Chapter 36
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-Harvard, Kresge Building, Basement
Peter groaned inwardly as he swallowed down the last of his third slice of apple pie. Who would have guessed Astrid to be such a fabulous pie maker? He wasn't sure if it was the fact the he hadn't eaten apple pie in years, but he thought the pie was easily among the best he'd ever had. He glanced over at the nearly empty pie pan. There was only one slice left, and he felt an urge to eat more, despite the full signals his stomach was urgently sending him.
Maybe just a little bit more.
He snuck a look over at Astrid and his father, who were huddled together over her workstation. Walter had approached her earlier, speaking in hushed tones about needing her help with something. Peter reached for the knife they'd been using to serve the slices with and quickly deposited the remaining piece onto his plate. He was probably going to regret eating nearly half a pie in one sitting, but he just couldn't resist. It was just that good. Slicing off the tip with the edge of his fork, he began chewing at slower pace, savoring the goodness.
"Peter!" Astrid said suddenly, looking over the top of her workstation monitor at him. There was an outraged look on her face. "I was saving that piece!"
"Oh..." he said around a mouthful. He glanced down at the bite taken out of the slice on his paper plate, and then looked back at her abashed. "Sorry...didn't know." He swallowed down his bite. "Though, in my defense...you never said anything about-."
"I didn't think I had to!" she huffed, fixing him with an exasperated look. "I mean, it was an entire pie...and I only had one piece!"
Walter looked over at her. "It's a Bishop family trait." he said proudly, nodding his approval. "I thank you for the thought though, dear. However...I don't believe I could eat another bite."
"I wasn't saving it for you, Walter!" Astrid shook her head, turning her glare toward him. After a moment, she looked balefully back at the half-eaten slice. "That was going to be for Olivia."
"What was going to be for me?"
Peter swung around at the sound of Olivia's voice. She was standing just inside the doorway, holding the handrail of the steps and looking curiously at three of them. He had expected to see bags under her eyes, and other telltale signs of exhaustion marring her pale features, but of exhaustion, there was little in evidence. Other than a few wisps of hair that had escaped the confines of her ponytail's hair-tie, she looked much the same as she had in their hotel room.
He realized that she was one of those people for whom sleep was an afterthought, that she could probably function just as well on three or four hours of sleep as a normal person could with eight. He'd always been envious of people he'd known like that, as unfortunately for him, sleep was a requirement he couldn't get around for long. Her eyes shifted from Astrid to Walter to himself awaiting a response. He thought her gaze might have lingered on him for a moment longer than the others, but he couldn't be sure. The uneasiness she'd been radiating back at the hotel seemed to be gone for the moment, which he was relieved to see.
"I baked an apple pie for us, Agent Dunham." Astrid explained, as Olivia moved down into the lab. "And I was planning on saving you a piece," she threw a glare in his direction, "but...Peter ate it."
"Hey, now!" Peter said defensively as Olivia raised her eyebrows at him, casting him a wounded look. "I didn't know she was saving it."
"So, what…you just…ate my piece of the pie, Peter?" Olivia said, pursing her lips. "I love apple pie." She moved in front of him, staring down at the partially consumed slice, eyeing it dejectedly.
"Wait…no…I…I didn't know it was yours!" Peter began, holding his hands out in a plea as he stumbled to come up with a reason why he felt the need to consume four pieces. "Astrid never…she never…I…" His voice trailed off as his eyes drifted to her lips, and he felt the temperature of his face begin to rise. Her lower lip was protruding ever so slightly in what could only be described as a very un-Olivia-like pout. He tried not gawk as the tip of her tongue peeked out in a deliciously titillating manner, and then disappeared, leaving a trace of wetness behind. After a moment, he blinked away the fog that had descended upon him. He wondered, and not for the first time, if she knew the power she wielded. He was almost certain that she had to, in his experience, women always did. Though in her defense, she wasn't like most women he'd known. Glancing down at the pie on the tabletop, he picked up the plate and offered it to her. "It was only one bite, Olivia." he said with a cheeky grin, trying to recover some semblance of dignity. "And I promise, I don't have any life threatening diseases."
He saw Walter look up sharply out of the corner of his eye, and then Astrid watching the two of them closely, a hand covering her mouth, no doubt hiding a grin at their interaction. The junior agent was far too nosy for her own good.
Olivia took the plate without hesitation. "I'll keep that in mind." she said, and then plucked the fork from his hand, sending a ripple of shock through him as the pads her fingers brushed inadvertently over his. Without batting an eye, she turned away, digging into the pie with his fork as she moved away from him across the lab to her office door. "So where are we on finding Joseph Meegar?" she asked, looking back at him as she pushed open the door and went inside before he could reply. She was back a few moments later with a cup of coffee, along with her pie. "What's this plan Walter has for locating him?"
Peter shrugged, and pushed off his stool. "No idea. He refused to tell us anything until you got back here." he said, joining her as she made her way over to his father and Astrid. "All I know is that it's got something to do with this."
He picked up the burnt out walkman off one of the tables on the way and held it up for her inspection. Olivia set the plate and coffee down and grabbed it from him, looking it over with a frown.
"This?" she said, glancing up at him doubtfully.
"I know." He agreed. "Sounds crazy...but then again, I can't really think of any of his ideas that haven't up to this point."
