SCP-1428 – "Cortexichildren"

Chapter 2: Mobile Task Force Delta-5

Disclaimers: During the writing process, all of the SCP number selections I have used were / are vacant. I don't intend to publish this on the wiki, so if the series number is now taken… don't get mad. This is mainly a crossover fic, not a SCP event log that will go on the site.

Forever reminder that I do not own anything. Fringe belongs to J.J. & co. & each SCP belongs to their respective individual author. & the SCP universe belongs to that collective on that site. I do not own anything. I am a fan.

Forever reminder of how I handle alt!characters: Over There: Bob. Over Somewhere Else: Bob. It isn't that hard.

Author's Notes: Every chapter that deals with the SCP-verse, now until the end of the story, will have SCP-like documents at the beginning. These first few chapters will only have vague blurbs, but the documents will get longer & longer & more in depth as the story goes along. Or at least it's my goal for that to happen. The document, besides being all SCP-like, will serve as a recap of the last chapter or a foreshadowing of what's to come… if you can stand the SCP-language. Then you'll get the "actual" story.

I'm going to try my best to balance the Olivia content with the Nick content… but alas I am biased & the show is biased. But I will try to not always be OLIVIA OLIVIA OLIVIA. But she's my favorite character so…

This is also cross-posted over on ao3

Mobile Task Force Delta-5 (aka "Front Runners"): Assigned to track down and capture SCPs before rival organizations do.

Olivia had fallen asleep with her neck all hunched up on the kitchen table. It felt glorious. The burning, hollow sensation in her stomach also felt glorious.

She hadn't eaten anything all yesterday. And she assumed Nick hadn't, either. Or at least not very much.

Nick. She sprung up, 'I can't let him out of my sight. Shit.' But luckily he was still there, right next to her. And he was still asleep.

Olivia felt her heart rate return to normal. Okay. They needed food – and they sure as hell weren't going to find any in an abandoned apartment. She didn't want to wake Nick up, but she didn't want to leave him alone for too long. But she'd only be gone for a little while, right?

But isn't that what she had told herself back on the other side? When she left this same apartment building to go get pastries for Walter? She assumed that she'd only be a little while. She assumed that, after thirty odd minutes, she'd find herself back at the lab with Peter waiting for her.

How worried sick were they right now? Surely they realized that something had happened. Poor Walter. Poor Peter. This happened to them too much. This happened to her too much. But this would be the last time they all would be separated. And this would be the last day she'd spend in this unknown other universe. After buying a little something for Nick and her, they would try again. And again. They would try until they crossed back over. They would not rest until they crossed back over. She would not rest until they crossed back over.

"Olive?" Those were his first words whenever he woke up, even after a seemingly simple nap. He remembered back in Jacksonville that she was always the first to rise from those naps, even before him. Whenever he called her name, she would run over to him with a glowing smile. Whenever he called her name and whenever he saw her face, he would forget all of the bad dreams. He would forget all of the haunting voices that plagued him.

Nick expected her to be right next to him, just like old times. She was always so energetic in the morning, even when he wasn't. In Jacksonville he fed off of her energy eagerly. It wasn't long until the two of them were running down the halls, like little rockets. He was looking forward to forgetting all the voices – since they had been plaguing him ever since he left the drug trials. Those voices made him check into that mental hospital. Those voices kept him distanced from the rest of the world. Yet those voices were also his only friends, when they weren't so cruel to him. But the doctors had told him that it was really him being cruel to himself.

"Olive?" The chair she used to be sitting in was empty. And there wasn't a note. There wasn't a sign as to where she was going and how long she'd be gone.

Nick was overcome with dread, with abandonment, for a few seconds. But he was able to talk himself down. "She wouldn't leave me," he thought out loud. "Olive wouldn't leave me." He was sure of it.

'How do you know that?' the darker voice questioned. The voice had been thankfully quiet since his time with Olivia, but now there was no Olivia to keep the demons at bay. And now the voice was as strong as ever. 'She left you because you're too weak. You weigh her down. You've always weighed her down. The doctors paired you with her on purpose – the weakest with the strongest to balance each other out.'

"No! Olive would never leave me!" Nick's darker feelings surged within him. He was happy that no one else was in the room. "Olive wouldn't do that to me!"

'Don't hold your breath waiting for her,' the voice warned. And then it was gone.

