Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline.
It's the end of the world as we know it. - R.E.M.
A Week Ago
The next day only brought more reports of patches weakening and more arguments from the two Walters.
"Dammit, this will WORK! Why can't you get it through your head, you miserable bureaucrat?" Walter threw the marker he'd been using across the room and whirled to face the Secretary, his starched lab coat flapping as he turned.
The Secretary clenched his jaw and spoke in a low, measured voice. "I told you that any solution that requires an invasive process in our world is unacceptable. I don't care how sound your science is, you've inflicted enough on us."
"That's just it, if we share the energy dispersal, neither side will be negatively impacted, but if either side has to bear the full brunt of the vortex closure, the force will create irreparable damage. It has to be shared, don't you see?" Walter leaned over the table in front of the Secretary. "Get your mind off revenge and think of what's best for both worlds."
The Secretary grimaced. "Like you did, all those years ago, when you opened the first portal? Just because you could?" He stood up, his back ramrod straight, and leaned across the table into Walter's face.
Olivia and Liv were reviewing their maps with Astrid and Lincoln, but they all looked up as the Secretary's chair scraped against the concrete floor. It would've almost been funny in other circumstances, and it was more than a little bizarre, to see the two men glaring at each other. It was like looking in a mirror, or seeing both sides of the same coin: on one side, the academic turned mogul, crisp lab coat covering an equally crisp shirt and impeccably knotted tie; and on the other, the militarist, wearing the gray double-breasted suit as a uniform. Their intensity, however, was identical; it was clear they had drawn their boundaries and would give no quarter.
"I will NOT endorse a plan that will certainly impose a death sentence on thousands of our people, " Walter thundered. "Especially when the damage can be minimized simply by sharing the –"
"You have just imposed a death sentence on hundreds of thousands by your refusal to make the same sacrifice we have been making for years," the Secretary said grimly. He looked directly at Liv and nodded his head in the direction of their portal into the Bridge Room. "We're done here."
The Secretary strode off, leaving his assistants to gather his portfolio and briefcase.
"Wait, you can't just walk away." Walter's voice was tight with frustration. "If we can't resolve this, you're dooming us all."
Without breaking stride, the Secretary replied "And it's on your head, Bishop. It always has been."
"Dunham," he barked, his hand on the doorknob leading back into their world. "Report to Fringe headquarters and tell Colonel Broyles we're shutting it down."
Olivia and Liv were frozen, not believing the scenario being played out before them. When the Secretary summoned her, Liv shrugged her shoulders almost imperceptibly and looked at Olivia sadly. Both knew that without the will of their leaders, there was little they could do to implement any solution other than applying band aids until their time ran out.
Impulsively, Olivia reached out and grasped Liv's arm. Unless one of the Walters backed down, this would most likely be the last time she would see her alternate, this other version of herself.
They embraced tightly, feeling more emotion than either would've expected. As they parted, Liv clasped Olivia's hands and looked into her eyes, a reflection of her own, brimming with tears that neither would allow to fall. "I hope you find him," she murmured, and then she was gone, striding across the room with that loose-hipped gait that separated one from the other.
Olivia's forehead wrinkled in confusion, but she had no time to ponder Liv's words now. Walter sat down heavily and shook his head wearily. "You might as well call Broyles, too. We need to meet with the President to discuss our options."
Olivia and Astrid exchanged glances. "But, Dr. Bishop, I thought there were no other alternatives," Astrid spoke for them both, as Olivia was already trying to reach Broyles.
"There are always alternatives, Agent Farnsworth, but sometimes there are no good ones. We don't have the resources to stop the collapse permanently, and even if we did, the repercussions would be almost as severe as doing nothing."
Olivia slid her phone back into her jacket pocket. "Broyles is on his way, Dr. Bishop. He's already in touch with the White House and the President will be available by the time he arrives." Turning to the younger agent, she said "Astrid, we'll need the video conferencing set up."
"I'm on it," Astrid replied, already pulling out her own phone and moving toward the portal to their world.
Olivia walked over to Walter, whose face showed the strain of recent weeks. She touched his shoulder before sitting down next to him. "Walter, what happens next?"
"I don't know, m'dear, but I think our questions have turned from 'Is the end coming?' to 'How soon will it get here?'" He jerked his head in the direction of the other portal. "He can make it worse, if he so chooses. There's nothing he can do to save his world now, and the vengeful sonofabitch wants to take ours with it."
There was a low rumble and a tremor in the Bridge Room, as if it was confirming Dr. Bishop's pessimistic outlook.
"Walter, we should go to the conference room." Olivia glanced around the room, mentally inventorying its contents. "Astrid and I will arrange for your white boards and lab equipment to be moved to a more stable location."
As she followed Walter out the portal door, she paused for a moment. The ache in her chest was back, and the feelings of anxiety. No surprise there, she thought ruefully. The end of the world is here, because she couldn't make two brilliant minds see past their own hubris.
She shook her head sadly. "It all comes down to this," she thought. "Ego and pride. The inability to see past yourself.'
Olivia, you did all you could do.
We'll find a way, I promise you.
You're Olivia Dunham, you don't fail.
As she heard The Voice, she felt a soothing touch between her shoulder blades. She turned quickly, but saw nothing, of course - just the metal door of the portal.
ooo
The next few days reminded her of the days leading up to the creation of the Bridge Room; Fringe events across the country, soft spots and collapses in almost every area they'd patched, the weather violent and unpredictable. The sky was a peculiar color – not gray, but not sunny either – lifeless, as though the sun was dying.
For the first 48 hours, they'd thrown all their resources at it. Broyles marshaled all available agents and they did what they could, but they were overwhelmed. Walter and Astrid had been barricaded in his lab at Massive Dynamic, attempting to find another permanent solution, then finally anything that would buy them a little more time.
By the end of the week, they had no more to give. They met in Walter's office at Massive Dynamic, overlooking the New York skyline. The air was heavy with smoke from fires started by broken gas mains ignited from random lightning strikes, and dust from collapsed buildings. Ash seemed to float in the air continuously as if it were snowing.
Olivia looked at the other people in the room, the faces she's seen almost every day for the past 3 years since transferring to Broyles' Fringe division. Walter, his usually starched appearance showing the wrinkles and creases that could only be caused by wearing the same clothes for days on end. Astrid, always the calmest of them all, patting Walter's shoulder with shaking hands. Lincoln, the newest member of the group, disheveled and dirty, trying in vain to find a clean spot on his ripped shirt to polish his glasses. Even Broyles, whose demeanor never changed, looked tired… and without hope.
Broyles broke the silence. "Dr. Bishop, are there any options left? Anything we can try?"
Walter looked down as if his hands held the answer he sought. "Phillip, we've tried everything. We executed the vortex transversal this morning, since the West Coast had already been evacuated. Without the energy resources from the Other Side, there just wasn't enough power to close the rift; it was too far gone."
He raised his head slowly and looked at each person in the room. "The only thing to do now is wait for the end."