Olivia nodded and leaned over the table, taking a bite of the apple pie. She looked over at the junior agent. "No more pie in the lab, Astrid." she called over to her with a shake of her head, after swallowing and then scooping up the last of the slice. "It's too good." She licked the fork clean decadently, and then dropped it back on the plate.
Astrid looked up with a smile. "Don't worry, I don't bake very often." she said, and then looked down at her monitor. "No, Walter. Like this." She took the mouse from him and began clicking away.
"Sorry, dear." Walter said, watching her movements closely. "Ahhh…" he sighed, nodding his head. "I see. What I would have given to have access to this kind of processing power before…" He stroked his chin, staring upwards wistfully. "The possibilities are endless."
"What have you two been doing over here, anyway?" Peter said, moving around the desk, and looking down at Astrid's workstation monitor. They appeared to be working with some kind of sound editing program.
"Peter!" Walter said, looking back at him. There was a smile on his face that wouldn't have been out of place on a child with both hands hand in a cookie jar. "This computer program is simply incredible!"
Olivia, who had followed after him, peered over Astrid's shoulder, "The Bureau's sound manipulation software?" she said curiously, glancing down at her assistant. "I assume this has something to do with our suspect?"
"I've been giving Walter a crash course in frequency isolation." Astrid said, and then narrowed her eyes on his father suspiciously. "This does have something do with the case, right Walter?"
"Yes, yes, of course." Walter said, rising from his seat. He held his hand out for the walkman Olivia was still holding.
She passed it to him without comment, though Peter thought he could detect a growing impatience on her features. Her lips were thinned into a smile that never reached her eyes and she was clenching and unclenching her fingers on the hem of her pants.
"Walter, would you just focus for a second, and tell us what your plan is?" Peter said, following his father over to the old stereo that they had set up on one of the lab tables. "Why do we have to go through this on every case?"
"I had been thinking about how one might go about tracking an individual exhibiting the ability to harness immense amounts of electricity." Walter said, spinning around to face them, gesturing with his index finger. "Surely…such an ability would affect them physically in some fashion…and when Agent Dunham mentioned the boom box that our suspect's unfortunate mother owned…it came to me. I remembered you telling me the other day that no one used cassette tapes any longer, son." He pointed an accusing finger in Peter's direction. "Which you are wrong about, I might add…and it's quite lucky indeed for us that you are!"
"Just get on with it, Walter." Peter said, crossing his arms across his chest.
"I…I…where was I?"
"The boom box?" Olivia prompted.
"Oh yes! The boom box." Walter continued. "The boom box is irrelevant, forget about it. What's important, is that it reminded me of this!" He held up the walkman, giving it a shake. "Or rather, of this!" He cracked open the blackened face of the walkman, and pulled out a cassette tape. He turned to the stereo behind him, and slid it into the tape deck. "Asteroid here was kind enough to connect her computer to my old Sansui." He patted the top of his stereo equipment lovingly. "Now, let us begin. Are you ready, my dear?" he said, looking over at Astrid.
"Ready and waiting, Walter." Astrid replied.
Walter pressed the play button, and music began to play from the nearby speakers. He hurried back to Astrid's side and sat down, following her instructions on how to start making a recording of the song with the software.
It wasn't the best quality; clearly the tape had been damaged, but Peter knew the song immediately. He could see that Olivia did too, from the way the corners of her lips were turned upwards and the faint bobbing of her head, which stopped abruptly when she noticed him watching her.
"What?" Olivia said, leaning back against a table as they waited for Walter to finish his recording. She crossed her arms under her breasts in an almost defensive manner and her eyes dared him to comment. She glanced over at Astrid and Walter, and then back to him.
"REO Speedwagon?" he cringed, nodding his head toward the stereo. "Please tell me you're not a fan." he said, as he leaned against the counter opposite her.
Olivia's face reddened noticeably, but she proudly kept her chin up. "I'm not afraid to admit I grew up in the eighties." she said unashamedly.
"But still…REO Speedwagon? "He shook his head, imagining a young Olivia rocking out to Can't Fight This Feeling. It wasn't a pretty picture.
Her eyes tightened on him and she quirked an eyebrow. "What music did you like back then, Bishop?" she inquired none too kindly. Before he could answer, she went on. "No, wait. Let me guess."
Olivia raked her gaze over him, and he felt himself start to blush under her frank appraisal. After looking him up and down several times, checking out his shoes, if he wasn't mistaken, she stared him in the eyes for a full ten seconds before finally speaking.
"I would say...the Beastie Boys...or something ridiculous like Motley Crue when you were out raising hell with your friends." she said, and just nodded as his mouth dropped open. Tilting her head to the side, she regarded him with one eye and continued. "But...when you were alone, in your bedroom with no friends around...I could see you listening to...something completely different, maybe U2, or even Elton John."
Peter gaped at her, unable to respond. For her to have guessed one of the first two bands she'd said was conceivable, as they were popular among young people back then, particularly boys. But for her to add the second part, and still guess correctly... "How the hell did you do that?" he said when he had recovered his wits.
"Who was it? Elton John or U2?"
"Elton John...I always liked his piano playing." Peter admitted with a shrug. "Now how did you do that?"
"I am an FBI profiler, Peter." she said mysteriously. "And you're not as hard to read as you think you are." With that said, she pushed off the table, and moved to stand behind Walter at the workstation. "So...what exactly are you doing, Walter?"
