Fanfic: Endangered (Fringe, 1/3)
Title: Endangered
Spoilers: Season 3, sometime after “LSD”
Rating: PG-13 for some language and disturbing imagery.
Characters: Peter/Olivia, Walter, Astrid, Broyles, some OCs.
Summary: Peter and Olivia find themselves in a situation that neither of them could have ever imagined. Could very justifiably be called a crack!fic.
Disclaimer: This show and its associated characters do not belong to me.
Author's Notes: To be found at the end of the story. Thanks to mack_the_spoon for her beta reading.
~
“So which one's your favorite?”
Olivia turned her gaze away from the window in front of them. “My favorite what? Gorilla? There's the big guy in the back just watching everything going on - he seems like a character.”
Peter smiled and shook his head. “Your favorite animal here, I mean.”
Olivia pondered for a moment before she told him, “I guess it would have to be either the lion or the tiger. They're both so beautiful and powerful.”
“They are,” Peter agreed, taking her hand as they strolled out of the gorilla exhibit. “You want to go look at them again?”
“Sure.” Olivia watched a little girl run past them into the exhibit, with her mother hurrying to follow. She reminded herself to invite Rachel and Ella here the next time they were in town. Ella would love it, she was sure. “So, what's your favorite?”
“Well, I like the tropical birds, and the big cats,” Peter answered, “but I think my absolute favorite has to be the giraffes. They're absolutely ridiculous-looking, but they obviously don't care. You gotta admire them for that.”
Olivia laughed. “You have a good point there.”
“Plus,” Peter continued, “they can kill a lion with a single blow of a hoof, which is pretty impressive.”
Raising an eyebrow, Olivia murmured her agreement.
The two of them continued on their leisurely way back toward the Serengeti and Kalahari areas of the zoo. Peter was in the middle of an amusing tale about the time he tried to catch a cougar in his boyhood backyard when Olivia became aware of a feeling they were being watched. She looked around as unobtrusively as possible, and thought she caught a glimpse of someone ducking into the restaurant they had just passed. She wasn't sure whether the guy had seen her see him or not.
As she listened to Peter's story, Olivia kept alert for any further signs of pursuit. She was just starting to think she'd imagined it when there was another quick dart of movement at the edge of her field of vision. Her grip on Peter's hand tightened.
“What?” Peter halted both his story and his forward motion, looking at Olivia in concern. “What's wrong, Olivia?”
“Don't look now,” Olivia muttered, trying to keep a neutral expression on her face, “but I think someone's following us. They have been for a few minutes.”
Peter waited a few seconds before casually glancing over his shoulder. They started walking again, and then he said in a low voice, “I didn't see anything unusual. Are you sure?”
Sighing, Olivia said, “No, not completely. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.” She looked around again and then shrugged. It had been such a perfect day so far. She didn't want to spoil it by making something out of nothing. “Let's just go look at the lions.”
Peter didn't seem convinced. “We could head for the exit if you want--”
“No, it's okay,” Olivia said. She tugged on his hand lightly. “So I'm guessing your cougar trap wasn't successful?”
After another second, Peter resumed his story. They arrived at the Kalahari exhibit without incident (unless dodging a group of excited kids on a field trip counted, Olivia supposed). The sensation of being watched did not return.
They swung by the tiger exhibit on their way back toward the entrance. Olivia was slightly disappointed that the tigers seemed to have decided to take a nap out of public view, but as she said to Peter, it probably got old to have a bunch of people staring at you all day. Peter couldn't disagree.
It was as they were walking to the edge of the lot, where Olivia had parked, when the feeling came back. Olivia looked around again but saw nothing. She was about to ask Peter if he saw anything when she felt something sharp bite into her leg. “Ow!”
“What-- ouch!”
Olivia saw the dart in her leg and tried to pull it out, but the tranquilizer was already hitting her hard. The last thing she saw before she crumpled to the ground was Peter staggering and falling next to her.
~
Olivia could hear someone talking nearby, but it was oddly muffled - and it was so hard to stay awake. She tried her best to concentrate, but all she could determine was that there was a man's voice, talking to a woman. She couldn't move, and her body and limbs felt extremely odd. There was a warmth that seemed to be spreading through her, very slowly. Even this limited awareness faded soon after she discovered these facts.