Nick needed to stop the darkness from resurfacing again. The routine! Yes, he needed to get back to his routine.

'After you wake up, you must keep the body strong.' Push-ups. Push-ups would be the agenda for today. Until Olive came back. If he kept his body strong, his mind would be strong. If he kept his body occupied, his mind would be occupied. It was a strategy that worked.

After each push-up, he affirmed his belief to the darker voice – the darker Nick, "She's coming back. She's coming back. She's coming back. She's coming back."

It made her wince to use the strudel money, but it was necessary. It was necessary, but she still felt guilty. It felt wrong that this money hadn't gone to make Walter happy, especially because he deserved it. And especially because Olivia had made the conscious decision to try to be a good human being to him for a change, instead of just continually asking him for scientific favors. Olivia had always been so quick to give him treats [mostly to win him over] but Olivia couldn't help but worry if Olivia cared more about Walter than she did. Of course she cared – she sacrificed her life for him countless times, and she would do it over and over again – but Olivia had the little things. And those little things really were important to Walter. Olivia knew all his favorite candies and all his favorite little stores. She had him wrapped around her little fingers, but in order to have done so, she had to have cared a little bit. In order to have gained their trust, in order to have truly infiltrated their family unit, she had to have cared. And this scared Olivia, almost as much as her identity being taken against her will. Because Olivia was always afraid that she had made a better Olivia than she would ever be. Olivia certainly didn't have the emotional scarring. She had a lovely life with her boyfriend and her elite job. And she certainly looked gorgeous with her red hair. Olivia was able to reap the benefits of a relationship with Peter before Olivia ever could. And she was able to do so with such ease, because she had such confidence. Even in this rewritten timeline, she still had that same swagger, that same glow about her. And Olivia was a bit jealous, although she'd never admit it to her doppelganger's face. Never.

Why couldn't the day had gone on as planned? Why couldn't Olivia had gotten to the small little bakery in time, exchanged the money for some strudel, and surprised Walter back at the lab? Why couldn't they all have had a nice little breakfast over designer coffee made with cream Walter made himself? Why was she over here in some other universe with an empty hole at the bottom of her stomach? Her rational brain told her it was just because she was hungry – that it was just stomach acid and nothing more. But her rational brain was wrong; it was because she missed them.

As she walked up the steps to the apartment – since it wasn't even her apartment, technically – she just felt empty. The food wasn't even as extravagant as well-made strudel, either. It was only cheap coffee and bagels.

"You're back!" Nick looked up from his push-ups, sweaty and pink in the face – how many had he done? "I was wondering where you were."

"I bought some breakfast," she waved the white bag of bagels in front of him. "Sorry it isn't much."

"No this is fine."

The two sat down at the kitchen table. Again.

Olivia sipped her coffee in thick, sweltering silence. What was she supposed to say to him? What were they supposed to say to each other? Were they supposed to share horror stories of the old drug trials? Or should they talk about the weather? But would it be appropriate for them to talk about the weather, since they weren't even from this world?

"I was…" Nick cleared his throat. "I was hoping we could try to stop by where I live. Maybe we could pick up some clues."

Olivia shrugged. It was worth of shot. They had nothing to go on here. There was no Fringe team to help her out of their abnormal predicament. There was no Walter eagerly giving them suggestions. It was just the two of them.

"We should try to go back first."

Nick nodded. "Of course. Yeah."

That same silence.

Olivia tried the "glass half full" approach. "At least this'll give me a chance to get to know you better."

Her try was unsuccessful. Nick seemed hurt. His face fell for the first time. He had been nothing but smiles and grins since their chance meeting in the park. But that cheerful, almost eerily so, smile was quick to dissipate. "But you DO know me, Olive… or at least you used to." He looked down at his hands, already defeated. "Don't tell me that you… forgot?" Even his voice had fallen to a faint whisper.

She didn't want to see that. She didn't want to hear that. Most importantly, it was dangerous. A depressed Nick was not the Nick she wanted to be around. And also… it made her feel guilty again. It's not like she wanted to forget him; it just happened. She certainly wanted to forget the drug trials, and her mind had been successful in purging those memories from her waking mind, but those memories of Nick fell victim to that same purge.

"Well maybe you can just help me remember. I've been having problems with my memory." She felt guilty for telling him half-truths, too. "And I want to remember you, but I just can't."

