A/N Two updates in two days, yay! Just a heads up, I'm also publishing this chapter along with chapter two as a oneshot in the Fringe section. Since they are not relevant to the plot of this story and I only included them like an introduction to the Fringe team for those who are not familiar with them, and because they also came out so well that I decided to publish them on their own.

As always Crystalline Green was the super-mega-and-much-more-than-a-beta-reader. Thanks to her corrections and suggestions, this became bearable to read.

Chapter 4 – Coffee and Flowers

Early spring unfortunately didn't guarantee warmer weather in Boston, much to Peter's dismay. Still, he and Olivia walked to the coffee shop. There was a comfortable silence between the two as they passed by the students who were milling around the campus on that sunny yet crisp afternoon.

Peter threw occasional glances at Olivia, who was avoiding looking at him. He noticed that she was smiling, not that he didn't like seeing her smile, actually he loved it, but he didn't need his 190 genius IQ to know why she was smiling and trying so hard to hide it from him.

"You think it's funny, don't you Dunham? It's not your coffee that he spiked."

She looked at him, not needing to hide her amusement anymore. "Oh I don't think spiking my coffee would help his experiment, it would be difficult for me to get an erection." By now Olivia was openly laughing.

"Oh you're so funny Dunham, wait until he tries to develop a sexual stimulant for women."

Olivia grimaced at the thought, but she still kept their easy banter, "I have a feeling he would still test it on you."

"Yeah I guess he would," Peter said sighing.

They arrived at the coffee shop. Olivia grabbed the door so Peter could enter, smiling and biting her lower lip still amused by the events in the lab. Peter couldn't help smiling back, shaking his head.

He wondered at how easily their friendship had developed. But what he felt when she smiled at him like that, it was something he would keep hidden for now. In reality he didn't want to face the fact that the more time he spent around Olivia Dunham, the more he was drawn to her.

They entered the coffee shop which was full of students, some in small groups just chatting idly, others alone with books in front of their faces or resting on the table fully engrossed in their readings while they sipped at their warm cups of coffee.

"Go get us a table or... that booth. I'll get the coffee," Olivia said directing Peter with her eyes to a vacant booth by the window. "Do you want something to eat too?"

"Only if you're getting something for yourself."

Olivia rolled her eyes, "Fine. I'll get us two cream cheese bagels, if that's okay with you?"

"That would be excellent," Peter replied with a grin heading for the booth. He took a seat and waited for Olivia while taking a moment to observe his surroundings.

The coffee shop had a distinctive college atmosphere, so much like the places he used to frequent during his tenure as a professor at MIT. It made him miss those times, when he felt he was doing something positive with his life and it was also something he enjoyed very much. Even if he had faked his credentials in order to do it.

At one of the tables not far from Peter's booth there were three boys and a girl fully engrossed in a very animated discussion by the sound of it. Something to do with Computer Science, or maybe History.

Peter noticed the book the girl was holding and apparently quoting from it, reading it aloud to her colleagues. It was about Alan Turing, the English mathematical genius and his role in the development of computers.

The story of Alan Turing was one well known to Peter. It had a dark side which made him sick and reminded him of how cruel humanity could be every time he remembered it. The same man who had played a crucial role in decoding information transmitted by the famous Enigma machines during WWII and with that he helped defeat the Nazis, was later condemned by his own government to chemical castration only because of his sexual orientation.

Who knew how many lives that man had saved by using his unique skills to help breaking the Enigma machine. Who knew how much more his genius could have offered mankind if, just two years after the sentence was passed, he had not taken his own life at such a young age.

He was shaken from his deep thoughts by Olivia who had just returned with a loaded tray, she set it down on the table between the two of them and reached for her coffee, savouring it, while Peter went straight for the bagel, biting a big chunk off it.

She wondered how he managed to keep such a slim form eating like he did. After swallowing it with the help of some of his coffee, Peter broke the silence, "So tell me about your exciting week in DC," he said grinning at her.

"Oh God, don't remind me of that. Boring lecture after boring lecture which didn't teach me anything new. I only went because Broyles virtually forced me."

"Thank God I'm only a civilian consultant," Peter said raising is cup in a gesture resembling a toast before taking a sip.

She smiled at him, "Actually I was so bored that I kept hoping you would burst into the conference room and start giving the lecture of your own. Now that would have been interesting," she said chuckling.

Peter gave her one of his trademark grins. "So instead of focusing on the lecture, you were thinking about me."

She blushed lightly, only then noticing the implication of what she had said. "Err... I mean... you had so many jobs in the past and even faked your credentials to teach at MIT. I could totally see you faking your way to an FBI seminar and giving a lecture to a room full of Agents."

"Oh you could?" His smile was getting wider.