Some unknown time later, Olivia began to wake up. She could hear and feel that she was in a vehicle traveling at freeway speed. Strangely, she could also smell gasoline more strongly than she would expect, along with a variety of other scents. When she cracked open her eyes, though, almost no light met them. She opened them all the way - and when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she nearly screamed in shock.
There, not three feet from her face, was a large cage that contained a sleeping tiger. This extraordinary revelation distracted her for a few seconds from the fact that she was staring at the cat from out of the bars of the cage in which she herself was evidently being held. She was also lying down ... but it felt much different from the way she was used to feeling when she was lying on her stomach.
With more than a little bit of foreboding, Olivia looked down at herself. She saw orange fur with black stripes covering her ... paws, and the rest of her body.
What the hell?! Instinctively, Olivia got to her feet - all four of them - her heart starting to race. But she found she couldn't stay upright for long; she felt too woozy. She collapsed back onto the metal floor of the cage, shutting her eyes as the dizziness passed. This can't possibly be happening. I have to be dreaming, or hallucinating, or something.
Olivia opened her eyes slowly, to find that her circumstances had not changed in the slightest. She was still in a cage, still across from another cage that held a sleeping tiger, and still apparently a tiger herself. Then a thought occurred to her. Peter! He had been with her when they were attacked, and she could remember him falling as he was hit with the same tranquilizer dart as she had been.
As she thought about Peter, Olivia noticed the tiger in the other cage starting to stir. It blinked and yawned, showing off very impressive teeth, before it seemed to take note of where it was. Then its eyes opened wide, and its ears flattened against its head as it scrambled ungracefully as far away from Olivia's cage as it could. Its tail was lashing. It gave a low growl, which stopped quickly as the animal looked around in evident bewilderment.
Olivia couldn't help feeling sorry for the creature, even as she continued to worry about Peter. Had Peter been changed, somehow, like she had been? But in that case...
She fixed her gaze on the other tiger, which had just struggled to its feet again. It didn't look anything like him - but of course it didn't. She shook her head, darkly amused. No reason it would. She doubted she looked anything like herself, either. But she had to try, to see if there was any way she could even communicate with him, if it really was him.
Olivia managed to get into a sitting position without a return of the dizziness. She might feel foolish, she thought, trying to reach out to Peter telepathically, if she weren't already transformed into a tiger. As it was, she just closed her eyes and concentrated on him. Peter? Is that you there? Are you the other-- She faltered for a moment. The insanity of the situation made it hard for her to put it into words, but there didn't seem to be any other options. Are you the other tiger? I don't know what happened, but if you can hear me, can you give me some sign? I'm ... right across from you, in the other cage.
Olivia opened her eyes. The tiger in the other cage had frozen, staring at her. As she watched, it approached the front of its cage. She didn't think she was imagining it that its - his? - eyes looked desperate, almost frantic. Then there was a flash of sensation in her mind, a brief moment when she was sure she'd felt what Peter was feeling right now: terror, confusion, and a little bit of hope. No words accompanied these emotions.
Peter, it's me. It's Olivia. Is that you? Olivia asked again, this time keeping her eyes open and her gaze on the other tiger. She did her best to focus, as if she could attune herself more to his mind. Can you hear me?
Several seconds passed. Olivia was starting to worry when the silence was broken. Oh, God, she heard in her head - and somehow, the voice sounded just like Peter's. I really must be losing it. It can't be her. There's no way in hell any of this can actually be happening ... but at least I'm not ... lost. Or whatever that was.
Olivia all but pressed her face into the bars of her cage. Peter, she said, almost dizzy again with relief at hearing his voice - even if it was just his voice in her head. That *is* you, isn't it?
The other tiger blinked, coming even closer to the bars of the cage as well. There was another pause. Olivia? You can hear me?
Yes. Olivia wished she could smile, or reach out to him in some more tangible way. This is me. I woke up like this, just a few seconds before you did.
She could feel a mixture of relief and doubt coming from him. Um, okay. If-- if that's you, and you can really hear me, can you, I don't know, turn around in a circle or something?
Without hesitation, Olivia did so, trying not to be too distracted by the still-new sensation of moving on four legs, and with a tail. As soon as she was facing toward him again, Peter sat down. He was still as close to the front of his cage as possible. Oh my God. Olivia.
The emotion in the way he said her name made Olivia's heart ache. She wished again that there was some way to be closer to him. Yeah. I'm here.
There was a brief pause. And where is here, do you think? Peter asked. She was glad that his mental tone was starting to sound more confident, less lost. Because besides the fact that we're both in cages, changed into tigers somehow, and inside the back of a truck, I don't have a clue.
