Well, I'm just about done getting over this cold/flu from hell that prevented me from updating last week like I originally planned. I still plan on getting this completed by the end of the month, no worries there. In fact you might say this fic is almost over, possibly 2-3 chapters left.

In this chapter, just for fun, I added a little Easter egg for the Benchwarmers to squeal nuts over! You'll know what I'm speaking of if you're on Fringe-Forum. Just be warned, this chapter gets really sad. :(

A strange aroma awoke Olivia from sleep. Once she sensed a hint of smoke she began to panic, especially when she found Robbie was no longer in bed. She grabbed Anna and went downstairs.

The smoky smell was soon overwhelmed by meat. Arriving downstairs she saw Robbie at the kitchen table and Peter cutting up the meat on his plate.

"Mom!" Robbie greeted happily. "Look at the food. Dad says it's for us!"

Olivia looked at Peter who only smirked and gave her a wink.

"Yeah," said Olivia. "But don't stuff yourself. I don't want you getting sick."

But Robbie was already scooping forkfuls of deer meat into his mouth. "I've never seen so much food in my life."

"Your mom's right though," said Peter. He teasingly tugged at Robbie's cheek. "There's enough meat in here to get you all round and fat!"

Olivia sat down at the table and tried to feed Anna again but she was once more being a very picky eater.

With a mouth stuffed full of food, Robbie asked, "What are we going do today?"

Peter immediately stepped in before Olivia could get a word "we are going to stay in…like we always do…and your mom is going straight back to bed after this."

Olivia sighed. "Peter, I'm fine. I wanted to go check on the garden."

"Want me to do it for you?"

"It'll only take few minutes. And I was thinking the kids could help me."

Robbie immediately jumped at the idea, any reason to get out of the house. "Can we, dad?"

Peter shook his head. He thought they would be tired out from what happened yesterday. "Alright." He looked eyed Olivia intensely when he said, "Be careful out there."

Robbie and Olivia got as much breakfast in as they could and then they headed out to the garden while Peter got some sleep. The garden was not as close to the house as they would've like it to be, but it the only patch of land that could still sustain anything remotely plant.

Robbie watched his mother while Anna just sat there and wobbled her head around. The garden consisted of a very small number of small dried out and colorless plant life. So far nothing was getting close to being remotely edible. Sure, they could get water from underground but without sunlight, the garden was for most purposes useless.

"Maybe we need water?" said Robbie.

Olivia put an optimistic face on for him. "No, it's alright," she said. "Give it a few more weeks we'll have ourselves some nice healthy vegetables to eat."

While Robbie was excited about the thought of eating vegetables for the first time in his life, Anna became distracted by a strange little streak in her vision. Her eyes turned away from the garden and she waddled in the direction of the strange little floating thing.

"Anna?" Olivia panicked once she noticed her daughter was not in sight. "Anna!"

She caught a glimpse of her daughter walking down a hill and she carefully followed. Anna suddenly started to move faster and then clasped her hands in the air.

"Hey," Olivia clasped her shoulders, which she hated and whined about. But Olivia's concern was too overwhelming. "Don't run from me like that!" Her eyes turned to the little girl's hands. She was holding something in there but Olivia knew not to pry them open or else Anna would have a nasty fit. Robbie had followed them and they both look at Anna's hands.

"What are you hiding in there?"

Slowly Anna's hands opened and she cooed. Sitting there in the palm of her hands was a tiny colorful insect that did not fly away but rather rested itself comfortably. Its wings slowly flapped open and shut.

"Mom." Robbie looked fascinated with the bug. "What is that?"

Olivia smiled. "It's a butterfly. I can't remember the last time I've seen one."

Robbie said, "It's colored all funny."

But Olivia laughed. "It's purple, Robbie…a purple butterfly."

To Olivia, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in this reality, that it almost made her want to cry. She never thought that she would see one of these again and she was happy that her children for one time in their life, would be able to see something that had a bit of color…something that was real instead of something from a faded-out picture book.

