Olivia adjusted Olive's carrier and buckled it into the back seat of the SUV.
No Mommy! Olive want to ride in front next to Mommy!
"Sweetheart, your gonna have to wait about another ten years before that happens," Olivia told her, snapping in the last buckle. Olive continued to argue in Olivia's head, but Olivia blocked it out as she had learned to and closed the door walking around to the driver's side.
Olivia got in the car and stared it up, turning on the radio. A U2 song was playing on the station Peter had left it on when he borrowed her car. Olivia's smile dropped. She quickly switched the station to NPR and tried to suppress the anger and tears warring inside her.
Mommy? Me upset you? I didn't mean to! Don't be upset! Mommy...
"Its not you sweetheart," Olivia choked, running her hands through the bangs that had grown out to her chin. She tried to tuck them behind her ears, but when they would fall back, she'd pull them back into a half pony.
It was four hours to get to Massive Dynamic by car. On one of the freeways, they passed a car that had a front seat car seat, and Olive bugged Olivia about getting one the rest of the way up. Olivia told her that she'd have to speak to her father and made a mental note to tell Peter not to buy her one under any circumstances, hoping that it missed her daughter's notice.
They pulled up into the employee parking lot of Massive Dynamic, and Olivia went to take the carrier out of the back seat. She was struggling with the belts when Peter came up behind her.
"Let me get it," he said, touching her hand on one of the belts that she had tangled with another.
As soon as Peter had Olive out of the car, she started badgering Peter about the car seat before Olivia could tell him not to even consider it, making her believe she'd heard her thoughts. As Peter was about to answer, Olivia shot a daggering glance at him and he chose to remain neutral on the topic.
It wasn't long till they were in the Child development Testing Center on the sixth floor, standing in a control room outside a glass window looking into a white room. Walter was bustling around, making final adjustments to the equipment.
"So Walter, what do we need to do?" Olivia asked, pushing her jacket back with her hands on her hips the way she does when she's worried or focused.
"Well-uh- first I will need each of you to go in individually so that I can measure the individual energy of each universe. After that, the two of you will be able to go in with her so that I can measure her energy. Olivia, you first," Walter opened a door and gestured for Olivia to walk into the white room. At first she though it was empty, but as she walked towards the center of the room she ran into a white block that was about the height of her waist. She couldn't see it through the window because everything was the same clean white and the light was positioned so that no shadows were cast in the room.
Olivia moved to stand in front of the block, meeting eyes with Peter through the window.
"Alright Olivia," Walter's voice came through an intercom, "I am going to turn off the lights in the room and stunt the particle energy in the room in order to have a minimal effect on your reading. It may feel a tad stuffy in there, due to the movement of the air particles slowing down... uh somewhat drastically..." Walter coughed then turned to a computer.
"She's not going to suffocate in there is she Walter?" She heard Peter ask sternly through the glass.
"No, son, she wont be in there long enough." The lights went down.
"Okay, close your eyes and try not to move Agent Dunham."
Olivia nodded and bowed her head, clasping her hands at her waist.
"I want you to think of the energy of this Universe. Like its flowing through you with each breath. Try to magnify your energy with your mind."
Walter turned off the intercom and pressed a button on the keyboard. Readings began to go across the screen.
Peter's POV
Peter looked in at Olivia. He could see her blonde hair through the dark. For just a second he could swear he'd seen it disappear.
"Woah, Walter, what was that," I ask touching his arm.
"What was what Peter?" Walter asked confused, taking a bite of licorice I hadn't noticed he'd had.
"Nothing," I whispered, Lowering my hand, suspicious.
Just then I saw it happened. I was certain of it. Olivia flickered in my vision. The wave of her hair flickering like a light and then disappearing, "Walter!" Peter exclaimed, pointing through the window.
Walter Looked up, "Where is Olivia?" The energy monitors on the screen went crazy.
End POV
Suddenly the world outside Olivia was bright. Someone pushed her from behind, and she leapt forward, opening her eyes. She was in a park, and then it was gone. She was back in the dark room.
For just a second Olivia reappeared, looking like she was falling, and then she was gone. Olive was screaming in their heads.
Olivia was back in the Park, still stumbling. She heard a voice in her head, Olive's voice.
MOMMY!
Then she was back in the testing room and she fell against the glass. Olivia was breathing heavily, staring at Peter through the glass, a weight in her eyes.
Olivia was back in the control room, trying to stop Olive from crying.
"What happened, Walter?" Peter said angrily, trying not to yell, gesturing to Olivia.
"I'm not certain. It seems like the energy mixed with Olivia's Cortexiphan-"
"I crossed over," Olivia said, turning around and joining the conversation.
