I know that chapter 2 lacked oomph. It was used to set up chapter 3. I didn't know of a better way to write it without all that dialogue. I hope you will enjoy this one. (Since publish, I tried to improve the date scene.)

~Lady's Night at The Bar~

6 days might have well been 10 years.

This was silly. Why was she feeling so anxious about meeting Peter after all this time? Olivia looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. There were probably more lines around her eyes than on a street map. Well. No sense sulking about it. She sauntered back to the bar to wait for her friend to arrive.

With drink in one hand, Olivia absentmindedly accepted a cigarette someone offered her. After inhaling once, she started hacking. Her friend sat down on an adjacent stood.

"I didn't know you smoked."

"I don't." She coughed some more before extinguishing the offensive butt in an ashtray.

The other woman made eye contact with the bartender.

"Vodka martini."

Once her drink was served, she took a sip.

"What's up with you?"

"I'm going to meet with up a guy in six days."

"That's good... Isn't it?"

"Jane, I haven't seen him in ten years."

"Oh. Feeling a little anxious are we? Cheer up. If it's men you are thinking about, there are plenty of diversions to go around...Work the room...That's what I'm going to do."

"Men." She makes a toast by herself and swigs down the rest of her martini.

Just then a guy walked up to the bar next to her. Jane gave him a quick once over and pressed closer to him. Lately she liked them a little beefy.

"You there. I'm a Detective Superintendent of Scotland Yard. Care to buy me a drink?"

"Sure." He turns to the bartender. "Another one for the lady." Jane winks back at Olivia.

Olivia watched as Jane walks off to join his party. Not long after her companion ditched her, someone else slid onto the stool she had vacated.

"Hey gorgeous. You're hot."

Olivia cringed at the lame pick up line. She was going to just brush the guy off when she turned to look at him. Oh god!

"Carl Bussler?"

"Wow! How did you guess my name?"

Olivia hid her embarrassment behind one hand. She remembered where she seen this guy before. She had interviewed him years ago on a case she worked on...from the other side. When she noticed that he was going to walk away, she changed her attitude.

"Wait! Come back. I don't want to be alone tonight."

LATER THAT NIGHT:

Olivia wished now she had taken up smoking. Carl had long since fallen asleep. She laid there on the bed thinking of the cruel irony. Of all the familiar people she had to bump into, why couldn't it have been someone she liked?

~Fringe Division~

"Welcome to Fringe Division Headquarters, Agent Dunham."

Olivia attached the badge the receptionist handed her to make it official. The elevator doors open at her floor. She took a good look around the room. The last time she had stepped into a room similar to this one seemed like a lifetime ago. She stopped a young agent to ask for directions. "Excuse me. Where can I find Charlie Francis?" He pointed to an alcove on her right. Charlie was on the phone with someone. But he waved her in anyways. She noticed his hair was more or less back to regulation length but he still had the beard. He turned back to her when he hung up.

"Livy. Welcome aboard."

"Thanks Charlie."

Charlie led her to the table in the back of the room. Olivia was familiar with the tech.

"Touch screen and voice activated controls. Why don't you get up to speed with what we are currently working on right now?" He smiled at her warmly. "It's good to have you here."

The next few days, Olivia had learned all she could about the fringe science she had not even encountered on her own side. She now focused her attention on one tech in particular; the holographic transmitter that she will use for her and Peter's date.

~Broken Telephone~

Olivia entered the darkened holo-chamber and put on her glasses to read the controls on the display screen. She entered her ID code and then the command sequence. Almost immediately a mist descended and the view changed to that of the Harvard lab. Someone entered into frame.

"Hi Aunt Liv. Give me a sec. I'll go get Peter." With that, she disappeared from view.

She couldn't believe it. That was Ella. It finally sunk in just how much time had passed. She had almost forgotten that Ella would be a teenager by now.

Olivia could hear Peter's voice before she actually saw him.

"Olivia." He looked pretty much as she had remembered. There was maybe a bit more gray in his hair. But what got her attention was the ridiculous-looking Superman apron he had on. With the signature "S" on the bib and a puffy red skirt, it made him look like a superhero domestic in someone's warped fantasy. Peter noticed her noticing him and quickly tore off the apron.

"Hey, can we actually touch."

"Yeah."

After they hugged awkwardly and shared a laugh, Peter said, "Somehow I had always envisioned our first date would be more romantic. Not like this." He gestured where each of them was.

"I never thought we would ever see each other again." He stroked her cheek. It made him feel bad to see that he had hurt her, however unintentionally.

Just then Ella burst into the room with a wailing child. "Here Peter, you take the rug-rat. I have to go to class."

"Oh. Come on, Ella. You said you would help out."

Olivia's face blanched. Before Peter could complain some more, Ella was half way out of the lab. The baby still in his arms didn't stop crying. He turned to Olivia apologetically. "Hey. Would you watch Roberto while I go get his bottle?"

To her chagrin, Olivia was left holding the baby. Was this Peter's child? She was looking at him now trying to find a family resemblance.

"Hi Roberto." The child ceased crying and out of curiosity tried to grab her glasses. To avoid his attacking hands, she tickled him mercilessly. This made the child squeal with delight.

Peter came back with the bottle and saw how Olivia was playing with the baby.

"You are a natural with children you know."

"Where's his mother?"

"She's teaching a class here."

"So you married an academic?"

"What? No! You think this is my kid. No! You've got the wrong impression." He took the child from Olivia and let him play on the ground.

"He isn't your son?"

"No. No. No. Ever since Walter moved into the nursing home, I took up babysitting to make myself useful here. Ironic isn't it?"

At the mention of Walter, Olivia started to feel sentimental. "How is Walter?"

"Well. He's senile now. He seems more lost than usual. When he does remember, he would often ask about you." Olivia blushed at the thought.

"That reminds me. He left you something; his diary. He was afraid that he would not have a chance to talk you again. Every chance he could he wrote down his thoughts in it. I'll have it sent your way."

There was a crash and more crying.

"Oh. Roberto, I just cleaned that couch yesterday." He turned back to Olivia. "Sorry Liv. Gotta go. I love you." With that he walked away, leaving her to end the transmission. She lingered to hear him in the background.

"I love you too." She whispered back. A tear threatened to roll down her face. She really did. But what good was it, when they are on different worlds.