Chapter 1) Here There and Everywhere
As he put his partner's ID - now late partner as he painfully reminded himself - into his bag, Lincoln Lee opened the envelope handed to him to reveal Robert Danzig's death certificate, realizing Olivia must have arranged this personally for him. Even though she'd said she was unable to register the death to avoid unwanted attention to their work, she'd still done it and as grateful as he was, he didn't understand why.
He despised her, maybe even hated her when they first met, despite her enigmatic beauty. She was cold, unfeeling and unsympathetic to the fact he'd just lost his partner - his best friend - and only family left in this world. Determined, Lincoln went to follow her, unable to accept her explanation and reasoning, needing closure and justice for his friend. He watched her car drive away, memorizing her license plates to track back to the department she said she came from, determined to get more answers. She must answer to someone, and he hoped they'd tell him more about what happened to Robert.
The two bald men, dressed identically, walked away from the crime scene before he left, and caught his attention with their bizarre appearance.
"Hey! Who are you?" Lincoln called as he approached, demanding a reply as they echoed his questions at the same time he asked them. "What are you doing? How are you - answer the question!"
They tilted their heads as the shorter man spoke again, this time independently, in an almost robotically calm manner.
"Who we are is irrelevant. You knew her - before."
Lincoln blinked in confusion, trying to speak and comprehend the hairless man's statement.
"And you will know her again. One of the Olivias is your destiny."
"... But it is unclear which one, as the boy remains." The other bald man finished, looking at his companion.
"Before when? What does that even mean?" Lincoln demanded again in a more exasperated tone, and turned around quickly at the sound of an emergency vehicle siren heading towards them, but as he looked back at the men, they'd instantly disappeared.
Shocked, he turned away and drove back to the local FBI headquarters to get more information about Agent Olivia Dunham.
Despite her trying to resist his help on the case, and him resisting her, eventually she'd opened up to him; she'd lost a partner too and understood what he meant when he said he felt something missing in his life. He would always be grateful to her for getting Robert's body released so his family could have that closure.
Then she showed him The Bridge, and that there was another world, and another Olivia with different hair and a different smile. As he looked at her, he recalled the mysterious men he'd seen observing the crime scene where Robert had died. What they said about another Olivia finally made sense because when he saw her, she took his breath away. She was like the Olivia he already knew but not, with her fiery red hair, rock chick swagger and plucky valor. Compared to the Olivia he knew who seemed like a moth drawn to flames in the darkness, she was a light butterfly, fluttering around the little flower blooming in his heart, a tiny single daisy in a bare field, surrounded by blades of grass that grown over it with years of hesitation and fear. Where the Olivia he'd met first looked at him with pity, contempt and inferiority, her red-headed alternative smiled at him with curiosity and fascination, and he shocked himself when he realized late one night he was dying to know her more.
2) One day in September
September 2011 AmberVerse
Being an FBI agent wasn't a simple job.
Chasing criminals, working long hours and giving bad news to families was part of the territory, and Lincoln had expected that when he'd joined the bureau from the police force. His own experience with tragedy and death had given him the ability to deliver the news empathetically with a skill Robert had envied until he'd learned how Lincoln had learned it.
But when he sat with Robert's wife Julie, all of the expertise, training and experience he had disappeared like a dream on waking.
Even so, he stayed with her after the funeral and wake because he didn't know where else to go and what else to do. The wooden box with his partner's personal effects sat on the table where he'd left them, the contents rattling around in it like the thoughts in his head. He awkwardly tucked his hands in his pockets, feeling the native American token Danzig had given him earlier in their partnership, to show he'd always be welcome at their home and in their family. The tether felt strained and stretched, pulled to its limits and fraying with every flip in his fingers and memory of that day.
I don't have children or a family. I don't even have a home. It should have been me.
Their house was eerily quiet compared to usual which only compounded his unease. He was used to it being filled with the sounds of their children laughing, and as Lincoln sat with Jules, she stared vacantly, leaning into his shoulder for support, the only sound was small shudders that dripped from her lungs and a tick of clock that echoed against the empty walls.
Lifting her head she looked at his shoulder, damp with tears, and leaped out of his arm's embrace.
"Sorry." She sniffed, wiping her face, making him realize how wet his eyes were too.
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing." He replied as she sat up. "I'm the one who should be sorry. It should've been… I'll do everything I can to find those responsible."
There's nothing I can say. Whatever I say would never be enough. "Jules, I should go." Lincoln added, as he leapt up and stiffly motioned towards the door, forcing a pinched polite smile as he stepped away.
"Lincoln?" Jules' voice was small but louder than a scream, and it stopped him instantly. He waited, without turning back to her as his hand reached for the handle. "Will you come back? It's Amy's birthday in a few weeks and I'd really appreciate it if you came."
Turning back he nodded. "Of course." And then he was gone, alone again in the wilderness, looking for somewhere - or someone - else to call home.
April 2010 Alternative/Red Universe
Lincoln hadn't been seen for over a week, and eventually Olivia cornered Charlie on a quiet afternoon, concerned that he'd not been around and no one had offered any explanation.
"He's, uh, taken some compassionate leave," Charlie explained, awkwardly shoving his hands into his pockets, his eyes flickering to the floor with uncertainty, unsure of how much he should share. "His step-brother called out of the blue. They don't really talk much anymore..." He sighed, pursing his lips in a sympathetic smile. "There was a car accident. His dad and step-mom were hit head on in a collision, they're not sure if they're gonna make it. And since his step-sister was trapped in amber a few years back, he doesn't really have anyone else."
Olivia nodded in understanding, recalling their conversation from a few months earlier when she'd received her first commendation only to learn a few hours later her sister Rachel and her baby had died in childbirth. Lincoln, in a rare display of vulnerability, had revealed the same thing had happened to his own mother when he was a small boy, leaving him alone with his father until he'd remarried a few years later.
"Thanks for letting me know, Charlie, that saves me putting my foot in my mouth later."
"No worries, kiddo," Charlie replied, his dark brown eyes shimmering with sympathy. "Just don't tell him I told you. He doesn't like pity."
When Lincoln finally returned, Charlie edged up to him, the concern for his friend etched on his face. "You sure you're ready to be back at work? You look rough as hell…"
"Not as rough as your sister when I left her this morning." Lincoln retorted, hiding behind the wall of his sarcastic banter even more than he usually did, but now Olivia could see the sadness in his eyes despite his disguise.
30th September 2011 AmberVerse
"Remind me again what this is for," Lincoln asked, passing a large piece of material to Walter as he gestured for it and frowned in confusion. "I thought we were going to talk about the shapeshifters?"
"Pull this blanket over here," Walter instructed, unfolding it with a quick wrist action, sending dust and paperwork flying across the room and trying in vain to fit it over a mirror. "Dammit, I have a bigger one in the lab. Can you grab it, Kennedy?"
"It's Lincoln!" He repeated in annoyance from earlier, louder this time, as he turned back towards the main lab, stopping in his tracks when he heard Astrid and Olivia talking.
"Well, he just lost his partner… He's probably a little lonely... Why not? He's cute."
"He's not even my type."
The two bald men's words played back in his mind. "
It is your destiny to be with - an Olivia…"
"...But it is unclear which one."
He'd quickly grown to admire, respect and even like this Olivia, and appreciate her understated and unconventional beauty, realizing she was probably reserved due to previous experiences just like he was. Unsure and too cautious to make the first move. But this confirmed she wasn't interested in him at all.
The rejection should have stung, but the chronic pain was something he'd become so accustomed to, he didn't even feel it anymore. Then he thought about the other Olivia, with her red hair that hung freely around her shoulders and wickedly contagious grin, and couldn't forget the way she looked at him that day on the bridge, like he should be in on the joke but didn't know the punchline.
He continued to the lab now Olivia had taken a phone call, and he grabbed the sheet quickly, taking it back to Walter, not noticing Astrid's blush at the thought of him overhearing her conversation with Olivia.
"Ah yes! That's the one!" The older man greeted him enthusiastically, attempting to take it from Lincoln and he retracted, moving back slightly, which was met by a surprised expression from Walter.
He then offered the sheet with a bagged selection of candy he'd picked up on the way in; gum balls, jelly beans, vines and lemon drops.
Lincoln had remembered Walter's fondness for sweet snacks and the way to his heart was definitely through his stomach, and he was determined to use it as a method to help his own heart.
"So you were telling me about the other Olivia, from the other side?" He smiled, "Please, continue."
Late September 2011 AmberVerse
"If you're freaked out, and need to talk, I'm here," Olivia said, reassuringly.
Lincoln smiled, appreciating her kindness, although it took him by surprise. To this point, although she'd been professional, she'd always remained a little distant, unattached even. But now she seemed more accepting of him, although she still seemed a bit distracted by something she wasn't prepared to share with him yet, they'd begun to find their rhythm and a way of working together as partners.
"You'll be the first to know!" He smiled awkwardly, knowing that wasn't exactly the truth, as she wasn't the only one holding back.
In a haze of antibiotics & antifungal medications, an oxygen tank and a small transfusion, Lincoln Lee's body was finally fighting the parasitic mold lifeform that had attacked him, and he slowly felt a bit more normal physically, although he knew mentally he'd take a lot longer to adjust.
He fiddled with the IV drip in his hand as he completed the crossword on his hospital bed, longing for a game of chess with Walter to pass the time and ease the boredom.
Suddenly, the door to his room opened, and the nurse came in.
"Good morning, Mr Lee!" she greeted him as she walked in. "Glad to see you're awake already!"
"Hi." He replied, appreciating the company. "Is it time for a check-up or more pills?"
"Actually, you have a visitor." She replied as Olivia's face peered around the door frame.
"I do? Hey!" He smiled in surprise. "Nice to see you."
"Hey yourself!" She replied. "How are you feeling?"
"More like a normal guy and less like a fungi!" Lincoln quipped, and Olivia laughed as she sat in the chair next to his bed.
"Well, as long as you're not freaked out!"
He coughed as he laughed, and the nurse looked at him as she checked his IV and left the room.
"I brought you a change of clothes. I thought you'd need some as yours were contaminated by …"
"Gus?"
Olivia studied his face as he smiled and noticed how soulful his eyes looked when he was smiling.
His normal look was so contradictory. He had a cute boyish charm and looks, but in a traditional government agent suit and glasses, he looked older. Without his glasses and having not shaved since being admitted into hospital, the stubble accentuated his jaw and it made him look different, a lot like the Lincoln she'd met on the other side. Handsomer, even. Olivia stopped herself in her thoughts and looked away. Before, she had been so sure he wasn't her usual type, but maybe he was, after all. He was a good guy; quiet and shy but clearly passionate and protective about people he cared about, it was just hidden under his conservative FBI agent appearance. And his work showed he was astute, meticulous and had a good eye for detail.
Maybe I wouldn't get second thoughts, she thought to herself.
He smiled awkwardly at the silence and looked away at his bedside table on the other side of the bed and fished something from the drawer.
"Did they destroy the organism?" He enquired, and she nodded in reply.
"Once they had severed the connection with Aaron, the toxin along with flamethrowers seems to have destroyed any trace along the sewer line that was headed into Boston."
"That's good. I don't remember much from before the medical team brought me here." Lincoln paused, thoughtfully. "I'm glad you came to see me, actually. I wanted to thank you for saving my life."
"You would have done the same for me. You don't need to thank me." Olivia said, flustered.
"I want you to have this," he passed the leather chain with the metal emblem to her. "Robert gave me this Native American token when he saved my ass on an early case because he said I needed it to ground me. The picture is a maze symbolizing the journey of life, the difficulties and decisions we make that lead to the center.
"What's in the center?"
"Home, a place for us to belong." He smiled wistfully. "You said you knew what it was like to have a hole in your life, and I never got to tell you I was sorry I made that assumption about you, so..."
"I can't take this from you, Lincoln," Olivia began. "I know how much he meant to you."
"No, I want you to have it," Lincoln gently insisted, knowing what she could mean to him if they let each other in and made the first step. "Use it as I did, as a tether, when you feel yourself floating away."
"Are you sure?"
He nodded as he curled her fingers around it in her hand and she cursed herself as she balked at the surprise of his touch, her flinch registered in his eyes and she winced at her own awkwardness.
"I better make a move and check on Walter. I'm glad you're okay, Lincoln." She stood and moved towards the door as her hand reached for the handle. "Maybe we'll get that bite to eat when you're back?"
"Dinner's on me as you saved my life." He replied and nodded, the corners of his lips twisting into a smile. "Anything you want, just not Italian - I don't think I'll want to eat mushrooms for a long time"
Lincoln wheezed as he laughed again and Olivia smiled as she left, holding the gift in her fingers and processing their conversation and his thoughts.
September 2011 Alt/RedVerse
"Charlie and Mona, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Charlie with his baby worms in a carriage." Lincoln sung , the teasing lilt in his voice increasing as approached Charlie and Mona, the former scowling and the latter looking down at her feet and suppressing a smirk, whacking him lightly with the bouquet of red and white roses she gripped in her hands.
Charlie shifted in his smart navy suit and shirt, adjusting a red rose in the buttonhole of his jacket as Mona smiled in her white, 50s retro style halter neck dress with red and red patent block heels to match her glasses and lipstick, her ginger hair flicked out in a bob.
"Is that your way of congratulating us?" Charlie asked, jutting his chin towards Olivia who was dancing in the arms of a tall handsome man he didn't recognise, her red bandeau maxi dress swishing at her ankles. "Or maybe you're just jealous."
"Pffft, whatever." Lincoln replied with a scoff, "Sorry for bugging you. Just think of us when you're on your honeymoon and we're saving the world."
"Trust me when I say you will be the last thing I'll be thinking of when I'm sipping Mai Tai cocktails on the beach." Charlie said, taking the hand of his new wife and linking his fingers with hers as he led her towards the dance floor as the song changed.
Lincoln turned as Olivia worked her way through the dancers and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the floor.
"C'mon," her smile beaming up at him, "You can't stand here on your own all night."
"Oh no," Lincoln protested as he pulled back. "I don't dance."
"Sure you do." Olivia argued, linking her right hand with his left one and putting his other hand on her waist as she linked her arm around his shoulder. "This is a slow song. All you gotta do is sway with me."
Lincoln sighed as she moved against him and they stepped in time to the song.
"You sure you wouldn't want to dance with that other guy you were with?" He asked, his movements unsure as he felt her chest pressing against his own.
"Nope, you're doing fine. He cornered me when I came out of the restrooms and stepped on my foot." She said as Lincoln stifled a snigger. "Twice."
They moved further into the crowd of dancers, moving closer together as the dance floor became more crowded. The lights reflected from the disco ball above them added little specks of rainbows that glittered on her hair and shoulders, and Lincoln's hand moved closer around her waist, joined by the other as her arms linked around his neck. She could feel the rough feel of his two-day-old stubble on her cheek and clutching strands of her hair.
"It's a shame you were off work. You'll never guess who I met at work yesterday?"
"Who?" He asked, his breath warm on her cheek.
"You." She smiled as Lincoln frowned in confusion. "The one from the other side, I mean."
"Oh, really?" Lincoln huffed a smile, trying to read her face for any flicker of emotion. "Is he devastatingly handsome and charming too?"
She thought of how she had chuckled to herself when she saw him for the first time, there was no mistake who it was, she would recognise him in any universe or iteration, but his conservative appearance of flat hair and glasses had thrown her off, made her laugh with a nervous energy she hadn't expected to feel. More than that, he looked good in a suit, great even, to the point she'd forgotten about the shapeshifter tech for a second. There was something curious about him, something that compelled her to keep looking in his direction, pulling her in like a magnetic force. He'd looked at her equally surprised, but then seemed as if a flicker of recognition had danced in his eyes, like it he was expecting to see her eventually and it was just a matter of when rather than if.
"Hmmm, I just thought he was kinda funny looking." She smirked teasingly, watching Lincoln's eyes roll back in response until they lowered, his lids heavy as he studied her face.
"I don't think I've ever seen you like this before," Lincoln whispered, "in a dress, with your hair up."
"A bridesmaid's dress isn't really suitable for work." Olivia scoffed nervously, biting her lip. "I've never seen you in a suit before, either."
"You look beautiful." He said simply, moving his head back so he could see her face, her eyes shining in the shimmer of the disco lights that danced across her face and froze as his eyes drifted to her full lips, cherry-like, red and glistening. Lincoln swallowed thickly, worried she was about to mock him for complimenting her.
"Lincoln, is that you?" A male voice called out, shaking them up from the spell of each other's gaze and they jumped, guiltily stepping out of each other's grasp as if caught doing something forbidden.
"George?" Lincoln replied, frowning in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here with Mona's cousin. I never thought I'd see you again." The young man smiled, his aqua eyes glinting as he tucked his long sandy blond hair behind his ears and leaned in, pecking a kiss on the side of Lincoln's cheek, to Olivia's surprise. "So, you gonna stand there or are you gonna introduce me to your -?
"This is Olivia." Lincoln interrupted as the other man offered his hand to shake. "We work with Charlie. Olivia, this is George, an old friend of mine from before I-"
"Friend?" George laughed, interrupting Lincoln mid-sentence. "Sure."
He stopped when he saw Lincoln's eyes widen as a warning. "Nice to see you again. Call me if you want to meet up. I'm in town for the rest of the week before I head back to Philly."
He winked, sauntering away, leaving Olivia looking at Lincoln with raised eyebrows.
"So, who was he?" she teased, reaching out for his hand to continue the dance but he pulled it away, and stormed off in the opposite direction towards the patio doors. "Lincoln?"
Olivia called him back, but he didn't stop, and left her alone in the middle of the dance floor for a moment until she decided to follow him.
She finally found him, away from the crowds and sat on a picnic bench in the grounds of the building, through the gazebos, arbors and pergolas decorated with red and white flowers and string lights, leaning on his elbows and cradling what looked like a large glass of whisky, swigging it back as he saw her slowly approach him.
Oct/Nov 2011 AmberVerse
Lincoln sat in his hotel room, alone. A few days ago, he'd given Olivia his keychain that his partner Robert had given him and sitting there, he shocked himself when he admitted to himself he would have given her his heart too if she asked or if he thought she'd take it.
It would be so easy to fall in love with her in this state, with no one else to fall back on, being alone in the world. He could easily allow himself to fall for her, and thought he would, but then she confessed she'd dreamed of Peter before he mysteriously appeared and as much as he tried to deny it, he knew what that meant, as one of the Olivias had been haunting his dreams for weeks too. When she confessed that to him it confirmed what he already suspected, he decided to distance himself from her for his own self-preservation - he had no desire to be a third wheel or get burned again. He resolved to call her Dunham instead of her first name, and when she asked him if he wanted to get food together again, he bluntly refused, made his excuses and left.
His suit jacket and tie laid discarded at his side as Lincoln stretched out on the top of the bed over the starched sheets and bed cover. He stared blankly at the beige walls and abstract painting in his small hotel room that rattled on the nail it hung on. He tried to ignore the flash of disappointment he'd seen on Olivia's face when he rebuffed her offer of getting food, but he couldn't forget it. Actually, he regretted being cold to her. It was against his nature to be hurtful towards someone he cared for, even if she had been like that to him only a few weeks ago and it meant he would get hurt eventually, and the guilt ate away at the back of his mind.
Deciding to go for a walk, he jumped up from the bed and slipped on his shoes. He'd been unable to sleep from the feeling of remorse and shame and had found a 24 hour diner that sold decent food and coffee to give him enough distraction from his thoughts and the muffled noises of couples fucking that vibrated through the thin walls of the hotel he was staying in despite the earplugs he used, the sounds seeping through as vibrations like his thoughts about Olivia and the cases did in his mind.
On the fourth night he visited the café, he found a stool at the bar like he had before, and made himself comfortable, placing his jacket down on the smooth blue Formica surface and unfolded his newspaper to reveal the crossword puzzle as the server came over with coffee.
"Back again, Hun?" She smiled, topping up his cup, and he smiled politely in reply. "What can I get ya tonight? Chefs got a ham and fries special... or a Denver omelet, chili fries, grilled cheese sandwich…" she continued slowly, noticing his reluctant expression.
"Some apple pie to go with the coffee will be fine, thanks." Lincoln replied quickly so she would leave him alone with his crossword, a new hobby he'd found that mentally wore him out enough to want to sleep. He missed the ignorance he'd had prior to meeting Olivia as devoted as he was to finding more about the shapeshifters that had killed his partner. Everything he knew about the world was completely false, which terrified him. What if he wasn't able to get used to it, ever? Then he realized it wasn't the world but the people - especially Olivia - and that scared him even more.
Beyond the glow of the neon signs that flashed in the window, the night was black and silent except for a couple of fleeting visitors and car engines revving at the traffic lights. He pushed the plate to the side as he finished his food and studied the last clue in the crossword as a familiar voice caught his attention from across the diner.
Looking up, he saw Olivia and squinted in disbelief as she approached, explaining she'd gone for a walk to help with a migraine.
"Eventually it will become your life."
"Is that what happened with you?" Lincoln asked.
