Substitute
A/N: Finally, a bit of action here :D if only to cut into the thick emotional girly-romance thing... lol. Also plenty of Charlie and Lincoln interaction in this chapter. I just love how brotherly those two act XD. I hope you enjoy!
Again, don't expect every chapter to be updated this ridiculously fast... I'm on a roll!
The two agents had taken an Airship to Utah and then rented a car. While Charlie used this opportunity to inject himself with his arachnid treatment, the two rode in silence. Soon though, something began to bother Lincoln. Perhaps the silence wasn't such a good thing. Silence brought over thoughts and memories... mostly of Olivia and Henry. This would not do. "What is it with you and gum? Do you smoke?" Lincoln asked out of the blue. He had to get his mind off of Olivia somehow... hopefully Charlie wouldn't pick up on this.
"Nah, I like it," Charlie shrugged, continuing to smack his gum away.
"Well that's driving me nuts," the younger man admitted. The sound normally was annoying, but it usually didn't bother him. Right now though it was the only thing he could think of to talk about.
"It's never bothered you before?" Charlie reminded him.
"Well maybe I'm extra sensitive to annoying noises today... like your voice," Lincoln smiled smugly at his little joke.
"Oh, ouch..." Charlie chuckled. "So are we there yet?" Charlie asked after another long pause.
"Almost, Agent Farnsworth said the town was around here some-ah, there it is!" Lincoln said after they drove past a collection of high rocks and mountainous terrain. They rolled down into town and slowed down near a local cop munching on a hotdog. "Hello officer," Lincoln pulled out his show-me. "I am agent Lee from Fringe Division and this is my partner agent Francis, we'd like to ask you a few questions if that's okay with you?" he asked politely.
"Sure thing, what can I help you with, agent?" The thin cop asked.
"We're on a case, we heard reports of a large animal terrorizing the locals?"
"Yeah! Yes, we were expecting you boys to show up actually... there've been some nasty things going on here lately. They say that animal can melt things, even metal, with a bite! The clinic's got its hands full with new patience suffering all kinds of nasty burns... that thing isn't natural..." the cop said, scratching his receding hairline and frowning grimly.
"We understand that it all started when a Dr. Abe Franklin was fired from his job? Do you know where we might find him? We'd like to speak with him," Charlie asked, squinting a little from the direct sunlight in his eyes.
"Sure, he lives on the edge of town. Just head down this street and take one left and a right on Clover Dr., then just keep going for a few miles until you reach an old gas-station... his house is just beyond that, before the apartments, it's the only house sitting near the road for a while, you can't miss it," the cop said. "We've already been to ask him questions but he's pretty tight lipped about it... maybe he'll respond better to you guys," he shrugged.
"Thank you for your assistance, officer," Lincoln said.
"No problem, good luck boys," the cop nodded and turned back to his hotdog. It didn't take too long for them to reach the house. They walked up to the door and knocked. When the door opened to an aging man with a thin white beard, they relaxed a little, relieved that he was still here and hadn't skipped town.
"Afternoon, we're-" the man took one look at their show-mes and turned sharply, sprinting toward the back door. "Damnit..." Lincoln muttered and took off after him. "STOP!" he ordered and literally pounced, forcibly stopping the man from escaping.
Charlie ran over, pulling handcuffs from his pocket and cuffing the man. "Running only gives us reason to think you're guilty of something," he told him.
"Let me go! I had nothing to do with any of this!" Franklin said.
"Any of what? You didn't even let us introduce ourselves!" Charlie growled. The man was still struggling to get loose. Lincoln had just about enough and whipped out his gun, pressing it against the man's head.
"Do. Not. Move," Lincoln snapped, towering over the man. Franklin whimpered in fear, at the feel of the cold metal, and immediately stilled. Lincoln went on to ask the man questions about the reports of the large beast and ties to him and his illegal experiments. They were surprised when the doctor broke down and admitted it was all his fault and apologized for lying but he didn't want to go to prison.
"It's a little late for that, pal," Charlie said gruffly.
"Tell us what you know and how to contain it," Lincoln ordered. And so, Franklin explained, he told them how his old dog died, how it was very smart and loyal, how he just wanted to recreate that in his new dog, his own dog, not any other animal...
