PROGENESIS: "Crossing The Styx". Chapter Thirty Seven: "Eighth Day".
Olivia realised that there was a strange glow around her body. Not just that, there was electrical activity crackling in the air. Small sparks were fizzling from her fingers and hitting the ground as she walked. It was exhilarating and intoxicating at the same time as she could feel that the barriers to this power were being lifted courtesy of her fellow classmates.
Power surged through her. It was as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes and her mind. Her will was creating something as she took her place on the rock and stared as if in a trance at the swirling waters all around her. This energy was the actual life force itself that was collecting in her body, building up and ready to be released into the waters around her.
She felt as if this new Olivia had the power to do anything and at this minute in time, creating or birthing a new life albeit a new "world" was foremost in her mind. However, the old Olivia was still fighting to be heard. A voice that refused to be silenced although she had ignored it over time.
"Sometimes I hear my voice and it's been here…
Silent All These Years..
I've been here..
Silent All These Years."
The scared child who had been beaten by her step father, the young girl who had burned those tulips in a field somewhere as she let her emotions get the better of her…
Olivia frowned as she tried to recall that last memory that came flooding back to her with extraordinary clarity and conviction. She hadn't recalled this particular memory before, it must've been lying dormant in her subconscious….jarred into recollection by Aaron's mental powers and resulting trauma that had jumbled up past memories and thrust new ones into their place.
She hesitated and looked around, pulling the genie back into the bottle for a few seconds as she tried to make sense of what this forgotten but important moment that she thought had been lost to her forever was trying to tell her.
Recalling the fact that it had been a cold night when she ran, she had kept running until her legs couldn't carry her any further and her breath burned in her chest. Exhausted and afraid, she had sunk down on her knees of all places in a field of white tulips. All around her the flowers bloomed and Olivia had wondered if she had been dreaming this scene or had somehow crossed over to the other place again like here but different. A brief respite from the cares of the cruel world that she lived in full of anger and hatred, fear being her closest companion and hope, a distant dream. But here in this field, it seemed that the fragile white blooms somehow gave her a faint glimmer that not all was dark in the world but beauty could exist and give her a little hope.
She had burned some flowers as the fear rose in her, the petals lightly singed and browning as her fears took over, gaining momentum. People would be looking for her, worried about her safety. Firstly, she had let them down, secondly Dr Walter would stare at her disapprovingly for her actions. That was another person she had let down as well as her classmates back at the Day care centre who had looked up to her, even admired her…all of them would hate her for running away.
Then the fear really rose in her as she thought of her step father and how he would react!. Olivia could smell the acrid smoke as a patch of tulips smouldered away and realised that she had destroyed them as her fear galloped ahead like a herd of wild mustangs and she reached out trying to will back her previous action as remorse took over.
She had destroyed something beautiful out of fear and the burnt blooms that she had laid waste to could not be returned to their former glory. Olivia hung her head and wished somehow there was a better world out there that she could escape to or even create.
Foolish dreams!. Even if she could, there would always be someone there to tell her what a failure she was and that she'd never know true freedom.
"MISS DUNHAM!", Rob Jones voice brought her back to the here and now, "Concentrate Olivia!", it was like the sting of a slap, the memory of her step father hitting her, that man's voice suddenly brought Olivia back from losing herself in that memory.
"CONCENTRATION IS A MUST!", Jones stood staring at her intently, "NOTHING must get in the way of your thoughts!".
Olivia returned to the power that was building up inside her, she had a job to do and grudgingly she admitted Jones was right, if her concentration slipped, it could mean that everyone's future in this room was at stake.
She nodded and tried to push the memory back to the furthermost regions of her mind.
There was no room for distraction at this stage of the game. Olivia's hands were radiating energy and she stared at the crackles and sparks coming from them as well as the orange auric hue surrounding her, it too seemed to shift in colour. It had started off as red but now was more of an orange colour and she was sure that hints of green were now blending with the orange as she was entranced by the ever shifting colours around her.
What on earth was happening to her?!.
"Oh my goodness!", Walter stepped forward as he saw Olivia's colour change, "Fascinating Astro!. Frightening perhaps to the untrained eye and mind but fascinating!", he looked totally wrapped up with the process he was witnessing and Astrid tried to get Walter to explain what was going on.