"You have to fight it, Olive. You can't let them win. They want you to forget. I'll help you remember. I will." The defeated tone in his voice had vanished. His blues eyes maintained that warm glow that they had since she first spoke to him.

Olivia remembered this kind of rhetoric during the Bad Dreams incident. How Nick had been so insistent that "they" wanted them to forget, but he couldn't. If it was something that gave him hope, something that kept him from his dark thoughts, she would continue to play it up. And in truth, she did want to remember the Nick from back then. Just the Nick from back then, nothing else. And in truth, she did need his help. She couldn't cross over by herself. It was just like he said – they would have to protect each other. But she would have to trust him. She needed to trust him. That warm glow in his eyes seemed genuine; it wasn't something that a person could fabricate. Olivia knew she had a gift of correctly judging a person's character, and right now that gift was telling her to trust him, because she had trusted him before.

Because she had seen that warm glow in his eyes before – back when she needed him to cross over to the Other Side. He was in a Massive Dynamic training facility. She came over, seemingly unannounced, because she caught him by surprise. When Nick saw her, the entire room lit up, not just him. Everyone around her exploded with pure glee – even Broyles, which was amusing. That warm glow was proof that the bond Nick had with her was still strong. And the bond was proof that he would do anything for her. Because he had, back in that lifetime, back in that timeline. He gave his life just so she could cross over – just so she could get Peter. She could trust Nick. Or at least, she would trust him for now.

"I can't win this battle alone, Nick; you'll have to help me."

"I will." She believed him.

More silence. But this silence was bearable. It was natural.

Olivia finished her meager breakfast. And so had Nick.

"Let's try again." It came out more like an order than she wanted it to. She furrowed her brow; Olivia hoped that her disconnect wouldn't trigger him to anything extreme. She did not want to deal with the collateral consequences of his infectious moods. But luckily for her, the tone went unnoticed. Nick grabbed her hands and smiled, "We're going to do it this time."

She hoped he was right. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind – although that leaky faucet in the corner wasn't helping her. Nor the shuffling of feet coming at her from somewhere else. Or that noisy person coughing. Or someone's tv stuck on a station of static. Or the screeching of breaks from a car outside. Or the cawing of that obnoxious crow right outside the window. Or the sound of her heartbeat. Or the sound of Nick's breathing. She opened her eyes in frustration, "I can't."

"You can do it, Olive," Nick whispered. "Try again."

Fine. Surprisingly, this time, all of the background noises were gone. Perhaps it was Nick's doing – helping her filter it all out – or perhaps her supersonic hearing ability decided to call it quits for the time being.

Go back to where you came from. It all sounded so Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Or even Alice in Wonderland. They needed to go back home. Except it wasn't as easy as finding a rabbit hole to crawl out of. Or even as easy as tapping your heels together three times and wishing "There's no place like home." She wished it was easy, because she was still in the dark about her abilities. She had done it – she had jumped – at least five times, but the details seemed hazy. Nothing was crisp about it. All she remembered was being on one side and then on the other. The actual jumping process, although while doing so felt like eternity, only lasted a second in reality. And that one second wasn't long enough for her to perfectly memorize the process. Sure she could memorize numbers just by gazing at them, but this was intricate; this was different. This was what truly set her apart. Because countless other people had photographic memories, but only a few could do what she and Nick could.

Olivia wasn't aware of it, but she was squeezing Nick's hands tighter and tighter, fighting to concentrate and remember. Nick didn't seem to mind. He knew that she was tense. He knew that she had a lot more to lose than he did. She had a family. She had friends. She had a job. She had people counting on her to get home. He had nothing. If he were to stay here, no one would miss him. No one would even know that he was gone – except Olive. She tethered him to the ground. She kept him from floating up and away into the nothingness. And now it was his turn to help tether her to the ground, to help her for a change.

There had been golden light before, he knew that much. He felt as if he had been stretched into eternity. And then it all stopped. He needed to get back to that golden light, to that golden tunnel. But where was it? He searched and searched, felt his mind leave his body in a search for this unknown link between the worlds. But the link seemed to have vanished, to have disappeared entirely. He could not find that other piece of the puzzle; he could not find the way back. And by the way Olivia kept squeezing and squeezing, he guessed that she was having the same luck he was.