"I shouldn't have been fired! They had no right! This was my dog!" Franklin growled.
"It's illegal no matter who's dog it is, besides, you were using government equipment for an unsanctioned project. Now your pet has gotten loose and is melting cars and eating people!" Lincoln countered, glaring at the irresponsible fool before him. "Charlie, get some back up in here to watch this guy," Lincoln ordered, then turned back to Franklin. "Tell us what we need to know, tell us how to contain it so it stops hurting people," he said.
"Fine... just... just don't hurt him, okay? He doesn't know any better," Franklin agreed.
"If it comes to it, we'll do what we have to do, I can't make any promises," Lincoln warned him. Franklin slumped in defeat but told him anyway. Apparently he had crafted a special cage for his pet, but things had gotten out of hand and his 'dog' escaped.
"Sir? How can we assist?" Two cops walked over to where Lincoln still sat listening to Franklin's instructions on how to get the dog in the cage... which were pretty vague.
"Thank you for assisting. Just watch him while we clean up his mess," Lincoln instructed. The cops nodded and stood by. Lincoln and Charlie went to the basement to retrieve the cage, disheartened by how big and heavy it was. They struggled a little but finally managed to get the cage up the stairs, through the door, and outside.
"I don't think the cage'll fit in the car..." Charlie muttered. Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded in agreement. Before they could carry on with their mission, they had to exchange their car. It took half an hour to get everything straightened but finally they managed to rent a truck, haul the cage onto it, and drive back into town. Asking around they discovered that the dog seemed to come from and retreat into the woods outside of town, some speculated that it was staying in an old coal mine shaft near the entrance.
"Man, this is crazy..." Lincoln muttered.
"Crazier than another universe? Crazier than Olivia being pregnant and now having a kid? Crazier than your crazy denial over your obvious feelings for her?" Charlie chimed in.
"Alright, I get it, enough" Lincoln sighed. He wouldn't let that drop, would he? He wasn't really in the mood to joke around right now, even though Charlie was mostly being serious.
"You haven't slept much lately, have you?" Charlie observed. Lincoln could usually take a jab at him, lately though he had been a little snappy. Lincoln with no sleep is a cranky Lincoln. He should have noticed this earlier, when they were at Olivia's. He's left cheek, right at the jaw line, twitched like crazy when he was upset... and even though he was being a clown, he was still a bit twitchy.
"No, I haven't," Lincoln admitted. It was enough that he was now in charge, but he had so much more to deal with now... another universe, more frequent fringe events, Olivia, Broyles' disappearance, conspiracies, etcetera. There was just so much churning in his head day and night that sleeping really wasn't his forte at the moment. The rest of the trip was in gloomy silence, both men lost in their own thoughts. When had the world become so dark?
When they got to the spot most people said they'd seen the beast run off to, they got out of the car, pulled out their weapons, and cautiously made their way into the dark, dank entrance of the mine. "Man, this sucks..."
"I bet there are some nice friendly spiders in there for your 'arachnids' to play with..." Lincoln whispered, trying to cheer himself up a little. The disgruntled look from his partner did make him feel better.
"Oh look, torches! Got any matches?" Charlie joked, scoffing slightly.
"I don't smoke..." Lincoln answered absently with a frown. He knew Charlie was joking, but maybe... "Wait, I've got an idea... lemme see the flashlight," Lincoln said, taking the offered device and pulling it apart. There was enough light streaming in from the outside to be able to work.
"You're serious? What are you doing? We need that light..." Charlie reminded him.
"I know, genius, but it's running out of batteries anyway and we can use this torch to light up the other ones."
"Why doesn't this place have any electricity?" Charlie grumbled.
"It's probably a really old mine that dried up decades ago," Lincoln shrugged. "There we go!" he said as the torch sparked into a flame.
"What did you do?" Charlie asked curiously, surprised.
"Your small mind probably won't understand it if I tried to explain it," Lincoln smiled smugly.
"Hey! I'm plenty smart! I just don't like to show it, I'm not a nerd like you, Sir," Charlie smirked. The two were walking further into the mine, torch in hand and lighting the other torches as they went.
