Chapter 6:
Olivia spent much of the day at the office while Peter worked with Walter and Astrid at the lab—trying to determine how to reverse the process on Joseph Miller. "Dunham." Olivia answered, pulling her cell phone out from her pocket and opening it as she put her ear to the receiver. Her hands were busy, glancing through files at the Bureau, trying to make sense of what Walter had done in some way.
"Hey Livia it's me." Peter breathed, "we need you to come back to the lab. Walter thinks he's figured out a way to reverse the process."
"How?" Olivia asked putting the file down as she gave Peter her full attention.
"Do you really want the scientific explanation?" He knew it bored her to hear him rambling on about the specifics and he smiled imagining the look on her face at the very moment.
"Not really." She laughed, "I'll get Miller from protective custody and bring him to the lab. I should be there within the hour."
"Okay, see you then." Peter hung up the phone.
It hadn't taken Olivia too long to deal with the paperwork in transferring Miller out of one chain of command and into another. "So how does this work?" Olivia asked him, her eyes watching him attentively as she pulled the keys from her pocket. "I mean if I drive you, is my car going to explode—or stop working?" She hated to sound insensitive but she really didn't have any idea what she was up against.
"Only if I touch the engine." Joseph Miller answered, shaking his head. "If you're worried, you can open the car door for me." He smiled charmingly, his blue eyes and sandy red hair seemed to shine in a strange and remarkable way that she hadn't seen earlier. She didn't know what it meant, if anything. Maybe she was just overtired and seeing things that weren't there. As quickly as she saw it, it was gone.
"I'm sure you can handle the car door yourself." She remarked as she climbed into the driver's seat. "I read your file." She glanced at him, starting the engine and pulled out of the parking garage with him beside her.
"So you did." He breathed giving a mere shrug. It seemed by now, everyone had read his file and knew every personal detail of his life. "I guess you know everything there is to know about me."
Olivia sighed, her bottom lip slightly jutting out as she contemplated on how much to tell him. "There's a lot that isn't in your file, Joseph. A lot that I might be able to help you with."
He shifted in the front seat, staring at her, "how can you help me?"
She glanced at him briefly, her eyes quickly returning to the road. "There's a lot I can't tell you but there is something you should know that isn't common knowledge." It wasn't a secret either and so she wasn't afraid to be honest because the man—after all he'd been through—deserved at least that much.
"Okay." He paused, frowning unsure what the blonde was about to tell him and not sure he really wanted to know either. He waited though and listened.
"Your file, in it you mentioned to the police and then the Bureau that a man had conducted tests on you."
Joseph nodded, "yes however everyone is telling me there's no record of any such tests."
"You don't remember the name of the man that experimented on you?" Olivia asked.
"Walter Bishop." Joseph answered, "but everyone tells me he's been locked up in a mental institution. That whatever he did to me wasn't real. That the man is insane and that I'm crazy for thinking any of experiments might have worked." Joseph sighed as he stared at Olivia. "I know what happened to me. I mean I don't know how but I know after that day, I had changed."
Olivia nodded slowly, pulling up to the lab at Harvard. "Then can you tell me how you have survived so long without causing the type of chaos you did the other night?"
"The blackout." He sighed glancing away. "It was unintentional. I mean, certainly I was angry but I never thought I could cause what happen on such a large scale."
Olivia nodded slowly. She wasn't so shocked that his emotions could have been a driving factor in what happened. At least a part of it. "What were you angry about?" She was curious. She turned off the car and stepped out, walking with him towards the building.
Joseph shook his head, "is it pathetic that I don't have any memory of it? I mean I remember being angry. The rush of adrenaline and that sinking feeling in my stomach but I actually don't remember the fight."
"Do you remember who you were angry with?" Olivia gauged his reaction, trying to determine if he was in fact lying or withholding any information.
"It's like-on the tip of my tongue but I just can't grasp it." Joseph confessed. "It's not the first semi-blackout I've had mentally. It's the first one that I've managed to take out the entire city of Boston with me."
Olivia nodded leading him into the lab with her, mentally noting she'd want to let Peter know that little bit of information. Maybe it was nothing but if it meant anything, he'd know and understand what to do.
"Hey." Peter glanced up seeing the door open.
"What's going on in here?" Olivia asked noticing the flood lights on. "I thought we had the electric back up and running?" When she'd walked into the building she hadn't noticed as she'd been too busy talking.
Peter sighed, "we did but then Walter thought it would be a good idea to try his equipment and he overloaded the power. Astrid is getting the generator back up and running but it will probably be a few minutes." He glanced at Joseph Miller, "unless you have the ability to turn on electricity in the same way you can turn it off?"
Joseph shook his head slowly no as he glanced at Olivia. "I've never tried."
Olivia quickly introduced them. "Joseph Miller this is Peter Bishop. Over there is Walter Bishop. You might remember him?" She chewed on her bottom lip, knowing she probably should have informed him on where she was taking him on the ride over. She had neglected to do so, though in part it had been Broyles that had insisted she wait incase of any ill side effects from the news. Now she understood why.