"What's happening Walter?!. Why is she glowing like that?. Those colours…", she too could only stare at Olivia standing on the rock and gasp at the process she was undergoing and try to hope that Olivia was doing the right thing for everyone's sake.
"It's her aura, Astrid!", Walter spoke in awed and hushed tones, "Somehow Olivia must be tuned in with her own auric energy. We have several auric bodies according to spiritual texts and although we cannot see them, they are there. "Kirlian photography" only shows part of this auric energy but that is only available to us as a small spectrum of what light actually is!", he explained in hushed but excited tones. Gamma rays, X-rays and ultraviolet radiation are above our senses but Olivia has been bombarded with these forces since arrival. They must be somehow interacting to produce this effect!. Remember Astro!. Visible light, what we're seeing with Olivia's electrical field is only within a certain operating frequency, there are forces at work here which would defy any further scientific analysis!", he clapped his hands, "BUT TO SEE THIS IN ACTION IS TRULY SOMETHING!".
"WALTER!", Astrid stepped in front of his line of vision, blocking Olivia from sight momentarily, "IT'S OLIVIA!", Astrid tried to tell him, "SHE'S NOT A LAB EXPERIMENT BUT OUR FRIEND!".
Walter smiled reassuringly, "Forgive me Astro!. The scientist in me is like a giddy schoolgirl relieving her moments of her first kiss with the first boy who stole her heart.", he smiled ruefully, "Astrid, she will be fine. Trust me. I have a sense that it will work out although it is a dangerous process she is undergoing.", he looked around, "I have a feeling Astro that Peter is nearby and watching…", he suddenly frowned as if distracted, "It was a strange feeling I got there…", he looked perplexed, momentarily thrown off balance, "Quite a strong sensation…almost as if he were standing next to me.."
Astrid looked around, she could sense nothing. But then again, Walter had this strange connection to these Cortexiphan kids that occasionally manifested itself out of the blue. Perhaps it was the elevated readings in this cave that were doing something to him as this event took place. Who knew?!. Walter's brain worked on a different level from everyone else and looking at him now, Astrid surmised, this was probably like experiencing a real life drug trip without using any substances in the first place to reach only "that place" that Walter knew how to get to.
Shaking her head and returning to Walter's side, she could only hope that if Peter was here, that he'd better hurry up and do something.
Olivia's auric field had now turned fully green and from her knowledge of colours in the auric field, once the crown chakra was activated…THEN there was going to be the proverbial stuff hitting the fan!.
"Peter, I hope to hell you know what you're doing!", she muttered, "Time's running out!".
It was time to move. Peter knew that he could no longer remain hidden and that he had to come out into the open and stand with the others, take his place as it were and gaze upon Olivia as the process began to unfold in her.
"You have no idea how beautiful you look Olivia!", Peter breathed as he could see for himself, even at this distance, that she radiated something that even made him stop and stare at her. Whatever strange power she was manifesting, it seemed to pour out of her and like a rich, exotic scent, it seemed to entice him forward pressing him to make his own presence felt.
Peter opened the protective case and stared at the object in front of him. He remembered that day when he had come across Olivia in the field of white tulips feeling just as out of place in this world perhaps more than Olivia felt at that particular moment in her life. His own consciousness now clear from Walter's mind control influence seemed to recall the scene with frightening detail.
This scared young girl about his own age was sitting there in a ring filled of burned flowers, acrid smoke drifting on the breeze and the chill of the night air beginning to catch his throat. In fact he thought he had been dreaming her as he approached this field of flowers that he had seen from the car and hearing the half remembered explanation that his mother had told him of how these flowers happened to be here. Maybe he had reasoned, that he was back where he was supposed to be from. It seemed that this place was strangely welcoming and had a sense of belonging attached to it.
At the time, when he heard that Olivia had gone missing, something had struck a chord in him about this girl. The way that both their eyes had met when he first saw her. Each recognising something that the other had hidden. Pain, uncertainty perhaps questions that needed answers….whatever it was Peter Bishop had felt a connection to the young Olivia Dunham and both of them knew it. It seemed only right that he should be the one to search for her and bring her back. Maybe, just maybe, they could search for answers together…
As he looked at the flower that he brought with him from their own universe, Peter smiled and took the bloom out of the case and out of the bio-gel that had been keeping it alive for the whole of the journey.