Me neither, Olivia admitted. She sighed - which was a bizarre sensation in her new body. I remember getting hit with a tranquilizer dart while we were walking to my car, and then I think I remember hearing someone talking to another person, but I have no idea how we could have ended up ... how and where we are now.
Peter was silent for another moment. Do you think this could have something to do with the guy you thought was following us at the zoo?
I suppose so, Olivia said. It seems like a pretty big coincidence, otherwise. She glanced around the dimly lit interior of the truck. The only other objects she could make out were a few boxes and crates. When she inhaled and focused on her heightened feline sense of smell, there wasn't a lot of new information. Except...
Peter, can you smell that? Coming from the other end of the truck?
She watched as Peter turned in that direction and opened his mouth in a sort of grimace. It was odd - but maybe she had looked the same way just seconds ago. She thought she remembered some nature program she'd watched once that had informed her that felines and certain other animals processed some olfactory data through their mouths. Walter could probably tell her all about it, she mused.
Yeah, I think I do, Peter replied. It's chemical, I'd say. Something you'd find in a lab. Faint, but definitely there. Too bad neither of us can use our fabulous feline senses of smell to narrow that down any further.
Olivia chuckled (not audibly, since tigers didn't seem to be equipped for that). Too bad, she agreed. But maybe that can help us figure out what kind of people could do this?
Well, it's not too surprising that whoever it was is some kind of scientist, Peter pointed out. I mean, unless we've fallen victim to a magic spell, it has to be genetic manipulation, right?
She wished she could shrug. You're probably right - although it could also some kind of memory or personality transfer. We've dealt with that kind of thing before. Olivia still had the bad dreams and occasional headaches to prove it, in fact.
He acknowledged that quietly, and there was a flash of his lingering guilt and anger in connection with that before he continued, But I don't think the goal of this whole thing was to put a human consciousness into an animal. For one thing, it seems like from what you remember and what I remember, we were unconscious for a long time before we ended up here - longer than it takes to transfer consciousness. And for another thing, he added, and then stopped.
What? Olivia once again started to feel fear from him.
It was Peter's turn to sigh. I don't think they really intended us to have any human personality left, Olivia, he told her. His tail lashed, and he looked away. When I woke up, I was aware enough of the circumstances that I was scared and confused, but it was like I had to fight to remember why it was so different - what had changed. If you hadn't started talking to me, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have taken long for me to be gone.
Olivia's heart ached again as she imagined him struggling not to lose his identity. It was not an experience she wanted him to have in common with her. Then I'm glad I tried talking to you, she said softly. I had no idea if it would work, but I had to try.
Peter thanked her, his sincerity clear. He had just begun to ask a question when the sound of the truck they were in changed, and then both of them slid toward the front of the vehicle as it started down what was evidently a steep hill. Olivia's tiger instincts did not like having nothing to brace herself against on the slick metal floor of the cage - and neither did she, of course. At least, she reflected sourly, it didn't hurt too much when she crashed into the bars on the other side.
Well, Peter said in a dry tone, after they had both recovered their equilibrium, that was fun.
Yeah, a real blast, Olivia muttered. Nice of whoever is behind this to have secured us with so much care.
At least they did make sure we won't crash into each other, Peter observed, looking toward the wall of the vehicle on his side where there were bolts securing the bars of the cage to the wall of the truck.
That's something, I guess. Olivia looked at the wall to which her own cage was fastened. This evidence of long-term planning gave her an idea. Hey, Peter, doesn't it seem like if these people have cages set up like this, we might not be the first ones they've done this to?
He sounded intrigued. Yeah, you're right. So the question is, why would someone want to kidnap people, turn them into animals, and transport them to wherever we're being taken?
As she considered the question, the truck made an unpleasantly sharp left turn - and once again, the two of them found themselves sliding haplessly toward the bars of their cages. Holding back a growl with difficulty, Olivia had to marvel that whoever was behind this apparently didn't care about provoking the large carnivores they were transporting by putting them in this situation. God, that's annoying, she grumbled, her ears flat against her head in irritation.
I could sure go for a seatbelt right about now, Peter agreed. He picked himself up with care.
Anyway, though, Olivia said as the truck finally finished the turn, getting back to your question. The only thing I can think of is some kind of smuggling operation. But if this was genetic manipulation, there has to be a reason we ended up as tigers, and not some other animal. She shook her head, still finding it hard to accept the reality of their predicament.