Peter stared after Olivia, feeling dazed. Once again, he'd managed to make a fool of himself in front of her. And once again, she'd seen right through him, with little effort, apparently. Grinning to himself at her implacable nature, he moved to her side, watching his father manipulate the software.
"This is the sort of work I was born for." Walter replied enthusiastically, looking back at her. "Everyone has a unique magnetic fingerprint..." He paused, and then sat down in front of Astrid's workstation.
"You were hoping for something more specific, maybe?" Peter said, leaning toward her.
"Everyone has a unique magnetic fingerprint." his father said again, then paused, and glanced around his surroundings as if confused to be there. He held up both hands, gesticulating with both index fingers. "Wait...I said that, yes? Yes. But the fingerprint is limited. Barely traceable in fact...except in people like Mister...what's his name?"
"Meegar." Olivia supplied for him.
"Ahh yes...Meegar." Walter said, pointing at the screen in front of him. "But since Mr. Meegar has been enhanced, I believe he'll give off stronger signal than your average joe."
"So what's that got to do with the cassette tape?" Olivia asked.
Walter glanced back at her. "Well...a cassette tape is the perfect medium for recording the frequency of a magnetic field." he explained, motioning toward the spectrogram on the computer monitor from the recording he'd made. "Once exposed to a magnetic field, it remains permanently magnetized. And, given the strength of Mister...Meegar's electromagnetic signature," he said, smiling happily at remembering the man's name. "In addition to his proximity to the tape, I have little doubt that that cassette has been imprinted with Meegar's electrical signature."
"It...it's kind of like when a film camera double-exposes a picture." Peter explained, after exchanging a confused glance with Olivia. "You have the tape of your REO Speedwagon recording," he said, grinning facetiously. Olivia rolled her eyes in response, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. "And when Joseph Meegar did his electro-man thing, it left behind a…a…well, I guess you could call it an image, of the magnetic field created by his ability on the tape. And Walter thinks he can separate the two."
Olivia nodded hesitantly, and then turned back to Walter, who was clicking away at the computer screen. Astrid hovered over his shoulder, giving him instructions when needed. The spectrogram, which had started out as a mess of vertical spikes running across the screen became more defined as Walter and Astrid began filtering out the audible frequencies from the running image.
"Now we just take out the music and see what we have left." Walter said, and glanced back at Astrid for help, his hands hovering over the uncertainly over keyboard.
Astrid grinned, and reached over his shoulder and then pressed a complicated series of keys, and finished with a click of the mouse. "There you go." she said, and stepped back, allowing Olivia and himself to get a better view.
"Uh huh, thank you dear." Walter said appreciatively. "Well...Wait, wait, wait...there it is." He pointed at the monitor, where the spectrogram had thinned out to a solitary set of vertical spikes. "That's him. That's Mister..."
"Meegar." Peter finished for him, along with Olivia and Astrid, who grinned at each other.
"Yes." Walter said, staring intently at the image on the screen. "Now we just have to find Meegar."
"How?" Olivia asked. "How is this going to help us find him?"
Peter had been about to voice the same question. He shifted his gaze to Walter who looked extremely pleased with himself.
"Birds." His father replied, smiling up at Olivia.
Olivia frowned. "Wait…you're not talking about that pigeon thing, are you?"
"Mm…hmm." Walter nodded gleefully.
"You believe we can find him using pigeons?" she said, sounding as dubious as Peter felt at the idea.
"It should be possible." Walter said, keeping his eyes on the screen. "As I've said, I can program carrier pigeons to track a strong electromagnetic field. We have his signature." He gestured at the screen. "Now all we need are some birds."
"I...I wish you told me this earlier, Walter," Olivia said, sounding irritated as she pulled out her cell phone. "Because then I could've been working on it. So how many do we need?"
"Not many." Walter replied dismissively, shrugging his shoulder. "Maybe…two dozen."
"Two dozen!" she said, sounding shocked as she put the phone up to her ear. "That's just great. Where am I gonna get two dozed carrier pigeons on short notice?" She walked away from the, running a hand over her hair she began to speak into the phone.
Peter watched her from the stood he'd dropped onto for a few minutes as she paced around the lab, shaking her head with frustration at her phone conversation, until she'd finally left, going out into the hallway outside. It sounded like the FBI didn't keep carrier pigeons on hand. What a shocker. Carrier pigeons had stopped being useful about the time the telephone was invented, other than for specialized uses. They had been used on the battlefields of World War I and World War II if he remembered his history correctly. These days they weren't used for much, other than…racing.
He sat up straight, feeling a conflicting sense of unease and responsibility. He knew of someone who kept racing pigeons. It had been years, though. Was he still in the racket? And would Tony remember him? Tess's older stepbrother had never been the brightest guy on the block. There was also the fact that, if by some miracle, the guy with the camera from a few weeks ago hadn't told her he was back, her brother surely would. The guy had always loved the sound of his own voice. The biggest question though, was whether or not Eddie had ever put his foot in the game. They had been acquaintances through Michael, but as far as he knew, Big Eddie had never been all that interested in the underground fight scene. As far as he knew, at least.
Peter sighed, sliding his hand into his pocket as he slid off his stool. It was a risk he was going to have to take. He pulled out his phone, dialing it as he moved toward the privacy of Olivia's office.
