In the dim lighting of the lab-office-turned-makeshift-bedroom, Astrid watched Peter as he invited her in. Closing the door, she stood in front of the doorway, not exactly sure what to do next.

What is the protocol for having sex with your friend's husband with her blessing?

Of course, Peter had agreed. At this point, anything Olivia wished was his command.

Astrid smiled shyly at Peter and lowered her head, thinking of all the memories that had flooded into her head from the other timeline. She had genuine affection for him; he was always so very kind to her and would make her welcome at the Bishop home.

Admittedly, she did have a slight crush on him. How could she not? Peter was intellectual, and although he could be a cocky, pretentious asshole with those he found annoying, he treated Astrid and her thoughts and opinions as respectful equals, all with an equal dose of charm and good humor. Part of her wondered if there was a universe where a version of her ended up with a version of Peter.

And boy, could the man eat. She always wondered how Peter—much like his father where food was concerned—wasn't a hefty 250 pounds instead of a lean, lanky well-toned man. Astrid enjoyed baking, but other than her dad, she really didn't have anyone to share with. But the younger Bishop was more than glad to help polish off her cakes, pies and cookies, and he always made a fine guinea pig for trying out her latest recipes. There wasn't one thing that she produced that didn't put a smile on his face. When it came to sweets, he was much like a little boy, and definitely his father's son.

"Peter, you are fine with this?" Astrid asked with a little hesitancy.

God she was nervous.

She had a few lustful fantasies in the previous timeline – maybe even got herself off on them –but she knew that Peter and Olivia were meant for each other for certain when she had observed Olivia fretting over him after he had been infected with a deadly virus, and they came close to losing him to a military-executed eradication. Peter had long been obviously head-over-heals for Olivia, but wisely kept his distance from her due to all the pain and betrayal she had experienced due to John Scott. Astrid saw it before they did, or at least would admit it.

"Astrid, sweetheart… He smiled so big, that small crinkles formed along his piercing turquoise eyes.

Her friend became as close as he had ever been to her in this timeline. So… Damn… Close… Then he reached his arms up and gently caressed her shoulders. With her eyes closed, the long worn woman enjoyed the feel of her body being touched by another after having been neglected for what had seemed like an eternity. His touch was blissfully calming.

A sudden gasp escaped from her throat, due to the tickling hot air of his breathe as he whispered in her ear, "Do we want this to be awkward, or do we prefer sweet and hot?" A pleasantly rough tongue traced along the edge of her ears making her shudder, and long for such strong, wet strokes to be put to other uses, on more sensitive parts of her anatomy. She wondered if Peter would go there, because it had been ages since that part had been the lucky recipient of such an exquisite pleasure; college maybe?

It was on. No reservations.

Placing her hand on the shoulder blades of his back, the former junior agent pulled the husband of her former work colleague to her lips, which were eager to make contact with his. Surprised with the exhibited boldness, he acted in kind, tasting her full mouth then meeting her tongue with firm strokes. Both moaned as they slowly made their way up against a wall. The focus of her kisses had a coating of soft, tickling hair along his face, which was more in beard territory than the scruff he normally sported. Razors were at a premium for all of them.

Peter managed to come up for air and his mischievous smile melted her heart; his eye lids half closed. Astrid was hungrily aware of his throbbing erection, and it made her the most wet she had ever been; her wet heat was a sweltering inferno and the fires were only just beginning.

"OK, so I take it you like it hot, then," the excited man mumbled into her neck as he left a long trail of kisses and his hands went for her round, pert breasts. She ran her fingers through the slight curls of his shaggy hair; her breath came in ever harder puffs.

Astrid responded to her temporary lover's playful and teasing inquiry by going right for the bull's-eye, so to speak; her hand found the prominent tent-pole jutting out his pajama bottoms and gave it a good, perfectly-pressured squeeze, causing his hips to buck into her and a groan to escape… To have this kind of power over Peter was something Astrid had only dreamed of.

"Bet you never thought I'd get hard for you; that you could have this effect on me? Here's a secret… there were a few times where you were the subject of some of my naughty dreams…"

"Naughty boy."

