Chapter 15

I took a deep breath when I saw Olivia's face staring back at me and tried to remain impassive – which wasn't very difficult as my face was so swollen that I even had difficulties to open my mouth. Things were becoming complicated, because that photo meant he knew her and that he planned something involving her. And he could totally use it to make me confess things he wanted to know, because I could deal with being beaten up, but not with a threatened Olivia.

'You know that woman, don't you?' he asked, folding the photograph and putting it back in his pocket.

I nodded, I knew it was useless to lie to him, and he crouched in front of me probably to get a better look at me.

'Well,' he said lowly, crossing his fingers. 'If you don't tell me why you came here, she might be dead by tomorrow.'
'Dead?' I whispered, the air suddenly turning heavy and hard to breathe.
'We are currently running a little experiment for Mr. Secretary. I can't tell you much about it, of course, but believe me when I say it wouldn't take much to mess it up... It appears to be complicated to dose a drug that hasn't been tested yet.'

He tapped my knee with his big fingers and got back on his feet, dominating me from all his height. The little information he revealed was not comforting at all, and I knew he was not joking when he talked about killing Olivia. He worked for my father on the other side, that meant he had to be a shapeshifter. However, I had no idea what the experiment might be, the only thing I learned was that it involved both my Olivia and probably the one that must have been trapped somewhere in that building along with me. I did not know what to do, because he could very well be lying – the Walter Bishop from the other universe had much more influence and power that the one from over here and I doubted anyone would dare to overstep his direct orders – but he could mean it too. And all reason apart, I loved her too much to take any risks, and I should consider the worse than could happen to take a decision. He didn't seem have a walkie-talkie nor a cellphone, so whether he was working alone or his men were still around. That left me a considerable amount of time to try and find a proper solution. I closed my eyes, doing my best to ignore his pacing around me, but after a few minutes he stopped behind me and put both his strong hands on my shoulder. He bent forward so that his mouth was close to my ear, so close that it made me shudder.

'Are you going to tell me what do you want from us or not?' he murmured in the most unpleasant tone I had ever heard.
'Don't know yet' I replied, trying to spare some time.

Of course, that wasn't the answer he was hoping for, and I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for another blow. He grabbed my hair and tilted my head backward before I felt his knuckles crushing my nose. A wave of blood trickled down my chin and throat and the disgusting taste of copper filled my mouth. It hurt a lot and a terrible headache was beginning to be felt, but at least I had saved precious minutes. I felt stupid not to tell him that I didn't even know who he was and that we hadn't come for him, but on the other hand I knew that he wouldn't believe me. I had played with him too much and lost the little trust he could have felt toward me.

'What's the experiment?' I asked, licking my bloody lips.

I hoped that would have distracted him a bit, even if wouldn't give me an answer. He got back in front of me and crossed his arms across his chest, the back of his right hand coated with my blood.

'Stuff about Dunham and her other version. Even if I wanted to tell you I couldn't. I have orders, follow them, end of story.'

He leaned against the wall and took a cigarette out of his pocket, along with a bright red lighter. He took his time to smoke it, blowing clouds of greyish smoke from time to time, while I sat wondering what kind of experiment they could run involving Olivia and her alter-self. Maybe they were aware of the weird connection they had and which Walter was trying to fix? I wouldn't have been much surprise to discover some of the Secretary's agents had witnessed what had happened over there between them. I thought of that other universe as a world governed by some kind of Big Brother watching people every day and night, with hundreds of pairs of eyes looking at them from the zeppelins in the sky and thousands of cameras hidden in their apartments. And of course, they would have been quick to spot such an abnormality as a sex scene between two same persons. That must have caught the Secretary's attention and he would have obviously wanted to be the first to study the whole thing. Or maybe they just wanted to know if Cortexiphan would work on their Olivia so they could use her as a tool to destroy our universe? That would make sense to, it was my father's ultimate goal that he tried to prove to be of noble intentions.
The man took a last puff at his cigarette and came closer to me, bending once again toward me.

'So,' he said, releasing his stinking smoke on my face. 'I've already broken your nose. You want me to break something else or you're going to tell me why you're here?'
'I want to know what you're going to do to Olivia first,' I said, holding his stare.
'You're not in the position to haggle, dear boy,' he smiled, stroking the top of my head as if I were his puppy.

I tried to recoil from him, squirming on my chair, but he put his hands on my cheeks, lifting my head up.