Smuggling would seem to fit reasonably well, Peter said thoughtfully. And we can assume it took them time, effort, and resources to do the genetic modifications, so their end goal must involve us staying alive.
Olivia blinked, and then recalled another fact from that nature program she had seen. Oh, you mean you don't think they're selling us to the Chinese for traditional medicine? That's reassuring. She couldn't help being reminded of the alternate Brandon's plans for her on the Other Side once they'd gotten what they wanted from her. The thought made her feel ill. She shivered, and was suddenly glad she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
No, if they have the ability to change human DNA into tiger DNA, Peter mused, it seems probable that they could create their own black market organs if they wanted to. He lay down on his side, still facing her. In which case, what do they want with a pair of live tigers?
Well, Olivia said, thankful for the reason not to dwell on bad memories, tigers are endangered, right? Maybe they're trying to get money from selling endangered animals to groups or zoos or whoever might want them.
Now, that could be it. I mean, it's still a lot of effort and risk, kidnapping people and changing them - but maybe we're dealing with zealots.
Environmental activists, you mean, taking the fight against animal extinction one step further? Olivia pondered it. The idea seemed plausible, or at least as plausible as anything in this situation could seem. But activists, especially those who cross the line into eco-terrorism, aren't generally in favor of zoos, she pointed out. Which would suggest that's not where we're going.
That's true, Peter acknowledged. Then his mental tone darkened. Oh, damn it. Wouldn't that be just fantastic?
What? What are you thinking?
Peter took a deep breath. If they really are zealots for the cause, he said, maybe they're trying to bring us back to our homeland - which is to say, whichever country this kind of tiger is supposed to be from.
Oh. Olivia didn't know the full extent of the natural range of all the different kinds of tigers, but she was fairly certain that all of them were on the other side of the world. Damn it.
Exactly. He sounded close to hopeless.
Olivia couldn't really blame him; their situation was serious. She had no idea if their genetic tampering could be reversed, and even if it could, if they ended up in the jungles of some remote tropical country, how the hell would they ever get home?
So that means we have to escape somehow, before they put us on a plane across the ocean, she declared. She wanted to stand up and pace, but even if there were enough space in her cage, she couldn't be sure that the truck wouldn't take another sharp turn and knock her off her feet. There has to be a way to do it.
If you have any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them, Peter replied. These bodies are pretty strong, sure, but I don't think they can break through solid metal bars.
Olivia shot him a look, although it probably lost something in her current form. Uh huh, which is why I was thinking we would concentrate on the doors.
They both spent several minutes examining the doors of their cages. The lock mechanism was not overly complex on hers, Olivia found, and Peter reported that his was similar. It was just a basic lock and key system. Unfortunately, it was still strong enough that no amount of pushing against the hinges or the other side of the door had any noticeable effect, and the cage ceiling was too low for either of them to get any real leverage.
Okay, Olivia said, panting from the effort and trying not to give in to despair. Maybe there will be a time when we're somewhere less secure, on the way to wherever they're taking us. I mean, it's a long trip overseas, and depending on where they want us to end up, we might have to travel across the country first. We just have to stay alert as much as we can.
Peter nodded, which looked odd, coming from a tiger. Right. She could tell he didn't really think it was going to happen, but at least he wasn't being overtly negative.
The two of them fell silent for some time. Olivia rested her head on her paws, listening idly to the hum of the truck engine and the occasional sound of a car passing in the opposite direction. She was startled out of her near-doze when Peter remarked, I bet Walter is wondering where we are by now.
I'm sure he is, Olivia said, shifting so that it was a little easier to see Peter. You told him we'd be back for dinner, didn't you?
Yep. Peter yawned again, and added, And speaking of dinner, I hope they're going to feed us at some point. I'm getting hungry.
Olivia twitched her tail. And if they do feed us - which they should, if they're all for saving the animals - we'll know more of who we're dealing with.
They'll be expecting us to act like normal tigers, Peter cautioned, so when we do see them--
What? Don't try reasoning with them? I wasn't planning on it, Olivia interrupted shortly. Then she sighed. Sorry. I just...
I know, Peter said. We've both been in a lot of bizarre and dangerous situations - but this one might just take the cake. I doubt even Walter would imagine a scenario in which we were kidnapped by environmental activists and transformed into big cats, even if he'd just self-medicated.
