Title: Son of Men
Chapter: 6
Rating: T
Summary: When a message comes through the typewriter, it's going to turn everyone's life upside down.
Author's Note: Here it is, chapter 6. I think we're at about halfway point for the fic - more or less. I kind of have lost track of how many chapters there are XD Some are still with my betareader and she usually has the final say about stuff. So some stuff may go, some stuff may have to be added... we'll see. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy what I'm posting. If you like it, drop me a note, as a review or in private. I love talking fics :)
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Walter was aimlessly pacing the floor of the big basement lab while chewing on a red vine. He was oblivious to everything that was going on around him as he was deep in thought. Olivia had asked him to run a complete check on her to make sure that there would not be any nasty side effects from crossing over. What had caused her seizure after her crossing over from the other side the last time still remained unsolved, and she didn't want a repeat of that. The last thing they needed was her passing out on the other side, leaving them stranded and trapped in Walternate's hostile world. Being locked up twice in his underground laboratory on Liberty Island was enough. She never wanted to go back there. Ever.
The Cortexiphan levels in her system were still high which Walter had attributed to her overdosing on the drug during her last, and successful, attempt to escape from the other side. He had also claimed the drug overdose to be responsible for her seizure, rambling on about the first unsuccessful test on adult subjects and how three out of four of those tests had always resulted in massive seizures as well.
But Olivia wasn't satisfied – and neither was Peter. He had left the lab earlier, not being able to just sit around and wait for Walter to have a sudden epiphany about whether it was safe for Olivia to cross them over or not. Part of him just wanted Walter to say that it wasn't safe, that they shouldn't cross over and just remain over here. Then he wouldn't have to make a decision. The decision would have been made for him. But it never would be so easy, would it? Even if Walter would say that it was risky, he knew that Olivia would insist that they still needed to do it. She was no quitter. And that was why he loved her.
"So you say that as long as I don't take more Cortexiphan, I should be fine. No more seizures. Right, Walter?"
"It's my theory," he responded to Olivia's question, still nibbling on the last bit of his red vine, "Your levels are high, much higher than any adult should be able to tolerate. I assume you injected yourself with an even higher dose which, combined with the stress of crossing over, caused the seizure. But that's only my speculation."
Olivia stuffed her hands into her pockets and raised her shoulders, "So we're back to square one."
"If I had a bit more time..."
"We don't have more time, Walter. Peter and I need to cross over today. And I need to make sure that I am able to get us over there and back in one piece."
"Maybe if I..." Walter's voice trailed off in the middle of the sentence as he raced across the room towards one of the machines. He frantically tapped on the keys on the keyboard attached to it, causing it to beep rapidly as the monitor flashed in all different colors at him.
But Olivia knew that whatever Walter was doing, it would produce no answer to the question that was nagging at her the most. Was crossing over safe for her and was she able to cross them back over without any harm done? In the end, it would be like it always was – she would just have to take her chances and hope for the best.
She knew that if Walter had told her that she would risk another seizure when crossing over, she still would have taken her chances. Because saving that little child on the other side also meant saving the world, she had come to accept that. If her alternate version was so desperate to ask Peter and her for help, there was immediate danger for the boy. And that danger could only come from Walternate.
The only thing Olivia hadn't figure out yet though was just how exactly she'd cross them over. They'd found a weak spot which would come to her advantage but she still couldn't say how exactly she had managed to cross over in the past. All she had done was concentrate and think, but if it had been that easy, Walternate wouldn't have been able to pull her back three times. Whatever was different when she crossed over to find Peter and when she finally came back, she had to figure it out. Fast. As they were running out of time.
It was shortly after noon when Olivia heard the door to the lab open behind her and Peter stepped in. She just shook her head at him, letting him know that Walter had not come up with anything new. Crooking his head to his side, Peter answered her with a shrug of his shoulders. He hadn't expected a miracle.
The 2PM deadline they had set themselves for crossing over was rapidly approaching. Their plan wasn't fool proof and they had no backup, but that wasn't really anything new. They had no idea what to expect on the other side, what exactly it was that they would find there. They were wringing it, just as they always were.
"We could still call this all off," he said as he stopped next to Olivia and looked over to Walter at the other end of the lab, still frantically hitting keys and causing the machine to make all kinds of erratic beeping noises.
"That was never an option," she replied without even looking at him.
"I know."
He stuffed his hands into his pockets, mimicking her as he stood inside the lab just as lost as she was. For awhile, they just remained where they were, silently watching Walter tinker with machines until Peter removed his hand from his pocket and reached for Olivia's arm. She looked over her shoulder and found him looking back at her with that certain expression that said they needed to talk. In private. She tipped her head, indicating for him to follow her to the small observation room that lay adjacent to the big lab.
"You've made a decision," she said as she closed the door behind them, not daring to look at him.
"There's something we haven't talked about yet," came his reply as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, he turned her around, forcing her to look at him. Olivia's gaze was poised at her feet, so he placed a finger under her chin and gently tilted her face up to look at him.
"I've been thinking. If this is not a ruse, if I really do have a son on the other side and if he is in danger from Walternate, what could I possibly do to help? Talk to Walternate? As if he would listen to me. Stay and protect my son? Anyone could do that, he wouldn't need me for that. So I've been thinking what I would do."
"Send him away as far as possible, where no one could get to him," Olivia replied, her voice a mere whisper.
"Yeah," there was a small pause before he continued, "Would you do that?"
"Bring him back here?"
"If this is what the other you wants, if she wants me to take him... It would change everything."
"One step at a time?" she offered him, a weak smile crossing her lips that looked anything but convincing, "If that's what she wants from you, to take the baby, then we'll bring him back with us. And then we'll see where to go from there."
"Olivia, whatever's going to happen, I want you to know that nothing is ever going to change what I feel for you." His hand cupped her face, his thumb tenderly caressing the smooth skin of her face. "I love you. I always will."