Walking out of his hiding place, grasping the coveted flower in his hands, he went to stand by his father for a few brief minutes and still under the influence of September's tech humming away and keeping him shielded from view, he turned and spoke to his father to tell him something he should hear.
"I forgive you Walter. Strange as it may seem, after everything that's happened, I get it. I really do. Everything that's led up to this moment, the revelation of my being from another universe, the secrets in my blood and genetic code…" he smiled ruefully, " The cure that you synthesised to save my life, the mind control…I really get it Walter. I just need to say this even though you can't hear me…" he sighed and looked upon Walter's face as he was staring at Olivia and her transformation, "I'm proud to call you my father and no matter what happens in these next few minutes, whether I succeed or fail. I'll always love being your son Walter, no matter the consequences."
Peter smiled and looked towards Astrid and then continued walking forward until he reached the four remaining Cortexiphan subjects. He could see from this "out of synch" realm that he was in that these people were concentrating their powers to the maximum on the energies that were flooding the cavern space moulding them and forcing them towards the swirling waters of the four rivers to give birth to this new world. Peter could see waves of energies whirling around him and although he knew he was safe from them, he was alarmed at just how much energy was focussed in one place. Surely Olivia couldn't hold this force on her own?!. No-one bar Aaron was keeping the lid on Olivia's power and Peter saw that Aaron was breaking into a light sweat as he was using his power to keep the reaction back until the last minute.
Peter forced himself to bury his anger when he saw what Jones had done to Pacey nearby and somehow instead forced his feet to walk on the pathway over to Olivia who was standing there on the rock outcrop with the waters swirling around her and her auric colours were now turning from green to blue.
Peter recalled his father saying that this auric field was built up of colour. After blue came purple and then the purest colour of all WHITE. If Olivia reached this final chakra or colour opening, then that would be it. EVERYTHING would become clear and with it, the power with which to create would manifest itself.
But with Olivia's tough and painful childhood testament to her being the person that she was today. The question was…Could she see past her own unhappy experiences and create something better or would the power be too much for her?.
And if Olivia couldn't handle the power that Jones had unleashed in her, then this place was built on plutonium deposits deep within the earth, all this energy would flow uncontrolled into the earth and…
"A problem man had not forseen as yet,
No time for flight, a blinding light,
Then nothing but a void, forever night.."
Peter kept walking, conviction in his every step towards Olivia and towards this moment that he knew was meant for them and them alone. No-one else could do this one thing, not Pacey nor his father. The other Cortexiphan subjects were powerful, but there was only one way to reach Olivia and keep her from falling back into her childhood fears.
One, a long time ago, a scared young girl with flowing blonde hair had run away after letting her fears overtake her. It had been Peter who had brought her back then.
It was up to him to do the same thing once again.
September noted every movement coming from the people that were in this cavern. They all displayed varying degrees of emotion. WONDER was an emotion that flooded his whole being, something which he could visualise in his mind as a concept that could be looked at from every conceivable angle and understood. The same with FEAR and of UNDERSTANDING. All could be looked at, dissected and put back together to give a complete picture that was to be written and recorded for later use. One emotion though continued to perplex him. One emotion that above all could not be studied or dissected quite so easily.
The emotion was called "LOVE" and September knew of this through his dealings with August and the experience that he had gone through. LOVE was something that he could really only attribute to two beings in particular who he had observed for quite a while now in an attempt to explain this strange emotion.
Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham loved each other. From his observations he could easily pick up their hidden and undisclosed thoughts and sometimes forbidden images that lay both in their subconscious minds. LOVE it seemed to him was something that eluded these two people and it was perplexing and frustrating at the same time.
When an emotion was felt, surely it was an action that required a reaction of some kind. September had grasped the basics of most emotions and most emotions fell into this theory and made his observational life easy to live. LOVE however seemed to be the exception to the rule and no matter how life treated Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham with its myriad of events and situations, these two people could not simply experience it between them and produce some kind of reaction.
