Fringe ficlet
things she remembers, Olivia&Peter, PG-13, 780 words
She remembers some things now. Things that over loop with her life. Things that weren’t there before and maybe have no business being here now. She has never been to Iraq, still she remembers Bagdad and Sweetheart, we all care about someone who is dying.
Mostly there’s still emptiness between what she remembers of this other life, the life she had before, or that she could have had or that was but isn’t anymore.
There’s nothing wrong with her life. Well, there’s a lot, but not with her life. There’s her job, her career. There’s also something wrong with having someone materializing out of her dreams. Someone who should be dead. Showing her a different life, bringing memories of something that is not real. Making her doubt her sanity, look back and question her decisions. But this is the life she has chosen for herself, there’s nothing wrong with it.
Maybe she feels more alone now, because she knows that in some other reality she had someone by her side. But then she thinks of the other version of herself, the one that walks around with a smirk on her face. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with her alter, and maybe she doesn’t want to be like this new woman at all either.
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There’s a cup of coffee in her desk but all she can concentrate is on the wave of fear that runs throw her. I've never met anyone who can do the things that you do. And his face is so close and she’s so scared…
“Olivia, are you all right?” and with that Astrid pulls her from yet another piece of life that doesn’t belong to her.
----
and she has thought of a hundred reasons, and all she has is because you belong with me. That seems to work.
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He’s playing with a coin. It moves in the space in between his fingers, slowly dancing over his left hand.
He doesn’t look at the coin. He looks at her. She looks back.
Walter rushes over, takes the coin away and Olivia sneaks out of the lab.
----
He’s sitting across from her with a small pile of file in the table between them. She tries to ignore him, ties to concentrate in the paper in her hand and surveillance video playing in her laptop, the pen swinging in her finger. Anything but him, and every move he makes.
She starts reading the same report for the fifth time. Her brain absolves nothing but the word perspective.
In front of her, Peter runs his finger throw is short hair and picks up another file. When she starts on the same paragraph for the sixth time, she stops at the same word again.
When the realization of why that single word means so much to her hits her, her mouth opens and a surprised ‘ohh’ leaves her lips.
He looks up “What? Did you found something?”
She shook her head no and goes back to trying to ignore him
----
When she finds herself alone with Lincoln and the two glasses of whiskey between them he wants answers to questions he doesn’t ask.
All she wants if for something else other than talk and alcohol.
So she ends up buying a deck of card and delivering them to the hotel room the FBI has provided for Peter Bishop. He laughs, takes the desk and puts another glass of whiskey in her hand.
And that’s fantastic. Women never have card tricks.
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She wants to know if she was happy.
All her memory has got to give her is his smile.
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Its weeks before Walter can bring himself to look the younger man in the face. But only two days before he opens the pack of Red Vines Peter has left in the lab.
She watches him watch his father. His back leaning against a chair, a science journal in his hands and an worried expression in his face.
There’s a window behind him, and the morning light is shining throw. For a long moment she think it’s him who’s shining, a yellow halo of light surrounds him.
Then he moves and the moment is gone.
I held onto you, and it wasn't reasonable, and it wasn't logical, but I did it, so... why didn't you?
Maybe it’s time for her to do it again.
----
She looks at the machine, and she remembers. It was locked and she opened it.
She opened it so he could step inside and be erased from existence. The machine shakes violently and he’s gone.
She remembers I love you and then there’s nothing else to remember.