"You what?" Peter exclaimed.
"I don't understand," Walter began, but Olivia cut him off.
"When you talked about the energy of the universe flowing through me, it made me think of when you and Brandon told me and the other Cortexiphan kids that when you cross over, the universe literally flows through you." Olivia explained.
"And that triggered the Cortexiphan to cause you to cross over," Walter stated.
Olivia raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, leaning against the table with Olive's carrier on it.
"That's not going to happen to Olive, is it?" Peter demanded.
"No, no, of course not. If I had her think of either universe it would skew the results," Walter said, quickly trying to reassure his son.
"Fine," Peter said, "It's my turn."
Peter went in and his reading was finished quickly. Walter thought Olivia might have to redo hers, but decided that the little mishap would give him a better idea of how the Cortexiphan affected her energy and her had enough of both the flat energy and the Cortexiphan charged readings.
Peter and Olivia entered the room once again, with Olive in Olivia's arms. Peter laid out a blanket on the top of the block in the room and Olivia laid their daughter on it. The lights went out and Olive gripped her Father's finger hard.
Daddy?
She sounded panicked, but Peter squeezed her hand back, reassuring her.
"Now Olive," Walter's voice came over the speaker in the room, "You mustn't use your abilities during the test. Just let your mind go blank."
The threesome stood still in silence for a few moments while Walter bustled with the computers.
He came back over the intercom, "Olivia, Peter, You are interfering with the signal too much. You are going to have to leave the room."
Olivia looked down at her daughter and shook her hand, "We're just going to step out for a moment. Be good for Uncle Walter,"
Peter and Olivia began to leave and Olive threw a fit.
No, no. No! Mommy no leave! Daddy no leave!
"It's just for a second baby girl," Olivia told her but Olive began to wail.
Mommy stay! Don't go! Don't leave Olive alone in the dark! Daddy!
Her cries grew louder. Peter rushed over to pick her up, "Walter, turn the lights on. Now."
Walter flipped the lights on, and Peter began bouncing up and down, shushing the baby.
A few minutes later, with Olive blissfully asleep, the stood in the control room.
"If maybe I could just adjust the controls to block out your two signals..."
"No Walter! No more tests!" Peter growled, only not yelling because Olive was asleep.
"But..."
"No!" Peter stopped him cold.
"We can wait 'til she's older, Walter. Until she can do it on her own," Olivia told him.
"We may not have that kind of time," Walter growled.
"I don't care. She's not going back in there."
"Let's get Olive home," Peter said.
They arrived back at Olivia's a few hours later.
"Okay," Peter huffed, handing the carrier with the sleeping child to Olivia.
"Thanks," Olivia told him.
"Can I take her this weekend?" Peter requested.
"I don't know if that'll work. She's staying with Nina at Massive Dynamic this weekend. Until the Official Adoption is complete, she's the only one who can take her to her doctor's appointments and since her pediatrician is at Massive Dynamic...she has to go with Nina," Olivia told him.
Peter nodded, "When can I take her next?"
"I don't know right now Peter," Olivia told him, "I haven't figured out tomorrow yet, nor the next week, or what I'm going to do when we get a case."
"Olivia, she's my daughter too," Peter protested.
"I know that, but I-uh… I just can't deal with this right now. I need to take Olive in to feed her." Olivia walked into the house and left Peter behind.
He kicked the tire of the SUV in frustration.
About an hour later, Olivia had Olive fed and laid down on her blanket in the living room, when her phone rang.
"Broyles," she whispered, unenthusiastic to speak to him. She picked up the call.
Half an hour later, Olivia was even less enthusiastic about the call than she had been when she answered. She'd put her hair up in a bun when she was dealing with the baby but strands were falling out. She rubbed her face and pushed them back.
Olivia picked up the phone again and dialed Peter's number.
"Hello," came Peter's voice from the other end.
"Hey it's me," Olivia greeted him.
"What's up?" Peter asked.
"Broyles called."
"Do we have a case?" Peter asked, and she could tell his mind was already running a mile a minute.
"No, there's something else," Olivia put her hand on her forehead and leaned against it, "he just got notice form the Social worker who's working our official adoption of Olive from massive dynamic."
"Is there something wrong?"
After their fight over Olive this morning, Olivia dreaded telling Peter what she was about to say, "They won't clear it until we come up with a Custody/Visitation agreement. Since we're not married, and we don't live together…" Olivia paused and sighed a deep breath, "they won't clear us without it."
Peter was silent on the other end. Olivia hated this situation. Custody agreements were for divorced couples who couldn't stand each other, and for just a second, Olivia was beginning to feel like she was part of one.
Chapter by: Caithrine