Substitute

A/N: Some secrets are revealed! Seriously, is it just me, or does my story seem more like a teenage drama than anything else? Thank God the serious stuff is coming up soon... OMG OOPS! I really shouldn't have said that! Haha, oh dear, silly me. Just to let you know, I'm going to refer to Walternate as Bishop. Enjoy!

It had been a few days. Where Olivia had once been bothered by not going to work for two weeks, as little as that really way, the more time she spent with her son, the more she began to realize how important her time with him was. She loved her son more than life itself, she didn't know that would ever be possible for her in the past. It wasn't like she had been against having a child, it was just something that felt too crazy at the time. The world sucked, period, and she didn't like the idea of bringing in a child to it. Now, though, she couldn't think of life without her beloved son.

Still, even though she loved spending time with Henry, had her mom came to visit and smother her baby with grandma-love and she got a few calls from her other friends who had been out of town, she felt rather lonely. She took up exercising and working on old reports, but it didn't help much. Who knew she would turn into such a... female? She laughed inwardly at the absurdity of it. Had she really been that cold and emotionless before? What changed? Did it have something to do with what she had done? Was it catching up to her now? Did it have something to do with Frank leaving her? Or Lincoln's unwavering loyalty to her? She had an idea that maybe it had something to do with a combination of all of that.

While Lincoln and Charlie called now and again as well, they had been swamped with work lately so that was as far as their interaction got these days. Olivia sat at her computer that early morning, cursing at the device for failing her. "Piece of junk," Olivia muttered, blinking when the baby, who lay nearby in his little pen – having just recently been fed – giggled. 'My God, he is like Lincoln and Charlie... what's up with that?' she thought, though she smiled affectionately. "Don't laugh, baby-boy, momma needs her stupid computer," Olivia told him, receiving another wide smile. 'He's so damn cute...' she grinned back. "Well... this won't do..." Olivia sighed, staring back at the black screen. She only knew one person smart enough to be able to help her this early in the morning. It was a good thing he was an early riser. She sighed in defeat and grabbed her phone, tapping it until she heard Lincoln's chime.

"Lee," his voice said. He sounded distracted, could be why he didn't recognize her ID chime.

"Linc, it's me, is this a bad time?" She asked cautiously. Olivia was aware of Lincoln's melancholy mood lately, even though he clearly tried to hide it, he had always been the more serious one, no matter how much of a goof-ball he tried to be. She didn't show her concern for him because she knew he didn't want it, probably some male thing. Olivia thought she understood that though, after all, she didn't like people to pity or smother her with their worry for her either.

"Hm? Oh, hey. No, it's not, what' up?" He asked, all his attention seemingly turned to her in a second.

"You're good with computers right?" She asked curiously, looking over at said piece of crap technology.

"Sure? Why? You having a problem? Is fixing things the only thing I'm useful for these days?" Lincoln asked playfully.

"No... of course not! You have plenty other uses," Olivia played along, smiling.

"Oh? Like what?" His tone held amused curiosity.

"Like being the ass-end of jokes," Olivia grinned and shrugged.

"Ouch, that hurts you know... so what' up? You want me to come over and look at your computer? Hey, you should be resting, not working..." He added suddenly, unable to keep his protectiveness toward her from escaping his mouth. These days it felt like his mouth had a mind of it's own.

"Lincoln, I'm not handicapped..." Olivia sighed, feeling slightly agitated. His concern was sweet but a little annoying as well. What was with people thinking she was so fragile? She was still hard-ass-gun-cocking-ready-for-anything Olivia Dunham! Though, maybe lately she wasn't feeling like she was ready for anything... but she was still more or less herself! "Can you come over or not?" she asked.

"Alright alright I get the hint. 'Course I can, I'll be there in a few," Lincoln said with laughter in his voice.

"Thanks, Lincoln," Olivia sighed in relief. "Oh! And Linc?" She suddenly asked.

"Yes?" He asked curiously.

"I know this is probably crazy, asking this of you, but..." she trailed off with uncertainty.

"What is it 'Liv? Do you need something?" He asked, as if in tune with her inner struggles. She felt her heart clench, telling her how amazing this man was to her and that she was an idiot for ignoring him all this time, something it had tried telling her several times before, in the past, but again, she tried to ignore it. It was certainly easier in the past. Not anymore.