'Just tell me, okay? I don't care about you, you're not my priority, but you understand that I can't let you go if you don't tell me what you wanted.'

I wondered for a moment whether I ought to tell him the truth or not. There was just one way I could prove him I wasn't there for him or any other of his men, but I had the bad feeling he wouldn't like it. I shook my head, knowing that I had to give it a try if I ever wanted to get out of here. I slowly got on my feet, and stopped moving when I saw him reach for his gun tucked in his belt.

'It's okay', I told him, finally able to stand properly. 'I just got something in my pocket I want to show you.'

He looked suspiciously at me, his gun pointed at my face, while I was slipping my hands in the pocket of my jeans, my fingers pinching the edge of the small device. I turned on my heels and dropped it on the floor in front of him. He knelt on the floor and picked it up, his cheeks turning red hot. He turned it in his hands, and they were covered with what was left of mercury on it in seconds.

'We got here to meet somebody who could have helped us with these, but they don't seem to be here anymore,' I said, sitting back on the chair. 'I guess you know what this is given you've got the same. We killed your friends, just a few hours ago. Sorry.'
'What the...?' he started, lifting his eyes up to meet mine, apparently madder at me than I had expected.

Fortunately, he was interrupted by a loud knock on the door, and he hurried to it not without giving me a dark look.

'What is it? ' he barked to the man standing behind the door.
'Phase two is ready, we're waiting for you,' a weak voice said shyly.
'I'm busy right now, ask Mark.'
'He's busy too, he's with her in the next room...'
'Then go and do it yourself,' the man grunted, his hand on the handle. ' And increase the dose to the maximum.'

He smashed the door and I jumped with fear, realizing he might have given the order to kill Olivia. He stared at me with a wicked smile and his hand tightened on his gun, but the only thing I could think of was that Olivia was going to die. Again. Thousands of things ran through my brain in just a second, and I remained agape for a moment, having no idea of what to do. I heard the light click of the security being removed, and saw his finger on the trigger. This couldn't happen. This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. A wave of unknown energy ran through me and I quickly stood up under his surprised look. I ran into him, pushing him hardly against the wall, and the gun dropped on the floor with a loud thump. With my hands tightly bound behind my back, I couldn't do much, and the only idea I had had very little chance to end well. But as it was the only way I could get out of this mess and I hadn't much time to take a decision. I quickly turned on my heels before he could make a move, lifted my hands, took a few little steps forward, and threw my arms around his head. I then suddenly and forcefully lowered them, forcing him to kneel behind me. The handcuffs around his neck were strangling him, I could hear him choke, his head was diving in the small of my back, but I knew that would only knock him out for a moment. He struggled during long seconds, and I lifted my hands a little to hurry things a bit. He finally stopped squirming and I was quick to release him. I knelt on the floor and passed both of my legs between my arms so that my hands were finally in front of me. There were still attached, but at least I was able to use them. I picked up the gun on the floor and keeping him in my line of sight, I searched the man's pocket in the hope to find the keys of the handcuffs. There were two keys, but none were fit to the little lock, so I gave up the idea. I checked him one last time only to see that he was slowly regaining consciousness, and I left the room quietly, in case there were others waiting for me. The dark corridor was empty, and I headed to the closest door where Olivia was supposed to be. I prepared my gun and knocked sharply on the door, pricking my ear. I heard some movement inside, and finally a tall blond man opened the door. I shot him unceremoniously in the head and entered the little room. Olivia was there and I sighed of relief when I saw she looked quite well.

'God, what did they do to you?' she breathed, stretching her hand toward my face.
'It doesn't matter,' I said, my breath short. 'You take this,' I said handing her the gun, 'and give me the keys of the car.'
'What? I...'
'Just give me the fucking keys, dammit, we don't have time!' I cried, feeling pearls of sweat sliding on my temples.

She searched her pockets a moment and finally gave me the bunch of keys.

'There another shapeshifter in next room. He's almost woken up, you'd better go now. I'll be back as fast as possible.' I finished, returning to the corridor.
'Is Olivia alright?' she asked.