Olivia wanted to pull her hair out as she ended yet another futile phone call. Another dead end. Apparently, fulfilling her request was going to cause a mountain of red tape to pile up, of which no one was too eager to climb for her. Even Broyles had been unhelpful, saying that he'd look into it, but couldn't make any promises. It didn't help that she couldn't explain exactly why she needed them, not without sounding like insane person, at least.
She sat down on the bench outside the lab, propping her forehead on the palm of her hand, feeling her exhaustion threatening to catch up with her. Another cup of coffee was going to be required soon. Suddenly hearing footsteps, Olivia looked up and saw Peter hurrying toward her from the lab. He was carrying his cell phone in one hand, and scratching at his scruff with the other as he approached. He looked nervous as he dropped onto the bench next to her. Catching a whiff of his scent as he did so, her face grew hot as she thought of him answering his hotel room door late the night before. Her eyes had betrayed her then, dropping of their own volition down his chest, as they had once before.
"Any luck?" he said, forcing her thoughts back to the present, and in a more appropriate direction.
Olivia shook her head, letting her frustration show as she leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, letting out a sigh. "Not yet." she said. "Apparently, locating carrier pigeons is just too much of a hassle to bother with, despite them being the only chance we have to track our suspect." She saw him hesitate out of the corner of her eye, as if he were struggling with a decision. "What is it?" she asked, turning to face him.
Peter licked his lips, and then shrugged. "I may have a solution for you, then."
"For what?"
"For getting our hands on some pigeons."
"You know where to get some carrier pigeons?" Olivia asked incredulously. "Just like that?" He was such a strange man. Who knew things like that?
"Well, not exactly just like that…" He grinned uneasily, the bruises on his face making it look painful, and then swallowed before continuing. "But, yeah, I think so."
"What are you not telling me?" she asked after watching him for a moment. Reluctance was plain to see in his manner, and she wanted to know why.
Peter rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the gray floor tile in front of him. Finally, he looked up at her, his eyes clear, as if he'd come to a decision. "I'll tell you on the way." he said, and got to his feet. When she didn't follow immediately, he stared down at her, his brows knitted in confusion.
"You coming?"
"I guess I am." Olivia replied, getting to her feet. "As long you plan on telling me why you seem so reluctant." If this involved someone from his past, she wanted know what she was walking in to.
.
After letting Astrid and Walter know what they were doing, they walked silently together out to her suv. She pulled the door closed behind her, and looked over at Peter, who was pulling on his seatbelt, his eyes distant. She waited for him to speak, to tell her where they were going, but he seemed satisfied with the silence. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to wait for him to come out of his daydream on his own.
"Where to?" she asked, turning the ignition. The suv hummed to life and she backed out of her parking spot, glancing over at him. "Peter?"
Peter's eyes refocused and he looked over at her sideways. "Sorry." he said sheepishly. "Where to? Just uh...just north of Revere, off of Route 1...it's kinda...weird to get to, so I'll tell you where to go when we get there."
"Weird to get to?" she said, eyeing him askance as she drove out of the Harvard faculty lot. "All right..."
The morning sun was just above the horizon as she directed them east through the streets of Cambridge, toward the I-93 and Route 1 interchange. Bright reflections from nearly every shiny surface seemed to be being directed straight into her eyes, forcing her to don her sunglasses after she began to feel a headache coming on from the constant squinting. Peter pulled his shade down, and looked over at her, focusing on her dark glasses.
"What is it?" she said, feeling self-conscious under his scrutiny. She wasn't fond of wearing sunglasses in general, and felt they always made her look odd, this pair more than most. When she had mentioned it once to her sister, Rachel had merely laughed, and told her she was being ridiculous. It was easy for her to say, her sister looked great in everything.
"I dunno, I guess I've never seen you wear sunglasses before." he told her, but made no further comment.
Olivia wasn't sure what to say to that, so she said nothing, content to wait him out. They drove in silence, though not uncomfortable, and Peter rolled his window down, letting his right hand navigate the currents of rushing air outside the vehicle. As they made the turn north on to Route 1, Peter let out a sigh, and then began to speak.
"So...there's this guy I used to know, Tony…he's uh…what I'd call an animal enthusiast." he said, rubbing his thumb and index finger over adams apple in a subconscious gesture.
"Just Tony?" she asked.
"Yeah." Peter nodded, his face reddening for reasons she couldn't fathom. "He's uh...got some land up north, outside of Boston, near the border of New Hampshire. He raises racing pigeons...among other things."
Olivia glanced over at him. "Is that where we're going?"
"No." he said with a laugh, as if the idea were plainly ridiculous. "He's gonna meet us at this place we both know."
"Okay..." she said, narrowing her eyes. "What other kind of animals does he raise?" she asked. He'd phrased that last bit oddly, and she suspected it was one of the things he was reluctant to discuss.
"Uhh...dogs, and some uh...chickens, I think." Peter replied, looking away from her out the window.
Olivia was silent for a moment, thinking over what he'd said. Dogs and chickens? It was a strange combination. A rather suspicious combination. "So this...Tony. He raises these animals for sport?"
Peter looked at her sharply, his expression worried as she raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for an answer.
"I guess you could say that." he said slowly. "Is that gonna be problem? Cause if you know someone else that can get you two dozen homing pigeons today, feel free to call them." He picked up her phone off the center console and held it out to her. "Honestly, I'd rather not meet up with him if I don't have to."
