Ashes and Wine. Part 1 of 2.
Ashes and Wine
Summary: Peter/Olivia. Greg is back in Rachel’s life and is fighting for sole custody of Ella. But what does this have to do with Olivia and Peter?
This is the first Fringe fanfic I've written in a while. Feedback is appreciated! Part 2 to follow soon. X posted at my fanfiction.net account. www.fanfiction.net/~colonelsamcarter
It had started as an unusually normal evening, which should have been a warning in itself, with the Dunham sisters and Peter relaxing in Olivia’s apartment with take-out and a bottle of wine. Astrid had half-heartedly agree to stay at the lab to watch Walter, letting Peter off his baby-sitting duties for the evening. He was relishing the freedom, too.
Ella was already in bed when Peter arrived had arrived at Olivia’s apartment. The younger Bishop was making the most of being in the company of normal adults and the rare opportunity to talk to Olivia about something; anything that federal investigations and the paranormal. Getting the chance to spend time with Olivia’s sister was also a bonus. With the general craziness of everyday life in the Fringe division and Olivia’s hospital stay, Peter had not had many opportunities to see the other Dunham recently.
This evening he thought he noticed something different about Rachel. When they had first been introduced, he had instantly felt her carefree nature, so very different to that of her sister. Tonight though, despite smiling often and chatting animatedly, Rachel seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. It was only then that he remembered Olivia telling him that her brother-in-law had sought out a divorce lawyer and was attempting to gain sole custody of Ella on the grounds that Rachel was an unfit parent. With all that had happened recently, Peter hadn’t thought to ask Olivia how things were progressing and she clearly had not wanted or felt the need to mention it to him. Bringing it up now would seem callous and would ruin what so far had been a lovely evening.
Peter made a mental note to mention the Rachel situation the next time he and Olivia had a moment alone together and busied himself instead with refilling their wine glasses with the deep red merlot. For once he actually felt like an ordinary thirty-something guy who was spending the evening with two friends rather than an assistant to a classified FBI division who saw things on a daily basis that people could not begin to even dream of, and baby sitter to his brilliant but dysfunctional father. Peter and Olivia rarely enjoyed simple evenings like that and he hoped she was appreciating it too.
They were swapping embarrassing stories from their school days when there was a sudden but loud knocking on Olivia’s apartment door, akin to someone using the full force of their fist. Olivia excused herself, taking her gun from the locked drawer in her desk and peering out through the spy-hole.
“Rachel,” She hissed, turning back to the living room to find both her sister and Peter on their feet. “It’s Greg.”
Rachel visibly paled, gripping the arm of the couch, her swaying nothing to do with the two and a half glasses of red wine in her system. Peter went to her side as Olivia went back to the hallway to slide the deadbolt into place.
“I know you’re in there. I’ll call the cops if you don’t let me in.” Greg shouted.
He had always had a way of saying stupid things which made Olivia bite even when she shouldn’t.
“I am an FBI agent.” She fired back without thinking. Even after being out of Rachel’s life for so long, Greg could still get under Olivia’s skin in an instant. It was so unlike Olivia to react like this but where Greg was concerned her sisterly protectiveness was firing on all cylinders.
“Hello there, Livy.” He drawled from the other side of the door, making Olivia’s hand instinctively reach for the cool metal of her weapon. John and Charlie were the only people who could have gotten away with using that nickname.
“What do you want Greg?” Olivia’s voice was as rigid as her grip on her gun.
“To see my daughter.”
Olivia felt a new surge of anger, she refused to let this man anywhere near her niece, regardless of the fact that he was Ella’s father.
“She’s sleeping.”
“Then let me see Rachel.”
“She doesn’t want to see you, Greg.”
“Don’t you think that’s her decision to make, not yours Liv.”
She sighed. “Fine.” With a last suspicious glare at the door, she went back to the living room where Rachel and Peter were now sitting on the couch. Under any other circumstances she would have been alarmed at how close their bodies were.
“Greg wants to see you, Rach.” Olivia sat down heavily in the empty chair and downed the last of her wine in one bitter swallow.
Rachel looked at Peter, who was looking deadly serious, and back at Olivia and the bulge of her gun at the waistband of her jeans.
“Fine, I’ll talk to him. Peter?” He nodded and stood up too, leading Olivia to suspect a conversation had passed between them while she had been talking to Greg. She was experiencing too many emotions for jealousy to even really register, but it was there all the same.
“I’m right here.” Peter said in a steely voiced that Olivia had only heard him use once; when they had first met in Baghdad. Despite the odd pangs of envy, Olivia couldn’t help but be grateful that Peter was here, she knew Rachel was appreciating his manly presence despite the fact that her sister was the only one who was armed.
Olivia stepped back so that Rachel could unlock the door and let her estranged husband into the apartment. She watched as Peter moved to stand close beside her sister. Olivia enjoyed her own company and after what had happened with John, she certainly wasn’t ready for another relationship but as she watched Peter gear up into protective mode, the weight of her loneliness descended upon her. Still, she didn’t envy her sister the emotional turmoil she was going through. She didn’t want to think about what losing custody of Ella would do to Rachel, although she couldn’t help thinking that Greg knew exactly how his soon to be ex-wife would react. Olivia was not generally a violent person but the way Greg manipulated Rachel made her blood boil dangerously. Yes, it was definitely a good thing that Peter was here for the sake of both Dunham sisters and perhaps for Greg’s own safety too.