"Uh... well, could you stop by the grocery store and pick up some croissants?" She asked quietly unsure about her request, but she suddenly had such a strong craving that she couldn't ignore it. Apparently her body was so out of whack that since it didn't have time to be hormonally imbalanced before, it took vengeance on her and was so now. Thankfully though, the doctors told her it wouldn't last too long. Olivia smiled when she heard him laugh light-heartedly on the other end and agree to her request. She cut the call and looked back over at Henry, who had been observing her. She knew any minutes now, he would need to be changed. "You're just waiting for the right time, aren't you?" she asked him. Henry smiled a big, wide, toothless smile and Olivia had her answer. Who knew babies could be so sneaky? While she waited for Lincoln to get there, she tried in vain to get her computer to respond, occasionally going over to play with Henry a little, maybe trying to wear him out a little.

It wasn't too long before she heard the knock on her door. She took Henry with her and answered the door. "Hey, Linc, thanks for coming," Olivia smiled.

"No problem," her commanding officer smiled back. They stood there for a moment, taking each other in. It wasn't like they hadn't seen each other a few days ago, but somehow it felt like longer. "Um..." Lincoln trailed off, still standing in the doorway. Unfortunately, as much as he would have loved just standing there and watching her, he still had work to do before the afternoon.

"Right, sorry, come in," Olivia blushed in embarrassment, turning so he wouldn't see it and moved out of the way.

"Thanks," Lincoln smiled. "I bring a peace offering!" He declared, lifting a little white package and catching her attention.

"Oh, you are awesome," Olivia grinned, taking the package in her free hand.

"I know I am," Lincoln grinned toothily.

"And so modest too," Olivia laughed softly.

"Of course," Lincoln agreed. The two relaxed, feeling like the tension that had been suffocating them lately had finally died down. It was still there, but no where near quite as much of a bother as it had been. It was a relief to be able to talk to each other the way they had in the past. It seemed they had come to an unspoken agreement not to speak of things that lead to things too emotional. Maybe a bit of time away did them some good in the end. "Here, you wolf those down and I'll take the little guy off your hands," he offered.

"You're not sucking up, are you?" Olivia teased, handing him Henry.

"How is that even possible?" Lincoln asked, lifting the child up and down, making him giggle. "I'm yow boss, I can't suck up to my undowwings, they suck up to me, wight Henwy?" he said in a baby voice, said baby died with giggles, his whole little face lighting up. "See? Henry agrees," Lincoln grinned. Olivia snorted unlady-like in amusement, almost choking on her blessed croissant while she dug into said golden, fluffy, flaky, heavenly-goodness. She watched Lincoln playing with Henry for a moment trying not to think about how perfect he looked holding her son. Henry seemed to love him quite a bit, if the cries of glee and his little hands reaching for him were any indication. Lincoln in turn seemed to return the feeling with gusto... which just made her heart beat a little faster.

"You keep telling yourself that boss, whatever helps you sleep at night, but you know I am the one that calls the shots," Olivia said playfully after finishing, trying to distract herself. Henry laughing and wrapping his little fists around Lincoln's jacket while said man looked down at the child in his arms affectionately was just too much.

"Is that right?" Lincoln turned to look at her, his beautiful green eyes twinkling with amusement as his alluring lips stretched into a familiar triangular smile, his brilliant white teeth flashing at her. Great, those hormones were acting up again, she shouldn't be finding him this this attractive! ...It was the hormones though, right?

"That's right," Olivia nodded, answering more than one question and brushed the flakes away. Why was she fighting it so strongly though?

"Wow, you were really hungry!" Lincoln blinked. There were three rather large croissants in that box.

"I'm sorry, did you want one?" Olivia's eyes widened a fraction. Had she really just eater all three? Wow, this called for some serious exercising soon!

"Nah, that's okay, I ate already. So? Where's the patient?" he asked curiously, bouncing the baby in his arms absentmindedly, as if it were second-nature to please the child. This kind of thing seemed to come naturally to him... who would have thought?

"I'll take that weird thing hanging off your arms off your hands," she said, grabbing Henry from Lincoln's protective arms. "The 'patient' is in the living room, you remember where it is, right?" she teased.

"What is it with people making fun of me lately?" Lincoln smiled.

"You're just easy to get to, at least Charlie doesn't let it get to him as much," Olivia explained, walking with him to the living room.

"What's that smell?" Lincoln suddenly asked as he sat down near her computer.

"That smell is my cue to let you work and me to pay special attention to this little man," Olivia said, smiling at her son who gave her the most innocent wide-eyed 'it wasn't me!' look.

"Ew..." Lincoln scrunched up his nose. This, of course, made the child giggle.