September knew that Peter had achieved the result with AN Olivia Dunham but not the RIGHT Olivia Dunham. There was already a paradox brewing which had been brought to his attention some time ago. Events were not as they were meant to be and the one thing that September feared was making a grave second error in his dealings with Walter Bishop and his son. The first error had been to allow Walter to take Peter from the other universe and rescue them both from that icy lake, had he himself not been so over eager to capture WALTERNATE'S success in his experiment and mistakenly show himself, none of this would now matter.
He stopped writing in his notebook and looked at Walter Bishop, sensing the elder scientist's underlying concern for his son and next to him, Astrid Farnsworth, who at this minute in time was hoping that they were all going to make it out of here alive.
Looking towards Detective Witter, September could hear his thoughts, he was also praying for a miracle and that Olivia Dunham would come to no harm.
September looked to Peter Bishop and into his mind. He cocked his head and analysed the thoughts coming from the younger Bishop. "Indeed.", he spoke, "It is Love which he feels most strongly. It is Love that will help Olivia to make a decision on what to do with her power."
He continued to make the observations as he saw Peter come ever closer to Olivia and where she was standing on that rock. Olivia's auric colours were now indigo, turning purple and violet.
September let a smile play about his features, something which he knew he should not do but realised that this moment was an important one. Not in so much as to be observed but one that had to be FELT and EXPERIENCED. He turned off his own device which was implanted at the back of his neck and still hidden from view from everyone else took the EMOTIIONAL decision to observe this phenomena rather than simply OBSERVE it.
IT WAS TIME…
"Oh my god!", Walter gasped, "Look Astro!. Her colours are going from purple to white!", he turned to his friend and lab assistant and saw the fear and wonder in her face as he turned his attention to Olivia once more. This was the moment that they had all been waiting for…
"Holy-…" Pacey had been enraptured by the scene before him. He could only stare in wonder at Olivia's ever changing auric colours and try to keep hope alive in his soul that the one woman that had ever truly inspired him was going to be okay. There was no way that he could lose her…not after getting himself into this and crossing universes and trying to stop Jones…he couldn't lose her…not now!..
Rob Jones stared at his number one prize as her colours became the colour white and her crown chakra was about to open. THIS was the moment that he had waited for and it was time to prepare the Detective to meet his doom. Jones was confident that nothing now stood in the way of his dream in creating a new world and having revenge on the man that had been responsible for his mother's death.
He left Aaron to control the reaction that was building in Olivia and walked down to the side of the gushing waters where Pacey was a mere few metres from the torrents, bound and unable to move. Jones had tied Pacey's feet up with cable ties, just like his wrists were bound and there was no way for the Detective to escape. It seemed that Pacey was going to be sacrificed just as Olivia was about to reach the peak of her powers.
"Keep going Olivia!", Jones shouted above the rushing waters, "Focus the energy when it comes through your hands and into the waters below!. Just like we rehearsed!".
He turned to the other Cortexiphan subjects and told them…"Focus on those energies around you, focus them into the earth, into the water…into the air we breathe itself!. You know what to do!". His voice was full of encouragement and excitement as he turned his attention to the Detective.
"And you Detective!", his face turned into a nasty scowl and his eyes flashed dangerously, "SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR FRIENDS AND TO EVERYTHING YOU KNEW!. IT IS TIME FOR THE DEBT THAT YOU OWE ME TO BE REPAID IN FULL!".
The force of his foot came down on Pacey's neck, forcing his face against the cold rock and taunting him further. "I enjoyed having that friend of yours put down in the warehouse Detective. Remember that?!. It seems so long ago but he was just an appetiser…something to whet my appetite as you Detective are about to be served as the main course. AND I WILL ENJOY SEEING YOU DIE!. That I can assure you!".
Pacey gritted his teeth. The memory of Jace and the disaster of that warehouse job came back to fill his head. He could taste his own blood in his mouth, the sharpness of the uneven rock pressing into his skin and the knowledge that Jones seemed to be in control just seemed to fuel his inner rage. There was no way in hell he was going out like this!.
He wasn't beaten yet!.
Olivia felt energy flow through the whole of her body. It was as if someone was tossing her about like a rag doll and at the same time electrocuting her as her body and mind suddenly felt as one. Energised and connected to something that was even more powerful than she could ever imagine.