"I don't see it," he confessed, like a pure failure. If he couldn't help Olivia, what good was he? What kind of partner was he if he couldn't keep his side of the bargain?

"We'll try again later. We still have the whole day." Olivia was shaken, but she didn't want Nick to see it.

Unfortunately for her, he felt it. And it only made him feel even worse of a failure. Olivia was slipping, losing her hope, and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. He couldn't lose her. He couldn't lose her or he would lose himself, too. And he didn't want to see her down in the darkness. It pained him enough to be there. She didn't deserve to be down there, too.

The two traveled up to Queens. This new Nick lived up in Bayside, in a modest apartment complex. Nothing special, nothing fancy. Just enough to keep quiet until his "calling" or whatever.

Olivia was consumed in thought. Did this side have the trials? Did William Bell and Walter Bishop ever meet up in their lifetimes? Or was it just like the Other Side, where countless children had been spared such psychological horror? Or was it worse on this side? Was the Nick over here truly a soldier, not just a recruit? When they reached the apartment, would they be in immediate danger? Would the two of them be able to handle this other Nick? Or would it be entirely different? Would the other Nick even be there? Did the other Nick even exist at all? Olivia hoped that they would be spared a self-to-self interaction. The reaction from person to person was quite varied. And although Nick was a pretty open person to the strange, she was afraid of possible negative empathic reactions.

But luckily for her, and luckily for Nick, when they arrived at the supposed site of this complex, all they saw was a parking garage. The complex did not exist, at least at this present time.

An "Oh" escaped from Nick's lips. They were back to square one. They had nothing. Again.

"Where do we go now?" The confident Nick was long gone. It was the return of the deflated Nick.

"It's fine, that's fine," Olivia lied. She did not want him going down that path again. They were surrounded by potential victims going about their everyday lives. This parking garage was in the middle of a bustling square. On every side of them were cars, shops, buses, people. People of every age, people of every size: large groups of people going to work; couples holding hands and crossing the street; elderly women handling groceries; three year-olds running in between their parents' legs. "Why don't we go back to the apartment?" Olivia's voice remained calm, even though her head was racing with possibilities. 'I need to get him away from these people. I need to get him somewhere safe. Maybe into the parking garage so he can regain some composure?'

"Nick?" Olivia turned to him. He seemed to be in a catatonic daze, staring off into the blue; his normally warm blue eyes blank and cold. "Nick? Talk to me. What are you thinking about? Nick?" No this wouldn't do at all.

"There," Nick stated, abruptly and blankly. "I see him – I see me." He pointed to a blond-haired man waiting at the bus stop across from them.

The man in question certainly looked like Nick, but without the scar. And without the dark cloud that Nick was so accustomed to bringing with him. He looked… happy, even if the bus was running a bit late. His clothes looked expensive, well-made. Olivia could make out a navy suit underneath his long black peacoat. And although the two Nicks certainly had the same hair, this Nick's hair was jelled back, tamed, instead of flopping wildly about. He was clean shaven, no whispers of hair on his face. He seemed to be Nick self-actualized, fulfilling a potential Nick never knew he could have.

"He's me… but he's not. Look at him, Olive." She did. "He's not a soldier; he's a worker bee hurrying to the hive." Nick chuckled, throat dry and voice gruff, "He doesn't even know of the coming war. He's so clueless. He's caught up in a life that doesn't matter. He's just like them. All of the people caught in the balance, waiting to die. He might be successful in their world, but it won't mean anything when the invaders come. He'll be dead just like the rest of them." Nick shook his head in disgust. He snarled, "Just look at him. Not a speck of grey on him. He's not me at all."

'But he's happy,' the dark voice began. The darker Nick was bubbling up to the surface again.

"But he's happy," Nick repeated. And soon Nick was lost to the darker Nick: the Nick that had pushed that woman to her death in front of the train; the Nick that made that woman kill her husband; the Nick that made that man jump off the building to his death. This was the self-destructive Nick that destroyed so many others. "He may be a worker bee, but he's happy. He may be caught up in the hive, but he's free. He's just like everyone else. He's not an outsider."

Nick was talking to a pretty brunette at the bus stop. The brunette was giggling and shuffling her legs. She liked him.