"Yeah, ew. I'll be back," Olivia laughed as well and went to the other room. She was fortunate to live in such a modest sized apartment that had enough room for her son. It had taken Olivia by surprise how easily she fell into the role of mother. Of course, she had called her mom for help more times than she could count so one day her mom had sat her down and told her what to expect, what not to be worried about, and how to handle certain situations. It helped tremendously. With those little extra know-hows in mind, things became so much easier.

While Lincoln messed with the computer, he listened to Olivia speaking softly to her son. Her tone was soft and loving, just as a mother's should be. It was... endearing. He shook his thoughts away and continued to work. In no time, Olivia had finished changing her son and was relieved to find that he dosed off rather easily now. She smiled down at him one last time, making sure the baby monitor was on, and then went out to check on Lincoln's progress.

Lincoln could feel her eyes on him, studying him, scrutinizing him, he wondered what was on her mind. Her eyes on him was both making him feel giddy like a school-girl and uneasy as hell. Lincoln breathed a silent breath of relief when she looked away and went to stretch. He paused when he heard her curse silently and looked over to see a pained expression on her face. "Something wrong?" he asked in concern.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to distract you," Olivia apologized.

'You've been doing that for a long time 'liv...' Lincoln thought, smiling inwardly. "No, it's fine, what's wrong?" he asked again.

"It's nothing much. I'm just sore," she shrugged, wincing with the movement. "I'm fine," she tried to reassure him.

"Liar. Here, let me help you," Lincoln offered, standing to move over to where she was sitting on the couch.

"You don't have to," Olivia said, "I'm fine, really" she protested again, but didn't stop him when he sat next to her and moved her a little so she had her back facing him.

"I told you before that I would take care of you," he whispered, brushing her hair away. His breath on her ear was a little distracting. Olivia closed her eyes, remembering very well when he had told her that. At the time all she could think of was Frank. But now?

"I know..." she whispered back.

"So... why are you sore?" He asked, trying to change the subject from something less emotionally-charged. Weren't they over all of that strangeness between them? Apparently not.

"Henry hasn't been sleeping well lately and in turn, neither have I. To get him to sleep I have to walk around the apartment with him in my arms. He may not weigh that much but after holding him for several hours, several nights in a row, it's been getting to me," she explained, her head lulling forward slightly, giving him access to her neck and shoulders. His rough fingers were strong and warm against her and she tried very hard not to shiver every time he touched her bare skin.

"This'll be easier if you take your jacket off," Lincoln suggested. Olivia nodded and shrugged her jacket off slowly, aware of how intense he was watching her. She felt his hands on her again and bit her lip, shivering again at how almost electrical it felt to feel his hands on her. She sighed in content, relaxing under his touch after getting over her hyper-awareness of him, or at least, ignoring it. Soon, she felt herself get lost in it and was absently surprised by how much she was enjoying this. Massages normally hurt her, so why did this feel so good? His hands were like ambrosia on her stiff and sore muscles, the heat they gave off melting off the tension in them. She should have let him do this years ago!

Meanwhile, Lincoln was fighting a losing battle with himself. How often had he dreamt of holding, touching, caressing her? He struggled to keep this PG rated, unwilling to take advantage of her like that. He wouldn't do that to her. But that didn't stop his thoughts from going X rated. He shook his thoughts away, blinking unwanted images away and concentrated on the moment. Olivia however was making it hard on him, especially when she subconsciously scooted back, closer to him, and let out a sound of approval.

Lincoln's eyes darkened and he finally lost the battle, his hands trailing from her neck to her back, to her arms, caressing her in the way he dreamed of touching her... though they weren't exactly wearing clothes in his dreams. "Lincoln..." Olivia sighed, unaware that she did so, too wrapped in the feeling of his hands doing sinful things to her senses to realize what Lincoln was very close to doing. However, what might have driven another man forward, only served to snap Lincoln back to reality. His eyes widened and he immediately withdrew his hands, though a part of him screamed at him for being a pansy.

"I'm sorry, I got carried away," Lincoln apologized, standing from his spot next to her. Olivia opened her eyes, blinking away the fogginess of bliss and turned to look at him.

"It's okay," she said simply, too worried about the sudden surge of emotions that swelled within her to say anything else. Things were getting too dicey, too complicated. Lincoln nodded and walked back to her computer. They sat in silence while he finished, their minds in their own little worlds.