"Yeah well- wait, what's that sound?" Lincoln whispered and the men stopped. They turned to their right and noticed for the first time that the mine shaft wasn't just a shaft, that it had many little veins of tunnels that went out of the main one. Charlie dipped the torch forward and they gaped at the sight they saw. Not too far down the tunnel was an enormous black form curled up into a ball.
"Oh, damn... that is one big dog..." Charlie muttered.
"That's a dog? It looks more like a bull or some other huge animal..." Lincoln instinctively tightened his hold on his gun when said huge animal twitched in his slumber. "You think Franklin was pulling our leg? I don't think that cage will hold it..."
"Sure it will!" Charlie said optimistically.
"Oh yeah? Well fine, how do we get it in it then?"
"Maybe we can just coerce it to get into the cage?" Charlie suggested with a raised eyebrow.
"Coerce it... really?" Lincoln gave his older friend an incredulous look. Suddenly, the dog must have smelled them and stood on its feet faster than they thought an animal that big could move.
"Crap" both men uttered. The dog got to its feet when it sensed their presence and growled menacinly.
"Good doggy, come to uncle Charlie and let us take you back to your master, okay?" Charlie said, leaning over to pat his leg.
"Are you serious?" Lincoln balked. Had all these crazy missions finally gone to his friend's head? The dog growled louder and took a step forward, its drool making the ground beneath it's gigantic maw sizzle as it landed. And then... it took off, running, right toward Lincoln. "SHIT!" Lincoln turned and sped off, the dog right at his heals. Charlie spat his gum and shot a wildshot where the dog had been but it was quicker than he thought. He groaned in annoyance and took off after them.
When they reached the open area outside, Lincoln began running in circles, dodging the dog but not fast enough to escape getting scraped now and again. "SHOOT IT!" Lincoln screamed at his partner frantically. He could almost feel the acidic breath of the demon dog on his neck as it barreled toward him.
"Damnit Lincoln, stay still, I can't get a good shot with you running around like that!" Charlie called out, following the dog with his pistol. Maybe it wasn't the best time to mess around with his head but he couldn't help it.
"STAY STILL?" The younger man cried exasperatedly, flinching away from the dog as it snapped its enormous jaws at him.
"Almost got a clear shot, stay still for just a second," Charlie advised. Lincoln groaned but reluctantly did as he was asked. He trusted in Charlie's dead-eye accuracy with a pistol. It was no where near as good as Olivia's, who's aim was almost legendary, but he trusted his aim well enough to stay still. Fortunately, Charlie was able to hit his target this time, unfortunately, it wasn't in time to stop the dog from clawing Lincoln's shoulder deeply, knocking him over in the process. Charlie shot the dog six more times in the side until it wheezed and fell over. Lincoln had to roll out of the way before he was crushed. "You okay?" Charlie asked in concern, helping his commanding officer up.
"Oh I'm just fine! This gaping wound? It's just a scratch!" Lincoln said with a grimace.
"Come on, let's get this mission over with and I'll buy you a beer, okay?" Charlie offered, feeling guilty for letting his friend get hurt.
"Yeah, okay..." Lincoln said distractedly, wincing in pain. The men strained under the animal's enormous weight but finally managed to haul it into the truck. As Charlie drove, Lincoln tore his shirt and pressed the cloth over his wound to stop the bleeding until they could get to a medical facility. They dropped the dog off at Franklin's house, explaining what had happened and that they had to put the dog down. The 'good doctor' moarned for the death of his dog while the police took him away. Thankfully, one of the cops that had arrived a while after they left the first time, the cop they met on the street, offered to clean up the mess for them.
The men drove over to the local clinic to get Lincoln patched up. Fortunately, the small medical facility had everything necessary to disinfect and seal Lincoln's wound so they would be able to leave immediately. The men had to wait an hour for the next Airship to take them home but in no time they were driving back to Fringe HQ. "I bet this would have gone faster if 'Liv was with us..." Charlie smiled.
"Yeah, all she would have had to do was growl back at the dog to make it submit," Lincoln laughed.