Olivia smiled unconvincingly, like she'd never had to get used to it or it wasn't an issue for her as it had been for him. Had she always been this way? She wasn't sure. She thought she had, but now sitting here she wasn't sure anymore as he looked at her coyly through fresh eyes.
Leaving the diner, he accompanied her the couple of blocks to her building, "Thanks for the company Lincoln, and helping me take my mind off this migraine." She smiled, and he huffed in reply, shuffling on his feet and tucked his hands in his jeans pockets for warmth.
"No problem." He smiled awkwardly, watching her climb the steps to her door, not turning away until he saw the light in her apartment flicker on.
Lincoln had noticed the way Peter looked at Olivia sometimes when he didn't think anyone was paying attention, like he knew her, really knew her. How could he not notice? And yet Lincoln hadn't noticed Olivia looking at Peter the same way. Yet, it felt inevitable that she would, eventually. Peter knew a lot about her - and Walter. He seemed to even know Lincoln well enough to know his first name, and yet none of them remembered him - how was that even possible?
As he left Peter's house for Walter's lab after dropping off the equipment, Lincoln considered what Peter had said. They were together, he and Olivia, in his timeline, but this Olivia wasn't his. But she had been dreaming of Peter, even before he'd arrived. Like the mice in Walter's maze, where one was only visible in the UV light, the answer was there all along; he just couldn't see it yet, even with the new glasses Peter had given him.
When Olivia never showed up at the diner and when he checked on her the next day, and Peter was already there, he finally had his answer.
December 2011 AltVerse
Peter asked Lincoln to accompany him to the alternative universe, and he grasped the opportunity, if it would help him find out more about why Robert had died and for the chance he might see their Olivia again. She'd left an indelible mark on his soul, an imprint that he couldn't erase, regardless of how much he tried, and then on the pier, he saw her again with the other version of himself.
If the Olivia from his universe was a closed book, who only revealed herself slowly page by page, inclined to spontaneously slam shut if you read too much into what she was confessing, this one was more like an open sky; bright, warm, and welcoming to him, even though she had every right to be suspicious. She believed him and trusted him, and something told him he could trust her in return, despite Walter's insistence she was immoral and evil. She was still an unforgettable bright light in a damaged world, but her eyes weren't the same, like she was unsure or reserved about something he wasn't aware of.
"So you two were close, huh?"
Lincoln looks up and meets Olivia's familiar large green eyes framed by her auburn bangs as they look at him inquiringly, and a hint of a friendly smile twists in her mouth as they sit on the bench on the busy plaza.
"What?" He replied, squinting slightly to see without his glasses.
"Your partner. When we captured you, you said that the shapeshifters killed someone very close to you." She stated, looking away again towards Jones.
"Oh yeah, we were very close -" he began, interrupted by the other Lincoln's voice on the tactical radio.
"Hey, Red, you got anything?"
As they sat and talked, she confessed she was close to her version of him, but just friends, but he wasn't sure if it was true. She looked at the other Lincoln in a way that made him feel like he was still not in on the joke and it made him feel uneasy; it was the way she'd looked at him when they'd met on the bridge and how his Olivia recently looked at Peter. It made bile rise in the back of his throat, stinging his eyes, and he resolved to return to the FBI once they'd brought Jones to justice, regardless of what the bald men had told him. He didn't believe in fate and he might be alone there, but he won't be lonely or forgettable like he was here.
20 Jan 2012 AltVerse
"Did you break your glasses?"
"What?" Lincoln replied, surprised by Olivia's sudden question that seemed out of the blue. She looked at him with sparkling inquisitive eyes that shimmered like the ocean when the sun came out from behind the clouds.
"Your glasses are different. When I first met you, they were thicker, then earlier you weren't wearing any." She explained, looking away and biting her lip in embarrassment from his slightly startled gaze.
"Oh! Um, no. But thanks for noticing," he huffed with a smile, subconsciously pushing them back up his nose. "I just was told I should try some new ones."
"Well, they look good." Olivia smiled back as a blush crept up his cheeks and his eyebrows raised with the compliment.
Through the bustle of the busy Fringe HQ rotunda, the other Lincoln eyed his doppelgänger carefully from the corner of his eye as he left Broyles's office. They were unsurprisingly very similar physically. He could see how he'd gotten through security without too much resistance, but his mannerisms and body language were completely different; timid compared to his own confident appearance. That was until he'd seen him talk about the shapeshifters who'd killed his partner and who he'd come over to investigate with Peter, and he recognised himself in him. As much as he hated to admit it, he seemed attentive, kind, intelligent, and Olivia seemed to trust him. More than that, she liked him and that nurtured a seed of doubt in his mind that grew with each look, touch and word between them, tightening around his heart like poison ivy vines as much as he tried to cut it away. He almost wished Charlie were still here to tell him he was being ludicrous.
Lincoln walked towards them, slyly watching the other Lincoln get up and go towards Peter, the man he came with as they both headed towards the exit.
"Hey!" He nudged Olivia as he caught up with her as she went to follow the men, feeling a slight pang of disappointment when she didn't touch him back.
"What were you and your new chums talking about?"
She narrowed her eyes in a mocking expression.
"We were mostly discussing Jones. Agent Lee was telling me about his partner that was killed because of Jones's shapeshifters, and I told him we could use both his and Peter's help now we know what Jones is after."
"So we just were trusting them both implicitly now?"
"We don't have any reason not to. Everything they've said so far seems to be true."
He signed and frowned, attempting, and failing, to form a logical counterargument so changed the subject.
"So, where are they going?"
"We're going to a meeting with the Secretary of Defense before they head back over on the bridge. You coming?"
"Of course!" He grinned, pushing down his feelings of jealousy at her being close to another version of himself. Being snappy about it was hardly going to help, and he knew she would say he was overreacting, but he still couldn't help a niggling sense of doubt getting the better of him.
January 2012 AmberVerse
After the case with Emily, who could see people's cause of death and her own, Lincoln took a break, using his god-daughter's birthday as an excuse.
It felt surreal to return to Hartford, seeing it exactly the same as he left it, everyone oblivious and ignorant to the fact that there was a whole other universe, where everyone has, or had, a version of themselves. Not to mention the shapeshifters, killer mold, invisible men and time bubbles in this universe. He ached to share it with someone, tell them what he knew, but there was no one to talk to.
"I hear it's someone's birthday today?" He smiled as the door opened and the small girl with wavy ginger pigtails bounced up and down in excitement to see him.
"Lincoln!" The girl beamed, her long auburn hair swishing as he swooped her up into a hug, resting her on the side of his slim hip. He stepped through the threshold, ducking past the collection of balloons in the hall. "Where have you been? Is this for me?" She asked excitedly, tugging the gift bag in his hand.
"Of course!" He smiled, handing her the bag. "Ah, how'd you get so big already?" Lincoln smiled. "I think it will be your turn to carry me soon." She giggled, jumping down to the floor excitedly as her mother appeared from the kitchen.
"You look tired, work keeping you busy?" Jules asked, passing him a drink as Amy tore into the wrapping paper.
"You could say that." He smiled awkwardly, pursing his lips. "I've transferred to a new division, so hopefully it will help us get closer to the people responsible for…" He stopped as Amy came back, running up to him and hugged his legs with the toy in her hand.
"Thank you!" The girl grinned, running back to the room to play, and he turned back to her mother and continued.
"How's she doing?" Lincoln asked, waiting for her to go back out of earshot.
"Up and down. Jonathan and her have been so strong and helping each other. She's had tummy upsets, though. I don't know if it's the stress or if she has Crohn's like Robert had, so she's going for tests." Julie paused, looking at Lincoln as she leaned against the counter. "They miss you too. They keep asking when you're going to babysit again."
"And you? How are you holding up?"
"It's hard sometimes, ya know?" She sniffed, and he nodded.
"It eventually gets easier, I promise." He smiled again, sighing to break the silence. "So, we're making good progress, but, uh, I…" he stuttered.
"What is it?" Julie asked, her eyes wide in concern. "Did you find something out?"
"No." He sighed. "I wanted to tell you I'll probably be going away for a while. I don't know how long I'll be gone or when I'll come back, but I promise I won't stop until I find the answers I'm looking for."
December 2011 AltVerse
Peter asked Lincoln to accompany him to the alternative universe, and he grasped the opportunity, if it would help him find closure on why Robert had died and for the chance he might see their Olivia again. Something about her had left an indelible mark on his soul, an imprint that he couldn't erase, regardless of how much he tried. He felt like a blank page, waiting for her to stain him with her words and smile, and then on the pier, he saw her again with the other version of himself.
If the Olivia from his universe was a closed book, who only revealed herself slowly page by page, inclined to spontaneously slam shut if you read too much into the words on her pages, this one was more like an open sky; bright, warm, and welcoming to him, even though she had every right to be suspicious of his motivations. She believed him and trusted him, and something told him he could trust her in return, despite Walter's insistence she was immoral and evil. She was an unforgettable bright light in a damaged world, but he could tell her eyes too held secrets he wanted to know.
"So you two were close, huh?"
Lincoln looked up to meet Olivia's wide eyes, familiar yet mysterious. Her auburn bangs making them a dark stormy sea green. She glanced at him inquiringly, a hint of a friendly smile twisting in her mouth as they sat on the bench in the busy plaza watching Jones.
"What?" He replied, squinting slightly to see her without his glasses.
"Your partner. When we captured you, you said that the shapeshifters killed someone very close to you." She stated, looking away again towards Jones who sat at the table outside the café.
"Oh yeah, we were very close -" he began, interrupted by the other Lincoln's voice on the tactical radio.
"Hey, Red, you got anything?"
As they sat and talked, she confessed she was close to her version of him too, but just friends, but he wasn't sure if it was true. She looked at the other Lincoln in a way that made him feel like he was still not in on the joke, and the uncanny sense of déjà vu made him feel uneasy.
It was the way she'd looked at him when they'd met on the bridge and how his Olivia recently looked at Peter, a man who appeared out time and out of nowhere, manifested out of Walter and Olivia's dreams. If he was completely honest with himself, he felt it too in way. Like they'd met before but the memory of it was just out of reach, like a word on the tip of your tongue or an an old sepia photograph from an album kept in the corner of a dusty attic.
It made bile rise in the back of his throat and a sting in his eyes, and he resolved to return to the FBI once they'd brought Jones to justice, regardless of what the bald men had told him.
But the next day they were back, trying to predict Jones's next move after they'd lost him at the quarry.
"Did you break your glasses?"
"What?" Lincoln replied, surprised by Olivia's sudden question that seemed out of the blue. She looked at him mischievously with sparkling inquisitive eyes that shimmered like the ocean illuminated by golden sunbeams
"Your glasses are different. When I first met you, they were thicker, then earlier you weren't wearing any." She explained, looking away and biting her lip in embarrassment from his slightly startled gaze.
"Oh! Um - no. But thanks for noticing," he huffed with a smile, subconsciously pushing them back up his nose. "I just was told I should try some new ones."
"Well, they look good." Olivia smiled back as a blush crept up his cheeks and his eyebrows raised with the compliment.
Through the bustle of the busy Fringe HQ rotunda, the other Lincoln eyed his doppelgänger carefully from the corner of his eye as he left Broyles's office. They were unsurprisingly very similar physically. He could see how he'd gotten through security without too much resistance, but his mannerisms and body language were completely different; timid compared to his own confident appearance. That was until he'd seen him talk about the shapeshifters who'd killed his partner and who he'd come over to investigate with Peter, and he recognised himself in him. As much as he hated to admit it, he seemed attentive, kind, intelligent, and Olivia seemed to trust him. More than that, she liked him and that nurtured a seed of doubt in his mind that grew with each look, touch and word between them, tightening around his heart like poison ivy vines as much as he tried to cut it away. He almost wished Charlie were still here to tell him he was being ludicrous.
Lincoln walked towards them, slyly watching the other Lincoln get up and go towards Peter, the man he came with, as they both headed towards the exit.
"Hey!" He nudged Olivia as he caught up with her as she went to follow the men, feeling a slight pang of disappointment when she didn't touch him back. "What were you and your new chums talking about?"
She narrowed her eyes in a mocking expression.
"We were mostly discussing Jones. Agent Lee was telling me more about his partner that was killed because of Jones's shapeshifters, and I told him we could use both his and Peter's help now we know what Jones is after."
"So we just were trusting them both implicitly now?"
"We don't have any reason not to. Everything they've said so far seems to be true."
He signed and frowned, attempting, and failing, to form a logical counterargument so changed the subject.
"So, where are they going?"
"We're going to a meeting with the Secretary of Defense before they head back home. You coming?"
"Of course!" He grinned, pushing down his feelings of jealousy at her being close to another version of himself.
Being snappy about it was hardly going to help, and he knew she would say he was overreacting, but he still couldn't help a niggling sense of doubt getting the better of him.
January 2012 AmberVerse
After the case with Emily, who could see people's cause of death and her own, Lincoln took a break, using his god-daughter's birthday as an excuse.
It felt surreal to return to Hartford, seeing it exactly the same as he left it, everyone oblivious and ignorant to the fact that there was a whole other universe, where everyone has, or had, a version of themselves. Not to mention the shapeshifters, killer mold, invisible men and time bubbles in this universe. He ached to share it with someone, tell them what he knew, but there was no one to talk to.
"I hear it's someone's birthday today?" He smiled as the door opened and the small girl with wavy ginger pigtails bounced up and down in excitement to see him.
"Lincoln!" The girl beamed, her long auburn hair swishing as he swooped her up into a hug, resting her on the side of his slim hip. He stepped through the threshold, ducking past the collection of balloons in the hall. "Where have you been? Is this for me?" She asked excitedly, tugging the gift bag in his hand.
"Of course!" He smiled, handing her the bag. "Ah, how'd you get so big already?" Lincoln smiled. "It'll be your turn to carry me soon." She giggled, jumping down to the floor excitedly as her mother appeared from the kitchen.
"You look tired, work keeping you busy?" Jules asked, passing him a drink as Amy excitedly tore into the wrapping paper, pieces of shredded paper covering the carpet like dead petals.
"You could say that." He smiled awkwardly, pursing his lips. "I've transferred to a new division, so hopefully it will help us get closer to the people responsible for…" He stopped as Amy came back, running up to him and hugged his legs with the toy in her hand.
"Thank you!" The girl grinned, running back to the room to play, and he turned back to her mother and continued.
"How's she doing?" Lincoln asked, waiting for her to go back out of earshot.
"Up and down. Jonathan and her have been so strong and helping each other. She's had tummy upsets, though. I don't know if it's the stress or if she has Crohn's like Robert had, so she's going for tests." Julie paused, looking at Lincoln as she leaned against the counter. "They miss you too. They keep asking when you're going to babysit again."
"Sorry, I've been doing a lot of travelling for work. And you? How are you holding up?"
"It's hard sometimes, ya know?" She sniffed, and he nodded.
"It eventually gets easier, I promise." Lincoln smiled again, sighing to break the silence. "So, we're making some progress in the case, but, uh, I…" he stuttered.
"What is it?" Julie asked, her eyes wide in concern. "Did you find something out?"
"No. Nothing concrete." He sighed. "I wanted to tell you I'll probably be going away for a while. I don't know how long I'll be gone or when I'll come back, but I promise I won't stop until I find the answers I'm looking for."
Olivia flipped her long, auburn hair out of the way behind her shoulders and hungrily stabbed the box of leftover cold chow mein with her chopsticks, humming in appreciation of the taste. She tipped them in her mouth and caught them on her tongue, her eyes rolling in satisfaction at the savory taste.
"You know, the Chinese food and coffee are two things I miss from being over here. I haven't found any in our world that come close to matching these noodles."
She thought about other things she missed as she looked around the lab, meeting Walter's gaze briefly before he looked away.
"They have coffee?" Astrid replied incredulously, leaning forward to whisper. "Do you think they'd let me have some of theirs?"
"You, yes. Me, probably not." She scoffed, dropping the carton into the trash can, and stood to saunter towards Walter as he eyed her suspiciously.
"So…" she smiled, approaching the older man. "What's a girl gotta do to get a café latte around here?"
"Not being Machiavellian and devious would be a good start." Walter sneered as he stood, moving to the shelf behind him to move out of her space.
"Wow. Not everyone has that opinion of me, you know. Peter trusts me and says I'm a good person."
"He said that?" Walter scoffed. "How would he know? He doesn't even know you."
"Beats me." Olivia shrugged with a smile and winked. "Your Lincoln said that he said it about me when I talked to him over on our side. Is he around? I bet he'd get me a coffee."
"Just because you can manipulate my - Peter - and the other boy with your feminine wiles for your evil ends, it does not mean they'll work on me!" He spat as Olivia scoffed and crossed her arms defensively. "And no, he's not around. It's his daughter's birthday, so he's away. Which is a pity, as I would really like a game of chess, and some scrambled eggs."
Olivia recoiled and frowned as she looked speechless at the older man.
A daughter? Lincoln never mentioned he had a family, but then again, why would he? She'd assumed he was single like the Lincoln on her side. It had never occurred to her he might have children or even be married and had removed his ring to impersonate his doppelgänger. She struggled to recall their first meeting on the bridge. They'd not even spoken to each other, but she'd glanced at him long enough to laugh at the similarities and differences between the two Lincolns.
She pulled herself out of the thought, trying to comprehend why it bothered her so much as Walter emptied a plastic shopping bag in front of her, the contents spilling out and clattering onto the surface like buried memories.
March 2012 Altverse
When Olivia opened her apartment door, she could barely hide her wide smile on seeing Lincoln who was unable to hide the look of surprise on his face at Olivia's appearance. Wearing a sheer scoop neck top and black skirt, she tipped his chin up with her fingertips to stop his jaw from dropping when he stepped over the threshold. He could feel himself staring on noticing the shape of her ass through the fabric, and thought he might die of a heart attack before they even ate dinner.
"What?" Olivia frowned, self-consciously looking down at herself, unaware of the effect the lighting had on the fabric of her top or of the effect her clothing had on Lincoln's pulse.
"Y-you! You're wearing a skirt!" He stuttered then laughed nervously, visibly shocked.
"So? You said at Charlie's wedding when I was wearing that bridesmaid gown I should wear dresses more often, but if you prefer, I can get changed?" She replied, gesturing to her bedroom behind her.
"Oh no, you look great! So, how was it over there? Tell me the details," Lincoln asked, distracting himself by shrugging his jacket off of his arms.
"Okay, I guess." She scoffed, pausing as she thought back on her conversation with her double then sighed, wondering whether or not she she should vocalise what she'd been thinking of since she returned.
She looked at Lincoln as he widened his eyes expectantly.
"I think their Walter is beginning to warm to me, but their Olivia still sees me as a threat - she asked me if I liked Peter."
"What - like him? What did you say?" Lincoln frowned and raised his eyebrows, trying to hide the twang of jealousy he felt a knot in his gut.
"Mmmm - hmmm." She replied, taking his jacket and hanging it on the hook by the door. "I told her I prefer the nice guys over the moody ones."
"Ugh." He sighed, rolling his eyes as he mockingly winced, "Not devastatingly handsome, boyish good looks or…"
"Funny looking?" Olivia replied with a laugh, slumping down on the sofa as he sat next to her. "Nothing wrong with being nice. Nice guys are sexy, too."
"Soooo, anyway, " Lincoln ventured, putting two fingers in his mouth and pretending to gag, "Are we rustling up some food? You sure you don't want to order a take out if you're cooking?"
"Shut up!" She smiled at his teasing tone and jumped to her feet, striding to where the chopping board and knives sat on the kitchen counter. "If you're so perfect, come and give me a hand!"
"Gladly!" He laughed. "Let's get slicing and dicing!"
Olivia chopped the vegetables as Lincoln threw some diced chicken into a pan, stirring it as it sizzled in the hot oil and making a delicious aroma spread through the small kitchen.
He turned to look at her as she concentrated with her back to him, oblivious to his chatter and deep in thought.
"So, you gonna tell me what happened over there?" He could see she looked up at him in his peripheral vision quickly before looking back down at the chopping board. "Whatever it is you're sulking abou -"
"I'm not sulking!" Olivia protested defensively, interrupting him before he could finish and making Lincoln's eyebrows shoot up. She turned around, finally making eye contact with him.
"Okaayyy, whatever…" Lincoln held his hands up in surrender.
"I just…" Olivia began, then stopped, shaking her head dismissively.
"What?"
"Doesn't matter." She replied, turning back and aggressively slicing the carrot in front of her.
"Liv, c'mon," Lincoln pressed, "I know you. Something's been bothering you since you came back. What happened?"
She took a deep breath and sighed, almost slamming the knife down on the counter in frustration. How was he always able to tell when something was bothering her, and how was she supposed to explain it was because the other Lincoln had a daughter and most likely a partner or wife? She didn't even know why it bothered her so much, but when the other Walter had told her, the words made a knot in her stomach that wouldn't go away.
"If you must know, I wanted to talk to Agent Lee, but he wasn't there. He was with his…" She stopped, frowning at Lincoln. "… see, your reaction is why I didn't want to say anything. You just immediately dismiss him …"
"I didn't react." He scoffed.