Olivia considered his words for a moment. The man in question obviously engaged in illegal animal fighting, but that in itself wasn't the entire reason for Peter's uneasiness about the whole thing. "It's not gonna be a problem." she replied, reaching out and pressing his outstretched hand and her phone back down onto the console. Despite her repugnance for the practice, her need for the pigeons outweighed any other concerns at the moment. "How do you know this man?"
Peter glanced down at her hand over his, and she pulled hers away from his quickly, wondering why she'd left it there in the first place.
"He's the older stepbrother of a...uh...an old friend of mine." he said after a few moments, plucking at the fine hairs on the back of his left hand.
An old friend. From his vague description, she suspected that it was probably an old girlfriend. Was it same one he'd...met up with recently? Olivia shoved the thought aside. It was unimportant. "Is that all?" she asked, surprised at how wooden her voice sounded to herself. What was wrong with her?
"There is one more little detail." he said presently. "You remember me telling you about Eddie?"
"The gangster you owe money too?" she asked, thinking back to their conversation on the very same bench they'd been sitting earlier.
"The very one." he said with a little laugh.
"Does this guy we're going to see work for him?" Olivia said, glancing to see his reaction to her question.
Peter ran a hand through his wavy hair and shrugged. "That's thing. I doubt it, but, I'm not entirely sure." he said. "Eddie was never interested in Tony's kind of...activities when I knew him, but they are acquainted with one another, indirectly, or they were. I couldn't exactly ask him."
Olivia understood his reluctance. There was a possibility that word of his return to Boston could find its way back to this gangster person. She watched him for a moment in her peripheral vision as a kind of luminescence warmed her from the inside out. He was putting himself in harms way...for her...or for the case, she wasn't sure there was a difference. It was unstated, but it was there all the same.
A wave of something flowed through her, and then outward toward him from her chest, but Olivia refused to classify it as anything other than gratitude, she couldn't acknowledge it, but she also knew he didn't expect her to. Swallowing down a lump that was forming in her throat, she turned toward him. "What will you do?" she asked. It was unnecessary to be specific.
Peter grunted. "What I always do." he said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Wing it."
She didn't how to respond to that. 'Winging it' wasn't something she was familiar with. That always was more Rachel's territory. They drove on in silence for several minutes, as she navigated the free-flowing traffic on Route 1. They made good time through Chelsea, and it wasn't until they entered Revere that she glanced over at him, after working out what she wanted to say.
"You know, Peter...if you need help," she began, holding up a hand to forestall the protest already forming on his lips. "And I mean off the record help, tell me. Partners, remember?"
Peter's mouth snapped shut, and twisted toward her, his blue eyes intense as he regarded her silently. "I'll keep that in mind." he said after a moment, repeating her words from back in the lab back to her, and then falling back in his seat.
"Good enough." she replied, hoping he meant it. "Now where is this place?"
Peter leaned forward, squinting at the upcoming exits on a passing green billboard sign. "Almost there." he said. "Take the Squire Road exit."
Olivia followed his instructions, taking the exit a few minutes later.
"See that hotel?" Peter said, pointing to the only multi-story structure in sight.
"Yep." she said leaning forward over the steering wheel.
"Turn in to the parking lot."
She looked over at him, cocking an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"You'll see." he smirked. "Go to the back corner."
Olivia turned into the crowded parking lot a drove slowly around the building, and then headed toward the back corner as he'd instructed. She slowed down as she cleared the last of the parked cars, leaving nothing but empty spaces ahead of them, and then glanced over at Peter. He pointed towards the corner to her left and she accelerated towards it, shooting confused looks over at him as she went. There was nothing there that she could see. She halted the suv at the curb, facing a stand of trees on the other side.
"What are we doing here?" she said, looking around them. Were they meeting this man in the parking lot? What was so weird about that?
"Keep going." Peter said. "Through that gap in the trees right there." He pointed at the copse of trees.
"What?" she said, staring out through the windshield. There did seem to be a narrow gap in the middle, but surely he wasn't being serious. "Are you joking?"
"C'mon, Dunham." he chuckled. "Live a little. Through those trees." He nodded toward them expectantly, and then looked over at her, the smile still on his face.
Olivia stared at him for a moment, and then shrugged. "You better not be screwing with me, Bishop." she warned as she let off the brakes and the suv started to creep forward.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Peter said, bracing himself against the dashboard as she accelerated over the curb.
She had approached it from a slight angle, and the suv canted from side to side as each wheel made the trek up and over the curb, and then dropped down into the thin layer of grass and weeds covering the bare earth on the other side.
"I can't believe I just did that." she said, looking through the rearview mirror. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed their transgression.
"What, you've never been four-wheeling before?" Peter said, sounding amused at her comment.
Olivia shot him a look. "Uh…no, not like this exactly."
She drove toward the gap in the trees, wincing as tree branches scraped the length of her vehicle as they drove through the narrow opening. Though they had appeared dense from the parking lot, the trees thinned out quickly and they soon came out on to what looked like an old gravel road, though upon closer inspection, she saw that it was actually a paved road, so ancient and weather-worn that it appeared to be gravel from a distance. Stopping the suv at the edge of the cracked pavement, she looked both ways, looking for some clue as to the right direction.
"Which way?" she said, glancing over at Peter.