"That girl can growl at anyone and make them submit," Charlie added. The men laughed. It wasn't exactly far from the truth. Olivia was known among the force to be one tough bitch, though she was never unfriendly and generally got along with everyone. "See you at 'Liv's later?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, sure," Lincoln agreed. Being boss also meant having to write long boring reports after every mission... including ones you're on unfortunately. Sometimes he wished he hadn't been such a pain to his former Chief. An hour later, Lincoln was dismayed to discover that he had left the lights of his car on the whole day... and so, the almighty boss of Fringe Division had to lower himself to those under his greatness and take the bus like a normal person. Lincoln snorted at the cheesy thought-line. He didn't really think of himself that way, he just imagined that was what something Olivia would say and smiled.
When Lincoln reached Olivia's door it opened before he had a chance to knock, his fist still hovering where he would have. "Wow, you look like crap," was the first thing Olivia said, her brows furrowing in concern.
"Thanks," Lincoln smiled and walked in as Olivia stepped away.
"What took you so long, buddy?" Charlie asked from the couch, Henry sitting on his lap and looking around.
"Oh, you know, boss stuff..." Lincoln shrugged.
"You never miss a chance to remind us, do you?" Olivia grinned.
"Never! If I don't remind you, you'll forget and trample all over me!" He retorted.
"Aww, we do that anyway though, you love it," Olivia teased, handing him a cup of "coffee" and an aspirin.
"Thanks, this is just what I need," Lincoln said, accepting the offered items greedily. The three sat and talked, the men explaining everything they went through and wishing they had here there with them to make it easier.
"You boys are lost without me, huh?" Olivia grinned.
"You have no idea, 'Liv," Charlie laughed. While they spoke, Henry was passed around and one thing they noticed right away was how taken the boy was with Lincoln. All Lincoln had to do was smile at the baby and it was laughing and bouncing happily on his lap.
"The kid likes you," Charlie observed.
"He likes you too," Lincoln countered.
"Maybe, but not as much as he likes you..." Olivia mentioned. It was almost as if the baby had already chosen who he wanted as a father... but how could that be? Olivia brushed that thought away and continued to watch her son laugh and gurgle up at Lincoln, who was making goofy faces at him. It was so cute and endearing that it almost made Olivia sick. So much mushy stuff...
"Hey, I'm gunna go, I'm beat! Thanks for the "coffee" 'Liv, I'll see you later," Charlie said, giving Olivia a quick brotherly one-armed hug before heading off.
"I should probably go too," Lincoln said, feeling the tension creep into the room with Charlie gone. He handed Henry over to Olivia and began to get up.
"Lincoln?" Olivia said, standing with him and walking up to him. Lincoln turned and looked at her curiously but she said nothing, just stared into his eyes. It was only when he felt her breath on his lips that he pulled away and began to walk off. Olivia blinked back into reality and watched him. Were they just about to kiss? The thought didn't bother her like she thought it would... on the contrary. "Lincoln... wait..." Olivia protested, feeling like she was once again pushing him away. Why was it like this? She missed her friend.
"I'll see you later, 'Liv... say goodnight to Henry for me," he said quietly.
"At least let me give you a lift?" Olivia offered. She hated this. Why were things so weird between them? Oh, right, because he was in love with her and she was too much of a damn fool to let him in.
"Nah, that's okay, I'll take the bus, you don't have to worry so much, see you later," Lincoln countered, smiling awkwardly before turning and heading out. Olivia watched him leave and then was compelled to walk over to her window and continue to watch him, a part of her telling her that it was only to see that he got to the bus-stop safely. The other part? That part she ignored... though it was getting harder to lately.
"I'm sorry Lincoln," Olivia muttered, her heart clenching.
TBC...
End A/N: Yeah, okay so it didn't cut too deep, did it? I mean the action part, not the dog on poor Lincoln... poor guy, why does everything bad always happen to him? XD Then again, poor Charlie and his "worms" too huh? Arachnids!
Shout-Outs:
zeusfluff: I'm glad you like it!
AnneRG: Thanks, Lincoln is awesome in any universe XD
katiekayx: Omg I do too lol wow I really hope they get together XD
Jill Cohen: I totally cried during that scene, it was so awesome!