too late. Joseph Feller was already approaching, before Olivia was half way through her manoeuvre, even though space was opening up for her to take the other lane.
There was still a chance he wouldn't see them, but it was soon made evident by the shapeshifter's widening eyes that he had both seen and recognised the occupants inside the SUV.
Feller hit the gas pedal and outmanoeuvred the cars in front of him, taking the sidewalk to avoid the queueing traffic, pedestrians in panic, did what they could to get out of the way of the recklessly onrushing vehicle.
Olivia hit her emergency lights, no longer preoccupied with being spotted by the shapeshifter. She began forcing her way out.
A mad chase ensued through Medford, bringing to Olivia's mind another pursuit she had been involved two years before - the one that had ended in John's death. This time she hoped to avoid such an outcome.
The shapeshifter kept turning and swerving, taking corners seemingly at random, trying everything he could to shake his tail.
But Olivia, skilful and composed behind the wheel, was relentless. Peter, meanwhile, held on for dear life.
They arrived at High Street with Feller driving insanely fast, overtaking cars with no regard for other road users and in doing so was leaving a trail of traffic chaos in his wake.
Feller suddenly swerved into the wrong lane, into oncoming traffic and making towards Canal Street.
Olivia lost some ground as she followed with caution, trying to avoid the scattering vehicles who themselves had tried to avoid a collision.
When she made the turn, she could see that ahead was a level crossing where the street was crossed by a rail road.
The barriers were down with the warning signals flashing. Even above her roaring engine Olivia could hear the alarm dinging, announcing the imminent arrival of an approaching train.
Feller seemed unconcerned however and instead of turning left towards Prescott Street to avoid the rail road, the shapeshifter hit the gas, ploughing straight ahead.
"He's going for it..." Peter said.
Olivia just gave a single nod. If Feller made it before the train passed, they would lose him. She also jammed her foot hard on the gas.
"Olivia! Jesus!" Peter gripped the sides of his seat.
Olivia was completely focused on the shapeshifter's car and ignored Peter's shout.
Feller drove full speed ahead, crashing through the level crossing barriers as the train approached from the left.
But he wasn't fast enough.
His car was still on the tracks when it was smashed by the train.
"Olivia! Stop!" Peter shouted once more.
She already was. She gripped the steering wheel and slammed her foot on the breaks.
The car swerved and skidded until it stopped inches away from the still rolling train.
They panted and exchanged looks. "I... I'm sorry Peter... I was so focused..." Olivia said through heavy breaths, the post effects of the adrenaline rush making her hands tremble.
"It's okay." Peter grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You stopped in time."
They shifted their gaze towards the railway, as the train had at last slowed down until it came to a full stop. "Take this." Olivia handed her backup gun to Peter.
He nodded and got out of the car, following her lead. They ran towards the front of the locomotive.
The train was long, with dozens of freight cars. It had taken a while to come to a full stop, more than half a mile from the level crossing.
It took Olivia and Peter almost five minutes to reach the locomotive, having to run along a narrow stretch of gravelled path at the side of the train.
The shapeshifter's vehicle had been part shoved, part dragged, carried along by the momentum of the train even after the initial smash.
The driver's side of the car had taken the impact. That left side was mangled, the metal bent, twisted and torn like a thin aluminium can.
A human being could not have survived such an accident.
Two men were looking through the passenger window and trying to open the door. They were dressed casually, only the 'Amtrak' logo on their shirts gave away that they were train engineers.
"Stand aside, FBI!" Olivia shouted at them.
The two men, startled by the FBI Agent with her gun in hand, quickly obeyed the order. Olivia reached for her ID in her jacket pocket and showed her badge.
"There's someone inside Ma'am, I think he's still alive," the older of the two engineers said.
"I got this." Approaching from the largely undamaged passenger side, Peter selected a large piece of jagged stone from the trackside and pounded the window of the car, smashing it into the glass until it crazed and disintegrated into tiny fragments.
Feller was trapped in his seat, his body was almost completely entombed by the twisted metal of the car.
Only his torso, head and right arm were visible.
"I've called the paramedics Ma'am," the younger engineer said to Olivia.
"I don't think that will be necessary," Peter said as he managed to open the passenger door. He got inside while Olivia covered the shapeshifter with her weapon, in her experience these things should never be underestimated.