Olivia laughed once before sobering. You're probably right. But who knows - there might be security camera footage from the zoo parking lot, at least.
Could be. Peter paused, and then said hesitantly, Olivia, there is one other thing I can think of that could possibly get us out of here.
She had a suspicion of where this was going, but she asked, anyway. And what would that be?
Have you thought about trying to use your abilities? Before she could say anything, he continued, Because I was thinking, there's no reason the genetic manipulation would have gotten rid of them. It might be that that's the reason you were able to keep yourself from losing your identity and your memories when you first woke up. And it could be how you were able to start talking to me telepathically.
You're talking to me telepathically right now, Olivia pointed out, and you were never treated with Cortexiphan.
Sounding exasperated, Peter said, Okay, so that part doesn't make sense. That's not the main issue.
Peter, Olivia protested, I don't know what I'm doing with those abilities. I don't know how to use them. All I've managed to do is turn off some lights - unless you count what I apparently did at Jacksonville when I was a kid. The memory of that burnt-out room still haunted her.
You made it back to this universe by yourself, Peter reminded her gently.
But I'd just given myself a massive dose of Cortexiphan, Olivia said, trying not to dwell on her final memory of the Other Side's Broyles. She swallowed, hating how scared she sounded. And besides, what do you expect me to do? I'm not crossing over just to get out of here. Even if I could, if I knew I could get back, that would be leaving you behind. I'm not going to do that. I can't. At the very thought of returning to that universe, especially now, leaving Peter at the mercy of their kidnappers, she was close to panic.
Peter's voice was calm, compassionate. That's not what I meant, Olivia. I wouldn't ask you to do that.
She tried to calm herself. He wasn't glimmering, a part of her noticed. Perhaps the gene therapy had somehow removed the evidence of his origins - or maybe her abilities were actually gone. Or maybe she just couldn't see it through tiger's eyes. So, what then?
He turned his gaze toward the door of his cage and then back to her. Maybe opening the locks on these doors is close enough to turning off the lights that you could do something similar.
Olivia thought about it. She still didn't really know how she'd managed to turn off the lights on the bomb that Jones had devised; it had been the only option, that was all. She met Peter's eyes for a moment. I really don't know, but I guess--
Her tentative statement was interrupted by the sensation of the truck beginning to decelerate. At least the reduction in speed meant that when it took a right turn, the two occupants of the cages didn't slide around quite as dramatically. Still, Olivia was tense at this indication that they might be seeing their captors face to face sometime soon - and she could feel that Peter was getting anxious as well. She tried to brace herself as much as she could. If she was going to make her move, now would be the time to do it, before the two of them were tranquilized again in preparation for the next stage of their journey.
Despite her resolve, though, it proved impossible for her to concentrate on using her abilities to unlock her cage. Wherever the truck was now headed, it seemed to be traveling on only the roughest, most pothole-filled roads available. Every time Olivia thought the jolts and jars had passed, they would start up again.
It's like they're doing this on purpose, Peter complained, looking and sounding miserable as he curled up in the corner of his cage.
Yeah. Olivia was sure she would have more than a few bruises when they finally stopped. She wondered if their guess that they were dealing with environmental activists was incorrect, since these people didn't seem to care about the well-being of the animals they were transporting enough to have provided some kind of cushion for this phase of the trip. She was also becoming more and more sure that it was a very good thing for their captors that she and Peter hadn't been able to break free yet. Otherwise, human personalities or no, it would be really hard to resist attacking them at this point.
Not too much later, the truck finally came to a stop. Olivia met Peter's eye as they heard the driver and passenger side doors open and shut. They both waited, but though there was the sound of footsteps coming around to the back of the truck, it didn't open.
“Well, he's supposed to meet us here,” a man's voice said suddenly.
There was a sigh. “I guess he's late,” a different guy said. “Let's eat lunch while we wait.”
The first guy agreed, and their footsteps faded as they walked away from the truck.
Great. So they're just going to leave us here? Peter asked incredulously. And then on top of that, they had to go and talk about food.
Olivia had to give the mental equivalent of a smile at that. Seriously. Don't they know it's not polite to eat a meal without offering it to your guests? she remarked.
Just then, there was the sound of another vehicle approaching. The engine sounded like it belonged to a smaller car. It pulled to a stop to the right of the truck. Olivia and Peter didn't have to wait in suspense for long before the driver started to speak. “Hey, get over here,” she called. “What the hell do you guys think you're doing?”