Suddenly Anna was starting to fit as the butterfly began to float out of her hands. She tried to catch it but the butterfly seemed insistent on leaving.

"Mom, it's going away!"

"I know," Olivia said to Robbie.

"Can we make it stay?"

The butterfly wandered its way onto some nearby plants but could only stay in one spot at a time. That's when Olivia realized what it was doing. "It's looking for a flower."

The question she knew Robbie would ask… "what's a flower?"

"They're pretty plants," said Olivia. "They're big and colorful just like butterflies. That's why they like them."

Robbie looked around. "Maybe there's one around here."

Olivia looked at her children with both happiness and sadness, especially for Anna. Anna was not one to smile or even interact with things but her focus had been on that butterfly and she seemed determined to follow it. Whenever the butterfly landed, Anna would immediately walk over only for the purple wings to flutter away again.

Looking down Olivia saw a dead stem that could've belonged to a flower. They could've been standing in a whole field full of them if not for what this reality had become. She closed her eyes and thought back to when she and Peter were here as children. There weren't any flowers then either but there was still some green, far more than what there was now. It seemed unfair that her children have to grow up in worse conditions than they did.

'It doesn't have to be this way,' she thought. Her eyes were focused on the dead plant. 'Just one flower. That's all I'm asking for'.

Almost in response the dead plant seemed to shake and move on its own.

Olivia began to feel the blood rushing through her as she watched. The stem straightened itself up and pushed itself out of the ground just a few inches higher.

She knew then that she was causing this and as a bulb began to form, Olivia began to feel lighter. But it was too late to stop. She knew the consequences that would come from doing this but she already felt too compelled. Whatever it took, this flower was going to grow.

And soon the bulb opened up and large purple petals fanned themselves out as if it was the sun bringing life into the world again.

With tears in her eyes, Olivia happily called out to her son. "Look, Robbie."

He turned around and his eyes went wide. Like magic, this big purple flower had appeared out of nowhere and suddenly the purple butterfly began fluttering its way to the new plant and made its descent. Anna followed and she was happy. She was so happy to see the pretty butterfly on the pretty flower.

Olivia stepped back so she could watch the children touch the flower petals. But the vision suddenly blurred and quickly disappeared. She was feeling pain searing through her body and then nothing.

Robbie looked over and froze. His mother was swaying and her face had turned completely white.

"…Mom?"

He was terrified. Olivia's eyes seemed to have rolled back before her entire body collapsed to the ground…infront of Robbie's own eyes!

Peter was unable to sleep with his entire world outside of the safety of the house. He noticed through the cracks that it getting unusually dark. Peter stepped outside and looked up at the sky. A dark brown cloud was forming. The sky was already gray and without sun but the dark brown cloud was both creeping and expanding making the sky even darker. It almost seemed kind of dusty looking.

"DAD!!! DAD!!! HELP!!!"

A mad dash and within a minute, he had reached Robbie who was standing there looking petrified. Anna had crawled over (holding the purple flower she had picked in her hand), and was poking at Olivia who was lying on the ground in an unusual position…completely motionless.

With the brown cloud consuming the sky and a blast of wind beginning to pick up, Peter quickly scooped Anna in one arm, Robbie in the other and hurried back to the house. The last thing he ever wanted to do at that moment was to leave Olivia behind, but he knew that she would've put her children's safety before her own…something he was willing to respect.

As soon as they got back to the house, Peter dropped the children and pulled open the boarded door. "Get inside!"

While shoving the children in, Robbie began to cry "but mom…"

"Stay in there! Don't move!" He shoved the door on them and hurried back.

The wind was getting worse and specks of dust were getting into Peter's eyes. By now the sky had gotten completely dark and Peter could no longer see. He only managed to find Olivia when he tripped over her.

He fought against the winds and the dust to get back to the house and close the door just in time.

The second they were all in and all safe as massive brown cloud of debris blew its way through the area enveloping the entire outside in black. To go outside now was suicide.