"You rolled your eyes."
Lincoln tensed.
"I did not. I'm sorry not seeing Linc-Clone ruined your day, but you don't need to take it out on me because Mister Seriously-Lee was AWOL." He retorted spitefully as Olivia glared back at him.
Now they were both in a bad mood, which only seemed to add to the frustration. She turned back, picked up the knife and resumed her aggressive chopping.
"You can be a real immature asshole sometimes, you know that?" Olivia snapped.
"Well, I guess we can't all be as perfect as…"
"Shit! Dammit!" She cursed under her breath as the blade caught the side of her hand, and a scarlet droplet trailed down to her wrist. "Can you help me with this a sec?"
"You sure you don't want me to get the other Lincoln to kiss it better for you?"
"You know what, Lincoln? Fuck you." Olivia spat, angrily slamming down the knife again.
I wish, he thought, barely biting his tongue in time not to say it out loud, out of guilt, as her injury was his fault for distracting her.
"You okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned, as she rinsed blood off her palm into the sink.
"Oh yeah, just fine, thanks."
He stormed over, grabbing her hand to inspect it as she tried to withdraw it from his grasp.
"Stop being so stubborn," Lincoln retorted. "Keep rinsing it out, in case it cut too deep and you need a stitch in it."
Olivia put the back of her other hand against her forehead and pretended to swoon
"What would I ever do without you to save me?" She replied mockingly.
"Bleed to death." He joked, holding her hand under the icy stream of running water. "Or die of lack of handsomeness in the workplace." He smiled at her, trying to restore their usual banter out of guilt and redeem himself.
"Well, I'd just have to get the other Lincoln back over."
"I see you haven't lost your touch." He retorted bitterly, letting go of her wrist and marched towards the door indignantly.
"Where are you going?" Olivia began, in a slightly stunned voice.
"I've lost my appetite. You clearly don't need me around anymore. So I'm leaving you to it." He tore his jacket from the hook, and his hand reached the door as she replied.
"Why do you hate him? You're so alike, I'd thought you'd be the one swooning over him."
He stopped, his back still facing Olivia, and turned quickly, placing his hand against the door with a thump.
"SHUT UP! Listen, okay? We're NOT alike! We're completely different, just like you and the other Olivia are, and that fact is you seem to like him more than me when we've known each other for so long, and I lov- "He yelled, pointing his finger accusingly then paused as he saw her flinch at his unexpected and uncharacteristically loud outburst, his chest heaving with emotion. "Tell me the truth, is that what you think of me? That I'm some immature narcissist who's in love with himself? Just because I like men and women?"
Olivia flinched at the words that left his mouth, knowing how it must have sounded to him, and waited for him to continue, but he didn't. He just stood there, his hands resting against his hips and his eyebrows raised in indignation.
"No, of course not." She replied softly, shaking her head as she turned off the faucet. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like… Is that what you think of me? That I like him better than you when we've been partners for years and I barely know him? Just because I wanted his help with something." He looked up at her, almost sheepishly. "Tell me."
"I heard you two talking - flirting - over the radio when we were tracking Jones." He folded his arms against his chest. "You told him I was just a shoulder to cry on. Then I saw you earlier at my desk, the way you were touching his arm and… he looks like a used car salesman with Lego hair, okay?!" Lincoln blurted as he watched her holding her injured hand in the other one. Her eyes softened when she realized she'd been the same with the other Lincoln as she had been with hers, but to him it must've looked like he was being cast aside and replaced.
"Lincoln, you're never just anything to me. And if my memory serves, you were a lot like him when we first met back at the academy. Besides, I didn't want to give Broyles any reason for splitting us up." She added, smiling softly.
Fringe Training Academy Marines 1998 AltVerse
Hundreds of cadets dressed in gray camouflage uniforms sat at benches in a cafeteria, eating their lunch from segmented plastic trays in the large hall.
"Who's the blonde?" The soldier asked as he sat down next to his friend, who was pushing the food around his plate.
"What?" Lincoln said as looked up and frowned at his friend with his short dark brown hair and slim face. "Who?"
"The chick with the long blonde hair you keep looking at," Murphy replied, tipping his chin up, and Lincoln turned to see Olivia striding down the aisle between the tables.
"Dunham?" Lincoln asked. "I'm not staring at her -"
"Never said you were staring." Murphy added. "Is she the next target in your line of conquests?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lincoln scoffed.
"So she gave you the brush off? Not surprised, she's out of your league."
"Thanks a lot, man." Lincoln huffed. "Actually, I just talked to her a few times, nothing like that."
"I heard she's got an Olympic medal or something?" Murphy said, scooping up the last of his food onto the fork and hungrily piling it in his mouth.
"Sounds like you're the one that's obsessed with her, not me," Lincoln bluffed, eyeing her sideways as she sat at the bench parallel to him and looked back down at his own food as she caught his gaze.
When Lincoln saw Olivia at the academy again, she was alone, strolling from the common room, down the path towards the dorms. He jogged after her and she jumped as he tapped her on the shoulder.
"At ease. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said, the flaxen hair in her bangs catching his eye as her hair glittered in the setting sunlight. "Just wanted to say 'Hi'. I feel like I know you from somewhere, but I can't place it.
"Really?" She smiled, eyeing him skeptically as she kept walking. "Is that a line that usually works for you?…" Olivia narrowed her eyes again as she looked at his name badge. "... First Lieutenant Lee?"
"Cheeky," Lincoln laughed, "You can call me Lincoln though, except for when the Captain is around, Second Lieutenant D-"
"Olivia - Liv." She replied. "No one calls me Olivia except my Mom when I'm in trouble. But no, I don't think we have met before, unless you lived in Florida or Illinois?"
"Nope, I was born in New Jersey and moved to Philly when I was a kid when - um -" He paused before revealing too much information. "So, Olivia-Liv, I hear you have an Olympic medal?"
"Oh, yeah?" Olivia frowned and scoffed as she reached the female dorms. "Who told you that?"
"A little bird," he smirked, which provoked another smile from Olivia as she swiped the card to enter the building and turned back to look at Lincoln before closing the door behind her.
"Hmmm. Maybe it's the same little bird that talks about your reputation." She smirked enigmatically, her fingers tapping against the edge of the door as she held it open enough for her face to show through the gap.
"Reputa - I have a reputation?" Lincoln scoffed again, as his eyes imperceptibly flickered to her mouth when she licked her full lips and nodded. "What kind of reputation?" He frowned as her smile spread into a full grin as she slowly closed the door between them. "Hey! What reputation?!"
March 2012 Alt!Verse
Lincoln sniffed and nodded, shuffling on his feet. It was true; he hadn't always been so assertive, or confident, and if he was completely honest, there were still times he was insecure and doubtful, but his ability to hide them was a skill he'd perfected over the years since he'd joined Fringe Division. She edged closer to him and rested her hand on the door frame where he stood and he looked up at her through his low lashes, finally meeting her eyes, wet with pent-up emotions, reflecting a surprising intensity that made her forget their bickering.
"You're - jealous? Why did it upset you so much?"
"You know why." Lincoln scoffed, letting out a sigh. "I know it shouldn't and I have no right to, but I -" He stopped as she stepped into his space, her eyes wide in realization.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Olivia implored, as he chuffed out a mocking laugh.
"You were with Frank before, when we... And when he left, I didn't want to take advantage when you were vulnerable and hurting."
What he means is and what he trying to say is he doesn't want her to think he's only pretending to be her friend because he wants to have sex with her, he's her friend because he loves her and is in love with her, and wishes she was too but if she isn't then that's fine. Olivia shook her head, still reeling from his confession.
"It's just been so long since that night, I just thought you'd…"
"Got over you?" Lincoln replied, cutting her off, and she shrugged. "No."
"We've known each other for so long and we've been partners for six years. You're like my -"
"Don't say brother."
"I was gonna say best friend, but you could say that."
"You don't have a brother."
"You know what I mean, Linc."
"That night at the bar, you were going to say something. You said maybe we could be together if you weren't with someone. I need to know, don't lie to me, just look me in the eyes and tell me the truth, even if you think it's gonna hurt. Tell me you've never thought about us, me and you together? Because I do. All the time. Tell me and I promise I'll drop it for good." He pleaded, stopping as she shook her head.
"I can't." She admitted, her voice small, unable to meet his eyes. Olivia thought about the time they shared a drunken kiss, her dreams of a life she'd never had when Lincoln had held as she gave birth to a son, and how he'd always been there for her.
She couldn't deny the underlying sexual tension she has felt ever since that night, the curiosity bubbling between them but it was a step she was afraid to take, not just because of Frank's threats but if it went bad between them, she'd lose him as a friend and as a lover and that wasn't an option for her.
"So, what's stopping us?" Lincoln stepped forward, tentatively brushing her hand with his as she subconsciously licked her bottom lip.
"This isn't fair, I didn't know - I just wouldn't want this to come between us and lose you as a friend." She balked, stepping backwards in shock. "I - I need some time." He nodded, watching her face for any sign he hadn't pushed her away and lost her for good.
"You always knew, Liv. I think I should… I-I'm gonna go." He replied, the door latch clicking shut before she could stop him.
Swearing repeatedly under his breath, he cursed himself while walking into the night until he finally found himself back in his empty, dark apartment, alone.
MARCH 2012 AltVerse
Half asleep from drinking half a bottle of wine, Lincoln laid stretched out on the couch when a knock at his door startled him. He ambled towards the tapping, opening the door and almost gasping at who he saw.
"Liv? You okay?"
She nodded, her face blotchy and eyes shining in a way that made him feel sick, but he let her in and she stood in the hall, twisting her thumb nervously in her other hand.
"Linc, I — I can't stop thinking about what you said."
He sighed, and she looked up, catching him looking at her, eyes glinting like dark gemstones in the low light, and frowned. "What?"
"I didn't mean to upset you." He shifted on his feet, trying to ignore the weight he felt in his chest, leading her to the sofa as they sat down.
"Did you mean it?" She stuttered in a small voice. "You're my best friend a-and I'm scared of losing you like everyone else..." Lincoln nodded, looking at the floor as he braced himself for the words he's been preparing himself for since he found the courage to admit his feelings to himself and her, trying to ignore the hammering of his heart in his chest. "But, but maybe I should stop being scared." She whispered, so quietly he almost thought he'd imagined it until she moved towards him. His eyes shot back up at her eyes and frowned, unsure if he understood her properly and she smiled watching his expression.
Before he could take in her words and comprehend what was happening, she had swung her leg over him, her hands holding onto the back of the couch on either side of his head. She looked down at him as he brushed away the curtain of auburn hair she had become an expert at hiding behind, using his fingers to carefully tuck it behind her ear, following the cascade of her hair with his hands down her back until they reached her waist. He looked back up at her, with his head resting on the back of the sofa with a look of reverence she'd never seen before from any other man, but with the same look in his eyes he'd had for her as long as she can remember and she wondered why or how she'd never noticed it before. He gulped, unsure of whether to make the next move until she lowered herself onto his lap and he fought against the instinct to close his eyes at the sensation because he didn't want to miss one second of this. Unable to stop a shamelessly guttural moan from escaping his lips when she moved her hips to press herself against him, her breasts leaning into his chest, his hands spread her lower back to pin her in place. Trembling with nervous desire, they slowly slid down, and she leaned her face forward, gasping into his mouth as they cupped her ass, bringing her even closer so he could feel her heat through the thin layer of fabric on his legs.
"Liv..." Lincoln sighed in a warning. The teasing, sweet ecstasy of the friction and the sensation of her breath on his cheek as he leaned in to graze kisses on her neck was almost unbearable. "I gotta know, so tell me the truth. do you really want… me? Look me in the eye…"
"Bedroom, now." Olivia whispered simply in reply, her voice raspy and warm, and she slowly backed up, holding her hands out to him as she stood.
"You sure?" Lincoln asked again as he followed, holding her face to check for any doubts when she closed the gap between them before she changed her mind. They'd been in close proximity to each other countless times before, but this felt so dangerously different on a raw, intimate level.
Taboo, forbidden and exhilarating.
His kisses were soft and languid against her as he held her face, taking his time like it was the only time she would grant him permission. Snaking her arms around his neck to pull him closer was the only encouragement he needed. Parting his lips, he sucked in her full bottom lip and her breasts ached in jealousy, her nipples tightened and the pressure between her legs coiled up in a delicious ache. The sensation fuelled her to open her mouth and deepen the kiss further, so he took this opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, pushing her backwards slowly towards the bedroom, breaking away only to pull his T-shirt over his head, which carelessly fell to the floor, followed by her own.
She could taste the tang of wine on his tongue mixed with desire as he moaned approvingly into her mouth when she brazenly arched into him, desperate for more. As her back hit the wall, his hand gently held her neck to hold her mouth in place as he clumsily opened the bedroom door. They fell in, giggling with laughter and nervous anticipation when she pushed him sideways onto the bed, the dark messy bedding cool on their flushed skin. The room fell silent except for the pounding whoosh of blood in her ears and the sound of their hurried panting breaths, and he kissed her again, easing her onto her back so carefully, as if she might shatter under his touch. His hand skimmed the swell of her breasts and erect, hardened nipples through the thin fabric of her bra, making her shiver, and drifted over every curve of her stomach and hips, caressing her thighs down to her knees and slid back up her inner thigh pushing her skirt up to her waist.
Grazing the damp fabric of her underwear with his fingertips, she whimpered a plea into his mouth for his agile fingers to continue their journey, a shiver breaking into a full-blown tremble when he broke the kiss and shifted on the bed. His fingers hooked around the seam, roughly pulled them down her thighs, past her knees. Simultaneously exhaling something between a sigh and gasp as his fingertips made contact with the trimmed curls, he explored the hot, wet folds of her sex, slowly teasing until she squirmed underneath him, her legs shamelessly falling apart with each stroke, feeling her undies catch on one of her ankles. She squeezed her eyes shut in tormented pleasure and whined, practically begging for him to touch her in the one place he was avoiding. In one movement, Lincoln pulled her back across the ruched sheets to the edge of the bed and she stiffened as she felt the rough feel of the stubble on his cheek on the inside of her thigh.
"This okay?"
Olivia heard his muffled voice ask questioningly, his face hovering as he waited for her permission. The warm puff of his breath against her exposed flesh took in the briny musk of her scent that made his nostrils flare and his head feel drunk with his want.
"Mmm-hmm." She nodded desperately as she thrust up into his face so his tongue made contact with her clit, his fingers easing into her with a hard push. She couldn't remember the last time a man kissed and loved her body in this way, especially without begging for it first and the fact he'd gone down on her, not just willingly but was seemingly enjoying giving her pleasure only made her ache more for him. "Oh, just there - please, don't stop," she gasped, as she arched her back, desperately trying to find something to tether her to the bed, feeling her orgasm coil into a white sweltering heat that burned under her eyes.
She swore she could hear him chuckle, then the sensation flooded her senses to suddenly tip her over into a climax, the uncontrollable spasms washing across her body as the ability to think or speak left her. When she dared to open her eyes again, he looked up at her with tousled hair and a mischievously wicked grin, his chin glistening with the wetness of her sex. She shuddered, releasing the grip on his arm. "You can stop looking so pleased with yourself. C'mere," Olivia beckoned Lincoln, sighing, as he climbed back up to her.
Easing her head onto a pillow, he leaned over her as she grasped his face for a kiss.
She flipped him so he was on his back, and swung her leg over him, feeling him smile as she lifted her head up and pinned his arms down.
"God, you're pushy." Lincoln teased, happy for her to take control if that's what she wanted and needed.
"And you're overdressed." Olivia retorted, letting go to raise her hips and fiddle with his button and zipper. His fingers scrambled to help her undo them and desperately shuffled them down his legs, taking his boxers with them. He kicked them away as she lowered herself back down onto his thighs and his breath hitched when she closed her hand around his hard length. Like his slim frame, his cock was hard and eager, and he groaned as she moved and tightened the pressure slightly, desperately thrusting up into her hand as she leaned over him, planting kisses down the plane of his firm chest and abdomen, reaching the thatch of hair at his groin. Suddenly he froze, grabbing her shoulder a second too late as her lips wrapped around the leaking, glistening head that throbbed with his arousal and her tongue swirled around the rim of his tip.
"Ooooh, Liv, w-wait, stop!" Lincoln gasped, shaking as he tried to maintain control. "Slow down a minute - I'm so close and I -" Olivia looked up and nodded, understanding the implications of his words. His arm reached out to the bedside drawer, and he twisted at the waist to pull it open. Olivia helped by retrieving a condom from the open drawer, ripped it open and rolled it down his length as he grasped her hips through the fabric of her rucked up skirt, his fingers white with the pressure. Before she could move, he guided her forward, and she took the opportunity to unhook her bra. Helping her, he slowly run the straps down her arms, discarded the item and replaced it with his hands, tenderly cupping her breasts in a soft squeeze, brushing the rosy tips of her aching, pebbled nipples with his thumbs as she guided herself down onto him.
"I wanna feel you," she whispered, leaning down to whisper in his ear, her breath hot and hair clinging to the stubble on his cheek, "let's begin."
The feral ache she felt from the friction & stretch as he edged inside her was close to euphoric and she rocked against him, making him huff a smile of satisfaction and disbelief that only spurred the coil of her desire that was tightening in her again. His face was desperate and he bit down on his lip as he met her movements with an upthrust of his hips and gasped approvingly as she pushed in harder and deeper with each unsteady and frenetic beat. Her russet hair swayed as she bent over him, the strands ticking his arms and swishing against her shoulders with each undulating wave as she rocked. The only noises in the room were the obscene noise of their bodies as they met and the bed which creaked under their slow grinds, punctuated by their shallow panting breaths and an occasional throaty moan or approving sigh. She tried to steady herself against the headboard, her knuckles white as the bedsheets as she held on and he grasped her hips again in a futile attempt to regulate their rhythm and delay the inevitable but his eyes locked on hers, and he desperately clutched at the small of her back.
"Oh, Liv." Lincoln choked breathlessly, "Oh God, I can't hold on - ohhhh…" His voice broke on the last words as he let out a guttural sigh of pleasure. Straining and stiffening under her, his face contorted in pleasure. She squeezed and twitched around him in relief, the aching between her legs from rubbing against him finally resulting in her climax. She waited, then began to slide off of him as he softened and he held her in place, panting slowly. "Don't go."
She complied, not wanting to lose the feel of him yet. Eventually, his hands dropped, and she eased him out of her, rolling away onto her back with a giggle as he stood with a wobble. "Be right back," Lincoln smiled, raising a finger and pointing towards the bathroom. "You can stop checking out my ass!" Her hand slid back over the edge of the bed to close the bedside table drawer, causing a photo frame to tumble to the floor. Leaning over to pick it up, she smiled at the photo inside of a young, preschool boy with a side parting in thick glasses and a bow tie grinning as he sat between his parents, the man in a suit with a thin smile and the woman beaming in a sky blue dress patterned with daisies as voluminous strawberry blonde hair hung over her shoulders and she protectively held her stomach.
Lincoln sauntered back in, not concerned with his nakedness, perhaps even reveling in it, holding a wet flannel cloth and stopped in his tracks, cringing as Olivia held up the photo to him.
"This you?" She said, turning it back, and he swiped it off of her as he passed her the cloth.
"Mmm-hmm," he replied, and held out the covers and they tucked themselves to keep warm as they cooled down. "It's the last picture taken of me & dad with my mom before she died."
"Hmm, so you used to wear glasses too?"
"Yeah, as a kid, I changed to contacts when I was dating Kendra - " Lincoln stopped, noticing Olivia's raised eyebrow. "- just before I joined the marines."
"You? Dating? What happened? I thought you just love them and leave them." Olivia teased, her mouth twisted into a smile as she adjusted the pillows for them to comfortably lie down. Lincoln wrapped his arm around her as she rested her head on his chest, the chest hair tickling her cheek and he huffed out a laugh as he gently tucked her messy hair out of her face.
If only you knew, he thought. If only you knew it was only ever you that I loved.
She contentedly relaxed into the embrace as his breathing slowed and his hand went slack on her shoulder. He sighed and for a second she thought he'd fallen asleep until he spoke.
"Stay with me tonight?"
She squeezed him as she felt the pull of sleep claiming her mind, and he held her arm to keep her close.
"Mmm-hmm." She nodded against him as sleep took them both.
Blinking awake, Lincoln smiled, remembering the events of the night before as an unusual but pleasant sensation of warm hand lightly traced patterns across his thigh and abdomen, encouraging all the blood in his body to rush to his groin. Sighing with a mixture of amusement and anticipation, he watched the movements under the sheets and at the teasing pleasure, and giggled a little as it hit a ticklish spot on his hip. His breath hitched at a slight graze of his aching balls so the hand paused its movements. Pulling the sheet up over his head, Olivia looked up at him under it with a wicked smile in the muted light, her ruby hair wavy and tousled on her shoulders.