The two engineers watched the scene, exchanging surprised looks between them. Peter tried his best to get to the back-seat. "The backpack is trapped, Olivia and by the looks of it, I don't think there will be much left intact."
Feller started to cough, mercury dribbling from his mouth, his eyes fluttered and rolled drowsily.
"Careful Peter!" Olivia called in warning.
"What the hell is that?" The younger engineer grimaced as he stared at the spluttering shapeshifter's silver smeared mouth. Peter straightened himself the best he could on the passenger seat.
"Feller!" he called and gave a few slaps to the shapeshifter's face as he started to lose consciousness again.
Feller opened his eyes, looking more focused this time as his head lolled to the side. He stared at Peter squinting his eyes. "You're..." he coughed wetly once more, "You're the secretary's son," he coughed again, more viciously, mercury flowing from his mouth.
"How did..." he laboured through a few ragged breaths before he was able to continue, "How did you find me?"
Peter ignored Feller's questions. "The magnetic cubes you were going to use in the Number Stations, are they in the backpack?" he asked.
"The backpack... How..." Feller closed his eyes, his breathing becoming shallower.
"Feller, answer me!" Peter slapped him again.
The shapeshifter opened his eyes once more, he turned his head towards Peter. "How... how do you know about the cubes?" his voice was slurred.
Peter exchanged looks with Olivia. What the shapeshifter had just said seemed to confirm his suspicions about the contents of the backpack.
Peter's eyes settled back on Feller. "Where is the other Olivia?"
The shapeshifter stared at him, his eyes piercing Peter with a look of defiance. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Peter grabbed Feller by the collar. "I know you don't feel pain like we do, but I doubt that you're comfortable right now."
Peter took the gun Olivia and handed him from his waist band and aimed it at Feller's head. "If you tell me where she is I can end this quick."
The shapeshifter started laughing between coughs. "I'll die… I'll die happy knowing you'll be wondering where she is..." another pool of mercury dripped from his mouth.
"...traitor" he sneered at Peter.
Feller started coughing violently, making Peter grimace. When it subsided Feller closed his eyes. "Feller!" Peter shook the shapeshifter. "Wake up damn it!"
"Peter!" Olivia tried to get his attention.
Peter finally stopped and huffed frustrated. The shapeshifter was unconscious once more.
"Peter it's okay," Olivia holstered her gun and poked her head through the broken passenger window. "Maybe Etta has a way to access his memories. It's a machine after all. With all those gadgets she brought with her I'll bet she has something that's able open up this thing's memory, or hard drive, or wherever it stores his memories."
Peter looked at her, a smile blooming on his lips. "You're right. Good thinking. You're really much more than just your amazing looks, Agent Dunham." Peter's smile turned into a grin.
Olivia bit her lower lip trying to suppress her own smile, even as she rolled her eyes and shook her head at his cheesy line. As much as she wanted to return the playful banter, they had an audience, so she did her best to keep it professional.
Besides the two men were pretty freaked out with they had seen. She needed to manage the situation until Broyles got there.
She was about to turn around to speak with the engineers when Feller jolted into action once more. He grabbed Peter's hand, still holding the gun, taking the younger Bishop by surprise by the suddenness of the move.
Peter tried his best to rid himself of the strong grip Feller had on his hand.
Olivia reacted quickly drawing her gun and pointing it at shapeshifter once more. "Let him go! Now!" she shouted.
Feller sneered at her and raised Peter's hand at the level of their heads, the gun pointing towards the smashed wind-shield. "You'll get nothing from me," Feller said as he turned the gun towards his own head using impossible strength, during the struggle he had forced his thumb though the trigger guard and then he pushed.
A shot rang, the bullet making a small hole on Feller's head, mercury pooling from it.
Peter huffed and let himself sag against the seat, the strain and shock from the skirmish showing in his deep breaths.
"Are you okay?" Olivia asked reaching out to Peter.
"Yeah, don't worry." He gave her a reassuring smile.
Peter turned his attention to the dead shapeshifter "Well, Let's hope his hard drive isn't in his head."
Daniel had been left puzzled by the results of his search.
He had combed through every database for women named Melissa Givens born in Boston between 1985 and 1990, he figured Melissa's age to be somewhere in her early twenties.