He thumbed to the right, and she pulled forward on to the decrepit surface, the suv tilting again at the change in elevation. The old road, if it could still be called a road, came to an abrupt end about a hundred yards later, as the crumbled pavement gave way to gravel and then eventually dirt.
"What is this place?" she asked staring out her window at the surrounding landscape, which was surprisingly barren for being so near a major metropolitan area. The dirt road they were on was sloping gently downwards into a basin, and other than the line of trees to the left of the path, all she could make out were tall weeds with the occasional thicket of shrubs dotting the area haphazardly.
"There used to be an old airport out here," Peter said, leaning forward in his seat to look ahead of them. "Back in the fifties and sixties. Got paved over at some point. That road we were on was one of the old access roads. You used to be able to get to it from Route 1, but it got fenced up back in the eighties, I think. Now the only way in is from the north side." He looked over at her and winked. "Unless you know that shortcut we just took."
Olivia flashed him a little glare. "You mean we didn't have to go that way?"
"Well…we could have gone around." he admitted, brushing her question aside with a wave of his hand. "But where's the fun in that? And we'd still be in traffic for another half an hour, instead of almost there."
She opened her mouth to take exception to his audacity, but just let out a grunt instead. Who was she to complain? He didn't have to be doing any of this for her, after all.
After driving along the dirt road for close to a mile, it finally led to large group of trees, more forest-like than any she'd seen up to that point. As they moved under the canopy of leaves and branches overhead, she spotted a flash of sunlight glinting off something ahead of them through the low-lying brush and tree trunks. A moment later a pickup truck came into view, parked at the edge of a large expanse, which the path seemed to end at. The clearing was about fifty yards across, and along with the pickup truck, there were several vehicles present; an old Beetle parked next to a wooden bench, and a rusted out suv, parked in front of the pickup truck. Evidently the clearing was used frequently, judging by the numerous picnic tables, all littered with beer bottles and the beaten down grass, which bore the evidence of much foot traffic. There was even a pole flying the American flag on the opposite side of the clearing, where she could see another dirt road, leading away to the north.
"Well…at least they're patriotic." Olivia said to herself, drawing a chuckle out of Peter as they came to a stop not far from the Beetle.
There were several men standing near the flagpole who'd been watching their approach impassively. One of them nodded in their direction, but none of them made moves to come closer, which was fine with her. The vibes she was picking up from the place were distinctly violent in nature. Her hand dropped to the pistol at her waist for reassurance.
Peter saw the movement and shook his head. "Let me do the talking." he said. "It should be fine."
"Are any of those guys your man?" she asked, nodding toward the men watching them.
"No." Peter said, unbuckling his seatbelt. "He had farther to come than we did. Should be here soon though." He pushed open his door and slipped out.
Olivia followed suit and pushed open her door, and then moved around to Peter's side of the suv. He was leaning back against the passenger window, his arms crossed as he watched the other entrance to the clearing. She leaned on one hand against the back window, looking over at the men.
Peter glanced back at her, running his gaze up and down her critically.
"What?" she asked. She didn't like the way he was looking at her.
"I was gonna say to try not to look like a cop," he paused, turning toward the sound of an approaching vehicle, and then looked back at her. "...but I don't think there's any chance of that happening."
Olivia shrugged, and gave him tough-luck smile. It wasn't her fault that he consorted with criminals.
His gaze dropped to her gun. "Well...at least cover that up."
With a sigh, she relented. "Fine." she said, fastening the bottom button of her coat. "Do any of them look like Fat Eddie's guys?"
Peter looked over at the men again. "No…I don't think so." he said after a few seconds. "And it's Big Eddie. Don't ever call him Fat Eddie where he can hear you. Definitely not good for your health."
She didn't think the odds of that ever happening were very good, but she would remember it all the same, just in case.
Soon another pickup truck entered the clearing, from the path opposite them. There was a dark-haired man sitting in the back of the truck, among crates of what she thought were animal cages. He stood up and waved toward them as the truck came to a stop in the center of the clearing.
Grinning wide, Peter moved forward as the man jumped down from the back of the truck. Olivia trailed after him, watching as they greeted each other.
"Peter!" the man said, stepping forward grabbing him in a bear hug to Olivia's surprise.
"Hey, Tony." Peter said, as he tried to extricate himself from the other man's grasp. "How you been?"
Tony finally let Peter go, then held him at arm's length by the shoulders. "Peter Bishop!" he exclaimed. "Forget about me! When did you get back? And what happened to your face, man? You look like shit!"
Olivia watched the exchange, finally getting a good look at Peter's…friend. He was thin, and a little shorter than Peter, with dark, olive colored skin and dark eyes. The jean jacket he was wearing was faded almost to the point of being gray, as were his blue jeans, which had a gaping hole in each knee. She guessed him to be mostly of Mediterranean descent as she examined his features.
"Uhh...It's been a little, while." Peter said. "Car accident." He gestured toward his face in a vague hand-waving motion, downplaying his injuries.
As she moved closer to the two men, Tony's gaze drifted to her, and he leaned close to Peter.
"She's pretty." he whispered loud enough for her to hear.
She noticed he had an odd way of moving his lips when he spoke, almost like a stroke victim.
Peter snorted and shook his head. He looked back at her with a grin. "Olivia," He held a hand out in her direction. "This is Tony. Tony, Olivia."
"This is your friend?" Tony said nervously. "The one you mentioned?"