"Oh, I wasn't sure if I'd had a wonderful dream or if I'd died and gone to heaven." Lincoln smiled sheepishly.
"You're finally awake, all of you." Olivia replied huskily. "You okay if I return the favor now?" He nodded and watched with curiosity as her hand lightly stroked and cupped his balls and the length of his increasingly hardening cock, and he hurriedly pushed the sheet back over her to get a better view.
"I wouldn't call it a favor exactly, but please be my guest -" he broke off and swallowed thickly as she increased her grip, and gasped as she lightly licked around the already slippery crown of his head, taking in the unique, salty taste of him. Barely managing to maintain some chivalry, and resisting the primal urge of grabbing her hair and thrusting up into her mouth, he enthusiastically grasped handfuls of the sheets and encouraged her with a moan every time she hit the right spot with the right amount of pressure, which seemed to be almost every touch of her hand and tongue against the velveteen skin of his hardening length.
Suddenly, he became conscious of a ringing noise and turned to the phone to see Broyles I.D flashing on the display.
"Leave it." She said quickly before continuing her act, as it rang off only for it to start again.
"Liv, I gotta take it." Lincoln choked as he pressed the answer button, and Olivia continued the actions of her mouth as she teasingly licked and sucked up and down the length of his shaft. Pausing to try to compose himself, he closed his eyes as he answered the call. "This is Agent Lee," he stuttered. "Sorry, Sir, I was just -" He bit his lip so hard, he nearly drew blood and half-heartedly tapped her shoulder, then gulped slowly and nodded. "Yes, Sir, Understood. W-I'll be right there and let the rest of the team know."
He added, then ended the call just as the tip of his cock nudged her soft palette and she experimentally reached under his balls, applying enough pressure that he had to brace himself against the headboard with one hand and while trying to move her head to warn her of his impending climax with the other. She refused to stop or didn't care, only spurred on by the look of ecstasy on his face, which tipped him over the edge. "Liv, I - please, you gotta stop, or…" he croaked, "I'm gonna…" he stuttered as his lips trembled with the intensity of the pleasure that was about to overcome him. He closed his eyes tightly and cried out an incomprehensible noise as the ability to form any thoughts left his mind. "Oh fuck, Oh - OHHHHH." She felt his body involuntarily stiffen as he spurted into her mouth, the bitter, salty tang of him hitting the back of her throat as she slowed and tried not to gag with the reflex, then released him from her mouth, and crawled back up the bed. "That was -" he began, his breath still rough as he panted.
"Amazing? You're welcome," Olivia said with a laugh as she laid back on her pillow and looked at him and he turned back to her.
"I was gonna say unnecessarily cruel, but that would also be appropriate, thank you." He gingerly brushed her chin with the tip of his thumb and planted a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose.
"You know me. I've never been good at following orders." She replied, and he huffed a smile, acknowledging it with a small nod.
"Well, unfortunately, as much as I would love to continue this right now, Broyles has got some for us." Lincoln said, slowly sitting up and getting out of bed with a slight groan. "The Astrid on the other side is bringing over their files on David Robert Jones and the NYPD have found a body they want us to go look at that might be related to the case." He added, pulling on his boxers and combat pants. "Broyles wants me to head straight to the crime scene if you pick up Astrid's files on the way from HQ. Do you want some water? "
Olivia nodded, scrambling through her clothes for her bra and underwear, until Lincoln found it tangled in the bedding and threw it over.
"I'd die for a café latte now," she replied, "but water would be great, thanks." He nodded, leaving the room and coming back a few minutes later with a bottle of water as Olivia finished getting ready. "I'm gonna head home quickly to freshen up and change. I don't think these clothes are suitable for work." Olivia said and Lincoln nodded in agreement, handing her the bottle, "And you need a shave, I think the inside of my thighs have stubble burn."
"From now on, I will shave every day and my face will be softer than a baby's ass for you. I'll meet you at the crime scene in an hour or so?" Olivia nodded and smiled when he pulled her in, studying her face. "Is everything - okay? I thought this might be awkward, but it isn't. Is it?" He asked softly, his eyes wide with the fear that she regrets what they did.
"Everything is perfect." Olivia replied, and quickly kissed him quickly on the cheek to maintain some self-control, which she knew was barely holding for both of them. "I will see you later - Tiberius?"
Lincoln shook his head, laughing, making the Star Trek 'V' sign with his fingers. "You know the only way I am gonna tell you my middle name is if you marry me, you're not gonna get an answer otherwise."
"Tristan? Tyler?" Olivia continued, looking for a reaction on Lincoln's face, and swigged a mouthful of water from the bottle.
"Nope. You know, you better watch out." Lincoln wagged his index finger in a playful warning.
"Or what?" She replied daringly.
"Or this!" He replied as he tackled her, and pushed her against the bed so the bottle went flying, spraying water across the room. "Don't say I didn't warn ya!" Lincoln shouted as he lightly pinned her down with his weight, jabbing her in the ribs and stomach as she giggled, squirming to get his hands away.
"Noooo, Lincoln!" Olivia cried and sobbed with laughter as poked and wiggled his fingers wherever he could get them. "We can't - we gotta - Stop! Ahhh, don't - Stop it!"
He did suddenly so her giggles eased off and she looked at him as he wiped away the hair and little tears forming in the corners of her eyes. His face was serious as he studied her. "What?" she asked.
She suddenly felt very self-conscious, and blushed, and looked away for a moment.
"You told me to stop." Lincoln said simply, his face solemn, and she huffed a confused smile in reply.
"Lincoln, we were joking around - I didn't mean it like that."
"Doesn't matter," he shrugged, "I just want - need - you to know that you can trust me." Olivia realized at that moment that Lincoln had offered everything to her now. His heart was wide open and that nothing will ever change that.
"You are the only one I trust." Olivia replied seriously, and he smiled softly. He stood and offered her his hand to help her up. "Timothy?"
"Oh my Gawwwd!" Lincoln cried in exasperation as Olivia giggled, running for the door before he could reply.
FOLLOW MY LIGHT
March 2012 altverse
The convoy of trucks and cars drove down the urban roads of Precinct Seventeen in the Northwest Quadrant, past restaurants, offices, and commercial buildings, beating the congested traffic by using their emergency sirens, as Olivia glanced across at the hands of the man in the passenger seat next to her. There was no ring, or even a sign of one, no indentation in the skin or tan line as far as she could see.
"Tyrone? Really?" Oliva asked incredulously.
"Yeah, it was my great grandfather's name." Lincoln replied, and she huffed a 'huh' in reply. "Why?"
"No reason!" She added, as she turned the steering wheel. "Did they tell you our Astrid and I came over a couple of months ago? You weren't around so -"
"You mean the case with Chung and how he was mercy killing would-be victims with an unknown toxin?" He said, his face twisting as he recalled the details. "Walter did mention you had both been over when Olivia filled me in on the details. How is your Astrid now? He said her father passed away."
"She's getting there." Olivia paused before she looked at him again and as he raised his eyebrows, smiling thinly and uneasily as she watched him. "So what kind of 'unforeseen side-effects' does she have? Hopefully ones where she doesn't see me as someone who's gonna swoop in and steal Peter from her."
"I, er, what?" Lincoln huffed, flustered. "No, she was having dreams about Peter before he appeared, like a premonition or something. Then eventually they completely rewrote her memories to align with a timeline where they knew each other… intimately. Wait? Y-you like Peter too?"
He looked down humbly at his feet, feeling stupid and trying to hide his disappointment. Of course she did, and he felt foolish for not realizing before. Why wouldn't she? He was enigmatic, intelligent and had a level of arrogance many women - and men - found irresistibly attractive.
Something Lincoln sometimes wished he had himself.
"Nooo!" She laughed in reply, making his eyes shoot back up to look at her, wide in surprise. "She all but accused me of it, but he's not my type at all. Far too cocky and brooding and complicated. I could tell she liked him when I was there with Astrid. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him."
She subconsciously thought what she would say if someone asked was her type. A few years ago she would have said tall, muscular guys with blue eyes and square jawlines, but now she wanted someone who treated her like a person rather than a possession and something to control.
Lincoln raised his eyebrows in surprise when Olivia stuck out her tongue in disgust at the thought.
"Bleurgh! No! Definitely not!"
"Really?" He replied incredulously, after assuming that all Olivias would find the same man attractive, and sighed at how he'd seen the way she'd gazed at him recently. "I noticed that too."
"Oh yeah, nice guys are much more my thing. So, how old is your daughter?"
"My what?" Lincoln furrowed his brow as his lips twisted in confusion.
"Your daughter. Walter said it was her birthday when we were there."
"Oh!" He huffed a laugh as he shook his head. "You mean Amy, she's… What the hell?" Lincoln gasped as something caught his eye on the sidewalk next to them, and he craned his head behind him as they drove past, his brows furrowed in confusion and concentration as he turned back to sit forward.
"What's up?" Olivia asked, noticing his expression. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"I thought - no, it can't be." Lincoln replied, trying to put the thought to the back of his mind and looked back again quickly in the wing mirror even though what caught his attention was now long gone.
"Can't be what?"
"He looked like…" He paused quickly to make sure what he was saying made sense, then quickly dismissed the thought as that ceased to matter a long time ago. "When Robert - my partner - died, shortly after at the crime scene, there were these two men, but they just disappeared… they were so bizarre, I thought I'd imagined them for a while."
"Really?" Olivia repeated, more concerned and confused than before.
"Yeah - and then one of them was in Walter's lab with a gunshot wound, and then just randomly disappeared, but I could've sworn I just saw the other taller one again. But - how could he be here?"
"What do you mean, disappeared? What did they look like?" She replied incredulously as they pulled up to red lights at a junction.
"Er, black suits and hats, pale, bald. In fact, I think they didn't have any hair at all." Lincoln added, thinking back, wishing he'd checked their descriptions through the FBI databases. "Peter called them observers. They only show up at significant moments so what could be…" he stopped as Olivia turned sharply at the junction and turned on the emergency lights.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Lincoln said, clutching the dashboard for balance as the car swerved.
"If you think they're important somehow, we need to speak to them." She insisted, doubling back down the road from where they came.
"There!" Lincoln cried, pointing towards a gray stone memorial monolith standing in the middle of a square of grass as the car screeched to a halt. Olivia had released her seat belt and sprinted halfway across the grass verge before Lincoln could comprehend what was happening.
"Hey you!" She cried as the mysterious man turned to look at her.
"Who are you?" They asked each other simultaneously, and she frowned.
"We are not supposed to interfere. But at this place, one will die and one you will love until you die."
"One of what? What the hell are you talking abo-?" Olivia stopped as he nodded once, gesturing behind her with his chin, and watched Lincoln join her. They both caught their breath from running and she turned back to see the man had disappeared.
"Did you just see that?" She gasped, catching her breath, her mouth wide open in shock and brows knotted in confusion. "Where the hell did he go?"
Lincoln nodded, holstering away his weapon.
"So, did he tell you anything?"
She shook her head, jogging back to the car as Lincoln followed her.
"Nothing, I-" she paused. "C'mon, let's get going."
Alterverse March 2012
Lincoln wouldn't usually be happy about working separately from Olivia, but today he was thankful for it. His mon replaying memories of the night before was distracting enough, but to spend all day in the same room without touching her and worrying if anyone noticed their smiles or if their body language betrayed them would have been torture. He realized he didn't even care that Broyles had made her the other Lincoln's chaperone for the case and that the other Lincoln seemed to like her too. He didn't even care that she had wanted the other Lincoln to stay and help - they were finally together and nothing would ruin that feeling.
He saw her sitting alone at the rotunda, when everyone else was distracted by the large communication screen and shot her a little wink as she looked up at him. Olivia smiled coyly in return, blushing as he began walking towards her, then quickly looked away in case anyone might notice.
"How's it going?" Lincoln said, leaning in over her shoulder, letting his finger inconspicuously brush against her hand for just a second and he could have sworn she gasped in a breath, even though she didn't look at him. "He likes you, you know - the other me."
"Really?" Olivia raised her eyebrow.
"Mmmm, I think I saw him checking out your ass earlier. Not that I blame him." He replied, his mouth twisting into a smile. "I guess we have similar tastes."
"My ass is pretty fantastic. Hmmm, I wonder if he does." She laughed, wiggling her eyebrows as she watched him bite on his bottom lip. "You sure you weren't checking out his ass?"
"Oh yeah, you'd love that, wouldn't you? Two of us fulfilling your every… need."
He emphasized the last word as she raised her eyebrows even higher.
"Just as much as if you like it if the other Olivia and I…"
Lincoln's eyes widened like saucers and he blinked, trying to dismiss the thought as it flashed through his head.
"Honestly, either would work for me, but you're not helping. It's taking a lot of effort to concentrate today. I keep thinking about us - y'know."
She coughed and blushed as she nudged him, checking the room in case anyone noticed the blush that creeped up her chest, across her neck and burned her cheeks.
"You brought it up." She smiled coyly.
"Actually, I think you'll find that was you - you're driving me to fucking distraction. I can still taste you. I know what you feel like now, how you sound when you - it's hard…"
Lincoln emphasized the last word, then stopped himself as he noticed Broyles and the other Lincoln approaching them and straightened up.
"Anything up?" Agent Lee asked with a frown as he reached the desk and Olivia choked again, biting her lip to stifle a smile and a snort of laughter escaping.
"Nope." Lincoln replied, as he sauntered away with another subtle wink. "See ya later, red."
Alterverse March 2012
As they marched to the prisoner transport van in unison and waited for Lincoln to escort the prisoner, suddenly an icy shiver ran down Olivia's spine as she glanced over her shoulder and frowned, lost in her thoughts.
Lincoln must've read the look of unease on her face as he looked around nervously and reached out quickly to get her attention.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I just…" Olivia sighed.
"What?"
They reached the van, pausing at the open door to see the other Lincoln escorting Canaan.
"It's probably nothing. Do you see where we are?"
Lee looked around again puzzled, quickly interrupted by the whizz of three bullets cracking through the air and the chaos as everyone dived for cover, watching the Lincoln from this side crouch down with the target.
Panicked, he looked around desperately in vain for the location of the shooter and where the shots were coming from, unable to make it out in the commotion of the agents running across the street from his location behind the van.
"The shooter - where is he?" He cried desperately as Olivia tried to peer through the front window of the van for a better look, moving the wing mirror to use the reflection to her advantage before it shattered, and she ducked, barely avoiding the shattered glass as it scattered over her hair.
"Down, down!"
He barely heard from an agent on the other side of the van over the sound of the adrenaline fuelled blood hammering in his head, and the sound of rapid gunfire ringing in his ears.
The flashing of the blue and red lights reflected against the glass of the windshield as Olivia spun on her heels, turning back towards him.
"He's on the roof. Cover me?"
Lee nodded, and turned without hesitation, firing quick nine rounds from his hand gun towards the low rise building adjacent to the alley they were in, joined by the thrumming of the automatic weapons and more shouting as all the shooting directed to the roof, while Olivia turned to get her automatic sniper rifle from the trunk of her car.
He went on autopilot, his FBI training and fight-or-flight response kicking in as he shot his gun in the shooter's direction. Lee's clip emptied, and he reloaded his gun with a new one, shooting back at the roof as Olivia joined him, balancing her gun on the hood and trailing the direction of the man on the roof as he ran for cover from the hail of bullets heading his way, effortlessly taking him down with one shot.
He had no time to be impressed or to congratulate her on her skill, even when the team confirmed she was on target.
"Everyone okay?..." Lee called, circling the van as the gunfire ceased. He saw his double slumped on the floor, his arm covering his face. "Officer down! Officer down!" He shouted, distraught and frantically looking around for anyone to help.
Lincoln struggled to move as Lee reached him and helped him sit against the side of their car to help feel more comfortable than lying on the rough surface of the road. Desperately pressing against the bloom of red appearing on his white shirt on the right of his chest to stem the bleeding, he tried and failed to mask the dread and terror on his face as he looked into the eyes of his doppelgänger.
He could see the fear in his eyes and knew his own were the same.
Is this how he would look when he died?
"Who knew?" Lincoln sighed, struggling to get his breath
"What?" Lee replied, trying to understand his double's rambling voice. For a second it sounded like he said "You knew" and was accusing him of setting him up.
"Who else knew we were transporting him? We gotta find out."
Lincoln's eyes drifted shut, heavy with the effort to stay awake. Exhaustion gripped him in a warm embrace, a soft dark blanket calming him as the sharp pain he'd felt in his chest slowly edged away, the urge to sleep edging in slowly like black corners of a vignette photograph, the color slowly draining into black and white. The sensation made him light-headed, feeling like he was about to drift away.
Olivia pushed Lee away as she pressed against him, gently slapping his face to keep him awake.
"Hey, Linc. MedEvac is on the way. You're gonna be fine." She smiled comfortingly, holding on to him tight.
"'Liv... I've been blown up before. This is nothing." Lincoln replied, slurring with a smile, trying to reassure himself and her and wheezing. "Was a hell of a shot. I guess you still haven't lost your touch."
Lee stormed off angrily to the target, shoving Canaan hard against the fence, and screamed at him furiously as Lincoln looked back at Olivia.
"I'm not sure if I'm gonna be up to it tonight, Liv."
"That's okay." Olivia smiled and rolled her eyes, still pushing down on his chest and trying to keep eye contact so he knew she was there and she couldn't see the drips of red oozing through her fingers.
"You know I love y…" he began, mumbling as his eyes drifted shut.
"Don't, don't you dare." She interrupted as she looked away briefly, hearing the MedEvac sirens approach in the distance.
"Liv…" he insisted.
She nodded and bit her lip as his eyes drooped again.
"I know, I know." Olivia replied as Lee stepped up to her again and tapped her on the shoulder, the MedEvac team pushing them aside.
"The shooter is dead. Canaan has agreed to copy him so we can use him in a sting to get to Nina and Jones. You coming?"
"I can't." She looked down at Lincoln on the floor as the team surrounded him.
"Go." Lincoln demanded as he smiled lethargically at them both. "Go!"
She nodded, and gulped, her throat thick. Taking one last look at him, she reluctantly ;eft/
Looking up as she walked away, he met the eyes of his double and coughed, a metallic tang of blood on his tongue, the air cool on his chest as they lifted his shirt to survey the damage of the gunshot wound.
"Keep an eye on her for me, okay?"
Lee could do nothing but nod in agreement and walked away, following Olivia to their car.
Alterverse March 2012
The red trackers on the map blinked in a random pattern that made Lincoln Lee sigh in satisfaction. Not only did they have Nina in custody, who could lead them to Jones and prevent the other Olivia from his side being dosed with anymore Cortexiphan, they now have tech that can track any other shapeshifters in their network. He looked up at the screen, showing Olivia the details as they watched the red dots on the map flicker.
"If we can hack this mainframe, we'll have the identity of every agent in Jones's network."
Olivia beamed at Lincoln, impressed with the development in the case and tapped him on the shoulder encouragingly as Agent Reynolds approached them.
"Can I have a word, Agent Dunham?" He asked warily, and she followed him over away from Lincoln.
"We have some news to report on Captain Lee's condition. When the MedEvac team attended Captain Lee following his gunshot wound, he was in a clinically stable condition with no major vessel injury or significant blood loss. The investigation confirmed the bullet had ricocheted off a street sign, causing it to change direction from the intended target and hit him in the lower chest. Unfortunately, an unexpected cardiac arrest occurred shortly after due to a left coronary artery air embolism."
Olivia's smile faded in response and her shoulders slumped as he continued, his voice barely distinguishable over the noise of her heart that hammered in her ears. She met Lincoln's eyes, and he looked like he already knew what Reynolds was going to say. Bile burned at the back of her throat and her heart thudded as if it was trying to break free from her ribcage.
Shrinking away, her hand came up to her mouth in shock and to hold in the wave of sickness she felt hit her body. "I am so sorry, Agent Dunham. Lung damage from the passage of the bullet within the chest wall close to the pleural cavity had occurred, and we were regrettably unable to revive Captain Lee - he, uh, he died at the scene."
She fled from the room somehow, eyes stinging, as the words reverberated and broke into debris around her head and crashed in nauseating waves, until their bitter, salty tang rose like a tsunami. The room spun as she helplessly got swept up in the storm with no tether to weigh her down, and she landed in the locker room, heaving up everything that has passed her lips in the past few hours - lunch, breakfast and the only thing she had left of Lincoln inside of her, expelled in an exorcism of emotion, drizzled with defiant tears.
A cool round disc the size of a dime caught Lincoln's attention as he shoved his hand in his pocket and he absentmindedly fondled the keychain the Olivia from his side had returned to him, twisting the leather cord and metallic disc in his fingers as he chaperoned Canaan to his universe. He had recognized something of himself in the man, the need to be remembered, needed and missed, and hoped now he found someone who would be his tether, be his place in the world, no longer waiting for someone to define him.
Specks of his doppelgänger's blood on the cuff of his jacket felt tacky under his hand and as much as he wanted to stay, it felt wrong to keep wearing an item of clothing that was a reminder of what happened.
