Wow! Thank you for all the nice reviews I received after the last chapter. So this update's coming more quickly as a reward. :)
I can end this fic here or add an epilogue. Let me know by reviewing if you would like that.
Remember I own nothing. This story was so much fun to write. I've got lots more story ideas brewing. Let me know if you want humor or angst next?
The other shoe drops.
The Hitch-Chapter 9
Olivia Bishop took a deep breath as she turned the knob on Phillip Broyles' office door. As the door opened she could hear him snapping at someone on the phone and instantly felt sorry for the person on the other end, assuming they were receiving the anger Broyles was projecting. He motioned with his hand for them to take a seat. Peter closed the door quickly behind him, not wishing for anyone else in the Bureau to be listening in on the verbal dressing down they were apparently about to receive. He pulled up a seat next to his wife and dropped into it, trying to avoid Broyles' hard gaze as he set the receiver down, his eyes never leaving theirs.
There was an eery quiet for a second and then Phillip Broyles let out a long breath, which Olivia had learned long ago was his way of dealing with extremely frustrating situations. He folded his hands and focused his attention on Olivia. "Agent Dunham,. As you know, periodically I have to go through your file to see which of the Bureau's certification programs you need to be updated on. This month it's disaster response, and I have 6 weeks to get you recertified or you'll have to start that program all over again, and we don't have time for that. So imagine my surprise when this popped up on my screen."
He stopped talking and moved his chair so that they could both see his monitor. Then Broyles tapped a key and Peter instantly recognized the familiar State of Nevada seal. Shit, Peter thought to himself. Broyles caught the flicker of recognition in Peter's eyes.
"A change of status form from the State of Nevada dated January first, 2011. I see you recognize it, Bishop."
"Sir, I-" they both said in unison. Broyles interrupted them.
"So as you can imagine when I saw this I then checked Peter's file, and the same thing popped up on his with, of course, the same date. I'm not supposed to find this kind of information out this way."
Peter slammed his knee into Broyles' desk as he leaned forward. "Sir, I can understand your being mad. It was all my fault. After you left for the airport the four of us went to the hotel's club. A few minutes after we got there the hotel's manager presented each of us with a bottle of Dom Perrignon champagne, from the City of Las Vegas, as a thank you for solving their case. We hadn't eaten much and Olivia and I got tipsy." Peter hesitated. "And I got the idea that we were in Vegas and should get married. So we did. We woke up the next morning and hardly remembered any of it."
Broyles stared hard at the younger man in front of him not knowing which was worse, that they'd gotten married so impulsively, or that they apparently didn't remember much about their wedding or the wedding night Broyles assumed followed. He let the silence hang like a curtain after Peter stopped talking. After another long sigh he turned his attention toward Olivia.
"But you didn't tell me when you got back. It's been almost two months! You're a federal agent. If something changes about you, regardless how simple, as your supervisor I need to know about it. You didn't think I'd find out about this?" Peter moved back into his seat and looked at his wife, wishing he could shield her.
"I'm sorry, Sir. We were hoping you wouldn't find out before the ceremony on March fifth. We figured it would give us more time to work with you, to put off your separating us."
Broyles gave Olivia a look. "Separating you? Why would I separate you two?" Broyles leaned forward and looked at Peter and then back to Olivia. "Olivia, Peter's not FBI. He's a civilian consultant. That rule about married federal agents not being able to work side by side doesn't affect him." Broyles studied her face. "You didn't realize that," he stated simply. Peter rubbed his brow and sighed, scolding himself for not knowing this. It turned out there was no big issue and they would not have been separated. Who would've known?
"No, I did not. We did not," Olivia said to Broyles, then dropping her head.
"Well, now you know." Broyles was much calmer now. "The issue here is trust. You withheld information from me. Both of you. You can't do that if we're going to work together. You do understand that, right?'
"Yes, Sir," they replied in unison.
Broyles stared into the air, stroking his cheek and thinking. "Who else knows?"
"Just Junior Agent Farnsworth, Sir," Olivia told him. That didn't surprise Broyles in the least. Astrid Farnsworth was one of his best junior agents, and a very observant young woman. He wondered if she'd figured it out before they told her. And then the light bulb went on in his mind. She won the marriage pool, too. Shit! Broyles resumed staring at the two of them sitting in front of him looking ashamed. It was like dealing with his kids all over again. They certainly felt like family members, and Phillip Broyles knew no matter how much he tried to downplay it that he had become close to the four Fringe Divison members over the last two years. He let out another breath.
