So if you made it through the prologue without giving up, I am eternally greatful for you giving my story a chance. I promise it gets better and that was just to get you up to speed on Universe Prime in 2015.
Um yeah, so I like epic crossovers? This was actually an idea for an RP that never really got off the ground because apparently I am too full of win and really just like pretending I am roleplaying with others when I am really just creating wacky universes in my own head.
Message me or leave reviews if you would like to converse about the epicness of this universe or writing a piece for it, because I am absolutely in love with it.
AND YAY FOR TOSSING CANON OUT THE DOOR. WHO NEEDS YOU ANYWAY CANON, YOU ONLY HURT ME. BABY DONT HURT ME NO MORE.
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It's been one of those days.
He takes stock of the small victories at least. The latest anomaly finally sealed itself shut and no more Cretaceous-era thingswere to be found running around the Massachusetts countryside, Walter and Suresh managed not to blow anything up while testing their new subject and his double stayed on house arrest like a good little boy, which was impressive all things considering.
He'll probably have to send Agent Scully a thank you card for that small feat later.
Measuring out two fingers of scotch, Anomaly Task Force Project Lead Agent Lincoln Lee sits down and winces. He's getting older and at thirty-five he feels that bone-deep weariness having way too much responsibility probably gives. Add on top of that getting banged up on assignment really should be something he lets the junior agents do instead, but the pain keeps him from getting comfortable in this universe he protects but doesn't really belong to, keeps him moving like he promised her he would.
Three years have passed and the little box is still sitting in his office, neatly packed and a bit dusty since the last time it was opened exactly a year ago. He all but throws the other items on his desk off and spreads out the contents of the box, her personal affects, on his desk in the same order. It's a ritual he's done every year for the last three since she was declared part of The Missing.
"Drinking on the job again, Sir?" 'Liv smirks as she saunters in the office, baby Ella on her hip, and gives him a wide smile before handing Ella to him and pouring herself a smaller glass. "Well, cheers I guess."
Its testament to how much things have changed, watching the smooth lines of 'Liv's neck as she winces down the potent scotch, before taking back Ella from him. She looks contemplatively at all of the items covering his desk, the reverent way he handles them and the far-away look on his face and her smile softens into something less forced.
"Hmmm, three years it's been then?"
"Yeah," he grunts in reply, fingers skimming over her badge, feeling the sensation of the first and last and every time in between she touched it, dainty fingers clipping it to her blazer or shoving it roughly in her pocket. It's both fond and surreal and a bit electric to feel her so vividly again compared to the fading memories he has of their Olivia Dunham.
He didn't know her that well, but he knows all the ways she was like 'Liv now and he liked her stoicism and quiet strength.
While brushing his fingers over the one of the blazers they found afterwards she had left draped over a chair at ATFP HQ, something tightens in his chest and he realizes why when he looks up and sees double, both Olivia and 'Liv staring at him intently.
It could have just as easily been 'Liv he lost instead and maybe that's the real thing he is lamenting, how fragile their lives have become, because for every unexpected person they find turn up from Crossing Over, they seem to lose a loved one in their wake.
"How's Lincoln holding up?"
"Not a peep from Pointdexter today, of which I am eternally grateful, all things considering. Do know how awkward it was to have to officially sanction myselflast year?"
"And that fiasco only happened because of me, might I remind you. If I hadn't lost myself a little there-" she tuts before pausing, vaguely remembering the hazy slide of familiar lips against hers but the unfamiliar way they tasted, not sure which memory that belongs to.
"You know, I was always the bad twin."
They both chortle fondly at that statement, only half-true. Lee pours more scotch, waves the bottle at 'Liv but she shakes her head, content to bounce a gurgling Ella on her lap instead.
"And Peter?" She quirks an eyebrow, but Lee waves her off.
"We'll find him when he wants to be found."
"You have before."
"Yeah, well… he wasn't actually hiding then. He'll turn up if there's a real crisis or runs out of money, I'm sure."
'Liv hums her quiet approval at that, looks around the room before resting her eyes on Lee, a serene look on her face.
"Linc, I do miss her too, you know. Once we sorted out our shit, anyway. It's just it's not as real to me sometimes, like sometimes I forget which one of us is here, you know?"
-That terrifying feeling when she heard her own voice say you'll have to be strong for the the both of us now before helplessly watching her jump through the Anomaly and it close up with a sickening crack behind her. Olivia's memories exploding like technicolour fireworks in her head, every thought fear dream transgression hope she had ever had as she held back Lincoln, their Lincoln from following her with every last fiber of strength she had.-
"I know."
"She gave us," 'Liv trails off searching for the word, before shrugging instead. Clearly eloquence was not a strong suit of either of them, nor any of the other Olivia's she's consciously tapped into since then.
"Hope, 'Liv. She gave us hope," Lee finishes, and she nods. "Our world collapsed with all of our people in it except us. The strain partially unraveled whatever this universe is in the process. Two universes doomed to a miserable fate and she still gave us hope in humanity, to keep fighting for it every day."
"I could too, you know," she reminds him, but he shakes his head and looks pointedly at the baby in her lap he gave her so she wouldn't do exactly that. He won't let her become any more of a martyr than she already has. Her decision to let Olivia's personality bleed through and comingle into hers three years ago was enough of a personal sacrifice on her part for this war.
'Liv's still sharp as ever but Olivia's cool demeanor seems to be overriding her more vivacious one more and more each passing day.
There's a very pregnant pause and both occupants of the room just sit there in companionable silence, occasionally interrupted from their thoughts by the soft coos of their baby, now beginning to stir again.