Like women do, but won't admit to, Astrid had wondered before about Peter's size, randomly, as they worked in the lab. He sometimes wore some mighty tight Wrangler jeans and it was difficult not to notice the fullness he exhibited in the zipper area, in addition to his fine, firm, shapely ass. And yes, it was even bigger than she had imagined which was equally exciting and scary. Sensing her concern, he stopped her from going in and below his waistband with one hand while taking the other and cupping her cheek.

"Don't worry about him. He's not going anywhere until you're good and ready."

Peter pulled his shirt over his head and Astrid looked him over with concern, noting the nasty, jagged scar on his shoulder from where he was stabbed by an Observer. As she looked into his eyes, she mouthed a quick, "Oh, Peter, you poor baby." Otherwise his body was appealing; firm, slightly built, with a slight patch of fuzz on his chest leading down to his…

Hands at her shirt were at her buttons, unveiling her soft mocha flesh to him. He gazed at her with the grin of a bad-boy giving a dare as he completed the task, the shirt shipped from her shoulders and body completely. They embraced and he pulled away to kiss down her neck, nipping and lightly applying suction along the way. He went for kill as he cupped his hands around both of her breasts and massaged them, before he bent down to draw her right nipple into his mouth. Astrid about jumped at the sensation, and he continued only to go to full-blown sucking at lapping at her. She was so damned horny, and had little more patience. She made her point known by going straight into his pajama bottoms. His cock was released into the cool air of the lab, as Astrid stroked him to encourage further action. Down his pants went and they were kicked away without a care as to where they'd land. Astrid's received the exact same treatment, as her mind was only focused on one thing.

"You are so beautiful," Peter told her as he gazed at her, completely naked.

"You're not so bad yourself"

"I don't know. I'm starting to feel like a scarecrow without stuffing," Peter remarked with a bit of sadness and defeat in his eyes.

Astrid considered for just a moment that he was smaller. They all were. Constant stress and an inadequate diet had to be taking its toll on a man with such a high metabolism and activity level as Peter. After this night, she was definitely going to do all she could to bake this man a pie.

She gasped as his fingers found her wet, dripping center and he ran his slickened fingers over her wanting sensitive parts, before one finger and then two were inserted into her. Astrid shook as his pumping action increased, and they continued their reckless kissing.

Giving his chest a hard nudge, which encouraged him to lie down, she seductively whispered, "I want to ride you, Peter."

He obliged, and reached into a bag hanging along the bed post, pulling out a small bottle and a foil packet. In this future, condoms were given out like candy and the resistance had plenty.

He continued to speak as he drizzled a light stream of slick fluid from the bottle onto his hard cock and tantalizingly stroked it a few times.

"This isn't sexy, but to be honest, my only real reservation to doing this is any remote possibility of getting you pregnant. It's scary to think of having a baby in this situation."

"It is… Listen, if you want to call this off, we don't have to go all the way. I'm over the moon with this evening as is, Peter"

Without hesitancy a reply: "I don't. I want you." He rolled the condom onto his lube-slickened and burning member.

"Peter, what if… I did become pregnant? I don't think it could happen because my period stars two days from now. But I want to know what that would do to you and Olivia?"

"We'd survive. I asked her that very question. She said she couldn't think of a better father for your child, if it happened."

"That's all I needed to know," Astrid affirmed as she straddled across his hips and sunk down onto his shaft, slowly taking him in. His lust-filled eyes intently watched—tits swinging free and ass coming down—as she slowly took in his cock until completely down to the root of him. In contrast, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, fully enjoying the feeling of being filled by him and his heat. It was pleasure, spiked with pain. He was easily longer and wider than any man she had ever been with.

"You all right?"

The response came in the form of her squeezing her muscles around him making him shudder and moan.

"I take that as yes… holy, mother…you are about to make me lose myself already, woman."

She panted heavily as she rode him, and he enjoyed it all immensely. Peter's eyes showed more than just his own pleasure. He was genuinely happy that Astrid was enjoying this time with him—that he was giving her such pleasure, long overdue. Sex with Olivia was like a sacred spiritual ritual. Sex with Astrid was a spiritual gift. Feeling the swell in his cock and the coil of his balls, Peter placed his hands on Astrid's hips to stop her.