I didn't take the time to answer, both because I didn't know the answer myself and because there wasn't much of it left, and ran through the corridor, looking for the , I found the heavy door in a matter of seconds, and I sighed of relief when I finally was able to breathe in some fresh air. I wiped my forehead on my arm and hurried to the car, trying all the buttons of the car's key with my trembling fingers. It finally opened with a shrill sound and I opened the door, almost throwing myself on the seat. I didn't even put the security belt and started the car, pushing the gear shift with my elbow. It wasn't going to be easy to drive handcuffed, but I was going to have to manage. My foot was crushing the accelerator, the tires were screeching every time I took a bend, but I didn't pay any attention to it. The only thing I wanted was to be there in time. Once I reached the city and I was not alone anymore, the sounds of people honking at me added to the overall hubbub of the streets, causing my headache to get even worse, and I encountered difficulties to remain concentrated on the road. I took a quick look at my watch, wondering how much time had passed since the man had left, but as I didn't have any point of reference it was useless. All I could hope for was that it wasn't too late. I made my way through the traffic jam and I was glad to park in front of the hospital. I left the car door open, keys inside, but I honestly didn't care much. I didn't listen to the cries of protests I heard rising behind me and rushed to the reception, breathless.

'Olivia Dunham's room,' I blurted out, drops of blood springing on the sheets of paper in front of the poor woman. 'Quick!' I cried out as she stared blankly at me, smashing my hands on the counter.
'Right', she nodded, starting to type quickly on her keyboard. 'Room 203, second floor,' she told me after a few seconds, apparently shocked.

I nodded and ran toward the stairs, not wanting to lose time waiting for the elevators. Panting, I finally reached a long corridor and I started looking for the numbers on the small plaques stuck on the doors. 198, 199, 200... I walked past a tray of food and decided to steal the knife, in case it might be useful. 201, 202... And 203. The door was already half-open, and I could distinctly hear some movement inside. My fingers tightened around the knife and I took a few silent steps inside. The man who was there was clearly not a doctor, he was wearing a black coat, and a case full of little bottles was at his feet. I prepared my weapon and approached him carefully, as any of my footsteps could betray. Once I was at a proper distance, I threw my arms around his hand, and pulled on the cuffs so that I could strangle him if he tried anything. The blade of the knife was on the base of his throat and I would not have hesitated to cut it.

'I wouldn't do this if I were you,' I whispered in his ear.

He dropped what he had in his hands – a syringe and a full bottle which broke into pieces – and I felt his nails scratching the skin of my hands. He was gasping for air, but I wouldn't let go. I checked Olivia to see if there was anything abnormal, and my eyes fell on another bottle lying on the sheet. Empty.

'What's that?' I said sharply, digging the blade deeper, realizing that, in the end, he might actually have done it.
'The first shot' he replied in a breath, losing his strength. ' It's too late.'

I let him fall at my feet, my hands shaking, and picked up the empty bottle. There was no label, no inscription whatsoever to indicate what had been in it. I turned to the man on the floor, whose face was flushed, and knelt next to him, showing him the bottle.

'What is this?' I asked, trying to control my trembling voice.

He shook his head with a sheepish smile and I breathed in deeply, resisting the urge to kill him. I stood up and sat on the edge of the bed, just to make sure Olivia was alright. She looked much paler than usual, the bandage around her shoulder seemed too thick for her small frame, the pipe coming out of her mouth seemed too big for her thin neck... Her chest was heaving slightly, it was reassuring somehow, although I could see it was a very weak breathing. I noticed a little pearl of blood on her left arm where the shapeshifter had pricked his needle, but I didn't want to wipe it with my dirty hands. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands, exhausted and downcast. He had said that it was too late... What did that mean? She was going to die? Or maybe that shot was enough to carry out the experiment? I sighed, knowing that I would have the answer later, hoping that things would get soon better. I got on my feet to go and look for a security officer, and when I took a last glance at the man lying at my feet, I noticed with hand was traveling down his pants to reach for the back-up gun tied on his ankle. I walked on his wrist, he gasped in pain and I took my knife that I had put in my pocket. The knife went through his hand, preventing him from reaching his weapon. I put my hands on both sides of his head, ignoring his pleading look. And I wrung his neck.

'You asked for it.'

I got the idea for this chapter yesterday (I honestly had no idea of what was going to happen until then) and I really enjoyed writing it ! :-)

It's longer than most of the other chapters, but as it's one of the few Peter's POV chapter I think it's worth it ! ^o^

I hope you like it, and if you have any comments, please review ! :)

Next chapter, I may return to Fauxlivia's POV, but I don't when I'm going to post it ! (in a little time, I hope!)