"Peter? Wait, a sec…" He jogged after the Bishops as they went to cross back. "I died, I mean the me here, and I, uh…" he paused as Peter sympathetically touched his arm.
"That must be - difficult." Peter smiled understandingly as Lincoln nodded in reply.
"It's, uh, not something I ever thought I'd ever have to deal with, but she - the Olivia here - is taking it hard and…"
"So you thought you'd stay a while?" Peter added, reading Lincoln's expression as he nodded again.
"Yeah, I figured they might need my help now, more than you do anyway. But, uh, can you take this and get me a clean one? My other coat is still in the lab. I don't want her to see the, uh…"
Blood.
Lincoln coughed, carefully shrugging it off his shoulders and folding it inside out for the other man to take.
"Of course you're needed here," Peter replied, "but I understand. I'll get it brought over for you once we get Canaan settled in, okay?"
"Thanks Peter." Lincoln said, smiling thinly as he turned back to where he'd come from.
"Oh, Lincoln?" Peter called as Lincoln whipped back around on his heel.
"Give her my condolences. She's lucky to have your help."
Lincoln blinked, and his mouth twitched in thanks as he turned back.
He felt lucky, but not in the way Peter meant, lucky he was still alive when he knew that bullet was meant for him.
Olivia sat, holding herself, huddled on the floor, aching with numbness until she finally found the strength to stand. She found Lincoln's jacket in his locker that he'd shoved in there earlier. It smelled vaguely of him and she held it against her chest in the hope it would imprint him on her and so she could absorb him into her again.
Of all his photos prised into the door of his locker, she found herself in most of them. Little freeze frames of moments they'd shared when she sees him at the door, the face of his ghost in the form of another man, unsteady and unsure of himself and her, but with the same look she knows and needs.
Lincoln softly spoke words to her that scattered in the air between them and he waited patiently for Olivia to pick them up, their knees bumping against each other, both of them wanting the touch.
"I thought I'd stick around for a while. I figured you'd need some help."
"Thanks. That'd be nice." She replied, taking one last look at the photo in her hand and he looked at it too, a glimpse of a life he could have lived like the death that could have, should have, been his, he thinks before he gulped. "Don't you need to go back, won't your family wonder where you are?"
"I don't have anyone waiting for me," He breathed, shaking his head, "there's nowhere else I need to be."
Olivia frowned, looking at the familiar blue eyes behind the mask of his glasses as they searched the depths of her own green eyes for meaning.
"What about your daughter? Amy?"
"God-daughter. She is - was - Robert's daughter." Lincoln gulped again, then sighed. "I've never had kids, although I'd love to, one day."
Olivia nodded at the thin sad smile on his face that hid some hidden trauma she recognized the signs of and hoped he'd find the courage to reveal to her.
"W-will you come with me?" Olivia added warily in a whisper, looking at Lincoln as he registered the request, his heart aching for her when he realized she doesn't want to ask, because she thinks it would be too much for him and it's the last thing he'd want to do but how could he refuse when he knows what it's like, and the other version of her helped him in his own world.
Putting the photo into her pocket, she stood, and he followed, giving her space but instrumentally holding her steady as she traipsed the path until they reached their destination.
Alterverse March 2012
Her chest felt heavy, like the air had been sucked out of the room, her skin clammy despite the room being cold enough to make her shiver. The shape of a man laid concealed under a white cotton sheet, a sheet like the one they'd been under together merely hours ago but this one felt too rough, inadequate and unfit for him as she played with the corner in her hesitating fingertips and carefully pulled it back.
Olivia shook her head in defiance
She knew his face almost better than her own. She would recognize him anywhere in any universe or lifetime or timeline, but here he was not him. He looked alien, expressionless, like a mask of the man she knew and cold, so cold.
Her lips wobbled & her breath hitched as she thought of her dream and his wishes.
"It's not - I'm sorry." She gasped as her vision blurred, flooding with tears that burst through the dam. Her knees buckled beneath her with the heavy weight of grief as an arm held her up.
"It's okay, Olivia." Lincoln said in a whisper, holding her to stop her from falling. He braced himself to anchor all of her weight, his arms around her as hers linked around his waist. "It's alright, you're gonna be fine."
DUSK TO DAWN
Alterverse April 2012
The rain fell heavily in the cemetery as Lincoln stayed sitting in the car. Astrid got out, watching Olivia walking towards her in her military uniform through the windshield as they talked and embraced, as the service went on.
He couldn't leave the car, but he wished he could, watching his father from this universe with his wife having lost his own father years ago who had never remarried. How was it fair that he'd lost both his parents, but in this universe Lincoln had his father, a stepmother and family, and yet their son had been cruelly taken away from them? They should still have their son, as he had no one to love or love him anymore.
Olivia stood by the car shaking her umbrella, droplets of rain scattering out like dancing crystals that disappeared on the ground. As she opened the door, sitting in the passenger seat where Astrid had sat before, she shut the door behind her and Lincoln caught her eyes in the rearview mirror, eyes red and bleary and avoiding his own.
She sniffed, looking at her gloved hands folded in her lap. "Will you take me home? Please."
Lincoln frowned slightly for a second and then nodded a thin smile as he started the car, driving away.
As they reached her apartment, he slowed to park the car, tucking into a space round the back, and turned off the engine.
"We're here," he said softly, "you sure you don't want to go to the wake? I can drop you off and pick you up later. It's no bother-"
"No," Olivia said, shaking her head as she undid her seatbelt and reached for the door handle. "I don't want to - I need to be alone for a bit."
He nodded slightly in understanding, and shifted in his seat, looking away again, feeling as if his face was the last one she needed to see right now.
Her voice hitched on the last word as she opened the door and froze, sitting in the seat with the rain hitting her face.
"Actually, would you - can you…" she pointed towards her apartment and he followed her hand as her foot nervously fidgeted in the footwell. He moved without thinking, without her having to ask, leaving his side of the car to be at her side and escorted her up to her front door that she left open for him. He still waited, holding onto it as if he needed permission to cross the threshold.
"I can't face them. I don't have any information. What am I supposed to say to them?" Olivia blurted, her voice thick with emotion as it broke. "I don't know anything. I don't have anything."
"Olivia, I know it's hard." Lincoln sighed, his heart breaking for her, wishing there was something he could say or do but knowing there wasn't anything that could make it better. "I - I told you about Robert and I - what I'm trying to say is you have me, if you need to talk to someone, I'm here." He blinked and shrugged awkwardly. He turned to leave and whipped back as she cleared her throat.
"Liv." she said simply, and he frowned, unsure of what she meant. "No one calls me that. Call me Liv." She gulped, offering a small smile as she sniffed, and he closed the door behind him with a nod, deciding to stay.
The white, bright corridor that linked the other side to the bridge stretched out long in front of them, the large featureless windows and metallic struts marking each step the two men took towards the sliding doors that lead to another world, another life.
"I don't often admit I was wrong, but I was about her." The older man with graying, wavy hair said to the bespectacled younger man, who frowned slightly and smiled gently in response. "As much as I was getting used to having someone around who is a decent opponent at chess, and she wouldn't admit it, when I stayed at her apartment, it is obvious."
"Obvious? Sorry, Walter, I don't follow." Lincoln frowned again. As much as he'd tried to get used to Walter Bishop talking in riddles, a conversation with him unsupervised by Peter or Olivia still sometimes felt broken, like he was trying to understand a film by switching channels every five seconds.
"She needs you, this Olivia. She has a hole in her life and evidently she needs you here." Walter replied, nodding with his chin over Lincoln's shoulder as she approached behind them with his suitcase and handed it over. "Well dear, I guess this is it." He sighed and looked back at Olivia as she smiled softly, her dark auburn hair framing her face as she leaned into his embrace. "Keep an eye on this universe, will you? I've grown quite fond of it. Same for him."
Alterverse April 2012
The faint hum of traffic and televisions seeped through the walls as Lincoln stirred on the bed in his T-shirt and boxers. Too restless to sleep, he turned onto his side. He'd arrested Broyles for working with Jones thanks to Walter's insight, but it hadn't brought the closure he'd hoped. He was determined to find the people responsible for killing his partner and his counterpart in this universe, but there were still so many loose ends he needed to tie up, so many of the pieces to the puzzle were obscured or lost.
A faint tap, barely audible over the murmur of voices and engines, pulled him from his thoughts, and he held his breath and turned his head, unsure of the source of the sound. He wasn't sure if he'd imagined it until it came again, slightly louder, and he turned back to the door, noticing the faint silhouette through the curtain.
He jumped up, promptly grabbing his weapon next to his glasses from the nightstand and then immediately placing it back down on the table as he peered through the peephole to see Olivia walking away, then turning back to him at the sound of him opening the door.
"Liv? What are you doing here?"
"I didn't want to knock too loudly. I didn't want to wake you." She began, her wide eyes flickering imperceptibly at his face and back down to her feet as she wrapped her hands around herself.
"I-I wasn't sleeping," He replied, holding onto the door and leaning on the door frame, the chipped, dirty paint tacky under his fingers and squinted slightly as he focused on her face, trying to regain eye contact with her. "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"
She shook her head as her face broke, twisting with anguish and he widened the door, letting her walk through and closed it behind her, guiding her to sit on the bed.
Olivia sat on the edge, balancing her elbows on her knees as she cradled her face in her hands as Lincoln retrieved a glass from the bathroom, filling it with cold water. She felt the bed creak as he sat next to her and passed her the glass when she lowered her hands.
"They found Broyles and Nina Sharp dead in their cells," Olivia said with a sniff, the corners of her mouth twitching as they turned back down and she took a sip of the water with shaking hands before placing the glass on the nightstand. "Now we'll never get any justice… it's not fair."
Lincoln sighed, blinking and biting his own lip in shared despair, frozen in his thoughts until he heard her sob again.
The other Lincoln had told him how he'd never seen her cry, but here she was, hunched over and shaking with the injustice and heartbreak. He edged a little closer on the bed, covering her hands that anxiously twisted in her lap with one of his own, his thumb stoking hers reassuringly.
"We will somehow. One way or another, one day." Lincoln promised as she lifted her head to look at him, her eyes like the sea in a storm - wide, wet and deep green compared to his own that were the color of clouds before the rain fell. Her full lips trembled, and he ached to still and reassure them with his own but as he studied her face, cracking under the weight of her remorse and despair, he knew she saw her friend as she looked back at him and pulled his hand away.
"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't've - I just thought you should know," she stuttered and nodded as she stood.
"Wait, don't go," Lincoln said as he grabbed her wrist before she could leave, still passively sitting on the bed. She looked at him, stunned, his warm fingers strong as they held her limp hand before releasing it. "I don't want you driving the way you are, Liv. Stay here."
"I'm fine." Olivia sniffed again and shook her head, then took a step back as he stood.
"No, you're not." He replied, his voice tinged with concern as he gestured to the bed behind him. "Lie down, I'll take the chair. I don't sleep much anymore, anyway."
Lincoln shrugged as she looked at the bed behind him, the comforter and pillow disheveled where he'd been laying before she'd arrived.
Olivia sighed and nodded as she toed off her boots and placed her jacket on the back of the chair next to the desk. He was right. If she was honest, she came here tonight because she didn't want to be alone. She laid down on the bed, facing away from him, and could feel the warmth in the sheets where he'd laid. The floorboards creaked as he turned off the lamp and settled into the armchair in the corner.
"Night." She whispered.
"G' night." Lincoln called back softly from the darkness, his voice a blanket that wrapped around her but didn't cover her enough. She could hear the soft waves of his breathing from the other side of the room over the hum of the background noise like laps on the shore and counted every breath as she imagined the fall and rise of his chest.
"Lincoln?" Olivia choked, as she tucked her knees up and huddled into the fetal position, her voice sticking in her throat as she tried to talk.
"Yeah?" He said, his voice a breathy beacon in the shadows.
"I need - can you please just hold me for a while?" She sniffed in a sob, as she heard him move and felt the bed dip almost instantly, his warm arm snaking around her to link his hand with hers again, "Sorry, I'm just -"
"S' kay," Lincoln whispered, his breath warm against the back of her head as his fingers reached her face to catch her tears.
Her hair brushed against his lips and she tasted like rain and felt like fire under his fingertips as he drifted into a dream. When he woke up in the morning, she was gone like a ghost in the daylight, the only evidence that she was there was the crease in the covers in the shape of her body and he wondered if her visit had been a dream too until he arrived at Fringe HQ the next day, and Astrid confirmed the news about Broyles and Sharp.
April 2012
Home Is Where The Heart Is
particles
"I'm afraid we have to close the bridge."
Olivia's eyes flickered as the words played out in her mind. She nervously drummed her fingers against the cool glass table. Closing the bridge meant they'd never see the other team again, which meant she'd lose Lincoln again, too. She hated the unfairness of it, and if she could kill Jones herself, she would. He took Lincoln's partner, her Lincoln, and now they have to close the bridge. She'd lose the other Lincoln too, lose him for good all over again, and wouldn't know if he was still alive or happy. She looked up at him across the table to get one last look of the man she wished she could spend more time with just as he let out a long sigh while looking in her direction, his hands nervously twitching his lap. Did he feel as much regret as she did?
As the teams left the room to make preparations with every tick of the clock, she jogged up to him, tapping him on the shoulder. He stopped and looked at her startled, as if he wasn't expecting her to reach out to him, then shrugged a thin smile, because, if he was completely honest with himself, he couldn't think of much to smile about right now.
"Hey." He turned and felt her touch, warm and exploring through the fabric of his suit jacket.
"So, I guess this is goodbye, huh?" She smiled in a way he recognized as her being nervous.
This is it. This is the last time we'll see each other. We'll never see each other again and there's nothing we can do about it and I'm not ready. I don't think I ever will be. Tell her you don't want to leave her.
His mind screams out under his cool, quiet exterior and the thought catches him unaware and holds him down like a weight on his chest. He can feel the world collapsing under his feet with every second that the clock counts down and makes him breathless, the air slowly sucked from his lungs and his mouth is like the desert but flooded with words he's aching to say but can't. Somehow, he finds the ability to talk.
"Yeah, it doesn't seem like we have much of a choice thanks to Jones," He shrugged again nervously, pointing at the machine on the bridge. "sorry I never bought you a café latte."
She followed his forlorn gaze briefly before turning back to him, swatting him lightly on the arm to get his attention.
"It doesn't matter. Listen, Lincoln…" Olivia began, pausing as she struggled too, stumbling a little as she wanted to get it right if it was her last chance. The more she thought about it, the more she realized this was the first time she was utterly lost for words. There didn't seem to be any words adequate for what she wanted - and needed - to say. She shifted on her feet and twisted her fingers nervously.
"I just wanted to say that I, uh, I wish there was another way, that you didn't have to…" She bit her lip nervously as she cut herself off. "You said it would get better and, uh, it did, and that's because of you, so, um, thank you!" She leaned in quickly, feeling his body flinch in surprise as she pecked a chaste kiss on his lips, leaving a pink lipstick stain which was rapidly matched by a blush that crept across his cheeks and she turned to run, catching up with the rest of her team.
"Oh! You're, uh, welcome." He quietly stuttered to himself with a sad smile as she left and he nodded, straightening his tie that caught on the pocket buttons of her military style jacket.
Waiting a moment, he considered her words - and actions - and strode up to the Secretary decisively.
"Can I have a quick word?" He nodded, asking him to step out of earshot of the other Walter and staff on his team.
"How do you know closing the bridge doesn't mean Peter stays here?" Lincoln asked directly, as he knew there was no time to make pleasantries. "I mean, because the other Walter said our universe vibrates in the key of C and this one is G. How do you know he won't stay here?"
"We don't know. We can only hope. Of course, there is the risk he may actually completely disappear again."
Lincoln frowned as Walter spoke and lowered his head, and his posture slumped in resignation.
"But there is something we could do that would increase our chances." He paused. "Come with me here, quickly."
They rushed back to his office, where he unlocked two differently numbered cases from his safe.
"Back when our Olivia was on your side, we used harmonic rods to bring her back, in case the plan went awry. One of these sets of vials ensured the patient injected operates at 261.6 hertz and the other at 392, so it would safely bring them back within minutes."
"So if you inject Peter with the contents of the one with his universe's frequency…" Lincoln pointed at the cases.
"Then he will be tuned to that universe long enough while The Bridge shuts down." Secretary Bishop replies, completing the sentence.
Lincoln nodded in understanding and stepped forward.
"So could you inject me with the other ones so I can stay? I want to stay here - if that's okay?"
"Your work has been much appreciated since you have been here and you would be a welcome addition to the team, and there is a vacancy if Colonel Broyles from your universe allows the transfer - because you do understand it would be permanent? Once you stay here, you won't be able to go back home ever again."
"This is my home." Lincoln replied without hesitation, the most sure he'd been of anything for as long as he could remember. "Peter told me home is where the heart is, and…"
"He is a smart, kind and noble man and you could do much worse than follow that advice. The device does seem to work better if there is a swap of one person for another. Very well, I'll speak to Broyles and administer the vials to you both. Just be warned, the process may give you some temporary side-effects, such as vertigo, and feeling light-headed or short-term memory loss for a while."
"I can deal with that." Lincoln said with a smile as he accepted the injection.
Minutes later he swayed towards Olivia as the counter crept closer to 100%, feeling giddy with a mixture of excitement, anticipation and the contents of the vials the Secretary had just injected him with.
"Thought I'd stick around for good," he stuttered under his breath, drunk on the smile she gave him as he stood next to her. "Thought you could use a little help."
She smiled in surprise at his impulsiveness, watching the other team flash out of existence, then looked at him in disbelief, her eyes wide like saucers.
"You kished me." Lincoln chuckled, swaying on his feet, the contents of the vial Secretary Bishop injected him with coursing through his veins.
"Did I?" Olivia asked teasingly, biting her lip with a smile which dropped from her face as Lincoln felt the blood rush from his head and be replaced with dizziness, and he fell to the floor.
"Hey!"
Lincoln blinked his eyes and opened them slowly, allowing them to gradually refocus, until he could make out the shape of Olivia's face, sighing in relief when he saw her long russet hair drape across him. Leaning up on his elbows, he adjusted his glasses that thankfully remained intact. "I think you fainted, are you okay?" She asked, helping him to his feet.
"Yeah, I like making an entrance." Lincoln replied with a chuckle, brushing the dust off of his suit, and blushing in embarrassment at passing out.
"You wanna go get a drink of water or something?" Olivia smiled as they walked away from the bridge and she steadied him by linking her arm in his.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." He replied, on realizing how dry his mouth felt, unsure if it was the side-effects of the technology or the warmth of her hand in the crook of his arm that he could feel through his suit jacket.
"I'm glad you stayed, Lincoln." She said, her eyes flickering as they explored and searched his familiar yet unknown face again.
"Well, there's no place else for me to be." Lincoln shrugged, twisting his lips into his usual smile that Olivia could only mirror.
July 2012 Alterverse
"So you don't use pens and paper at all here?" Lincoln asked, his lips twisting in confusion as he quickly blinked.
"No." Astrid replied simply. "Since The Blight in the late 80s killed off so much organic matter, many trees and vegetation died, so we stopped using paper unless needed for essential purposes. Everything is now done electronically."
"So without paper, you have no need for pens. Makes sense." Lincoln yawned as he shrugged and sat next to Astrid as she eyed him curiously. "Another thing I'll have to adjust to, I guess. Along with the lack of coffee."
"I tried coffee once, when I came over to your universe," she said as she leaned in slightly, as if the subject was covert or taboo.
"You did? I didn't know that. Did you like it?"
"It was when you were away." Astrid explained, "Your Astrid made me a cup. It wasn't what I expected. It was weird, very strange. But also kind of likable. A bit like you."
As she left, Lincoln quickly raised, then knotted his brows at her statement and huffed a little laugh. He'd never been called weird before, at least not to his face. Nerdy and shy, yes. Quiet and insecure, once or twice. But strange? He knew Astrid didn't mean it maliciously. She could be blunt sometimes, but it made him wonder if the cultural differences in their worlds made him seem even more of an outcast than he already felt he was.
He took the device and sighed, and carried on working to take his mind off thinking about it, but the more he tried to forget, the more he thought about it. He thought the team had accepted him into their fold, even though he replaced the Lincoln they had known and worked with for years, and had become close friends with. Did they really see him as some kind of outcast?
"Hey!" Olivia called, startling Lincoln from his work, and she chuckled as she saw him jump. "You okay? You seem quiet today."
Lincoln nodded as he put down the tablet and shuffled in his seat. Olivia perched next to him on her stool and took it to inspect the information, then smiled as she looked back up at him.
"That's weird… Wait, you've finished all the reports!" She exclaimed, her smile twisting as her brows knotted in confusion. "You didn't have to do that."
"It kept me busy and got me up to speed with the archived cases." He shrugged. "It was no bother at all."
"Well, I'm glad I won't have any paperwork to do for a while. Thank you!" Olivia huffed a laugh and briefly squeezed his hand in appreciation. He blinked, looking at his own hand as the touch of her cool hand burned on his skin.
