Title: Son of Men
Chapter: 5
Rating: T
Summary: When a message comes through the typewriter, it's going to turn everyone's life upside down.
Author's Note: Yes, I'm late again *sigh* You guys need to poke me when I don't post anything a weekend! I'm dead serious! As I mentioned before, I'm just a PM away. Sometimes I just need some poking to get something done (just ask my lovely betareader XD). Anyways, I won't make you wait any longer, so here's chapter 5! Thanks for sticking me with me so far and I hope you'll continue the journey with me until the very end. Thanks for all the great feedback I've received as well!
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"We're gonna cross over."
Olivia's words still rang in his ears as he held the single sheet of paper in his hands that he had taken from the typewriter last night. At first, the Selectric had spat out two single words.
Froot Loops.
One point for the other side, he had thought when he had seen the reply. Just like this side's counterpart, the Rachel Dunham on the other side had had a craving for the colorful breakfast cereal as a child. They intentionally had decided to ask a question that could not have been answered by knowing Olivia Dunham or simply reading about her life in a file.
When the Selectric had rattled to spit out another line of words on the paper, Olivia had just nodded at him silently, letting him know that even the second part of the question had been answered right.
Not the green ones. They reminded her of veggies. She hated veggies.
On the other side, Olivia Dunham had truthfully answered the questions. Whether she had done it of her own volition or had been forced to, they didn't know. Or if this was one of Walternate's ploys that she could be involved in. All they knew for sure was that the Olivia Dunham of the other side was somehow connected to the messages.
But the Selectric had spat out one more line of text that neither Peter nor Olivia were prepared for.
He needs help. 10PM. Forest Park. Meet us at the Carousel.
This was the line he had been staring at for well over an hour, the line that had prompted Olivia to tell him that they were going to cross over. She had thrown all caution to the wind and had just decided. It was just what he had expected from her. If there was someone who needed saving, Olivia Dunham would rise to the rescue. And if that someone was a child, she'd ignore all dangers to go and save him.
She was the optimist – go and help the kid. Just like always. And he was the pessimist, the cautious one asking all the questions that she had chosen to ignore. What if this is a trap? What if there is no child that needs saving? Walter says crossing over is safe but what if it isn't? What if you're gonna get hurt?
"We'll go prepared."
That's all she had told him before she had headed out, leaving him behind alone to think. Something about Olivia's insistence to cross to the other side, to go and rescue a child that he had had with her alternate left him feeling unsettled. It was just like it had been when he had told her about her. First, she was calm about it, accepting, understanding – just like she was now. And then the blow came, the moment when she had told him that she'd taken everything from her and that she didn't want to be with him. And once again, she was threatening to take everything. From him, from her, from them. It never seemed to stop, no matter how hard they tried.
Still, he knew she was right. If they wanted to find out the truth behind those messages, they had to cross over. There was the possibility that this wasn't Walternate pulling another stunt to get him, that, indeed, this was real. And that, he couldn't just ignore. It wasn't just about him, about Olivia, about her, anymore. There was a child involved. A baby. And innocent little boy that was his.
He folded the paper twice in half and stuffed it into the back pocket of his jeans, then headed out in search for Olivia. He rang her twice while he waited for the elevator, but the calls always went to voicemail. With a ping, the elevator doors opened and he stepped inside while leaving a message for Olivia that he was looking for her and that she should call him back. He was about to tell her that he was sorry when the elevator doors closed and his cell reception was cut off.
The hallways were still empty in the huge building when he exited on the eleventh floor, but he knew that that would change within the hour when the first Massive Dynamic employees started to appear for their daily work routine. Even up here, people would soon be scurrying around like busy bees, most of them oblivious to what was really happening around them at this company.
He finally reached his destination, a light gray door at the end of the hallway that wasn't any different from the rest of the doors in the buildings... except that behind that door lay the provisional office of one Walter Bishop, owner of Massive Dynamic. If he'd find Olivia anywhere in the building, it would be here.