After a few seconds, during which Olivia heard the footsteps of the two men coming closer again, the first guy who had spoken replied, “We're just eating lunch. It's after 12:45.”
“I don't care if it's dark outside,” the woman snapped. “You're being paid to transport some very important cargo to a specific location, and we are on a time schedule. You can eat later.”
Under the sound of footsteps coming closer to the back of the truck, Olivia caught the other man muttering something about how they weren't the ones who had arrived late to the meeting point.
The footsteps stopped. “I was not late,” the woman shot back. “I was on time, and you two were early, which probably means you were driving too fast. If you hurt these animals in any way...” The threat was left unfinished. There was the sound of keys jingling, and then within a few seconds, the back of the truck was unlocked. Olivia exchanged another glance with Peter as her heart started to pound. She wished there were some way of knowing what was about to happen to them.
When the door rolled up, Olivia couldn't stop herself from drawing back and hissing as the light struck her eyes. Thankfully it didn't take too long for her to adjust to the brightness - although being able to see meant she was aware of the intense scrutiny she was undergoing from the woman who had opened the door. The mixture of clinical detachment and barely-concealed avarice in her gaze reminded Olivia again all too much of her treatment at the hands of Walternate's scientists. That association caused her to growl, almost involuntarily.
The woman hardly paused in her examination. Pushing her graying brown hair behind her ear, she nodded in satisfaction, and then took a step closer to Peter's cage to begin her next visual examination. Olivia watched as his ears went back, though he stayed silent.
“Well,” the woman said after she finished, “two superb specimens of Panthera tigris sumatrae. They appear to be in good condition, no thanks to their handling on the way here.” This remark seemed to be addressed to herself, although the two truck drivers were standing within earshot. “I'll have to compliment Dr. Berg on his work when I talk to him next.”
Olivia forced herself not to react outwardly to this last statement, but she filed it away for future reference as the name of the probable culprit in modifying Peter's and her DNA. He would certainly be an accessory to their kidnapping, as well.
“So,” one of the men asked, “are we good to go, then?” He was the shorter of the two drivers, and by his voice, he was the one who'd made the snide comment about being late.
The woman didn't bother to look in his direction. “After we give them their lunch, yes.”
“They get to eat before we do?” the other guy said in what was obviously meant to be a jocular tone. His companion laughed.
Smiling thinly, the woman finally turned to face them as she said, “I don't think you really want to be driving a truck with two irritated and hungry full-grown tigers in the back, do you?”
“Good point,” the joker said, clearing his throat.
The three of them walked in the direction of the woman's car. As soon as they were out of sight, Olivia turned to Peter. I guess we're getting fed after all.
Yeah, Peter replied, his tail twitching. But somehow I still don't feel a lot better about the situation.
So it's not just me who thinks there's something very wrong about that woman? Olivia said.
Peter scoffed. No. Definitely not just you. And if it weren't for the fact that we know that our old friend Dr. Fischer is still in prison for experimentation on humans, I'd be wondering if he were in on this somehow, too.
Further conversation was halted by the return of the three humans. The men were each holding a long, pointed metal pole with a slab of what smelled like raw beef on the end. The woman simply watched as they each slowly brought their offerings closer to the cages. Although she was in fact ravenous, Olivia waited until the meat was guided between the bars of her cage before she grabbed it with both front paws and pulled it to the ground. She thought Peter might be doing something similar, but all of her focus was on the food for the moment. The man holding the pole let out a startled exclamation when she struck and nearly dropped it. Olivia ignored his reaction in favor of pulling the entire cut of meat off the pole with her teeth. It was still partially frozen, and the cold was unpleasant on her tongue and teeth, but she dug in anyway.
“That should be enough to keep them happy until we get to the facility,” the woman said. She coughed and then added, “You two can finish your lunch while I make a few calls.”
“Sounds good,” one of them replied, with more than a touch of sarcasm.
Olivia looked up from her meal briefly to see the men and the woman go out of sight. It was hard for her to stay distracted for long, though. Tigers evidently took eating very seriously, based on how strongly her instincts were driving her not to worry about other things at the moment. Her human self, meanwhile, was just trying not to dwell on the fact that she was eating raw, bloody meat.
It didn't take long for the two of them to finish their meal. Olivia took a look at Peter after she was done, and saw that he was already cleaning off his face and paws with his tongue. He caught her look, and without stopping, he said, What? It's not like we have any napkins or paper towels, and it's perfectly normal behavior for a cat.