"Do you think I'm strange?" Lincoln blurted, keeping his eyes down at his hands on the table, then self-consciously folded them into his lap.
"W-what?" she scoffed in reply, her smile twisted as she frowned in bemusement. "What do you mean?"
"I know being from, uh, not here, there are some differences I have to adjust to. I just - Astrid said I'm strange and I dunno… Forget it, I'm just being stupid." He said, dismissing himself and wishing he hadn't brought it up.
"No, I wouldn't say strange," Olivia said, her eyes softening as she saw the twinge of concern in his eyes and reassuringly nudged him with her arm. "A bit quirky, maybe, but it's a good thing, being different. Knowing all the odd little things from your universe and those things that make you extrinsically you. It's part of your charm. And I wouldn't worry about Astrid. She likes you - we all do - she just has a different way of explaining things."
"She compared me to a cup of coffee…" Lincoln replied with a smile, which elicited a snort from Olivia in response. "Wait, did you just say I'm charming?"
"In that case, it's a compliment. She didn't stop going on about it for weeks, maybe months, after we visited your side. But if I think you're being strange, you'll be the first to know."
She paused as she smiled back at him and reassuringly touched his hand again.
"I'm going to give Erikson the good news that you've filed all the reports and maybe he'll let us finish a bit early, and we can have a look at some apartments."
Olivia jumped down from her seat and tucked the tablet under her arm, hurriedly strutting away with a swish of her auburn hair before Lincoln could press her for a response to his question. The truth was, she found him fascinating and she couldn't help but gravitate towards him like he was drawing her towards him with a magnetic force. Like his personality, his clothes, hair and style were different, more pensive, serious and intense than her friend's,which had been playful, flippant and flirty, even cocky sometimes. But physically, they were incredibly similar. They had the same piercing blue eyes that changed to gray when they were upset or angry, and the same slightly gappy teeth and dimples that traced a line to their jaws when they smiled. But that's where the similarity between them ended, and that's what intrigued and fascinated her the most.
Christmas 2009 Alterverse
Lincoln couldn't tear himself away from looking at her. Even from the back of the crowded bar, he noticed the way the soft lighting gave Olivia's auburn hair an ethereal glow, and her green eyes twinkled as she laughed at something Charlie said.
A pang of unjustified jealousy, a stealthy creature that crept up on him, grasped him in its clutches and stung him right in the chest before it was too late to escape. As he noticed their hands brush against each other as he approached the bar, he prised himself between them, resting his hands on each of their shoulders.
"So… you gonna let me in on the joke, or do you just wanna buy your handsome boss a drink?"
"Linc!" Olivia exclaimed, turning to embrace him from the stool where she sat as her eyes lit up. "I was just saying to Charlie, I wondered when you were gonna show up."
"Well, that's the thing, Liv. Being a boss, you always have extra work and responsibilities when everyone else has clocked off for the day." Lincoln quipped.
"You're not the boss…" Charlie teased, "... and styling your hair in the mirror for half an hour every day isn't a responsibility." He laughed as he jumped down off his stool. "Nature calls."
"At least I have hair!" Lincoln retorted, rubbing the other man's buzz cut as he stood up. "I'll put in a good word for you when I replace Broyles in a few years!"
"Not if you get sucked into another class 4 vortex, you won't!" Charlie scoffed jokingly as he jogged away towards the restrooms.
"So…" he continued, sliding onto Charlie's seat and motioning the bartender to bring over two more drinks. "Commendation medal, huh? Pretty impressive, Liv…"
"Thanks…" Olivia began, looking at him with sad, wide eyes as she recalled the day they gave her the medal.
"I mean, not as impressive as me," Lincoln interrupted, by puffing out his chest mockingly, "but you're only human, after all."
That comment earned a smile that he was so relieved to see, he couldn't help but laugh too. She playfully grabbed his forearm, and he stared at her warm hand that burned his skin and made his smile disappear. Looking back up, he met her eyes with his faded smile. Startled, he realized he was infatuated. There was no way he would admit it to anyone, of course, but over the past few months, she had possessed his thoughts to the extent he couldn't think of anything else.
"Drinks are on me tonight for saving my ass." He smiled as he paid for the drinks, slipping two 20 dollar bills on the counter with his Show Me ID, which Olivia swiped away for closer inspection.
"Nice photo, Lincoln T. Lee." She drawled playfully in a sing-song tone, noticing the older photo with his shorter styled hair. "What's the 'T' stand for?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He teased, as he snatched it back.
"Yeah, I would actually… Toby!" Olivia guessed, watching Lincoln as he shook his head, taking a sip of his drink. "Ummm… Thomas!" She pointed at him, watching his face for a reaction.
"Nooope."
"Tate? Theodore? Teddy?"
He nearly spat out his drink.
"Do I look like a Teddy to you?" Lincoln coughed as she patted him on the back and laughed.
"Actually, yeah, you kinda do." She shouted, slamming her hands down triumphantly as he smiled broadly and raised his eyebrows. "Trevor!"
"Very good." He replied, narrowing his eyes.
"Ha, I knew it. It's a good name, nothing to be embarrassed about. It was my dad's name too…"
"Very good, but it's wrong." Lincoln interrupted, trying to stifle a laugh when Olivia glared at him.
"I'll get it out of you eventually, even if I have to get you drunk."
"Hmm, well, we'll have to see which one of us caves first." Lincoln teased as Olivia took a sip of her drink too, wincing at the alcohol.
"Say ZFT!" Charlie cried out, and they turned, smiling to see him take a picture of them with his camera.
Olivia playfully grabbed Lincoln around the neck, tugging on his gray T-shirt, which contrasted with the bright scarlet hues of her top. The bright light of the flash surrounded them and laughed, returning to their drinks and conversation.
Olivia and Lincoln stumbled off their stools and out of the hot and crowded bar. The contrast of the cool air was a shock compared to the humidity of the bar. Helping Olivia shrug her jacket on over her shoulders as she shivered, he called for a cab on his ear cuff.
"Cab should be here in ten mins."
Olivia leaned into Lincoln and huddled between him and the wall to keep warm as she shuddered.
"I am never drinking again… and why is it so cold?" She said through chattering teeth, the steam of her breath merging with his Lincoln's, and he nodded in agreement.
"Yes. We…" and as he raised his index finger and pointed between them, "are… in no fit state." He replied slowly, but still slurred the last word as he stumbled backwards.
She grabbed him by the collar and giggled, and his arms wrapped around her to steady themselves. Suddenly, she felt very conscious of their proximity.
"Thanks for coming out tonight, Liv." He whispered gently in her ear. "I know, despite what you say, you're not okay."
His eyes looked to hers, and even in the dark street, with the streetlamps barely illuminating their faces, she could see them glitter before he looked away again. She reached up, touching his chin lightly with her fingertip.
"Because you know what it's like?"
He turned back to face her, huffing a little smile as he looked at her face, barely keeping eye contact.
"I never did thank you properly for saving my life." He replied, changing the subject. Closing the gap between them, he chastely pecked a friendly kiss on the side of her mouth and pulled away. Then, pausing to briefly check her reaction, he returned to gingerly graze her lips with his own, pulled back into her orbit from the magnetic force of the illicit touch, his hand sliding up from her sides to her face.
"What are you?... " Olivia began to feebly protest, cut off by his mouth on hers. She could taste the sweetness of rum and coke lingering on his breath, and couldn't help kissing him back as he pressed his mouth hungrily into hers, getting swept away by the waves of his desire until she could barely keep her head above water.
"Linc, wait," she sighed breathlessly, pushing against him as she broke away. "We're drunk!"
"I'm not!" Lincoln protested, swaying on his feet as she raised her eyebrows. "Okay, maybe I'm a little bit tipsy…" He slurred the last word as he straightened himself up. "… but that doesn't change how I feel about you."
"We shouldn't, I can't…"
He stopped and frowned, stepping back to intently gaze at her.
"Why not? This is - we - are perfect."
He doesn't mean to sound so desperate, and he doesn't want to beg her, but part of him feels like he would if he had to.
Olivia looked, suddenly unable to meet the sadness and need to belong she saw in Lincoln's eyes. She studied her hands, still caught between their chests, and swallowed slowly. All this time, she'd been flirting with him, getting him to like her so she could get further in a male-dominated workplace, thinking it was harmless banter. But now as she felt him against her, the regret of manipulating him stung her eyes as the realization hit her - it was no longer pretense and if she wasn't already with someone, she wouldn't think twice.
"I'm sorry. I can't risk..."She pushed her hand against his chest, gesturing for him to let her go first.
"If it's because I'm your superior, then..."
"No, it's… I have a boyfriend." She blurted out.
He recoiled, as if the words were burning him, and looked away as if to look at her was now forbidden
She dared herself to look back at him as he chewed on his bottom lip, mourning the loss of his touch. She wondered if he missed her too, but all she could see was regret and shame.
"You gonna say something?" She whispered, and he looked back at her, aloof.
"You should really keep your personnel file updated, Dunham." He replied coldly as she searched his face for the person she knew. Olivia shook her head slightly, and he looked away to do the same, hating himself for convincing himself she might love him back, and that he most likely had just ruined their relationship if she thought he was only her friend for one reason.
Lincoln licked his lips in the cold air. He could still taste her on his mouth and feel the pressure of her lips on his. He knew he didn't imagine it when she had kissed him back.
"Linc… I'm sorry, I should have said something."
He blinked, as if to say "you think?" raising his eyebrows in response. "I never thought I was your, uh, type, anyway." She added with an insinuation.
He looked taken aback, as if it wasn't obvious he wasn't interested in anyone else but her, until the realization hit him.
"You thought I was gay?" He questioned incredulously, and she shrugged.
"You never mentioned a girlfriend, and I saw the ACT UP leaflet in your locker."
"Why would I want a girlfriend when all I see is you?" He asked, mirroring her shrug. "I went on a march with my step-brother… We don't speak much these days, but I still look out for him, ya know?" Olivia nodded as he paused, and he changed the subject, trying to make her see he was her friend more than anything and always would be. "So - what's his name? Where'd you meet him?"
She paused before answering, still trying to make eye contact to see if he was genuinely asking or out of some morbid curiosity. He shuffled his feet, and she shrugged as she relented.
"Frank. In Hoboken."
"The cholera outbreak?"
She nodded in reply.
"How romantic." He scoffed and instantly regretted it as her shoulders dropped again.
Who could blame her, really? She deserved better than someone who made immature jabs, and yet it still hurt. She must have seen the remorse on his face as he went to speak again, and cut him off before he could.
"Lincoln, I love you. You're my best friend, and kinda my boss..." Olivia continued, pleading as he nervously ran his hand through his hair.
"Here it comes."
"But we're just too alike. We need people to calm us down and ground us. We'd drive each other crazy, eventually..."
"You already drive me crazy, Liv. How do you know we aren't supposed to be together?"
He looked at her again, her wide green eyes looking up at him, glittering black like the stars in the night sky reflecting on the water.
She touched his cheek and moved in closer, the stubble rough under her fingertips, and her lips twitched as she looked at his mouth regretfully.
"I don't know. Maybe if I wasn't with…."
They jumped as a taxi horn honked in the street, and the cab driver rolled down his window.
"Taxi for Olivia?" The driver shouted impatiently through the rolled-down window.
"Looks like it's your ride."
"Yeah!" Olivia replied to them both, stepping towards the curb, and Lincoln followed. "You wanna share the ride? We can drop you off on the way." She asked as Lincoln opened the back door for her, and he shook his head.
He could see them together, the windows steaming up with their feverish bodies in the cold, dark night. Streaks of headlamps and neon lights passing them by, their knees touching, then their hands until they couldn't resist each other and collapsed into each other like dying suns in an explosion of light.
"This is nothing, like nothing even happened. I'm just a few blocks away, anyway. I know a good 24hr diner near here, so I'll grab a hot drink on my way back to my place and walk it off."
"Okay," she smiled warily, pausing before she got in. "Are we good?"
"We'll always be good." He smiled back before she sat in the back seat, closing the door behind her, and bending to check her through the window.
"Promise?"
"I promise. But if you wanna cheat on your boyfriend, you know where I am if you change your mind." He teased and winked, his eyes wrinkling and finally reflecting his smile.
"Lincoln!" Olivia warned in reply.
"Okay, okay, fine!" He held his hands up and rested them on the rolled-down window.
"Night then. Let me know when you get home, so I know you're safe."
"Okay. Night." Olivia said as he turned to walk away. "Oh, Linc?"
He turned back on his heel as the cab restarted and began to pull away from the curb.
"Your secret is safe with me!"
"Yours isn't!" He replied, as the car drove away and her window rolled back up.
Christmas 2009 Alterverse
Okay, I'm home now," Olivia said into her ear cuff as she closed the door behind her with a soft click. "Yeah, it's our secret. You too, see you later."
She ended the call and softly toed off her shoes by the door to quieten her steps on the hardwood floor and then threw her purse on the couch to remove her jacket.
"Where have you been?" A voice asked accusingly, which came from the corner of the living room, dark with shadows. She jumped at the unexpected sound, her pounding heartbeat whooshing in her ears at the noise.
"Frank?" Olivia asked, squinting to make out the silhouette of his face in the darkness before he turned on a lamp and she blinked in the bright light. "Why are you-"
"Answer the question!" Frank replied bluntly. He didn't need to shout for her to understand his tone and what he was implying.
"Frank… " Olivia repeated imploringly, with a small smile. "… It was a work thing."
"Work?" He replied skeptically as she nodded. "So why did they say when I called the office you left hours ago?"
"Are you checking up on me?" She smirked as she threw her jacket on the chair, immediately regretting her reply as he lunged and grabbed her by the arm. His firm hands pushed back on her slim frame, forcibly shoving her against the wall before she could evade his grasp. "Ow, you're hurting me -"
"I can smell the drink on your breath. Tell me who you were talking to!" Frank sneered, his grip tightening as her back hit the wall, trapped by his body. "Who have you been with?"
"Just the guys from work." Olivia replied as she struggled against him. "Lincoln asked me to join them, w - we went to the Christmas party, and time just got away..."
"Of course he did, he's always sniffing around you like a lovesick puppy dog - it's pathetic." He sniped, curling his lip in disgust.
He roughly released his grip and stepped back as she breathed a sigh of relief. Her arm stung where he'd gripped her roughly, and she rubbed where it felt tender.
"If I find out you're lying to me and he doesn't back off," he snarled, looming back over her with his finger pointing accusingly just millimeters from her face. "You'll both be sorry, because he won't be a pretty boy anymore."
December 21st 2012 Altverse
Olivia glanced across the crowded hall at Lincoln, who was stuffing his belongings into his leather satchel, then shrugged his coat over his suit jacket. Jogging over to where he stood, she intercepted his path before he made it to the elevators.
"Hey!" she smiled, tapping him lightly on the arm from behind, making him spin around, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Oh, hey!" he replied with a huff, smiling on seeing her face. "I didn't think I'd see you until Monday. Have a nice weekend."
"I got held up in a meeting," Olivia shrugged. "Actually, I wondered if you were going to the DoD Christmas party tomorrow?"
"Oh!" Lincoln said, lifting his eyebrows in flustered embarrassment. "I, er, probably not. Parties aren't really my kinda thing. And I don't really know anyone except you guys."
He shoved his hands in his coat pockets and winced a smile, then frowned as he saw Olivia's smile flinch.
"Oh." she echoed flatly, her voice barely containing the disappointment. "Oh, okay."
She smiled thinly, going to turn on her heel before Lincoln whipped out his hand and nudged her before she stepped away, surprised by her response.
"Why? Are you, then?" Lincoln enquired.
"Yeah," Olivia shrugged again. "At these events, I usually stay and talk with Astrid all night because they have a discounted bar, and being the only person who doesn't drink isn't much fun, but she's still ill and I already bought a dress, and it seems a shame for it to go to waste…"
She didn't want to mention the other Lincoln would keep her company too, in case this Lincoln misunderstood why she wanted his company.
"Oh, well, if you just want a bit of company, I suppose I can oblige…" He huffed, twisting his lips into a smirk as Olivia's smile returned. "And I bought a new suit the other day that I could wear."
"Great!" she said, nodding. "It'll probably help you put some faces to the names of people in other departments you haven't met yet, either. Shall I swing by to your hotel about 7? I might as well drive us as I'm not drinking."
"Sure, okay!" Lincoln said, raising his arms in agreement. "See you tomorrow around 7, then."
22nd December 2012 Altverse
At 7.13pm on Saturday evening, Lincoln was brushing down the front of his jacket in front of the mirror when a car honked its horn and flashed its lights outside of his hotel room. He grabbed his wallet and keys, and locked the door behind him, jogged across the darkened parking lot to the black Ford that had its engine running and Christmas music playing faintly from within, and opened the passenger door.
"Hey, nice bow tie!" Olivia grinned at Lincoln as he sat next to her and pulled the seatbelt across his chest. "Sorry I'm late, the traffic was heaving."
Lincoln nodded and looked at Olivia, noticing how different she looked compared to her normal attire. She'd pinned up her hair in loose curls, revealing two golden spherical earrings that were suspended from her ears, and under her coat he noticed a stockinged knee when she hit the brake pedal at a junction.
"Everyone's probably traveling to see their families." He said, shifting and recrossing his legs, trying not to think if she was wearing stockings or pantyhose. "Are you going to see your mom over Christmas?"
"No, she's going to France again this year, so we've already done Christmas." She replied, tapping her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, deep in thought, then turned to glance back at Lincoln. "Do you celebrate it?"
"I used to," Lincoln smiled thinly, "Robert insisted I went to his for Christmas Day and Thanksgiving as he didn't like me being alone, but, uh, it's no big deal -"
"Come to mine," Olivia blurted, "- if you want and fancy some company. I don't really cook, but we can order takeout and watch a couple of movies or crappy tv while eating loads of candy if you like."
"Oh, er - thanks." He gulped, "Okay, sure. I can cook if you want to get the ingredients, but a takeout is fine ."
"Okay, Bobby Flay!" she said and snorted a laugh as Lincoln rolled his eyes and the tune of Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby played through the car speakers.
They arrived at the venue, and handed over the car to the valet before stepping through the entrance hall, bustling with people from various teams and departments of the Department of Defense. Lincoln stopped to glance around the room, slightly intimidated by all the unknown faces, and turned to check on Olivia, who had pushed through the throng and was removing her coat, handing it into the cloakroom. He stood staring at her wide-eyed and entranced then gulped thickly, her curves hugged by a tight, knee-length burgundy dress with bronze sequin detail. The top was asymmetrical, so a sleeve covered her left arm down to her wrist, leaving her right arm exposed and the fabric ruched across her breasts. Smiling when she caught his gaze, she beckoned him over with a hand gesture, and he worked his way through the increasingly busy throng of people to meet her, and she leaned into his ear, her hand warm through his jacket when she held onto his arm for support.
"Shall we go find some seats before everyone else gets in?" She shouted over the noise of chatter and instrumental Christmas songs in the room, her breath warm on his cheek and the faint scent of spicy floral perfume intoxicated his senses, and he nodded, following her through the crowd towards the main hall, where they grabbed a couple of drinks from the bar and found an empty table against the far wall, where large paneled windows reflected the fairy lights that decorated the room, away from the busy bar and dance floor area.
Soon, the wooden floor of the dance floor had filled and a spectrum of lights shimmered over the dancers, and Olivia pointed out people she knew from the people moving to the rhythm of the music. Lincoln had shed his suit jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves as the warmth of multiple bodies filled the room.
"Oh, look - Erikson just arrived," Olivia said, nudging Lincoln by the elbow so he whipped his head in her direction, "and there's Reeves and his husband who works over on Liberty Island in weapons development."
"I'm gonna go grab a drink from the bar. Do you want anything?" Lincoln asked with a nod, holding up his empty glass as proof.
"Soda water, juice, something like that," she replied, watching Erikson as he made eye contact with Olivia and made his way to their table.
Lincoln pushed his way through the heaving throng, carefully weaving through the gaps until he finally reached the bar, relieved to place his warm hand on the smooth, cool surface when a hand reached through and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Agent Lee!" The tall, broad-shouldered man exclaimed. His dark eyes twinkled as he spoke and held out his hand for Lincoln to shake.
"Agent Reynolds!" Lincoln exclaimed in reply, recalling their first meeting a few months ago on the shapeshifter case when his counterpart in this universe had died. "Lincoln. How are you?"
"Jay - Good, thanks!" He called over the loud chatter, shaking Lincoln's hand again as agent Salerno joined him. "Can I get you a drink?"
"Thanks, but I'm just getting one for me and Olivia…"
"I insist, I'll get her one too, then!"
Lincoln, Reynolds, and Salerno squeezed back through the crowd with their drink and made their way to the table with their drinks. They joined Erikson and his partner, whose bobbed platinum blonde hair skimmed her bare shoulders exposed by her black halter neck dress.
"Where's Li-Dunham?" Lincoln asked Erikson as he sat down, noticing her empty seat and purse on the table where she'd been.
