4. Beware Gifts – altered timeline S3 alt!Olivia - "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha
She can't drink like their Olivia can and it was a mistake to try, even if building up her tolerance might help her cover. Now she's sitting in the lab with a pounding headache, no adequate medicine in this universe to deal with it, and Walter's playing a single Violet Sedan Chair album on repeat.
"I'm going out."
She has to hide her grimace when the track reaches its peak, making a tight smile which Astrid mistakes as losing patience. No explanation is necessary, she realises, no authorisation required. This is normal, people seeking to escape the lunacy of the lab and Walter's rantings.
Sometimes she finds it endearing to see this version of the Secretary throwing his thoughts out into the ether with such verve, and she might appreciate it later when she strolls back in armed with pastries.
Sometimes she likes it here and not just because it's safer than home – if she ignores the ever present threat of discovery – but for how it feels like it could be another kind of home, a setup edging on familiarity that says that she's been here before.