~*~*~*~

Meanwhile not too far away, Astrid had gotten back into the tent with Walter just in time. Walter had notice the unusual cloud formations in the sky before it began, and demanded that Astrid set up his weather machine while prepping the tent with its storm-protective framing at the same time. Walter almost wouldn't let her back in until he was sure the weather machine was set.

"What is the damn thing for?" asked Astrid.

"To collect unusual weather patterns from this reality, Ingrid," said Walter. "Surely it would've occurred to you that abnormal storms would've resulted from the after-effects of the scientific and chemical warfare that have ravaged this world."

"Well…it didn't!"

"I have reason to believe the dark brown dust in the sky is a permanent 'traveling sandstorm' perhaps from a series of nuclear bombs having been set off in the Sahara. The massive debris has created a cloud that circles the globe bringing the sandstorm along with it."

Astrid pretended to be intrigued. "Yeah…interesting." She pulled the sleeping bag over her trying to get some sleep.

Walter gave a sigh and said, "I think he was right."

From under the sleeping bag Astrid asked, "Who was right?"

"Peter…He wrote in the letter that Belly tried to kill them both." Walter was suddenly plagued by guilt. "I should've known. As soon as he approved the use of his device…I should've known that he was luring my son and Agent Dunham into a trap."

"I'm sure he meant to deceive you along with the rest of us Walter," said Astrid.

"That is why I have to find my son." Walter started to wipe the tears from his eyes. "I couldn't stop him from coming here. I couldn't get him to come back…"

Astrid finally got out of the sleeping bag. "Walter, I don't mean to be an ass about this, but I don't think it's possible for ANY human being to survive being out here for six years. We've come across nothing but dead bodies and now we got these crazy storms. It's just NOT possible."

Walter only scoffed at her. "All hope might be lost with you, Asberry. But I have personally seen my son endure. When I first came here, when I first found my boy and Agent Dunham, they had experienced torture and pain at Belly's hand that is unspeakable. To recall it now is too much for even me. But they were helpless children in pain and all alone…and yet I had found them alive. They had survived! If my boy can live through something terrible as that, then Peter as a man can live through this! Do not question me on that!"

She turned away from Walter feeling very disgruntled. Walter was not going to quit. Worse yet, if Peter and Olivia are left unfound it, was going to kill him more than anything. It would probably kill him worse than whatever storm was out there waiting for them.

Her thoughts then went back to that little boy they encountered just yesterday. She hoped that Robbie was okay. He seemed to be in good enough health and God knows a child out here wouldn't look decently healthy unless he was being cared for by someone. Perhaps he has a mother, or maybe there was a small camp of adults near here. Astrid decided that they'll do a brief scan of the area for a few days.

And maybe by then, Walter would finally come to his senses.

~*~*~*~

The brown storm was beating ferociously against the house. Some dust found its way through some of the cracks but nothing severe. The wind was the real nuisance as Peter struggled to keep the windows and the doors boarded shut. Olivia was still lying on the living room floor with a blanket up to her chest. Robbie and Anna were trying to nudge her awake but she wouldn't so much as blink an eye.

Within Peter, fury was building. She had activated her ability…even after Peter warned her that this would happen!

He gently nudged the kids away as he leaned over Olivia. He could hear a strange noise and realize that she was breathing but it was very poor…very erratic.

And then something he didn't expected to happen, Olivia was slowly opening her eyes and she saw Peter. While she was still alive she still bore lifeless features. Dark circles were forming around her eyes as her face became more pale.

"Ah."

It came out almost pathetically.

After a few short breaths, she finally spoke…

"I'm…sorry, Peter."

He placed a hand over her head, willing her to rest, save what little energy she had left.

"Dad?"

He couldn't look at Robbie.

His voice alone was breaking. "Mom's gonna die…isn't she?"

Peter couldn't say anything. What was the point? He only stood up and walked away into the kitchen. Whether to cry or not, Robbie didn't know. Now Robbie was left in that room with his mother while Anna remained occupied with her flower unaware that her mother was slowly wasting away.