He pointed towards the dance floor, and the shimmer of bronze sequins caught Lincoln's eye when he saw her moving through the dancers, then a hand pulling her by the waist to the beat of the music. He squinted, trying to make out the face of the person she was dancing with, but it was too dark and too far, and the sight of the hand skimming her lower back, dangerously close to her ass, was not something Lincoln wanted to look at.
"Agent Lee-incoln," Reynolds slurred, pulling him away from Olivia's direction with a tap on his arm and Lincoln looked away, losing her in the crowd. "I want you to tell me all about your universe. What's it like?"
Lincoln cleared his throat and turned back to Reynold, then raised his eyebrows, glad for the distraction and shrugged.
"Uh, what do you wanna know?"
Lincoln wasn't sure how much time had passed after being plied with multiple drinks, courtesy of Reynolds, in exchange for his anecdotes on life in another universe that the group found fascinating, but two things occurred to Lincoln through the fog of the alcohol coursing through his bloodstream; one was he was drunker than he'd been for a long time and the other was he hadn't seen Olivia since they arrived and as much as he didn't want to get in her way if she was having fun, it felt strange she hadn't been back to the table for so long.
Excusing himself from the group with the pretense of visiting the washrooms, he stumbled determined through the party-goers, staggering slightly as the whisky he'd drunk took effect, eventually finding Olivia leaning with her back against the wall, talking with a man who had his palm pressed against the wall near her head, engrossed in conversation.
Nodding to himself in defeat, Lincoln went to disappear back into the crowd and get a cab home, until Olivia looked up and made eye contact, her eyes large and beckoning, and she ducked under the man's arm as Lincoln approached.
"You okay?" Lincoln frowned, eyeing the situation suspiciously, before tripping and swaying slightly, so Olivia reached out to steady him by the arm and nodded. "What was that about?"
"Don't ask. You okay if we leave now?" Olivia said in reply, leaning into his space so he could hear her and give physical support, guiding him away from the other man who she could see was following them. Looking over her shoulder to see if he was still around, the decorations that hung from the arched ceiling above their heads caught her eye. "There's mistletoe," she added, looking back down to meet Lincoln's eyes, "kiss me."
"What?" He exclaimed, furrowing his brow as he was sure he'd misheard, and squinted as she pulled him towards her by the collar and planted a firm, chaste kiss on his mouth. The tang of whisky lingered on his lips, and Olivia fought against the taste until she opened her eyes and was sure they were alone, and pulled away. Lincoln's eyebrows raised high in surprise as his eyes fluttered open, and he swayed on his feet. "Oh!" he gasped with a hiccup, then huffed a laugh when she pulled him away by the hand to leave.
Gravel and shingle crunched under the car tyres as it pulled into a space in the parking lot under the amber canopy of a streetlamp, and the engine came to a stop.
"We're at your hotel," Olivia stated, nudging Lincoln, who jerked in response and tugged at his seatbelt repeatedly before Olivia reached over the console and pressed the release button. "You okay?"
"I, uh, yesssh. Thank you." Lincoln slurred, pulling against the door handle, and yelping in surprise as the cold, December air filled the car and the door swung open, taking him with it.
"Oh god," she gasped in reply, leaping out of the car and running around the other side to help Lincoln to his feet, as he kneeled on the gravel. "Are you okay?" Olivia repeated, this time with a giggle as he wobbled, swaying side to side.
"Oww," he exclaimed, brushing down his legs and chuckling as he replaced his glasses. "I'll live." His smile disappeared as the insensitive words left his lips, and he heavy handedly clasped his hands over his mouth when meeting Olivia's gaze. "Shit. That was really… shit, I'm shorry."
"Don't worry about it, it's fine," Olivia said, with a thin smile, holding out her hand. "Give me your room key, let's get you to bed, so you can sleep it off." Patting down his pockets, he found the item and proudly pushed it into Olivia's outstretched hand, and grinned widely. He staggered, following her across the parking lot until she grabbed his arm and opened the door to his room for them. Lincoln stumbled in and turned to look at Olivia, who leaned against the door and disapprovingly crossed her arms across her chest, trying to look annoyed but unable to stop a smile spreading across her face. "Is this what happens when I leave you unsupervised?" She laughed, watching him trying in vain to kick off his shoes and struggling to pull his arm out of his jacket, which he eventually threw inside out and it landed on the armchair in the corner.
"Ish what happens when y'leave me with Reynolds," Lincoln said, flopping backwards on the bed and turned his head to look at Olivia, who toed off her black low-heeled pumps by the door and shook her head disapprovingly. "I f'got t-tell you…" He slurred, as she sat on the edge of the bed, and the mattress sagged slightly under the weight of their bodies.
"Tell me what?" Olivia asked, frowning as Lincoln's eyes fluttered shut again, and he pouted in concentration, gulping thickly.
"You book loo-iful, I mean blue-ti-ful … that dress ish nice." He mumbled in a barely coherent sigh and put his glasses on the bedside shelf.
"Well, I like your suit too," she replied quietly, watching him as his breathing slowed, and stood to replace the main overhead light with the bedside lamp.
"It was fifty percent off," Lincoln murmured as he began tugging at his tie and unbuttoning his shirt half heartedly with closed eyes, unperturbed by Olivia's presence, his usual shy and reserved persona being taken over by his drunken state.
"It would be better if it was a hundred percent off," Olivia whispered, taking the tie out of his hands, curiously examining the silken fabric before placing it on the chair with his jacket.
"That'd be stupid. They wouldn't make any money and would go out of business," He muttered as his hand flopped to the side and he passed out.
The noise of hammering vibrating through the walls made Lincoln wake with a start until he realized the noise was his head and his mouth was so dry it felt like someone had carpeted it with sandpaper. He groaned, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips, allowing the room to stop spinning then stopped when he noticed a bare arm and dark auburn hair protruding from underneath the blankets he was lying on top of. He sat up in mild panic, checking himself. His shirt was half undone, and on his lower half, his pants were dirty and half undone, and he frowned, trying to recall when he'd undressed.
"Hey!" Olivia smirked, feeling the bed dip as he stood in confusion and propped her head on her hand and she leaned on her elbow. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I wish I could have a coffee," Lincoln frowned and stammered "did we - you - uh, um… what happened?"
She laughed, sitting up in bed, revealing a plain white T-shirt on her top half. "You passed out, and I thought I'd stay, make sure you didn't throw up and choke on your own vomit. I hope you don't mind that I borrowed a T-shirt from your bag. I-I didn't want to sleep in my dress."
Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief, blinked in embarrassment as Olivia swung her legs over the side of the bed to get out.
"Was I that bad?" he winced, a flush creeping up his cheeks as Olivia pursed her lips to suppress a smile.
"Yes, you were," she nodded, "but I have seen a lot worse drunks." She eased her coat over Lincoln's T-shirt and buttoned it up before easing her feet into her pumps and draping her dress over the crook of her arm. "Christmas dinner is on you. I'll see you in a couple of days and I'll give you back your t-shirt."
She smiled again, closing the door behind her, and Lincoln blinked again in puzzlement with a vague recollection of her lips on his.
"Keep it - it looks better on you, anyway."
CHAPTER 10 CONFESSIONS
Christmas 2012 altverse
Months after spontaneously deciding to stay in the alternate universe, Lincoln was no closer to finding a suitable apartment.
Liv had offered to help him, but so far none of them felt right and the thought niggled in the back of his head. For once, he'd been spontaneous and made a leap, but what if it was the wrong thing to do? What if he was supposed to have stayed in the other universe and had a purpose there? But even if he could go back, there was nothing and no one waiting for him there.
Lincoln sat opposite Olivia at her dinner table, blowing away the steam from his drink as his hands wrapped around the hot mug.
She must've sensed his disillusion as he suddenly felt her hand cover his, bringing him back from his thoughts.
"Hey, you okay?" She asked as he looked from his hand to see her faint smile and nodded as he met her eyes. "Don't give up, Lincoln," she continued. "Something will turn up, you'll see."
He raised his mug up to his lips, sipping the steaming hot drink and brought it back down to the table.
"I know, I know," he replied blinking, "I was just thinking that maybe, I…"
"What?"
"Nothing, it's nothing. I'm being silly. Forget it."
"Go on, tell me," she implored, searching his face and biting her lower lip. "Please?"
He sighed, pushing his glasses back and leaned back into the chair, knowing she'd guess it eventually or keep asking until he gave in.
"I dunno. I just feel like, like I had this gut feeling when I decided I wanted to stay here permanently, that this was where I belonged, but now, now I just feel like..."
"What?" Olivia repeated, frowning.
"I just feel like I'm missing something."
Her face dropped then and she tried to hide it but she knew he caught it.
"What is it? What did I say?" Lincoln questioned.
"Nothing, nothing." Olivia replied reassuringly. "You just reminded me of something, that's all."
"You mean, him? The other Lincoln?" He interjected, and she looked at him as he leaned forward across the table. "It's okay, you know. I know you were close. I don't expect you to never talk about him in front of me."
"I know," she smiled. "I just didn't want you to feel awkward."
"Just leave that to me, right?" He laughed, and she laughed coyly back.
"You're not awkward, Lincoln, you're just different. Sometimes I look at you and for a split second I see him, but you're two very different people. And I mean that in a good way."
He smiled again, as she drank down her cocoa and he did the same.
"Okay." Liv announced, pushing her empty mug to the side.
"O-kay?" Lincoln replied questioningly, as if he'd missed something, licking the foam from the corners of his mouth.
"I think you should move in here."
"W-what?" He choked, thankful she'd said that after he'd swallowed his mouthful of drink.
"Move in with me, at least until you find somewhere suitable. C'mon, it makes sense - you're almost living here, anyway."
Lincoln thought of the first case they'd worked together since he'd stayed.
They'd stayed up past midnight, spreading out over her living room floor, scouring photos and files and bouncing ideas off each other. Lincoln's head had been resting on the seat of the sofa as his legs had sprawled out across the floor and he'd turned to face Olivia, blushing when he'd almost put his head on her knee, thankful she didn't seem to notice or care. The next night had been the same; except Olivia was cross-legged on the floor next to Lincoln and sat on the couch. She'd swept her hair over one shoulder when reaching for a drink and he did a double take on seeing the tribal tattoo on the back of her neck, resisting the urge to touch it and looked away blushing before she noticed him staring. They'd finally made a break in the case at almost 3am and Olivia insisted he'd stay in her guest room instead of driving the 10 miles back to the hotel, as he could barely keep his eyes open through lack of sleep and caffeine. And so it continued, as they became more and more comfortable with each other until eventually they understood each other's thought processes and theories.
"We can carpool and save on the commute too, if you want. Was the mattress okay for you?" Olivia continued. "Your Walter said he liked my spare bed when he stayed with me for a while, after… when Broyles was arrested, but if you prefer a softer mattress, then we can do that, and you're welcome to redecorate or buy new furniture too.
She thought about the night when she'd been drinking and told Walter about Lincoln's murder.
He'd made eggs to sober her up and sown the seeds of doubt in her mind about Broyles's betrayal that had led to the death of her partner, and also suggested that his Lincoln might help her with her grief, just Peter had for him. He'd made her laugh when he said she'd be hard pressed to find a better chess player.
"I, er, no, it's fine. Okay… Are you sure?" Lincoln stammered, then smiled, cursing the blush he could feel rising to his cheeks.. "I mean, do you think it's a good idea?"
"Sure, why not?" Olivia nodded. "To be honest, I could do with a bit of company, too. I've had problems sleeping since… with the apartment so empty. It's been nice to have someone around." She replied and his mouth twitched a smile in reply, remembering Walter's comment about sleeping naked and also his own issues with insomnia since he'd started working at Fringe.
"I remember when I used to sleep like a baby. It seems like a lifetime ago."
"Being at that hotel can't help." She said, smiling.
"I've stayed in worse ones, believe it or not. When I joined the Fringe Division on my side, I was in a hotel that was close to the headquarters, but, uh…" Lincoln paused, his face wincing at the memory.
"What?"
"Let's just say the walls were a little too thin."
"Oh!" Olivia said, twisting her lips into an awkward smirk. Lincoln looked at her, a little unsure. They had been working well together since he settled there and it made sense, but he also knew she was still mourning the death of her friend and he wondered if she was keeping him close as a reminder to help with the grief. "But you don't want to?"
"No, it's not that, I just, uh…" Lincoln paused again, not sure how to put his concerns delicately so as not to upset her and thought, even if his concerns were true, he could make it temporary if it didn't work out. After all, he cared about her too and wanted her to be happy. "Okay! Let's see how it works out." He said as a compromise as he shrugged. "Maybe sleeping together might help the insomnia - I m-mean in the same apartment, not sleeping together! Sorry!"
Lincoln squirmed at his words, the blush rising back up his cheeks even worse than before as Olivia raised her eyebrows and burst out laughing at him.
"Right - It's decided then!" She announced, standing and placing her palms flat against the table. "Let's go get your stuff."
"Now?" Lincoln moved to get up as she stood to leave.
"No time like the present. I've been putting off sorting out my stuff in there and donating it to goodwill, so this is the perfect excuse!"
"Now you're getting bossy." He teased as he shrugged on his coat and she smiled over her shoulder as he caught up with her.
"And you wouldn't have it any other way!"
A few hours later, they'd moved in the few belongings he'd bought since he arrived - consisting mostly of his clothes; a few suits, casual wear, along with a few books, dvds, a cheap chess set and a little pot plant he'd bought impulsively when doing some grocery shopping. He'd never seen a plant like it before, with its leaves in shades of amber, crimson and teal, and it was a little thing he'd had in the hotel that made it feel a little more homely.
He popped the plant on the sunny kitchen windowsill as Olivia opened the fridge.
"I think this is a good reason to celebrate. Red or white?"
"I've always preferred reds over…" he stopped, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks at the insinuation and turning back at the plant to save his own embarrassment. He didn't see her look over her shoulder at him and smile. "Red is good."
"Consider this a Christmas and housewarming present." Olivia said as he turned back to see her approach him with a wine glass.
"Are you sure? I thought wine was expensive here."
"Yep! It's been here for months, and this seems like an occasion to celebrate." She smiled.
He nodded, smiling and leaning back against the kitchen counter.
"So you're just trying to get me drunk again?"
"I don't drink, so…" Olivia shrugged. "Seems like a waste not to use it."
"So you don't drink at all? I guess we won't be playing a game of Never Have I Ever, which is probably a good thing."
Lincoln smiled tentatively, as getting the courage to ask her something but unsure whether he should. He wonders if this Olivia's father was a violent alcoholic too and decides not to ask as not to open up old wounds.
"It's just the taste." She expanded preemptively, sensing his hesitation, and he nodded once in relief.
"Have you ever tried cocktails? They taste pretty much like juice - until you have 5 and then try to walk in a straight line!" He laughed, and she laughed too at the thought of Lincoln drunkenly staggering around.
"No, but I know you know from experience." Olivia chuckled. "Who's trying to get who drunk now?"
"No, no, I would never -' He began, looking wide-eyed and panicked, as if he made a grave mistake until he caught her expression and winced a smile as she realized she was teasing him. "I hadn't drunk whisky since my dad died and Reynolds kept buying me doubles, it wasn't my fault!" He protested, watching Olivia's eyebrows skeptically raise. "Maybe I'll take you for some cocktails one day, if you want to give one or two a try?" Lincoln smiled shyly as he approvingly sipped the wine from the glass, and her eyebrows arched in interest. "As I can't get you a cafe latte. And you're sure it's okay that I stay here in your place? I'm not going to, uh, cramp your style or…"
"What! No!" she laughed. "Since Frank, I've got no desire to date anyone. What about you?"
"Well, this place is quite the date magnet. Once they know I'm from another universe, women just seem to throw themselves at me." He quipped, huffing a laugh under his breath at his inexperience with women and dating and frowned slightly when Olivia didn't laugh in reply. He thought he saw a flash of disappointment before he snorted a smile again and was relieved when she snickered.
1996 amberverse
Kendra Lane was what many would consider the epitome of glamorous beauty, with ample breasts, blue eyes, long blonde hair and a full pouty lips. Lincoln had met her at a friend's party while living in Philadelphia after moving from New Jersey as a kid; she'd come with her brother from Florida after their parents died in a car crash and they'd become close friends almost right away.
Stunning in a classic American girl next door kind of way, she could have had any guy she wanted, but she was sitting next to Lincoln watching a movie and it completely paralysed him.
Her knee brushed his as she shifted on the couch, and he swallowed nervously. His mouth felt incredibly dry, and the room was too warm. He rubbed his clammy hands down the front of his jeans.
"LINCOLN!" He looked up. Her face was close and full of concern.
"What?"
"Are you okay? You were a million miles away."
"Yes - YES!" He shifted, sitting up and looking away as he noticed the curve of her breasts in her low cut top. "Sorry, I was just um…" He crossed his legs to conceal any embarrassment growing in his jeans. "... Concentrating on the movie, what did you say?"
"Really? Is Julia Roberts that much more interesting than me?
"No!"
"So…"
"So?"
"What's on your mind, Linc?" She asked, frowning, and then a few seconds later burst into laughter, which made him look and feel even more confused.
"You're really cute when you get flustered, ya know?" She teased. "Your eyes get wide and your dimples make a line all the way to your jaw." She traced her finger across the side of his face, then raised her hands up to touch the arm of his glasses. "Is this movie boring you? Do you wanna do something else?" She whispered dangerously close to his face, her hand resting on his denim clad upper thigh.
He swallowed again, looking at her hand touching him as if it was a venomous creature poised to attack.
"S-s-something else?" He stammered with uncertainty and blinked repeatedly, then pointed towards the door, thinking some fresh air might actually help. "Sure, we could go and…"
"Do you want to want to have sex with me?" Kendra whispered seductively in his ear, her blonde hair tickling his shoulder, and he felt lightheaded as all the blood in his body seemed to head to his groin, his eyes widened even further.
"What?" He looked at her almost suspiciously, as if it was a joke. "I, err, well, okay but, er, why?" He stammered.
"Why?" She laughed. "Why not? Haven't you done it bef -"
"I mean, why me?" He elaborated. "You could have any guy and, to be honest, anyone would say you are way out of my league."
She sighed and smiled, looking down through her eyelashes at his lips.
"You shouldn't put yourself down, Lincoln." Kendra replied, as her hand edged a little higher on his thigh, making him gulp.
"You have a beautiful smile. And your eyes… you should show them off more than you do." She lifted the glasses from his face without him protesting. "You should stop hiding behind these."
Then her lips were on his, and all the other thoughts in his mind disappeared as his hand rose to pull her closer.
Lincoln woke up in the disheveled bed and rolled over to find the other side of the bed empty and cold, the crumpled sheets vacant.
He slowly stepped out of bed and pulled on his clothes that lay on the floor, pulling his T-shirt over his head, which spiked up his already ruffled hair.
"Kendra? Are you still here?" He called, wandering down the hall.
"Hey!' She replied, perched on the sofa with her knees tucked under her chin.
"There you are. I thought you'd left already."
"Do you want me to leave?" She sniffed.
"No, No. I was just checking," he pointed towards the kitchen, "if you wanted some breakf… Wait, are you crying?"
She looked away and rubbed under her eyes with her fingertips.
"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice full of genuine concern as he sat next to her, reaching out to touch her arm. "Last night wasn't that bad, was it?"
She shook her head and sniffed again as she twisted a lock of her wavy blonde hair through her fingers.
"I didn't hurt you, or force..." he whispered, his voice breaking a touch at the end, unable to bring himself to say the words.
She looked back at him, forcing a weak smile, her flawless tanned skin blotchy with tears.
"Oh Lincoln. You're too much of a nice guy." She sniffed again. "I don't think you're capable of that."
He squinted and studied her face.
"Well, what then? Tell me, I want to help, if I can."
"It's my brother Nick." She sighed and smiled sadly. "He's depressed. He's going to a mental hospital soon in case he hurts himself. Or someone else. And I can't even go to visit him."
"Why not?"
"Because it's like his emotions are contagious or something…"
"Contagious?" He questioned, frowning in disbelief. "How?"
"I don't know. He's being treated for some kind of multiple personality disorder. He's convinced he was part of experimental trials when he was younger, but it's so... I don't know exactly how it works. I just know when he feels bad, so does everyone around him. That's why he needs to be sent away, so he's alone."
"Why didn't you tell me this last night? We could've just talked, or…"
"I didn't want to talk, Lincoln. I wanted to forget for a while and I wanted you to help me by making me happy."
He nodded, linking his fingers with hers.
"If it's alright with you, I'd like to keep helping you and making you happy."
She smiled back, nodding and styling the tufts and sticking up parts of his hair.
"Okay."
Christmas 2012 altverse
A bottle of red wine and glass sat empty on the coffee table in front of a television showing movie credits that rolled across the screen, plunging the room into darkness as they ended.
"So what's Never Have I Ever?" Olivia asked, her eyes dark and glistening in the dim light.
"You never played it in college?" Lincoln replied, seeing her shake her head in response. "Well, you make a statement and whoever it applies to has some of their drink until there's only one person with a drink left."
