Disclaimer: Fringe is not mine.

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"So, are we going to my place?" Peter asked as he fit his pace to match her slower one, his voice echoing in the empty corridor.

"Yes please," Olivia's response was barely louder than a whisper, "I can't go to my apartment, not yet."

"Do you want to stop at a shop, get something to eat and buy whatever it is that you want to get?" His eyes were full of sympathy as he watched her from the corner of his eye.

"Not tonight," Olivia sighed.

They walked the rest of the way to his car in silence and she slipped into the front seat with a wince. The drive was also silent. She was watching the passing scenery with an unreadable expression and he preferred to give her the space she clearly needed. He had plenty to keep his mind occupied anyway, since he knew sooner or later he would have to tell her what had happened with the other Olivia. He thought tonight was too soon to break the news to her though, especially considering how fragile she seemed.

Eventually Peter pulled up outside the house him and Walter lived in, and dashed around the car to hold the passenger side door open for Olivia. She acknowledged his gesture with a small smile and slowly walked towards the house. Peter locked the car and then followed her, pulling his house keys out. He let them in and Olivia paused to glance around the familiar hall. After a while, she sighed and made her way to the stairs, using the banister as support to pull herself up one step at a time. Peter followed her to his room, where she stopped and turned around. The grief in her eyes caused a lump to form in his throat.

"Olivia," he whispered, stepping closer and reaching to stroke her cheek gently.

Olivia left her cane leaning against an armchair and lifted her hand to mirror Peter's gesture. Her fingers glided over his stubble and she used her hand to pull him closer. Their lips met in the middle and even the gentlest of kiss made Olivia let out of sob.

"Olivia," Peter whispered again, pulling back to look at her. Her eyes were filled with tears that were threatening to fall any moment.

"Please Peter," her voice cracked, "I need you."

This time when Olivia pulled him down to a kiss, he did not resist but wrapped his arms around her to get as close to her as possible. She kissed him with unexpected hunger and he felt his body respond. When she tugged at the bottom of his jumper, he held up his arms and then helped her remove the rest of his clothes. Hers soon followed and the last thing he removed was her hair band, letting her red hair fall around her shoulders, covering the tattoo at the back of her neck.

As they made love through the night, Olivia clung to Peter with strength fuelled by desperation. All the while her tears fell and he brushed them away with his lips and thumbs, tasting the salty tang of her sorrow. He whispered her name over and over as they moved together, letting himself match her desperation with passion that made his heart ache. It was nearly dawn before fatigue won and Peter fell asleep, holding as much of Olivia in his embrace as possible. As he slept, her silent tears continued to fall.

The sun was up by the time he stirred, instinctively reaching out for Olivia. When he found himself alone in the bed, he frowned blearily and lifted his head to look around the room. The first licks of panic died down when he found Olivia sitting in his armchair near the bed, resting her head on her palms. She was fully dressed in her bloodied and soot-covered clothes and was watching him gradually wake up.

"Hey," he smiled at her, hoping she would come back to bed. His smile, however, faltered when her face continued to be an expressionless mask.

"When I was trapped on the other side," she began to speak, her voice hollow and devoid of any emotions, "I discovered that my abilities still worked. In fact, passing between universes seemed to have only strengthened them. With the help of William Bell's Cortexiphan stash that I found in his apartment, I was able to start working on expanding the limits of my capabilities.

"What I needed most of all was hope. I needed to know that you and Walter and Astrid were working tirelessly on a plan to get me home. I needed that hope to survive Walternate's experiments and torture, having my memories nearly wiped away by those of the other Olivia, and having to live my days in constant fear of slipping up and somehow accidentally revealing just how much of my real life I could still remember.

"With the help of the Cortexiphan, I found that I was able to manipulate the molecules between the universes with increased ease. While it took me a long while to learn how I could pass between realities, I did learn how to create windows, so I could at least see this side. Initially they were just brief glimpses of the area exactly in front of me, but over time I learned to control the ability, so that I could keep the windows open longer. Then, I learned to see places beyond my physical location. I practised every night, because I needed hope to keep me going, to keep me injecting myself with Walter and Bell's drugs night after night. I watched through the windows, so sure you would all be working nearly around the clock, trying to find a way for me to come back.

"Instead, I saw you with her."

Olivia's words hung between them as dread settled in Peter's stomach. He now understood her desperation and tears from the night before and how she had avoided looking at him for so long. He opened his mouth to say something, but his brain was completely blank. Olivia watched the horror on his face for a moment, still completely expressionless, and then slowly rose.

"Broyles is waiting for me for de-brief." Leaning heavily on her cane, she limbed out of the room and down the stairs. A moment later Peter heard the front door open and close and she was gone.