"I'll keep your little secret until the March fifth ceremony, on one condition. When you return from your honeymoon, the two of you will go on night shift for a period of time determined by me. That's after a full day of work. Hopefully that will remind you not to keep secrets from your superior officer. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir," they both replied in unison. Phillip Broyles rose from his chair indicating the end of the meeting. Peter and Olivia pushed out of their chairs. Broyles came around from behind his desk and gave Olivia a handshake.
"Congratulations, Mrs. Bishop," Broyles said with a smirk. "You going to change your name, Dunham?"
"Uh, I don't know yet, Sir," Olivia replied, clearly caught off guard by his question.
"Well, if you do you will let me know that, right?"
"Of course, Sir."
Broyles turned toward Peter and nodded. "Take good care of her. If you don't, your wife probably knows a hundred ways to make a body disappear. And what she doesn't know about that, I do," he said as he squeezed Peter's hand firmly.
"I'm sure you do, Sir," Peter said back to him. Broyles nodded and they turned and started to make their way out of his office.
"And Bishops?" Broyles asked. Peter and Olivia turned back towards him.
"Walter deserves to know the truth that you've married, don't you think?" Peter and Olivia looked at each other, understanding written on their faces.
"Yeah, he does," Olivia replied shaking her head. Broyles shook his, thinking he would beat either of his kids if they got married on the fly and tried to hide it afterwards.
It had been a long day and they were both tired. Peter's Android phone showed it to be 4:55PM as they opened the door to the Kresge Building, the Cambridge sky already mostly dark. They found Astrid and Walter working comfortably in tandem in the lab, Violet Sedan Chair playing softly on Walter's turntable. He smiled at Peter and Olivia as they moved closer. "Hello, Son. Olivia. Is it the end of your workday already?"
"Yes, Walter. Can we talk with you for a minute?" Peter asked his father softly, gesturing for him to put his flask down and step closer. Astrid came closer and gave Olivia a concerned look. Olivia returned a look that she hoped conveyed everything was alright.
"Is-is everything alright, Son? You two are in good health, yes? No one's sick, correct?" Walter asked Peter worriedly.
Peter put his hands on his father's shoulders. "Olivia and I are fine, but we need to confess something."
The air around the four of them grew quiet, and when Peter was sure he had Walter's undivided attention he continued. "When we left you and Astrid on New Year's morning pretty much right after the countdown, we uh, we got married, in Las Vegas. It wasn't planned, it just sort of happened. So we've been married now for more than six weeks. We're sorry we kept it from you, Walter. We didn't mean anything in doing that. We were afraid Broyles would separate us if he found out. Turns out he doesn't need to keep us from working together since I'm not FBI."
Walter looked up at his son, a sort of self-satisfied smile on his face. "Oh, is that all, Peter?"
Peter furrowed his brow. "What do you mean is that all? Isn't the fact that Olivia and I have already been married more than six weeks kind of huge news to you?"
Walter chuckled. "I figured you might have done that, Son. You inherited that impulsive streak from your mother, and you were so happy the first day after we returned. It's no real surprise," Walter said smiling. "I posited the two of you would simply tell me when you were ready." Peter looked over at Olivia. Surprise was scribbled over both of their faces. They looked toward Astrid who looked just as shocked by Walter's confession as they were.
"Don't stand there the three of you with your mouths hanging open. Do give me more credit, won't you? After all my IQ is er-"
"Two hundred nine," Astrid finished for him, still in awe that he knew and she didn't.
"Yes, thank you Astrix. Now, since this is a great revelation on your part, does this mean we can go out to eat to celebrate?"
"Sure, Walter. Sure," Olivia told her father-in-law, still stunned that he knew but kept the information to himself.
"But Olivia and I have something we need to do first." Peter moved behind her and swept her long golden hair aside. He carefully undid the clasp on her chain and lifted if off her. They watched as he removed the gold wedding band from it. With one hand he removed her engagement ring and with the other placed the new band on first and replaced the engagement ring on top. Olivia smiled and turned toward Peter, unclasping his gold chain. She moved it over his head, removed the shiny golden band and placed it carefully on his ring finger. They all laughed as Peter and Olivia shared a quick kiss.
"OK, now we can go eat," Peter said happily. Walter and Astrid hurried to find their coats. Peter and Olivia held hands as they made their way toward the door.
"I wonder if anyone serves Dim Sum during the week in Chinatown?" Walter asked Astrid as they hurried to catch up to Peter and Olivia already moving through the doorway.
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