He felt her body shift on the couch as she turned to face him, and he could make out the outline of her face in the dark.
"What kind of statements?" She asked again, her voice low with intrigue.
"Anything, really. For example, I could say 'never have I ever had a tattoo' and wouldn't have a drink, but as you have one on your neck, you would have to."
Olivia leaned forward as she instinctively touched the tattoo on the back of her neck, wondering when he'd noticed it, making Lincoln suddenly very aware of their proximity as her warm hand brushed against his own. He shifted on the couch, trying to reach and find the switch for the lamp on the table at his side.
"But if I said never have I ever traveled to an alternative universe…" she responded.
"Then we'd both have a drink." Lincoln added.
"It sounds like an interesting way to get to know someone, but I have a feeling you'd win." Olivia laughed.
"That's the thing, it depends what questions you ask." He replied as her laughter trailed off and the room fell silent, the air heavy with questions they wanted to know the answer to but were afraid to ask and they both moved apart on the sofa.
"Can I ask you a personal question now?" She said cautiously in a low voice, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, and the answer doesn't matter. I'm just curious."
"Umm, okay." Lincoln gulped warily as he shifted on the sofa, and looked at her shadow quickly, catching her as she studied his face. "What do you want to know?"
"You were really close to your partner. Were you two together?"
"Oh - together! I, er, no." He said, his eyebrows twisting in confusion as he understood what she meant. "Why'd you ask?"
Olivia shrugged and blinked as she turned around.
"I just wondered, you never mentioned a girlfriend or a wife anything like that, so… Sorry, it's none of my business."
"Oh." Lincoln repeated and sighed, his hands fluttering up in mild embarrassment. "It's fine. We were close, but uh, we never… he was married, anyway." He paused again, gulping, his mouth suddenly feeling dry and thankful for the shadows that concealed his face.
Lincoln had loved Robert. He still loved him, really, but didn't allow himself to think of him as anything other than a friend or a brother he never had. He was happily married with children, and they'd brought Lincoln into their family as he didn't have his own.
But just that one time, just for a moment, he'd indulged himself and allowed the illicit and forbidden thoughts to consume him.
February 2007 amberverse
They had pursued a suspect on foot to a building which had been booby trapped and Robert had pulled Lincoln out of the way just in time before a fireball ripped through it.
They had fallen hard onto the grass outside, panting as they laid prone on top of each other, Lincoln face down on the grass. The green blades had tickled his face as glasses had thrown off and Robert's body pressed hard against his back, protecting him from the sprinkling of shattered glass and heat from the force of the explosion.
Lincoln could smell the earthy scent of the ground in his face and scorched air once he adjusted his head to the side, and felt Robert's panting breath and sweat dripping on the back of his neck. The firm warmth of his cock pushed against his upper thigh through the fabric of their pants, causing his own to ache with an unknown desire pushing into the cool, damp ground.
Then Robert rose to his feet, allowing Lincoln to roll onto his back before pulling him up onto his feet by his hands.
"You okay? You hurt?" Robert asked, concerned, letting his hands go to brush the grass and glass from his clothes, his voice distant compared to the ringing in Lincoln's ears.
"Uh, yeah - no!" Lincoln replied, his chest heaving and doing the same before reaching for his glasses at his feet, surprised to find they were still intact and replaced them on his face. "I'm good, I think. Thanks."
"That's okay. I know everything happens for a reason, but I don't see a reason for a barbequed partner." Robert laughed, his green eyes glinting as he ruffled the last of the broken glass from his dark hair. "C'mon, let's go."
Christmas 2012 altverse
"I do like women." He stuttered, "I just - I don't just… It doesn't happen very often, but I think just like people I connect with, I don't really think about their gender. I just like who I like." He looked away shyly after his confession, then at Olivia when he saw her nod and smile acceptingly, her teeth glinting in the low light.
"It doesn't bother you?"
"No." Olivia shrugged. "Why would it?"
"I, er, I dunno." He huffed an awkward laugh and shook his head, trying to think of something to fill the awkward silence. "That film is nothing on Batman, by the way."
Lincoln found the switch, and the lamp flickered on, casting long shadows across the room.
"You have to agree it was an interesting take on cause and effect though," Liv yawned as she stretched back on the sofa, closing the gap between them again so their knees bumped and she could feel the warmth radiating off his thigh.
"Yes. Talking of which..." he rose from the sofa in slight panic and pointed to the bathroom. "Fluid goes in, and so…" Lincoln swayed and slurred slightly as he stood quickly, knocking his foot on the coffee table and making the bottle shudder into the glass. He instinctively reached to steady it with his hand as Olivia did the same, his hand overlapping hers briefly until he whipped it away. "… and I should probably hit the sack. It's getting late, and it's been a long day. Thanks for the wine, and for letting me stay here."
"Do you miss it?" Olivia said as he turned to leave the room.
"Wine?"
She giggled, "No, silly. Your world, your universe."
His face softened in contemplation, thinking of what he'd left behind and what he hoped to gain.
"Oh. Yes, sometimes." He replied carefully, and she looked away, studying her hands. "I didn't know them for long, but I'll never forget the time I spent with that team…"
"It's understandable, I wouldn't blame you if you…"
"I don't regret my decision though," Lincoln added quickly, and she looked back up at him. "Even if I still haven't found the right apartment. I've realized that's not important. Someone once said to me home is where the heart is and there are some things that I'm already loving here that make up for it." He added, breaking into a smile, and she smiled back.
"Good. I'm glad about that. I'm happy you decided to stay here."
"I'm happy too. Especially as U2 aren't popular here."
"What's a 'You Too'?" Olivia asked as Lincoln sniggered in reply.
"'I have scaled these city walls, These city walls, Only to be with you, But I still haven't found what I'm looking for'…" He began, half singing the tune as Olivia shook her head. "'We're one, but we're not the same. We get to carry each other, carry each other'… Nope?"
"Nope, sorry. Didn't know you could sing though, we'll have to get you on the karaoke. What other hidden talents are you keeping a secret?" She smiled as he blushed again.
"It's good to know if Fringe Division doesn't work out, I'll get an audition on American Idol." Lincoln laughed as Olivia snorted in reply. "Batman is still better than Mantis, though." He laughed as he dodged a scatter cushion launched towards him as he left the room, and Olivia frowned as the lyrics he'd sung echoed in her mind.
September 2011 altverse
"You gonna tell me what that was all about?" Olivia asked as she sat next to Lincoln on the picnic bench in the garden of the venue where Charlie and Mona celebrated their wedding. She sat facing outwards so she could look directly at him and nudged his leg as he remained silent, then leaned back onto the table. "He seemed a nice -"
"You remember that time, when we - when I - kissed you?" Lincoln interrupted, still not meeting Olivia's eyes, and she frowned.
"At that bar? When we'd had too much to drink? Yeah, of course I remember." She replied cautiously, confused and blushed. "Why?"
"You said - you thought I was gay because of the poster in my locker and I said it was from a march I went to with my brother. Well, that wasn't exactly true."
Olivia frowned again as his words sunk in and he met her gaze, raising his eyebrows in acknowledgement.
"He was your - so you're…"
"Bi? Yeah." He shrugged.
'Why didn't you just tell me?" Olivia questioned as she stood, feeling hurt he hadn't told her before, trying to understand without him feeling judged. "I mean, you're my best friend. I thought we told each other everything?"
Olivia flinched, knowing full well that there were things she hadn't told him either, mostly about Frank and she wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment that she'd allowed it to go on for so long, or to protect Lincoln from his threats.
"We didn't know each other that well back then." Lincoln shrugged again, turning to look up at her as she folded her arms. "I guess I thought you wouldn't like me if you knew. Besides, that was ages ago. I've not had - I've been single for a long time."
Olivia stood staring at him until he dropped his gaze and turned back to the table. She didn't know what to say; she was surprised and yet she wasn't, she just felt hurt he'd even consider his sexuality would make any difference to her, and then thought he might take her silence as a confirmation of his fears - she knew him better than anyone and she trusted him implicitly, if her life depended on it.
She knew he'd always have her back, and she would do the same for him.
She leaned against his back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and neck as she had on that night, linking her hands over his heart and kissed his cheek as his eyes fluttered shut.
"C'mon, you idiot," she smiled as she stood, pulling him up with her and he stepped over the bench. "Don't think that you're gonna get away with half a dance that easily."
January 2013 altverse
Moving universes was even more complicated than Lincoln had originally envisioned.
With the transition and assimilation came a multitude of tests including medicals, psyche tests and evaluations to check the long-term effects of living in a universe you weren't born in. Then there were the vaccinations and medications to complement the technology Secretary Bishop had given him prior to the bridge closing. Some days, he felt little more than a guinea pig or a subject in Walter's lab. Thanks to his FBI training, the aptitude, psychology and even physical evaluations were not an issue, and he was accepted into the Fringe Division initially as a consultant then as a replacement for his double, once his meticulous instinct for detail and ability to empathize and connect with victims showed he was more than capable to fill the shoes of his predecessor's role despite his reserved nature and opposite personality.
But what really dragged was the paperwork. He essentially had no birth certificate or any ID, and everything had to be built from scratch. He'd finally filled in the last of details, and headed to the elevator to take an extensive file to the HR department, jogging down the corridor with his hands full as he heard the doors closing.
"Can you hold the door?" He called, and edged in as the doors slid back open, spilling the files in surprise on the floor as they closed behind him. "Fourth floor please - Dammit!" He cursed, kneeling down to pick them up and rearrange them into the correct order.
"Here you go," said the other man, who had been holding the door open, passing him a folder. "This is yours."
"Thanks," Lincoln apologized. "Sorry about that, I, er, you just surprised me."
He straightened up, replacing the lid and smiling at the man with a touch of emotion in his eyes. "You look like someone I used to know, back from, uh, home."
"No problem," he smiled in reply, holding out his hand to shake and realizing Lincoln's hands were full so quickly retracted it. "I'm Robert Danzig, here to help with a temporary transfer from the Connecticut field office. I'd like it to be permanent, but if it is, I'd need to move the whole family down here, so…" he shrugged. "We'll see, I guess!"
He looked at Lincoln as he smiled back, realizing he was expecting a reply.
"Agent Lee, Lincoln." he replied disconcertingly as the elevator pinged and the doors opened.
"This is me," Robert smiled, turning as he held the door again. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you too." Lincoln responded, smiling as the doors closed behind him.
February 2007 amberverse
Hartford, Connecticut.
Robert Danzig rushed across the parking lot, dodging a car he didn't notice as it reserved out of its space, touching the trunk as he ran past it. Tall and good looking with dark hair, the man in his late 30s sprinted across the tarmac, trying desperately to catch another man's attention.
"Agent Lee!" He called, as a younger man, slightly slimmer and shorter in a sharp suit and glasses, turned at the call of his name, looking up from the open trunk of his car.
"Agent Danzig, did you, uh, forget something?" He replied, a little surprised by the unexpected actions of the other man as he jogged up to his car, slightly out of breath from the exertion.
His hands searched his pockets until he found the item he was looking for and offered the item to Lincoln, who accepted it with an expression of surprise on his face.
"I didn't realize you'd be heading off so soon."
"Martial arts classes," he explained, looking slightly confused, motioning to his kit bag in the back of his car. "It keeps me fit and helps me de-stress. So, uh, what is it?" He replied, narrowing his eyes in confusion while sliding his index finger under the soft, black leather and down to the silver emblem at the bottom. "Is it a — keychain?" He questioned, and Robert noticed his slightly puzzled expression.
"Yeah, it is. The maze on the token symbolizes the journey of life, the difficulties and decisions we make that lead to the center. I know you've had a hard time recently, and we haven't been partners for long, but… I believe everything happens for a reason." He paused, noticing Lincoln's lip wobble slightly at the kind gesture, and smiled. "My wife gave it to me a few years ago, but I think you need it more than me."
"Um, shouldn't I be the one thanking you for saving my ass today?" Lincoln said, his voice with appreciation at the kind gesture.
Danzig laughed in reply.
"Plenty of time for that. At least you didn't get burned to a crisp." He paused thoughtfully. "When we were assigned as partners, I noticed your thirtieth birthday was today, as it's the same as Julie's - my wife," he explained, now a little embarrassed himself. "I just want you to know that this is a tether. It means you will always have a family here, with me and Jules and the kids. Plus, we could, uh, always do with a babysitter."
"Of course." Lincoln smiled at the joke, touched by the gesture. In the few months he'd lost so much, he didn't think he'd find a home again, but maybe he would after all.
January 2013 altverse
Newton, NY
It had been a restless winter's day, and they'd spent most of pacing the rotunda in the Fringe HQ, tying up loose ends to a case about rumors of a mutant until they'd finally traced sightings of the creature in industrial buildings near Newton creek.
"This is the place Astrid said the last sighting took place about twenty minutes ago." Olivia said, stopping the car in a warehouse parking lot overlooking the creek, the still water perfectly mirroring the wintry white clouds and industrial cranes. She looked at her watch, then at Lincoln as he nervously loaded his hand gun.
The low, late afternoon sun glittered amber fragments on the dull water, and cast long shadows over the grays of the concrete side road.
"So, do you really think this thing could be real?' Lincoln said uneasily, following Olivia to the water's edge, holding an umbrella over their heads to shelter from the drizzling rain. He shivered in the crisp January air, leaning over the bars to search for signs of recent movement.
"Stranger things have happened." Olivia huffed, squinting as she leaned on the railing next to him, then pointed at the muddy exposed riverbed at the side and circular indentations leading up to the tarmacked path. "Look, down there. They kinda look like footprints."
She impulsively squeezed through the gap in the railing and held on before jumping down a few feet to the stony shore, her boots squelching onto the surface as she landed before Lincoln could protest. He rolled his eyes, looking down at her, holding onto the dirty, chipped paint on the top bar. "Come down, the water's fine!" She laughed as he sighed before folding the umbrella and jumping down to join her, stumbling slightly on the shingle stones.
"If you think it's real, where do you think it came from?" He sighed, squinting in the low light and looking down to check his footing on the larger uneven stones, following Olivia as she traced the footprint shaped marks.
"Well, Astrid said the first victim went missing while being stationed on a Japanese decommissioned freighter, right?"
"Right."
"That same one was used in the disposal of salvage material from a nuclear plant disaster a few years back. What if…" Olivia paused as she slipped, then turned around to grab Lincoln's arm to steady her footing. "… it was born in a primordial soup of radioactive sewage and seawater?"
"What? Like some kind of mini half-human Godzilla?" Lincoln scoffed, reaching into his pocket with his free hand for his flashlight to guide them on the slippery surface as the light slowly gave in to dusk's grasp and color dripped from the day.
"What's a Godzilla?" She laughed in reply, whipping her head back, when a splashing noise in the middle of the creek caught her attention.
"Oh, c'mon! The giant lizard monster. A metaphor for the nuclear bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in World War Two by the USA?" He explained, his voice raised with incredulity and eyebrows furrowing in disbelief as he stopped abruptly behind Olivia.
"Shush!" Olivia demanded in a hushed and annoyed tone, increasing her grip on Lincoln's arm before releasing it to press her index finger against her lips, and crept slowly towards the shoreline, cocking her weapon towards the bubbles and ripples coming from the depths of the murky water. "You hear that?"
"Mmm-hmm," Lincoln murmured in reply, reaching for his own gun and pointing it in the same direction as Olivia's and they slowly edged closer to the water's edge, looking at each other with wide-eyed trepidation. "How deep do you think this water gets?
"Deep enough that someone - or something - could stand in it undetected." She replied, gulping heavily, nervously watching the undulating water until it settled, then slowly lowered her weapon and replaced it in the holster with the restored peace. "Must've been a bird or something."
Olivia stepped backwards from the water, turning back to walk back to the wall to pull herself up to where she'd parked the car, the stones under her feet crunching in the sodden earth.
"That's a relief. I didn't want to start the year hunting a big radioactive lizard man." He chuckled, following her back towards the path. "I guess it was a duck or a… fuck!"
He slumped forward onto his hands and knees, the small flashlight smacking with a wet crunch on the stony sediment and blinking into darkness as it slipped from his hands.
Olivia laughed, until she turned around to see long, thin trails cutting deep in the wet earth by Lincoln's fingers as he desperately tried to grasp onto something and his legs desperately kicking in the shallow water while being dragged backward.
"Shit!" Olivia cried, scrambling to release her gun from her holster and squinting to find something to aim at in the darkness without shooting at Lincoln.
"Liv? Help!" Lincoln screamed, the dirt and mud from the ground covering his face and glasses, and sticking to his clothes as he squirmed on the ground, trying to turn on his back to reach for his own weapon as the water reached his waist.
"Stop moving! I can't see what I'm supposed to be aiming at!" she shouted back, pulling him with her right arm while taking aim with her left.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just let mutant lizard man drag me into a polluted creek, shall I? No big… "
The sound of Olivia's gun firing three times combined with the sound of an inhuman scream and rapid splashing cut Lincoln off, the flashes of light from the discharged weapon illuminating the obscure shape.
He froze and sighed in relief, lying back in the sludge with a thump on feeling the grip on his ankle disappear as Olivia dragged him back up the shore and leaned over him, her hair a dark maroon blanket that draped over his heaving chest.
"You okay? Are you hurt?" Olivia asked, pushing up his dirty glasses to see his eyes and looking down at his suit sodden with dirt and water.
"I-I don't think so." He replied in panting breaths while bending his knee to inspect his ankle, realizing he'd lost a shoe in the struggle. "Thanks. Nice shot."
"I just aimed for your leg." She deadpanned, helping him to his feet and grabbing his shoe that had washed up on the beach. Lincoln smiled, not sure if it was a joke or not, pointlessly trying to wipe the soil from his clothes. "Let's go get you changed into some dry clothes. So we really nuked Japan in your universe?"
February 2010 altverse
It was a ridiculously hot day for early spring, and regardless of it being caused by environmental degradation, global warming, or just some unlikely weather condition, the oppressive heat was making Olivia grumpy. After the third time she'd snapped at him, Lincoln grabbed her by the arm out of the rotunda.
"Come on, Liv!" Lincoln announced, ushering her out of the room with him.
"What's going on?" Olivia asked, reluctantly following him and resisting his actions as he tugged on her arm, steering her to the door.
20 minutes later, they were facing each other in a diner, bustling with the noise of hungry people and a TV playing a show starringTom Cruise.
"I'm going for the triple chocolate sundae. What about you?" Lincoln asked, studying a laminated menu, as Olivia placed her menu down and frowned at him.
"What's this in aid of?"
"Well, I thought you could do with cheering up and cooling down." He explained. "And seeing as we haven't celebrated my birthday yet, I thought I'd treat us. Charlie can come get his one once he's got his bug shot top up."
Olivia snorted, shaking her head. 'Bug shot.'
She sniggered, repeating it in her head as she hid back behind the menu again.
"In that case, if you're paying, I'm going for the blue bubblegum sundae." She decided, despite Lincoln's teasing look of disapproval.
"Ugh, no one likes blue bubblegum."
"Well, I do!" Olivia laughed in mock indignation.
Lincoln laughed too. He couldn't help it, he'd always found her laugh infectious and couldn't control his response when she giggled and teased him.
"So what's up?" Lincoln asked, leaning forward and gently tapping her wrist to get her attention. "You've not been yourself for a while."
Olivia sighed and shrugged as she averted his gaze. Things had been strained between her and Frank for a while. She'd been arguing more with Frank about his spending habits and possessiveness and his habit of seeking daily solace in the bottom of a vodka bottle.
"You and Frank, uh, still together?" He asked instinctively, and she scooped up a big spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. She nodded as she swallowed, still looking at her bowl, anywhere but his face.
"Mmmhmm."
"Hmm."
"What?"
"Nothing, just thought he might've, uh, made an honest woman of you by now. 'If you like it, you should put a ring on it.'" He replied, holding up his hand and twisting it to mock Beyonce, making Olivia scoff and choke on her mouthful of dessert.
"I have no plans or need to get married. Thank you." She said, honestly and without hesitation. Once upon a time, the fairytale wedding had been a dream, as it was for many girls, but now the thought scared her.
"Okay, okay." Lincoln said, holding up his hands in submission. "But, uh, if you wanted to, I'd ask you to marry me within a week of us dating."
"Shut up!" Olivia replied, swatting him and calling his bluff, knowing he was only half kidding, and if she agreed, he'd be halfway way to the registry office before she could blink. "You're always so impulsive, but at least then you'd have to tell me your middle name."
"It's not impulsive when you know it's what you always wanted. Fine, I'd wait a month."
Lincoln blinked as her eyes widened and shot up to look at him, his face solemn and nostrils flaring with emotion. He swallowed thickly, and he pinched his lips into a small but sincere smile.
"Something up?" Charlie asked, sliding into the booth and picking up a menu, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at Olivia's expression and the awkward silence between them.
"Nope." Olivia replied curtly.
"Uh-uh." Lincoln added, looking away from her to Charlie. "So what's it gonna be, bug boy? Don't think they have a fly fl