Only three matches had hit and none of them were the Melissa he knew.
He expanded his search to encompass the whole state of Massachusetts, looking for women with the same name born between 1980 and 1995, just to be sure. Again, none of the twenty-three women returned by the search, was Melissa.
In desperation he repeated the same search, but for the whole US.
After looking at each of the two hundred and sixty-one different identification pictures, he leaned back in his chair staring dejected at the screen. The picture of the last woman was still displayed on it. She wasn't Melissa, just like all the other pictures he had seen before also weren't her.
There was only one conclusion he could draw from that evidence.
Melissa was not whom she claimed to be.
She had lied to him and that left him with the hollow feeling of disappointment and even a little sadness. Maybe she had her reasons and she hadn't deceived him on purpose. But a little voice inside his head was telling him that he really knew nothing about her, the only knowledge he had of her, was that which she'd told him.
All of which was probably fictional.
Reason dictated that he shouldn't trust her.
Nevertheless, as much as it stung to learn about her deception, there was something about her that made Daniel want to believe that there was a reasonable justification for her actions.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe Angie was right, that he was infatuated by the girl and that was clouding his judgement. Under normal circumstances, with the evidence at hand, he would be wary of the girl and not trying to find excuses to justify her actions.
Something else was nagging him, that being her recent visit to the Fringe Headquarters. He was now seeing it from a new perspective.
She'd contacted him out of the blue and vanished before they could go out for drinks, with the excuse of her aunt being admitted to hospital.
Probably this was also a lie. But what was the purpose behind it all? Daniel recalled Angie saying that she had found Melissa wandering around the facility, apparently lost while trying to find a bathroom.
It was becoming obvious that her visit to Fringe headquarters had an ulterior motive, entirely separate to seeing him again. He had just been her way in. Had their encounter in Lewiston also been faked?
It didn't make sense, the two guys were genuine felons wanted by the authorities. Daniel had been keeping tabs on the case with the local DA, more women had come forward after the news had broken that the two had been arrested.
Besides, Daniel's arrival at the scene where they had jumped Melissa, had been completely random. He had made the decision to eat at his uncle's dinner on a last minute whim. It would have been impossible for Melissa to anticipate that he would be passing by at that moment on the exact same street where she was attacked.
Of that he was sure.
Daniel got up and went to get himself a cup of tea. He needed to clear his head and think rationally. A lot of questions were floating around on his mind. The girl had used the 'Melissa Givens' identity in Lewiston, after the attack by the two lowlifes.
She even had a showme card that had passed with flying colours through the local Police's hand-held device. Whomever she was, she clearly had access to high-end fake credentials, ones that could not be bought on the street.
Was she a foreign agent that had used their accidental encounter to get access to Fringe Division? After all, they were under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defence. If she'd gained access to one of their terminals, god knows what kind of information she could have stolen.
And that would explain the sudden interest of the Secretary of Defence in the girl. What didn't make sense was the whole cover story the Secretary had fed him.
Besides, if Daniel had really aided a foreign agent, even unwittingly, he was sure he would be in a very bad situation by now, suspended and maybe even detained. But none of that had happened.
He huffed, his mind was running at a thousand miles per hour. He only had conjecture, with not a single shred of proof and lots of questions that needed answering.
Then again, maybe he had got this all wrong, and it was as innocent as the Secretary seemed to want him to believe.
He pondered on talking to Angie about it, but he dismissed the idea immediately. Whatever Melissa had dragged him into, he didn't want to risk dropping Angie in the middle of it.
If he intended to continue his investigation, doing so from Fringe Division was probably not a good idea. He needed to continue this from someplace else, outside the jurisdiction of the Department of Defence.
He took the last sip from his tea and made a decision. It was almost lunch time and it had been a while since he had seen his friend Detective Huertas from the NYPD.
He thought it was about time to pay him an overdue visit.
A/N Big thanks to the ever amazing Crys for putting up with my silly writings and turning them into something readable.
Your the best mate!
Thanks also to everyone that keep reviewing, fallowing and/or reading the story.
Hope everyone likes the latest instalment.
See ya all in the next one.
A/N 2
Just did some reformatting. The first version I published got a bit messed up. Hope it's better now.