"Yeah." Peter replied, putting a hand on his shoulder, in an almost comforting manner. "She's a friend of mine."
Tony grinned widely, and then reached a hand out toward her.
"Hi." Olivia said, giving him what she hoped was a friendly smile. She took his hand, intending to give him a shake and let go, but he held tight, not letting her go right away.
"I just got a new one today." Tony said, looking over at Peter. He continued shaking her hand for several more seconds before she was able to pull free, but he already seemed to have forgotten her as he went on. "His name's Darby. I only paid two hundred for him, you want to see him? He's a champion." he said, nearly bobbing back and forth with excitement.
Peter glanced at her than back to his friend. "We're kind of in hurry today, Tony." he said, sounding regretful. "Right now, we just need normal birds. The pigeons we talked about, remember? I'll come check Darby out another time."
"Oh yeah...sure, sure..." he said, looking between the two of them. "Okay...birds it is then."
He move toward the back of the truck, with Peter at his side. She followed after them, just close enough to overhear them as Tony reached for the tailgate of the truck to open it.
"Have you called my sister?" he asked.
"No, I've been meaning to, though." Peter said, scratching the side of his neck. "We've uh...been a little busy."
Olivia narrowed her eyes behind her sunglasses at Peter. He had no intention of calling this sister. She must not be the same friend who'd left the hair on his jacket. It disturbed her that she still thought of that hair at random moments.
"You should giver her a call." Tony said, pulling the latch and letting the tailgate fall open. "She could use your help."
Peter frowned at that, but made no reply as Tony reached in and pulled out a cage with four birds inside, huddled together at one end. The birds were all different looking, some gray feathered and speckled with dark spots, and others were solid colors, black and brown and white, and combinations of all together.
He passed the cage to her. "Ginger and Lola." he said proudly.
"They're very nice." she said neutrally, taking the cage from him. Which was Ginger and which was Lola he didn't specify. She wondered why only two of them had names.
Olivia carried the cage to the back of her suv. As she lifted the hatch and slid the cage in behind the back seat, she glanced over at Peter and his friend. They were standing away from the truck, with Peter holding his hands up, trying to ward off his friend's attempts to pass him something. She watched them for a moment, as Peter finally gave up and let his friend give him whatever it was. He glanced over at her then, meeting her eyes as Tony pressed his hand into his, completing the exchange. Peter shoved his hand into his pocket and then moved back to the truck and grabbed two more cages out. Tony closed the tailgate behind Peter, watching him for a moment before moving around to the passenger side window of the truck and leaning in to speak to the driver.
She reached up for the hatch with both hands, waiting for Peter to put his cages in. "You gonna tell me what that was about?" she said meaningfully, nodding her back toward Tony, who was climbing in to the back of the truck again. Apparently they were done here.
"What?" Peter said innocently. "He just wants me to take care of his birds." He slid his cages in next to the one she'd brought over and then moved toward the passenger door.
Olivia closed the hatch and moved to her door. She slid into and started the engine, then glanced over at Peter.
"So what did he give you?" she said.
Peter grimaced and shook his head. "I don't think you want to know."
"Why not?"
"Fine..." he replied with a shrug, then reached into his pocket. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
He handed her a crumpled slip of paper, which at a glance was an old gas receipt. She turned it over and saw the Tony's name scribbled across it horizontally, with a phone number hastily scrawled underneath.
She glanced at Peter again, raising her eyebrows. "What's this?"
"He wanted me to give that to you...wouldn't take no for an answer." Peter said, showing his teeth. "I uh...I think he likes you."
Olivia blinked, then stared out the window at the pickup truck which was pulling away from them. Tony waved his hand furiously when he saw her looking at him.
"Oh god..." Olivia said, embarrassed to her core.
Peter burst out laughing and she tried to keep a stern look on her face, but failed, and joined him as she turned the suv around, and headed back the way they had came.
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The lab was ready and waiting for them when they arrived, with Walter and Astrid having set up everything that was needed in the hour and half they were gone getting the birds. Oddly enough, Astrid would have nothing to do with the pigeons, turning her nose up in disgust, and announced that she would program the GPS chips they would need, and even then she wasn't going to touch them.
Peter had still been giving her shit about his friend's note as they carried the pigeons inside the Kresge Building, and he only relented when she finally told him to give it rest, staring daggers at him. He had stopped at once though, to her relief, and hadn't mentioned the note again. She pulled herself up onto a lab table, watching as Peter helped his father get the birds ready for Walter to reprogram, as he'd called it.
The process involved two mushroom-shaped devices made of copper and steel which she'd never seen before, and a clear tube ringed with copper piping set in between them. Peter had called the two devices tesla coils, and made sure she was sitting well away from them as they'd run through a test of the process.
The resulting arc of electricity that flowed between them was spectacular, and at one point she'd felt the hair on her arms beginning to stand up and nervously slid further down the table away from them.
When the test was complete, Peter looked over at his father. "You ready for the birds?"
"Yes, yes." Walter said, staring down at the machine which controlled the coils. "Conditions are ideal, son." He looked over at the two coils fondly. "I knew these would come in handy someday." he said nostalgically as Peter began placing the pigeons inside the clear tube in between the coils. "Peter!" he cried suddenly.
"What?" Peter said, looking around for the source of his father exclamation. "What is it?"
"Do you think Belly will want these back?" he asked tremulously.