“Who’re you?” Were the first words out of Greg’s mouth when he was finally admitted into the apartment. The first thing Olivia noticed was the smell of alcohol radiating from him, it was as if he had taken a bath in the stuff.
“Peter Bish...” He began but Rachel cut Peter off before he could finish introducing herself.
“This is Peter, he’s my new boyfriend and Ella’s step dad. She loves him.”
If Peter was surprised by Rachel’s lies, he did a brilliant job of hiding it. Olivia had to hand it to him, he was a pro. She was worried though, by lying Rachel could make things more difficult for her if Greg went through with his decision to take his wife to court.
Greg sneered, looking Peter up and down. When he had completed his appraisal of his wife’s new lover, he grinned. Olivia felt sick, the triumphant look in her brother-in-law’s eyes confirmed her suspicions that he would use this new information to his advantage. Though if he turned up to court smelling like a brewery the way he did tonight she doubted if anyone would consider him a fit parent.
“And what do you do for a living, Pete?” Greg asked.
Peter’s piercing blue eyes were icy cold as he stared back at Greg.
“I’m an assistant to the FBI.”
“So you work with Livy?”
“Yes, I work with Olivia.”
Greg turned his attention to Rachel now. “Don’t you think you’re getting a bit old to be stealing your sister’s men, Rach?”
Rachel automatically stiffened, while Peter exchanged an intrigued look with a surprised Olivia. She hated how well Greg knew her and her sister, and the way she had once trusted him.
When she had recovered herself not to verbally lash out at him, Rachel finally spoke again.
“I think you should leave now, Greg.” She said coldly, her hands on her hips. Olivia moved to stand on Rachel’s otherwise, her and Peter effectively forming a barrier between the younger Dunham and her estranged husband.
It was hard to tell what would have happened next, the smug look was fading from Greg’s face but he wasn’t ready to back down either. Things could have taken a turn for the worst had Ella not appeared at that moment, having been awoken by the noise of her father’s unwelcome arrival.
“Daddy!” She squealed, running towards him and breaking some of the awkward tension in the room.
Rachel and Olivia watched in silence as Greg scooped Ella up into his arms. To them, and to Peter, Greg may have been the enemy but to Ella he was simply her father.
Despite having very little to do with the situation involving Rachel and Greg, the triumphant look on his face as he held Ella in his arms made Peter want to lash out. He knew if he didn’t calm down he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions. This would only makes things worse still for the Dunhams.
“Go back to bed now honey, be a good girl for daddy.” He pressed a kiss into her golden locks before Ella scampered back to Olivia’s spare room.
“Have you signed the papers?” Greg asked, turning to Rachel who, to the surprised of both Olivia and Peter, looked flustered.
“I’ve been busy Greg, looking forward a kid is hard work.”
“But signing some papers isn’t.” When Rachel faltered her continued. “Unless you’re still carrying a torch for me, Rach, what will your new boyfriend think?”
Olivia hoped Greg was stupid enough to interpret the tension in Peter’s jaw as jealousy rather than simmering anger.
Feeling once more that this situation could get out of hand at any moment, Olivia adopted a placating, calm voice she used on the most unstable of suspects she interviewed on the job.
“It’s late Greg, why don’t you come back tomorrow and we can talk things through reasonably.”
Olivia’s tactic worked, Greg was stunned, not having expected this. He had pictured a chaotic scene with raised voices and tears. He was so taken aback that he didn’t know what to say. Peter and Rachel were also surprised at Olivia’s handling of the situation but they did a much better job of hiding it than Greg.
Olivia could see Greg desperately trying to work out how to gain control of the situation again.
“Okay,” He warily agreed. “But I’m bringing my lawyer.”
“That’s fine, Greg.” Olivia replied, still smiling in an almost friendly manner. She finally convinced him to leave, and once he was gone she leaned back against the apartment door and sighed with relief.
“I’m going to check on Ella.” Rachel said, but neither Olivia nor Peter missed the glow of tears in her eyes.
Olivia and Peter went back to the sitting room but their normal social gathering was ruined, although not by anything supernatural for a change. Olivia was hoping for one of Peter’s witty quips but he was quiet; lost in his own thoughts. It fell to Olivia to try to do or say something to lighten the mood a little.
“So, does this mean you’re going to be my brother-in-law now?” She teased, but even if she noticed that her intonation was all wrong.
Peter got up and went to the liquor cabinet, looking for the whiskey bottle. Olivia stood up and went to join him, regretting her attempt at lightening the mood.
“Olivia,” He said, when she came to stand at his side. “It’s not that I don’t care for Rachel, I do, but I don’t want to pretend to be her to be her boyfriend. If I had to choose a Dunham sister, I’d pick you, Liv.”
The whiskey bottle was forgotten as Olivia tried to process this surprise and then the feel of Peter’s lips on her own. The scrape of his stubble was rough against her cheek and his hands tangled in her long hair. She had not felt this alive since her last night in the motel with John, and definitely not with her old flame Lucas in Germany.
It was over too soon and neither of them knew how to react. Peter made some excuse about collecting Walter and Olivia said she needed to check on her sister.
A few minutes passed between Peter leaving and Olivia going into the spare bedroom to see Rachel and Ella. She needed time to process the moment; the kiss because she had a feeling it wouldn’t be happening again soon.