"Okay, you're all set here," Lincoln said after he finished and stood. Olivia followed him to the door. "Do you need..." he paused, he had turned to look over to her and hadn't noticed she had followed him to the door. There was such a small gap between him and Olivia that it was driving him nuts. "Do you need anything else?" he asked in a softer voice. Olivia smiled a little and shook her head. Their proximity was affecting her as well but for the life of her, she couldn't force her feet to move, to step back. Neither of them noticed how much the other wanted to kiss each other. While Lincoln accepted his need to kiss her, but could not, Olivia reluctantly dismissed it and turned to look away.

"Thanks, Linc," she said. Lincoln continued to stare at her for a moment before he nodded.

"No problem, I should get back to work, I'll see you later, 'Liv," he said. Olivia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when he left.

'What am I? Some teenager with a crush?' She thought angrily. Maybe she was? Why couldn't she get control of her emotions lately? She had been fine hiding everything before! Even after Frank left her... but now it all seemed to be catching up to her. Still, if she didn't get a control over herself, things could get ugly. She was not that weak! But... was it really weakness? If it was, then why did she always feel so strong whenever Lincoln was near? Olivia sighed in agitation and turned to continue her work. The rest of the day was spent either burrowing herself in work or paying undivided attention to Henry. She felt like an idiot for avoiding him, avoiding her feelings for him, but... she didn't want to get hurt again, even though a part of her told her she was an idiot for thinking Lincoln ever would.

Elsewhere, Secretary of Defense Walter Bishop gazed out of his window in his office. He watched the dying sun spill golden light over the hovering airships in the distance and onto visible quarantined areas nearby. He frowned bitterly at the sight of the golden substance covering a building, no doubt now permanently housing a score of people. He thought of how much he'd like to get the other Walter over here, amber him, and keep him as a trophy – after retrieving his son, and smiled wickedly.

But no, he could not, that would raise too many questions, get too many people on his back, even if they didn't know exactly what he did, and make it difficult for him to get his son back. He glared to himself, feeling furious. How could Peter choose that... that impostor over him! It made his blood boil. He knew Peter would not help him with the machine now, he was too brainwashed by those treacherous fools to understand how vital it was!

No... Bishop had something else in mind. It was fortunate that Olivia showed up when she did. It was fortunate that she had told him of her encounter with Peter, all those years ago... he had been quietly watching this Olivia ever since, biding his time until he could use her to his advantage. He was counting on his son getting closer with her, the Olivia he first met, and was practically gleeful when he realized they were very close, close enough for her to come and take him back!

And now... this Olivia had successfully infiltrated, successfully fooled his son, and successfully bred with him... oh sure, it wasn't part of her mission, she hadn't thought of doing such a thing at first, possibly, but Peter was his flesh and blood, how could she resist him? No one could resist a Bishop. Bishop chuckled darkly to himself and smiled once more. No, she let her son's charms win her over, she let herself become pregnant... and that was exactly what Bishop was hoping for. Now, now he didn't need his son to activate the machine, he had a substitute! If his son didn't willingly choose to come back, he would have to find a way to... persuade him.

"Sir?" Dr. Brandon queried quietly, watching the man gaze into the cityscape.

"Yes?" Bishop asked without turning from the window.

"We're ready. The modifications for the substitute are complete, it will now accommodate a smaller body," the scientist explained.

Bishop finally turned to the man and smiled. Brandon felt pins prickle up his spine at the sinister look on the Secretary's face. "Thank you for informing me," Bishop smirked and followed the man. The two walked down several levels, riding elevators to the very bottom, and then taken another elevator, closed off to the public, and headed to the lowest level of the basement. They passed several security details and twists and turns until they finally made it to the underground laboratory. Bishop looked at how perfectly the machine had been refitted and grinned.

"Is it to your liking sir?" Brandon asked.

"Yes it is. Good man, you've just helped save our universe," Bishop praised. The two stood, stared up at the enormous and intimidating machine, gazing at it in splendor. "Soon we'll need to place the next phase into motion..." Bishop muttered and turned to his scientist. "You can use whatever resources you need to get him, but do not let Fringe or the police know about it, understood?"

"Yes sir," Brandon nodded and turned to deliver his orders to his team.

"Good, we will wait until tonight..." Bishop grinned.

TBC...

End A/N: Don'tcha just love the tension? XD Ugh, why do I have to be so girly? OMG! Evil Walternate! Is it just me, or does Walternate seem a little like the Emperor from StarWars?

Shout-Outs:

katiekayx: Yes, yes she does... Marilyn is a smart woman. XD