Olivia watched as the lights that were barely on seemed to instantly flicker.
"Walter Bishop?" His voice resonated throughout the entire lab. His body, seemed to give off a strange glow. A blueish hue that Olivia had earlier seen in the parking garage although this time she watched, eyes wide as what seemed to be bolts of lightening were attracted to his body. The lights blew and with it glass seemed to fly from the bulbs and their canisters.
Peter jumped towards Olivia, watching as the man looked as if he were being electrocuted and yet nothing seemed to be hurting or harming him. Peter tackled Olivia to the ground, his body covering hers the moment the lights blew and the electricity was shot from one end of the room to the other through Joseph Millers body. Somehow he seemed to have taken the electricity from the building and harbored the energy within him. Though he had no control and it shot out in every direction, Peter crawled with Olivia, pushing her under the desk.
"Stay here." He breathed moving away from her, needing to stop whatever was causing this to happen.
"Peter, no." Olivia breathed feeling her own pulse stir. Her eyes widened as she shook her head, pulling on his arm, willing him in any way possible not to go. "Joseph, I know you're scared." Olivia shouted, still hiding but wanting him to hear her, wanting to fix what was going on.
"You lied to me!" He retorted. "I thought you were going to help me!"
"I am going to help you. That's why you're here and that's why Dr. Bishop is here, Joseph. He can't help you though if you're like this. You have to calm down," Olivia reminded him. "If you cause another blackout, Joseph, the government isn't going to let you get away with it so easily. They'll have to put the blame on someone. If they don't do that, the NSA will certainly get their hands on you. You'll be experimented on. None of us here want any of that."
Joseph waited for a beat. "What do you want?"He finally shouted back.
"We just want to help you. We want to reverse the process. I told you that in the car. We want to help you."
"You're lying!" He shook his head the moment his fear responded so did Walter Bishop.
"I remember you." Walter spoke up. "You were just a teenager when you came into the program. Joey." He moved to step closer, watching at the electricity no longer left his body but Joseph still had a strange glow and at any moment could erupt again.
Peter's eyes widened as he watched his father take a step closer towards Joseph. "Walter." He warned his father, not wanting to see anything happen to him. Maybe he'd been angry with the way Walter had raised him, that he'd left them and been institutionalized but he also didn't want to see him killed.
Walter ignored his son. "I know you're angry with what was done to you but you were stronger than anyone else. You were an anomaly before we even did anything to heighten it. What we did to you we did to a dozen other teenagers and you were the only one that left the program."
Peter's eyes narrowed, "Walter? What are you talking about?" All morning he'd looked over Joseph's file but hadn't remembered the case. Now, suddenly it seemed to come back to him? Peter wondered what else his father was neglecting to tell him.
"You killed them!" Joseph shouted but this time the glow never left his body. The lightening seemed to stay contained and Walter only took another step forward.
"They were all sick, Joey. You know that." Walter shook his head. "We never killed anyone." He didn't elaborate that Joey had been the only test subject that had finished the experiment. The other teens had grown too sick to continue.
Peter's eyes widened, watching now as he was within arm's reach of Joseph. "Walter." He shouted at his father, wanting him not to be so stupid!
"It's fine son." Walter snapped his head around to glare at his son. "Must you never trust me?"
"Peter." Olivia breathed, having managed her way to the back of the lab, seeing a device glowing blue and obviously on though the electricity was still off. "I think Walter figured out how to turn on the neutralizer using a car battery."
"Neutralizer?" Joseph realized his ability was contained and as the device had reached full power the glow around his body quickly dissipated until he fell onto the ground, passed out.
"Quick!" Peter shouted at Olivia for help as they detained Joseph Miller once again. Olivia handcuffed his hands behind his back as Peter lifted the man up for her, as he was still quite unconscious. "Now what?" He asked glancing at her and suddenly frowning. "Olivia you're bleeding."
She hadn't even noticed and she watched as Peter grabbed a tissue holding it to her forehead.
"It's just a scratch. I'll be fine." She smiled weakly, "some glass must have gotten me when the bulbs blew."
Peter stared at her, worry evident in his face. "You should have it looked at." He knew she wouldn't listen to him.
"I know I should." She didn't argue but she wasn't going to stop her day to have it examined either. "I need to call Broyles," she pulled out her phone, "let him know the neutralizer worked on Miller and that he can pick him up and bring him back to the Bureau."
Peter nodded slowly, "you're not driving him back?" He was relieved after what they'd just been through but didn't want to make it too obvious his concern.
"Right now, I don't want to be within ten feet of him. If I am, I just might do something I'll regret." She muttered waiting for Broyles to answer.
"Like what?" Peter mouthed.
"Shoot him." Olivia smirked finally hearing Broyles pick up.