Peter chortled and shook his head. "I don't think so, Walter." he said. "I pretty sure he has a new set, what with being owner of Massive Dynamic and all. Now come on, let's do this." He shut the little door on the side of the tube and stepped back.
Walter nodded. "Yes! Good idea, son."
"Walter," Olivia called over to him. "You're not gonna accidentally fry one of those pigeons, are you?" She hoped not. She couldn't tell if Ginger or Lola were in the tube yet or not. Somehow, knowing that Tony had given them names made it seem more personal.
Walter shrugged indifferently. "Who knows? Stranger things have happened."
"That's his motto." Peter said, watching as Walter moved around the equipment.
"As I said, pigeons contain traces of magnetite in their beaks." Walter said, double checking everything. "Like hundreds of tiny compass needles. The tesla coils will create an artificial electromagnetic field," He said. spreading his hands wide over the clear tube. "Which I have already matched with Mister...uh, whatever his name is, unique signature, and will now imprint onto the pigeons."
"So...we set all of these birds free and they..." Olivia trailed off, throwing a hand toward Peter.
"Fly to Joseph Meegar." Peter said, looking down into the tube. He glanced over at her. "Yeah, I know. Me too. I'll believe it when I see it."
"Step back!" Walter said, slipping on a pair of thick rubber gloves, and moving over to the switch which turned on the coils. "There's work to be done!"
Peter stepped away from the coils, and moved to her side. He leaned against the table, arms crossed skeptically as he watched his father.
Walter threw the switch and arcs of electricity flowed between the two coils, leaving purple bars across her vision. Olivia looked away from them, rubbing her eyes. She didn't look back until the humming and cracking of the electricity subsided. The birds in the tube were still moving, and she thought that that was a good sign.
"GPS chips ready?" Walter said, looking over at Astrid, who was sitting with her back to them at her workstation.
"Yep." she replied without turning around. "I'm not touching those birds though." she told them once again.
"So we're putting GPS chips on carrier pigeons to find a man who can control electricity." Peter said, looking down at her. "I have you to thank for that, don't I?"
"Yeah," Olivia said, smiling at how insane it sounded. "That's me, all right.
"Peter!" Walter said, motioning toward him. "More birds, please!"
As Peter moved over to help his father, Olivia watched for a moment, then slipped off the table. "I'm gonna go get a drink." she said, and Peter gave her a little salute in response as he reached into the tube to remove the first of the pigeons.
There was a soda machine not far from the lab, and she headed toward it, wanting a little caffeine, but no more coffee for the moment. Olivia put her coins in, and after a moment of deliberation, pressed the Coke button, feeling the need for some sweetness. There was a thunk! and the soda rolled down into the dispenser. As she bent over to retrieve it, she heard a strange noise, like a gust of wind had just blown down the hallway, but she'd felt nothing. She straightened up, looking around for the source of the noise.
Looking to her right, she saw nothing, just empty hallway. She heard the noise again behind her and she spun around.
John was standing at the other end of the corridor, watching her.
She felt shock at seeing him again, but there was no fear this time. As she moved toward him, he grinned, and moved out of her sight down an adjacent hallway.
"No!" She called after him, rushing past the doors to the lab. She turned the corner, expecting to see him, but he was gone. After taking a few more steps, she stopped and raised a hand to her forehead. This had to stop. She couldn't live like this.
Turning to around to go fetch her soda, she jumped back in surprise as she came to face to face with John, who was standing quite close to her.
"You listened." he said, grinning his crooked grin.
"You're not real." Olivia said, taking a step away from him.
"The last time we spoke," John said, nodding his head. "You listened." He took a step toward her.
"You stay the hell away from me." she said, her voice almost a whisper.
"Liv," he said softly, stepping even closer and reaching for her with both hands. She trembled as she felt them settle on her shoulders, then curl around the back of her neck, pulling her close to him. A moment later his lips found hers, and it was just as she remembered, the feel and taste of him was the same as before. She resisted for only a moment, before groaning into his mouth. She felt his questing tongue and opened her mouth to greet it with her own. There was no thought of it being real or not, at that moment it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she could feel something in the place where her heart had been before he'd broken it. She kept her eyes closed, savoring the feeling when he finally pulled away from her, rubbing his nose against hers.
"I didn't betray you." John said, staring into her eyes. "You know that. In your heart. You know I wasn't the one."
Olivia couldn't speak. All she could think of were his lips on hers, and how good it had felt to feel again. She stared down at his lips, and her breath came out in pants as she slowly leaned toward them.
"Hey Olivia!" Peter's voice came from behind her. "I think this bird thing might actually work."
The sound of his voice pricked the moment like a bubble, and she turned toward him, her thoughts foggy and unambiguous. He took a few steps toward her, his eyes narrowing on her with concern. She looked back at John, but he was gone again. Confusion reigned as she turned back to Peter. She knew her eyes were blown wide open, but she couldn't do anything about it. There was something seriously wrong with her. She could see it so clearly now. John had tried to kill her, and yet she'd kissed him as if he were her lifeblood. Why had she done that? Where had happened to her anger and rage?
"You okay?" Peter said, frowning at her.
Olivia swallowed painfully. "Yeah." she lied in faint voice. "I'm fine."
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Here's the next chapter to 1x05. I hope it was enjoyable for everyone to read. Leave me your thoughts, if you have any on it. The next chapter will be the last for this episode. Thanks for reading! :))