"I don't want this to end yet. Roll over."

Doing as told, Astrid laid on her back on the small bed, and then Peter gently parted her legs and continued where they had left off. Kisses were placed all along the woman's body; he believed in worshiping his lovers before sacrificing himself completely to the drive for climax.

Peter became braver with his exploration and angled her so that he could push into her at an upward curve. Knowing that every woman was different, he experimented in trying to find Astrid's sweet spots. Perspiration made their bodies so slick... sweat poured along his back as she kneaded his ass with her soft hands, urging him harder, deeper.

A loud moan let him know he had struck gold. Increased thrusting made the woman beneath him react in a manner that only excited him more. Her passage quivered so hard, the force was nearly enough to force him out of her. His straining balls were coated and dripping with a stream of fluid, brought forth from her along with some incoherent babbling, with maybe a…

"Fuck yes, Peter!

And…

"This is too much!"

And…

"I don't think I can take much more, it feels so good!"

He was a goner when he realized this, and his thrusts became forceful, staccato slams, things became sloshy sounding in the room, until he reached his blinding apex with his own long groan from the white-blinding ecstasy. He pulled out quickly, and disposed of the barrier that was between them; then slumped down in the bed next to his lover, his breathing still erratic.

Astrid stroked his chest as she recovered from their lovemaking in his arms. The events of the evening seemed so surreal. She breathed in the smell of him mixed with her own, and it was a heady sensation. It was real.

"And to think the closest I had ever been to you before, was a hug before you got into that awful machine the first time… I was so scared, Peter. So sure that you were going to die… and I wasn't ready to lose you."

At first, she thought she was seeing beads of sweat, but then realized what she was actually seeing were small tears falling down Peter's cheeks.

"You remember me? I mean, from before? The other timeline?"

Astrid realized that she had not told him… She kissed his cheek and nodded. "Michael did for me what he did to Walter. I got to see my other life… I got to see how you cared for me. I was able to see how I was practically a part of your family, spending dinners and holidays with you… I clearly remember playing Scrabble and Words with Friends with you because I was one of the few people who could compete with your vocabulary—even beat you, which thrilled you to no end. I remember you affectionately calling me, "The Littlest Bishop."

Peter was overwhelmed. This night already wasn't about lustful animalistic sex, based purely on the pleasure of physical release. It was about being loved—being remembered—taking care of one another. Drawing Astrid close, he was so glad that he chose to remain human with emotions.

In this messed up world, these displaced souls, had each other. Peter loved Olivia as his life partner and soul-mate. He would never willingly betray her trust or the bond they shared, one that overcame different universes and the separation of time. What she had given both him and Astrid was a gift of the heart. A gift to share love and joy and which was also about being secure enough to willingly share someone with another. Instead of being rigidly possessive, harboring paranoia or miring oneself in unfounded jealously, love was shared. This world needed all of the love it could get.

"This doesn't have to be a one-night-deal, Astrid. Maybe I can convince my wife to have us all be together on occasion."

Peter had participated in a few threesomes in his life. Some allowed him to participate with two other women; others involved him with another man and woman. But they were just activities done because he could do them; purely selfish motivations; mindless fucking, basically, for the most part.

Olivia, Astrid and he could be beautiful together.

"But wouldn't Walter feel left out?"

Peter's eyes became wide, as he considered her question. Chuckling, "He doesn't have to know."

"Peter… I didn't want to tell you this, but Walter pretty much rambles and confides everything to me… He's made lots of happy comments about hearing you and Olivia at night—your "nocturnal" and "marital" activities." Even gave me a play-by-play account… Squeaking bed. Moans. Curses. Exclamations to God…"

Peter put up his palm, having heard enough embarrassing details.

"We aren't quiet, are we?"

A giggle...

"Are you kidding?"

"Doh…."

At that point, Olivia opened the door of the office, causing the occupants to stiffen a little. Walter or the Observers were on their minds.

"It's only me," she whispered as she quietly slipped in. "Good thing we gave Walter a little something extra as a night cap. That bed is LOUD."

Hmm... does anyone want this to continue? ;)