Chapter 2:

She rubbed at her eyes, already feeling beyond tired but was silently grateful she could soon curl up in bed. She'd long since turned off the television and walked past her computer with a heavy sigh. She had tons of emails to catch up on and though the majority was junk mail, Ella had sent her two messages in the past week. Though they'd been mostly pictures she'd colored on the computer, Olivia still went out of her way to open the emails, print the pictures and hang them on the fridge so that when Ella came, she would see them out.

She logged onto the computer, not wanting to disappoint her niece and sighed as the flood of junk mail poured into her inbox. She paused, shaking her head when she realized at the very top was a new message from the online dating site she'd joined.

It'd been years since she'd joined, long before she dated John and after her brief relationship with Lucas. It was the moment she realized that dating other members in law enforcement might not be ideal. She didn't know when she'd have the time to meet other men and so she'd joined the online dating website.

Olivia opened the website and logged in, finding her inbox with a few messages but only reading the most recent one. She stalled for a moment before looking at the profile, slightly disappointed there was no picture. She contemplated emailing him back, unsure if it was worth the trouble. She'd been out on a few dates and all the guys had been only after one thing.

She clicked respond, still thinking of what to say when the lights in the apartment went out. "Just great." Olivia muttered, shaking her head as she pushed back the desk chair to feel her cell phone vibrating. She glanced down, seeing it was Broyles. "Agent Dunham." She answered the call.

"Dunham I need you to get the Bishops and bring them straight to the Bureau."

Olivia sighed, "can I ask why?" She knew Broyles hardly ever gave her any information over the phone but she knew if she was going to be dragging them both in for another day without any sleep, she needed a reason.

Broyles gave a curt response, "have you not looked outside your window, Dunham?"

"No, sir." Olivia took the phone as she carefully walked towards the window, pulling back the curtains to reveal a dark Boston. "There's a blackout sir." It was the most obvious of answers.

"That's right. I expect to see you in twenty."

Olivia tried not to sound frustrated, "already on my way." She grabbed her keys and hung up with Broyles as she headed down to her car. She dialed Peter, chewing on her bottom lip hoping he wouldn't be too upset that she was calling him back into work.

"Let me guess, you're lights are out too?" Peter answered the phone, knowing from the caller ID who it was.

She merely smiled as she unlocked the front door and slipped into the car. She held the phone to her ear as she buckled herself into the front seat. "Broyles just called. All of Boston has suffered some sort of a blackout that we're being called into work for to investigate."

Peter let out a heavy sigh. He didn't even so much as attempt to mask it. "We?"

"Broyles said he wanted me to pick you and Walter up. I'm in my car, about to pull out into traffic. Can you be ready when I show up?"

Peter sighed, "do I have a choice?" He already knew the answer. "I'll get Walter and we'll meet you down by the front door." He knew it would take her a few extra minutes because the lights were out in the city. He counted on that extra time to get Walter ready.

"Thanks," Olivia breathed hanging up the phone as she carefully navigated her way towards the Bishops.

Twenty five minutes later Olivia was pulling up to the Bureau with Peter sitting beside her and Walter in the backseat.

"Broyles really thinks the Boston Blackout is a Fringe event?" Peter asked glancing at Olivia as they stepped out from the car. He could see it as an act of terrorism or some idiot screwing up the power grid but a Fringe event-he didn't see the weirdness factor. At least not yet.

Olivia shrugged as she headed inside the building. The backup generators were running and allowed them access inside. "Broyles was insistent that we come in and that I bring both of you with me. If it was just an act of terrorism, I think he may have let you have the night off."

Peter shook his head, "I doubt it. Seems anytime you're working, I'm at your side."

Olivia narrowed her eyes playfully, "is that so?" She walked with Peter and Walter, heading for the stairs. "We're going to have to walk up." She reminded them both. Though the generators were running, the building wasn't at full capacity. She heard Walter muttering something but she didn't ask him to repeat it. She knew it was probably best if she didn't hear it at all.

They headed up several flights of stairs before they finally made it out and onto the floor.

Broyles glanced at his watch, taking note of the time and the fact they were late. "Nice of you to join us." He remarked returning his attention to the team he'd assembled in the bullpen. "Joseph Miller. The man we believe to be responsible for the Boston Blackout is currently in protective custody."

"Protective custody?" Olivia asked not understanding why he would need protecting if he in fact caused the entire power grid to falter.

Broyles sighed, "he can't control his newfound ability." He glanced away from Olivia and walked over towards Walter Bishop. "What can you tell me about Joseph Miller?"

Walter shook his head, clearly confused. "I don't know. The name isn't familiar."

"Well he certainly knows you." Broyles answered sharply. "Says you ran tests on him up at Harvard more than seventeen years ago."

Walter glanced at Peter, "I might have. I don't remember. That was a long time ago." He'd ran many tests and conducted many trials throughout the years. He didn't always remember specific names from the experiments though.

Peter nodded feeling his father's pleading eyes on him. "There's some files back at the lab. I can go back with Walter and take a look through them, see if we can piece together who Joseph Miller is. I'm not sure what you hope to find-seeing as how you have the man in custody?"

Broyles glanced at Olivia, "I want you to accompany them back to the lab. Make sure they find the file and call me as soon as you come up with anything that might reveal how one man is capable of causing an entire city to blackout."

Olivia stared at her supervisor, "I still don't understand what he did to cause the blackout." There was too much information that was being left out. "It might help us to better understand what we're looking for if you explained to us what happened."

"From what Mr. Miller has told us and from what we've seen of ground zero, he turned off a light switch." Broyles answered. "Simple enough of an act and yet he's caused a massive panic attack throughout the city."

"You're not thinking he's a terrorist?" Olivia had to be certain.

"Hardly but I do think it would be best if Dr. Bishop can find a way to reverse whatever process he created."

Peter listened carefully, "what if we can't reverse it?" He needed to know what they were up against.

"If the NSA doesn't get their hands on him, certainly someone else will." Broyles responded. "I want the three of you to head over to the lab, find whatever files you need and get them to me ASAP."

Olivia nodded heading with Walter and Peter for the stairs. She didn't say anything as she fought back the anger building within her. Every time they worked a case, it always seemed to lead back to Walter Bishop and some experiment he did. She wanted to scream. She wanted to plunge at Walter and tackle him down the stairs. She refrained from doing either as she pushed the door open to the garage and headed without a word to the car.

"Olivia you okay?" Peter asked as he came up beside her watching as she headed for the driver's side.

"I'm fine." It was the only answer she could give him. Whatever she was feeling, it wasn't to be discussed now, in front of his father.