The darker Nick was swelling with rage and self-disgust. "He can get anything he wants. He doesn't need abilities. He's naturally charming. Nothing had to be artificially given to him. He was born a winner, not a failure. He doesn't need anyone to help him. He's not broken, like me. He's perfect, while I'm just a disgusting failure. I don't deserve to live. I'm a waste of life. I shouldn't have even been brought to the trials. It didn't make me anymore special; it made me even more of a failure."

Nick's mood started to permeate to those around him. Just as Olivia had seen before, people – random people – started to gravitate toward him. A twenty-something with a purple backpack and purple hair; a five year-old boy and his mother in an orange dress; two greying gentlemen in their grey suits; and a blonde woman dressed in a variety of furs. They were headed to Olivia and Nick.

Olivia thought the darkness would pass once the other Nick left. And he did, with the brunette by his side, on the bus. They were oblivious to Nick and Olivia. They were oblivious to everything around them. She couldn't help but envy them, too. And they were certainly lucky. If the bus had come a minute later, they would have been caught up in Nick's empathic web as well.

But the self-hate did not vanish. It not only festered, but intensified tenfold.

"Nick stop-" Olivia didn't know how to stop him. The situation was growing out of her control. His feelings were out of her control. She couldn't feel the link they had. She couldn't feel what he was feeling. All Olivia could feel was fear, fear for herself and for all of the innocent people around her.

"I'm a worthless failure, a worthless failure that shouldn't be allowed to live," the darker Nick lamented. "I need to end all the pain." The darker Nick influenced everyone around him – influenced them to end their pain. Olivia was in a sea of horrifying pain. That twenty-something purple-haired woman was hysterically screaming, huddled on the floor, rocking back and forth; the boy and his mother were running blindly out into the street, hoping a car would swerve and kill them; the blonde woman had run herself into a window, passing out cold on the floor; the two grey gentleman got into a taxi, whose driver was trying to hit as many cars as possible. Those who had umbrellas were gauging their eyes out, blood oozing everywhere onto the sidewalk. The shards of broken windows were used to slit throats, stab stomachs, bleed wrists, and cut tongues. It was madness and blood everywhere Olivia turned.

"Nick! You need to stop this! Nick, please!"

But Nick couldn't hear her. The darker Nick had blinded him to Olive's existence. He did not recognize that she was even there, amongst all the death and destruction.

"I can't go on living anymore." He was walking out into the middle of the street. A bus was headed in his direction. "Take me now. I don't deserve this."

"Nick, no! Nick!" She ran after him. "You don't need to do this. You deserve to live! You deserve your chance at life! And the people around you deserve to live, as well. You don't have to be responsible for all of their deaths. You don't have to-"

"Potential subjects acquired, Overwatch."

"Describe nature of subjects, Agent Scott."

"Subject 1 is a Caucasian male, blond hair, blue eyes. Subject 2 is a Caucasian female with blonde hair. Prior to their appearance in Bayside sector 5, innocents were going about their normal lives. All was calm. 14:00 hours, both subjects appeared in the sector. Subjects appeared to be searching for something they needed; they did not find it. Subject 1 began to experience great distress. Subject 1 talked to Subject 2 about seeing a copy of himself. The subjects began to talk about the nature of this other person who did look identical to Subject 1. Viewing this person caused great distress to Subject 1. Subject 1 is now expressing suicidal feelings. These suicidal feelings seemed to have spread to all those around it. Innocents that were calm have begun to act irrationally and erratically. Innocents are stabbing themselves with glass, smashing their heads against the ground, swallowing toxic chemicals sold in stores, driving cars into buildings. Subject 2 is unable to control Subject 1. Relationship between the two subjects is unclear. Situation is escalating."

"Proceed with securing both subjects, Agent Scott. Subjects will be brought in for questioning and testing."

"You heard the boss, boys. Let's round 'em up. Get out those tranquilizers and let's ride."

"You don't have to go through with this, Nick. You may think you're alone in the world, but you're not. You'll always have me. We have each other. Don't you remember what you said to me? We have to stay together so we can protect each other. Please, Nick. I need you. And you need me. Calm down."

Nick finally looked up at her. And she saw the return of that warm glimmer. "Olive."

But then that warm glimmer was gone. It was replaced with fear.

She felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck. Before she could turn around, everything went dark. She slipped onto the concrete and saw blurs of black in front of her. They were probably feet.

Before she fully lost herself to the blackness, she heard, "This is Mobile Task Force Delta-5. We have succeeded in securing subjects-"