At first she thought it was the Tin man serum ready to blow her mind apart, then it seemed as if the "Cortexiphan" was taking over, two opposing forces in her body seemed to be at war and the energy discharges were now apparent for all to see. Lightning crackled in the cavern as she did what Jones told her to do and forced the energy out into the waters nearby…
"I…I..CAN'T HOLD THIS POWER!", somehow she found her voice and could hear herself scream the words into the air, it was too much…there was too much power for her to control…it was leaking through her, out of her, it was in the air around her and using her body as a conduit and there was no way she could stop this at all!.
"Help me!"…her voice seemed to be getting weaker as images flowed through her mind. Images of being hit by her drunken stepfather, the fear and pain coming into the forefront of her mind as all emotional control seemed to be ripped from her. There was images upon images of her as a child, crying, her mother lying on her deathbed, her body ravaged by cancer, more images followed on from that…images of Charlie and her having to shoot him or rather the shape shifter that took over his body…images of a laughing David Robert Jones…the other "Cortexiphan" subjects that didn't make it. James Heath covered in cancerous tumours, Nick Lane lying in that other universe, life leaking out of him from that gunshot wound…William Bell's face…Walternate's expression as she was held prisoner and was experimented on…
She couldn't shut it off, every raw and unprocessed emotion that she had ever experienced was there and it was too much for her to keep her emotional hold over.
Olivia knew she was in trouble.
She needed help and she needed it now.
"Something's wrong!", Walter felt the earth tremors beneath him. "There's too much power flowing through her!", he looked towards Astrid. "I was afraid of this!", he felt Astrid's fear and looked towards Olivia, "It's Olivia's one flaw. Her emotions!. If she can't control them then she will destroy us all!".
Both he and Astrid ran up to the other "Cortexiphan" subjects who were now feeling the effects of what was going on both physically and emotionally. Aaron had sunk to his knees and the sweat was pouring off him.
"I CAN'T HOLD ONTO HER EMOTIONAL CONTROL!. SHE'S TOO POWERFUL!", he yelled as a trickle of blood started to run out of his left nostril and he looked like he was about to blow a vessel in his brain as he wobbled unsteadily backwards and forwards on his knees.
"She's too strong!", Tessa looked at Dr Bishop her face exhausted and paler than usual, "None of us can continue to keep this up for much longer!".
Richie was clutching his head and had fallen to his knees whilst Ken was sitting down looking drained. Annie looked drained of all her energy as she wearily looked at Walter and shook her head, "We're done here!. If we can't shut her off then we're all going to die. There has to be a way to stop this!".
"JONES!", Walter thundered and headed in his direction, "LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE MAN!. YOU'RE DESTROYING THIS WORLD IN ORDER TO CREATE ANOTHER", his eyes blazed angrily and he grabbed the man trying top pull him away from Pacey, "THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE STOPPED THESE EXPERIMENTS ALL THOSE YEARS AGO!.THIS WAS WHAT I WAS AFRAID OF!".
"YOU ARE WRONG DR BISHOP!. OLIVIA IS THE ONE TO CREATE NOT TO DESTROY!. THIS IS HER DESTINY!", Jones replied as he swung around to face Walter.
Both men were now facing each other and determined to win the moral argument before them whilst Olivia was fighting to control her ever growing powers.
Astrid managed to get over to Pacey and was furiously trying to loosen the cable ties that bound him before Jones could re-channel his efforts and hatred into destroying at least one of his two enemies.
"What's going wrong Astrid?!", Pacey raised his head trying to summon up the last reserves of his energy to try and get himself back into the game. Both of them ducked as a large electrical discharge narrowly missed them and crackled into the water nearby. Pacey looked at Astrid's worried face and over to Olivia a short distance away.
"Olivia can't contain her power, instead of creating a new world, she could very well destroy this one. Walter's worried these discharges are going to ignite the underground deposits of plutonium under our feet. Look over there…those other "Cortexiphan" subjects are exhausted…" Astrid pointed to the others in various states of distress and mental fatigue…"We're in serious trouble Pacey!", she had managed to loosen the ties binding his feet together and looked over to Walter and Jones.
Both of them were bickering away like children in a school playground and all the while this world was on the verge of destruction and no-one could do a thing about it.