The sight that lay before him when he opened the door and stepped into the large office caused him to smile. While most of Massive Dynamic's interior was colored in any possible shade of gray between white and black, there was not a single spec of black or gray to be found here. The office was decked out in the three primary colors and almost every possible shade that resulted from a combination of either these colors. This office was definitely something else.
But it wasn't the extravagant interior design that had made him smile. The first rays of sunlight that crept through the windows fell on the sleeping figure that lay curled up on the bright purple couch that sat against the wall on the far side of the vast room. Long strands of blond hair had fallen into Olivia's face, moving rhythmically with her every breath.
For a moment, Peter just stood there, in the middle of the room, and watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful sleeping, and he never grew tired of seeing her like that. Her guard down, vulnerable, and at peace with the world. Silently, he stepped closer and crouched down in front of it.
He gently pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear which caused her to move slightly. Cupping her cheek with the palm of his hand, she moved closer into his touch as a soft, low moan escaped from her lips. He chuckled, then bent down and placed a short but tender kiss on her forehead. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment, but remained shut.
Peter could tell though that she had woken. Her breathing quickened, and after a while, her sleep laden eyes opened.
"I didn't want to wake you," he whispered as he sat down on the floor, leaning against the couch next to her.
"It's okay," she replied, her hand reaching out to caress the back of his neck, "What time is it?"
"Shortly after seven."
Olivia took a deep breath, then rolled onto her back and sat up. She ran her hand through her hair, disentangling a few knots that had formed during her short nap before reaching for her cell phone that she had stuffed under the pillow her head had been resting on.
"I called Astrid earlier. She and Walter are taking the first flight down here. They should be getting into JFK shortly."
She started to rise from the couch, but Peter reached for her wrist and held her back.
"I'm sorry," he said out of the blue, startling her completely.
"It's okay."
"No, it's not okay. It's all just so fucking confusing," he took a deep breath before he continued, "I didn't want to sound as if I didn't care. Because I do."
"I know you do," Olivia replied, "You always do."
"I just don't know what to do. What to feel. But what has my mind reeling is that I don't know what she wants me to do. I mean, if she wants me to cross over and stay to help protect the kid..."
His voice trailed off and he turned away from her. He finally had said out loud what had been on his mind from the moment that he had learned that there was a child on the other side that was his. To cross over and stay to help raise the kid or not – that was what really was eating at him. He knew what it was like to grow up without a father. As far back as he could remember, it had always left him empty, a part of him missing. It was a feeling he didn't want to wish on anyone, especially not his own child.
"You don't want to leave your son behind."
He just nodded, then turned back to face her. There was this smile on her, that reassuring smile that always told him that nothing was as bad as it looked. That everything was going to be all right. Olivia Dunham, ever the optimist.
"I can't stay on the other side. This side needs me," he took a deep breath before he added, "I need to be here."
"It isn't an easy decision to make, I know. But you have to figure out for yourself what is more important to you and make a decision that you can truly live with for the rest of your life. Because whatever is going to happen, whatever you decide, you can't go back. You will have to choose. And whatever the outcome, you know I'll support you all the way."
His hand reached out towards her, his fingers twisting a strand of her long blonde hair around his fingers, "You are the most important to me."
She shook her head at him, "You shouldn't choose between me or your son. I could never live with that. Choose between this world or theirs, but don't make me a factor in any of this. I'm not important."
"Self-sacrificing doesn't suit you one bit, Olivia," he uttered with a bitter laugh, "You are as an important piece in all this as is that baby on the other side."
"I shouldn't be."
"But you are." There was a long pause between them before Peter spoke up again, "I just have to know that when we cross over, you won't make a decision on your own and leave me stranded over there."
"I promise I won't."
He flashed her a weak smile as he held out his hand for her, "Then let's get ready for the big crossing over. We need a plan."