"Yeah," she kept looking at the bagel, picking a small piece off it with her fingers, trying to hide her discomfort.

Peter leaned back on his seat enjoying the reaction he was getting from Olivia. "I actually did, a few years ago."

"No Way!" she shot him a look of surprise.

"Well, Agent Dunham, wasn't that in the file the FBI kept on me?" she looked at him with her mouth wide, trying to read him searching for a hint as to whether he was telling the truth or not.

He kept his poker face for a while, until he thought it was enough and started laughing. She threw the peace of bagel she was holding at him, faking grievance, then she started laughing too.

They resumed their small meal, letting the conformable silence fall between them once again. Peter watched Olivia, pondering if he should ask her what he wanted so much to know.

He thought that bringing up the subject of David Robert Jones would most likely make her uncomfortable, also he hated to break up their moment, it wasn't often that he saw Olivia so relaxed.

But he couldn't help being worried about her. He had noticed how nervous and on edge she had been in the days after the events with the light box bomb and then of course there was Jones' spectacular escape from the hospital. He knew something else was worrying her, but as always she kept whatever it was to herself. "Olivia?"

"Yes?" She smiled at him and it almost made him stop from raising the question.

"Have you heard anything else about Jones?" Her smile dropped like he knew it would. He was already feeling like an asshole.

"No," she stated simply. He could sense the sudden discomfort taking over her. Now he was definitely regretting bringing the issue up. "Listen, maybe you were right and that thing with the bomb was all a scheme dreamed up in Jones' sick mind, to make you believe you have an ability." She shrugged and took another sip of her coffee.

He could clearly see she was struggling with something, he took her hand, feeling compelled to give her reassurance and comfort, along with warm smile. "I'm sorry Olivia, I shouldn't have brought that up." He noticed she didn't pull her hand away, it made a warm feeling bloom in his chest.

"It's okay Peter. Maybe you were the one who was actually right."

"I was?" he looked at her puzzled. She looked at him and he could see distress in her eyes. "Olivia, forget about Jones. He's not worth it." He gently squeezed her hand, still resting in his palm before he let go.

Olivia looked out of the window, still battling with herself, wondering if she should reveal to Peter what Nina told her about the second round of Cortexiphan trials in Jacksonville.

Olivia always had a hard time talking about her problems even with the people she loved, like her sister Rachel. But Peter always seemed to manage to draw things out of her effortlessly. She had begun to recognise that it actually felt good being able to share things with him. But this - the possibility of having been a test subject as a child, for some God forsaken drug - was something she didn't want to face right then.

Then something happened. She noticed a woman passing by on the street with a bouquet of flowers in her hand and a smile appeared on Olivia's face. Peter watched her sudden change of demeanour, noticing how she brightened when she looked at the woman. "What is it? Do you know her?"

Olivia kept her eyes on the woman, still smiling. "No I don't," she paused, searching her thoughts and trying to put into words what she was experiencing in that moment. "Don't you ever associate something - like a sound, a smell or an object - to something else entirely different which apparently isn't related in any way?"

Peter watched her still observing the woman, he soaked up the moment but was still confused and had a curious look on his face, "Like what?"

"The woman with the bouquet of white tulips," she said smiling fondly, "Ever since I remember, I've always associated white tulips with snow." Olivia turned her attention to Peter. Looking at him, she was captivated by his winter blue eyes. And then it hit her; a strong sense of déjà vu.

She searched her memory in vain, trying to hold on to the feeling. It was frustrating for someone who could remember in minute detail, things which had happened years ago - to all of a sudden not be able to figure out what had triggered that overwhelming sense of familiarity, the powerful feeling of something important that had happened a long time ago… but she just couldn't remember what it was. And as the woman disappeared around the corner, the felling was gone, leaving her only with a sense of frustration, which must have shown.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked with a frown.

"Yeah... it's... nothing, really." Still it took a few seconds before she shook off the felling. "Maybe we should get going before Walter decides to run experiments on Astrid." She smiled at him as she got up from her seat.

"Oh, I think Astrid is safe. Remember, I'm his favourite guinea pig," Peter snorted following her lead.

"I guess you are." She patted him on the back chuckling has he passed by.

Peter stopped just as they were about to exit the shop. "We should grab something for Astrid and Walter. I will never ear the end of it if I don't bring him something sweet." Olivia nodded in agreement so they made a stop at the shop's pastry display, making their selection before heading out.

As they left they failed to notice the man in a dark suit and the fedora watching them.

He took out a device resembling an old cellular phone, he flipped it open and began to speak. "It is now certain that she does not remember their early encounter. Neither does the boy." He then closed the device and slipped it back in his pocket before disappearing into the crowd.