"OLIVIA'S EMOTIONAL STATE WAS FINE UNTIL YOU SHOWED UP!. I HAD ENSURED THAT SUCH AN EVENT WOULD NOT OCCUR THUS PROTECTING US ALL!. YOU HAVE DESTROYED A LIFETIME'S WORK JONES…YOU ALONE ARE RESPONSIBLE!", Walter's anger knew no bounds as Jones forcefully hit back with his own response..
"YOU ARE ONE TO TALK BISHOP!. YOU ARE THE ONE THAT OPENED THE DOORWAY TO THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE LEADING HEREON IN TO THIS VERY UNIVERSE AND SITUATION THAT WE ARE NOW FACING!. I AM NOT TAKING THE BLAME FOR YOUR MISTAKE. YOU ARE ALSO RESPONDSIBLE FOR THIS…YOU AND DR BELL!".
Astrid and Pacey looked at one another and their faces were grim. It looked as if there was no escaping the inevitable conclusion that this venture was now taking.
Jones and Walter at each other's throats and the "Cortexiphan" enhanced humans were all but drained batteries. There was only one person left who could save them and there was no sign of him anywhere.
MEANWHILE BACK IN THE OTHER UNIVERSE…
Nina Sharp marched straight into Broyles office. Latest satellite and seismic activity data readings were reaching worrying proportions. She assumed that this was the start of Rob Jones and his last event, the one which would birth a new world into life and it seemed that these "labour pains" were extending into this world and causing some very concerned expressions in certain governmental and scientific agencies up and down the country.
"Nina. I take it that you're here regarding these readings that I've been made aware of?!", Broyles had been expecting her ever since the first reports of seismic activity had landed on his desk. "Oak Ridge" had certainly raised a few eyebrows over at the Department Of Defence and the army was on high alert due to the importance of the plutonium deposits in the area.
"The readings are going off the scale!", Nina sounded concerned, whilst Broyles stood there grim faced and hands on hips. "Do you think that could possibly be Jones or.."
"No doubt that's Agent Dunham causing this!", Broyles interrupted her, "And there's not a damn thing we can do to help her or any of them!".
"We can wait and hope Phillip. That's all we can do. In the meantime, I take it that the relevant cover stories have been put in place regarding the media and so on?", she inquired.
"There are statements going out to the press as we speak Nina. Cover story being one of underground testing of a new drilling device by the military somewhere in the area of Tennessee, although personally I would prefer the fracking cover story myself. The public would readily believe in a rogue fracking operation than some new fangled military device but I'm not the one writing these things now am I?!", Broyles folded his arms and shook his head.
He looked amused but inside Nina knew that he was just as worried as she was regarding the welfare of his team and Agent Dunham. His gaze fixed on her again.
"Whatever's going on in that other universe Nina, I hope we get some answers soon. One way or another!".
Nina walked over and placed her hand on his arm, "Phillip, we'll know soon. If these tremors stop then I think we'll call it a successful end to the mission.", she smiled reassuringly.
"And if they don't?. What then Nina?!", Broyles looked at her questioningly.
Nina sighed. For that question she had no answer, there was none that she herself or her team at "Massive Dynamic" could come up with. Her smile faded a little.
"Well Phillip, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it!", she replied earnestly and hoped that wherever the "Fringe Team" were, they were solving the problem of what to do in just such an emergency!.
Back In The Fictional Universe..
Assistant Director Jeffries and the assembled F.B.I teams had arrived at the mine entrance and were currently engaged in an exchange of fire with the soldiers that were there. Except that it seemed at first that there was no one there to begin with. They had been surrounded by what seemed an invisible enemy and were forced to take cover behind their vehicles. Shots rang out and from it seemed ever direction. Casualties were lying around, wounded in the legs mainly as the tried to run for cover.
The situation was looking grim, they were pinned down and basically were sitting ducks for Jones's men who could pick them off whenever they fancied. Jeffries cursed Jones ingenuity and tenacity. The man had every eventuality planned for and when the earth tremors had begun and had shaken the area, Jeffries realised that Detective Witter and the rest of the other "F.B.I" team must've failed in their primary objective to stop Jones.
He turned to Daniels beside him and both men wore grim expressions on their faces.
