Peter does turn up a couple months later once things have fallen back into as close to an amiable routine at ATFP HQ as can be considered, and it puts them all on tenterhooks until he promises that his arrival isn't a harbinger of anything particularly worse than they are dealing with already.

He strolls in casually, as if he owns the damn place while Lee is watching Connor and the tech teams run some new algorithms and recalibrate their magnetometers today, a quiet day in to lick their wounds after yesterday being only been moments too late to a Class 5 in Central Park that let loose a pack of something Connor referred to as "hellhounds" (an apt description, all things considering) that left two civilians dead and another five mauled in their wake.

Agents were dispatched immediately and they ended up catching the pack of feral dogs, but not before the anomaly closed leaving them in Universe Prime. Too dangerous to have loose or a liability at ATFP HQ, Lincoln gave the official order to put them down and an entire section of Manhattan was reported to have vanished out of thin air at the same time, causing far more problems and paperwork two dead people and a couple caged dogs ever could have.

"Agent Lee," Peter says and Lee nods as his only greeting to the taller man, dressed impeccably in head to toe black, including that goddamn peacoat. Lee still hasn't forgone his cargos and fatigues he got so used to from the other side for the suits and ties most of his colleagues in the rest of the Federal Bureau wear. FBI Chief Director Walter Skinner and ATFP Chief Director James Lester have already made it pretty clear to the board that they do things a little differently at ATFP.

"Word on the street is that your man Cutter is back and hiding out," Peter tells him once they are out of earshot of Connor, falling into step with Lee as he walks down the corridor to his office. "I was in Mombasa for a while-"

Lee halts to a stop immediately, just before his desk. "And since when have we ever trusted intel from your contact in Mombasa?"

"You'll trust this this info," Peter reassures before reaching into his rucksack and throwing a hefty stack of papers and surveillance photos onto Lee's desk. "Apparently some guy matching Cutter's description washed up on shore and made a big deal there a couple days back. His show-me we never deactivated was flagged two days later in Egypt, but the man detained with it definitely wasn't Cutter."

"Is the guy still in holding?" Lee asks, sitting down so he can thumb through the file, peering at the graining photos and holy shit, it really is the now not-so-late Nick Cutter.

Peter shakes his head.

"Nope, something nasty had its way through the town. Couple dead, couple missing, the usual crap. I think Cutter may have been heading there tracking anomalies on his own but either backed out when he got word of what was on the other side or found another one instead."

"Interesting," Lee replies blandly, quickly going back through it once more before handing back the file. "So we basically have nothing."

Peter raises an eyebrow. "Except irrefutable proof Cutter is alive."

"Look, Peter… he's as good as dead if he's gone rogue," Lee sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and feeling once again desperately in need of a decent drink. Even the chain of hands the file crossed didn't give him any clues to where Cutter was, what he was doing, or why anyone had an interest in following him besides the government, just proof Peter at least didn't entirelylie to him about his adventures.

"You may think so, I don't." Peter replies confidently. "See the thing is, the sheer amount of information he could corroborate, contribute to our findings, help my dad with… I don't even need to see him in person, just a phone call could suffice. Three days of me working with him and we could be out of his hair for good.

"And Connor's here, if he knew Connor was working with us-"

"He's made it pretty clear what interests he has, Peter. And if we found him, he'd never be able to leave ATFP HQ, you know that." Lee steeples his fingers and continues on to the terrible part his job . "The government might even press treason charges against him. It's already bad enough I have to beat Skinner and Lester off my ass every time you go off on one of your wild goose chases-"

Peter manages to give him his cockiest grin. "Ah, but the geese I chase lay golden eggs, Linc."

"Maybe this time, Bishop. Give me back that file so I can make copies, yeah?" Lee sighs and Peter's already halfway into his rucksack for it. "Actually, on second thought, I'm feeling magnanimous today. Go send that headache over to Lincoln. He's probably dying for a reason to get out of HQ."

That gets him another eyebrow, and yeah, he probably deserved that one.

"How is Linc doing anyway?"

"You people keep asking me that." Lee shrugs. "He's coping. Adequately."

Peter rolls his eyes at Lee's parsed words. "Its funny, I still remember a different timeline where they put me on a leash and he was my guardian."

"See, you two crazy kids have plenty of shared experiences. Go forth, talk."

Peter looks contemplative for a moment before finding a decent jibe to throw at Lee. "Seems like you'd be just as adequately qualified to speak on the matter, all things considering."

Touché.

"He finds it condescending when it comes from me, since I'm his boss. And dating the girl stuck carrying her personality. And a different version of him. And also his boss. Be reasonable."

"And how's the happy little family doing while we're on the subject?"

"Swell, 'Liv's at her place with Ella and still inactive another couple months. Only six months old and she's already manifested- floats toys around her room and stuff. Drives 'Liv absolutely mad."

Peter chuckles before standing up, straightening his coat in the process and Lee knows he passed whatever that weird test Peter just administered. He puts out his hand as if to offer a handshake, but puts it back when Lee just arches an eyebrow at him casually from behind his desk.

"You're not leaving HQ just yet," Lee reminds him, effectively halting the grin on Peter's face. "And be glad I don't rope you into the shitstorm of paperwork I'm going to have to do to requisition the materials for you and Pointdexter to hunt Cutter down. Lester, I'm sure, is going to be thrilled about this new development."

"Lincoln should be in the lab with Walter and Scully," he adds right before Peter turns the direction of the wrong corridor. "They're indulging Suresh's new favorite pastime: new tests for Sylar."

"Of course, of course. Wait, what's a Sylar?"

"Go see for yourself," Lee replies, making shooing motions already on the phone and dialing the Chief Director's number.

Peter nods once before leaving silently.

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A/N: In case you are wondering, yes both Lee and 'Liv picked up some extra abilities along the way, psychometry in the case of Lee and 'Liv's empathy to her other selves.

And awww, telekinetic baby! Someone had to have one since Scully gave up William, something I didn't want to change for the story.