"I hope the people you sent in down there in that mine know what they're doing!", Daniels told him, "We're sitting targets up here. May as well paint a bullseye on every one of our backs. We ain't going anywhere!".
The lull in the shooting had ceased and machine gun bursts had peppered holes up and down the line of Fed vehicles as the men had waited until the latest volley had passed before some tried to see the direction that the shooters were coming from in the half floodlit darkness. No-one dared to break cover and try to break this stalemate. It seemed suicidal to even take the risk.
Jeffries reloaded his weapon and looked at his comrade at arms. "Don't worry. These people down in the mine are the best people for the job. I have faith in them. So should you!".
Another barrage of machine gun fire caused them to cover their heads as shards of broken glass fell around them, it seemed that Jones's men were intent on keeping them pinned down for as long as possible.
Jeffries looked at his watch in the semi-gloom…it had just passed 3am and he looked down at the earth beneath him wondering just what the hell was going on hundreds of feet below in the bowels of the earth itself.
Olivia felt like she was going to pass out from the strain that this power was putting on her body. She could feel the electromagnetic waves pull her feet away from the safety of the rock and she felt she was levitating and there was no way to anchor herself back to the ground.
All around her lay a shimmering white light and the power raging through her hands was still discharging into the waters and now the earth tremors seemed to be getting worse.
On the shore cracks were starting to appear in the ground and the lightning bolts were bouncing around making it difficult to guess where they would eventually discharge. This event was nowhere near to being over and Olivia feared for her own life as well as those in this cavern.
At the very height of her fear, a face suddenly appeared in her consciousness, the face of the boy that she had seen once before, that day when she had run away from the Day care centre. It seemed that this boy's reappearance in her mind was trying to tell her something but she didn't know exactly what that was. Olivia tried to focus her mind on that day and meeting the boy in the field of white tulips but it seemed the memory was slipping away from her.
"Olivia.", a voice broke through her fear addled consciousness, "It's okay. You're not alone in this. I'm here with you..", the boy's face was suddenly replaced by the face of her colleague, Peter Bishop and it seemed that some kind of enhanced psychic link was now forging itself between them.
"Where are you Peter?!. I'm so scared!. I…I…can't control this!", Olivia's mind screamed out in reply, hoping that she wasn't dreaming this scenario up or that "Imaginary Peter" had returned to her as he had when she had been kidnapped to the other universe. "Please say that this isn't just a dream and that I'm not imagining you!" she pleaded.
"I'm here Olivia. As real as you are. But you have to control your fear and put your feet back on the ground. I have something Olivia that's for you and you alone. Would you like to see what I've brought you from back in our universe?", Peter's voice was calm and filled with warmth and everything about the expression on his face radiated nothing but serenity and a deep wisdom and certainty that everything would be fine.
"You brought something over?. How is that possible?. What is it Peter?!", Olivia felt like a child again, full of wonder and questions and importantly hope.
"Trust me Olivia. Let go of your fears about the past. They're only memories and can't harm you. It's here and now that matters Olivia. It's all about us. It always has been. Control your fear Olivia, it's that which is going to destroy us all and I don't know if I can fully control the reaction in you. Help me by trying to release your past memories…" Peter replied. He remembered some song from his childhood that seemed appropriate for this moment and recalled the lyrics…
"Don't give up, cause you have friends.
Don't give up, you're not beaten yet.
Don't give up, I know you can make it good.
Don't give up, you still have us.
Don't give up, we don't need much of anything.
Don't give up, cause somewhere there's a place where we belong…"
Olivia focussed her power to try and put her feet at least back on the ground and to earth herself with something that was positive in her life, she could feel the emotion behind Peter's words and the song that he was sending her. Peter seemed to be the only person that could reach her and she concentrated with all her might. The blackness or darkness within her began to clear slowly and she found that she was more aware of her surroundings and that she could sense Peter's physical presence quite close by.
Peter meanwhile realised that he had become visible and that September's tech had stopped humming and he knew that he had very little time to execute the second part of his plan.
He hadn't known that Olivia would pick up his thoughts, it seemed the only thing to do, namely reach out to her with his mind and plead for her to listen to what he was saying. He hoped that with both of them pumped full of "Cortexiphan" that they could communicate in this way and hoped that they somehow weren't immune to each others abilities. Walter's warning about this had been of concern to him but it looked like this wasn't the case. So far part one of his strategy seemed to be working as Olivia was beginning to sink back down to earth once more and become fully integrated with what was going on.
Peter swung around and saw that the "Cortexiphan" subjects were aware of his presence and were looking at him and to each other perhaps sensing what he really was but wondering what they should do. Aaron, seeing him and perhaps also sensing that Peter was trouble gritted his jaw and yelled out to Jones that they had an unexpected guest before two of the others wrestled him to the ground, trying to keep him from doing any further damage even in their severely weakened state, they could still physically restrain him.
Peter quickly turned his attention to one of the remaining "Cortexiphan" subjects, the one that was called "Annie.", he wasn't sure if she could pick up anything from him but the look that he gave her made her nod slowly and smile as if she was replying.
"MY GOD!. PETER!. SON!..YOU'RE HERE!", Walter's voice echoed joyfully through the cavern as he realised that his son had practically materialised from nowhere and not a moment too soon his argument with Jones temporarily forgotten and joy at seeing his son was etched on his features.
"BISHOP?!", Pacey managed to finally get his hands free as Astrid too caught sight of him and they both got to their feet and took in the situation that now lay before them. Multiple events were happening all around them and they felt helpless to know what was the right thing to do. Help Olivia or help Peter?.
"PETER BISHOP!", the voice of Rob Jones echoed throughout the underground chamber as he realised that the second of his lifelong foes had come to join in the birth celebrations.
"I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU. NOW MY REVENGE WILL BE COMPLETE JUST AS THIS WORLD IS ABOUT TO BE BORN!", his voice was cold and full of hatred as he advanced towards the rock where both he and Olivia stood.
"NO!", Annie and Tessa stood blocking his way, "THIS IS NOT WHAT WE WANT JONES!.", they spoke in unison as they had seemed to have joined minds with each other to try and battle their one time master, it seemed that alone they could not hope to slow Jones down but combining their talents, they could just buy Peter time to help Olivia out.
Jones glared at his pupils and snarled, "YOU CANNOT HOPE TO STOP ME LADIES!", he took in the scene in front of him more annoyed than amused as he decided that the time for games was now over.
September stayed within the shadows and continued his observations on the unfolding drama before him. He could see many futures unfolding before him with each passing minute.
One looked more successful than another, one path was dripping blood and another was the destruction of this world. So many forks in the road and choices that were yet to be made.
Which one was the right way?. Only the performers in this universal play knew the answers to that question and September could only watch and to see which path these people were now going to take.
Literally, the fate of the world was in their hands now…
"Come on over to my place….
Playing with uranium..
And if it blows up in your face…
See you on the other side…
You just got the invitation…
Oh boy, that was a bit of a longer chapter than I planned to write. Anyhow, as usual, I'll get to explaining things..
Chapter title and lyric I used in the narrative comes from a song called "Eighth Day" by Hazel O'Conner and is from the film "Breaking Glass" which I mentioned before. "Youtube" it and even though it was made at the beginning of the 80's it's still packs quite a visual punch visually and lyrically.
I also used Tori Amos and the track "Silent All These Years" which is ironically one of my personal theme songs as I tend to have weather related vocal problems which render me speechless from time to time. There goes my mad sense of humour again!. It's a great track, it just really is..
The next song I used was from the duet of Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel and the song "Don't Give Up". Another great song and worth checking out.
Final song is from the "Pop trash" CD from "Duran Duran" and a song called "Playing With Uranium". Okay so I'm mentioning plutonium in the narrative, sort of similar I guess but you get the meaning. The song is a forgotten wee gem on that CD and I think is based on a true story if I remember correctly.
Guessed what Peter's gift to Olivia is?. I thought that it was staying in tune with the spirit of "Fringe" itself if you've figured it out by now.
And that is that. So…what happens next?. Stay tuned for the next instalment and find out..
As always, thanks for reading and giving reviews (if you like, I'm always open to feedback since no-one else reads my stuff, I admit I'm something of a loner and it's a one woman flying solo act trying to do her best in the world of fanfic, so every thought or review counts and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read this, it's most humbling..!). And thanks to "sydneypickett0" for following both the stories...Glad to have you aboard!.
Cheers!.