Oh, I know, she replied. She began the same process for herself as she remarked, It's just strange, is all. Not something I would have guessed I'd be doing today.
Peter stared at her for a second as if he might want to say something to that, but he remained silent.
A minute later, there was a quick conferral outside during which it was determined that the woman - addressed by one of the men as Dr. West - would lead the truck to the site, which was about two more hours' distance from here. Though they were both listening as carefully as they could, nothing was revealed about what would happen once they got to their destination.
Dr. West walked to the back of the truck again. Her eyes traveled over Peter and Olivia, and she smiled again - a calculating smile that made Olivia want to growl again. Then she pulled the door shut, plunging them back into comparative darkness.
Two more hours of driving to look forward to, Peter said with a sigh. I don't know if it would be worse or better if we had a clearer idea of what this Dr. West and her associates had planned for us.
Olivia though once again of her experience Over There. Trust me, she answered grimly, turning away from his gaze, it's better before you know. At least then you can still imagine something that isn't entirely awful.
Peter didn't respond right away, and Olivia began to regret her comment. She knew Peter had read her report of what had happened to her while she was trapped in the other universe, but she had spoken to him about it as little as possible, and he hadn't pried. But now she'd all but invited him to make comparisons between their current circumstances and what she had gone through.
God, Olivia, he said, in a tone of chagrin, I didn't even think-- I didn't realize how much this is like what happened while you were Over There. I'm sorry.
She found herself still unable to face him. It's, it's okay, she told him. We've already established that they want us alive, at least. So that's an improvement, despite the whole tiger thing.
He didn't sound satisfied. Olivia...
And at least-- She stopped herself. It was selfish of her, but she was glad that Peter was here with her this time, even though it meant he was in danger along with her.
At least what?
Olivia turned toward him, but before she could say anything further, the truck started up, and they were once more jolted painfully as the vehicle began to move along the same poor quality roads.
What were you going to say, Olivia? Peter asked again. He was crouching in a corner of the cage in an attempt to guard himself from injury.
She waited until the road had smoothed out a little, which thankfully did not take as long this time. I was just going to say, you're here this time, she said quietly. Maybe it's selfish, but I'm glad you are.
When he replied, Peter's voice was warm. I'm glad neither one of us is alone, too.
~
Spoilers: Season 3, sometime after “LSD”
Rating: PG-13 for some language and disturbing imagery.
Characters: Peter/Olivia, Walter, Astrid, Broyles, some OCs.
Summary: Peter and Olivia find themselves in a situation that neither of them could have ever imagined. Could very justifiably be called a crack!fic.
Disclaimer: This show and its associated characters do not belong to me.
Author's Notes: To be found at the end of the story. Thanks to mack_the_spoon for her beta reading.
~
“So which one's your favorite?”
Olivia turned her gaze away from the window in front of them. “My favorite what? Gorilla? There's the big guy in the back just watching everything going on - he seems like a character.”
Peter smiled and shook his head. “Your favorite animal here, I mean.”
Olivia pondered for a moment before she told him, “I guess it would have to be either the lion or the tiger. They're both so beautiful and powerful.”
“They are,” Peter agreed, taking her hand as they strolled out of the gorilla exhibit. “You want to go look at them again?”
“Sure.” Olivia watched a little girl run past them into the exhibit, with her mother hurrying to follow. She reminded herself to invite Rachel and Ella here the next time they were in town. Ella would love it, she was sure. “So, what's your favorite?”
“Well, I like the tropical birds, and the big cats,” Peter answered, “but I think my absolute favorite has to be the giraffes. They're absolutely ridiculous-looking, but they obviously don't care. You gotta admire them for that.”
Olivia laughed. “You have a good point there.”
“Plus,” Peter continued, “they can kill a lion with a single blow of a hoof, which is pretty impressive.”
Raising an eyebrow, Olivia murmured her agreement.
The two of them continued on their leisurely way back toward the Serengeti and Kalahari areas of the zoo. Peter was in the middle of an amusing tale about the time he tried to catch a cougar in his boyhood backyard when Olivia became aware of a feeling they were being watched. She looked around as unobtrusively as possible, and thought she caught a glimpse of someone ducking into the restaurant they had just passed. She wasn't sure whether the guy had seen her see him or not.
As she listened to Peter's story, Olivia kept alert for any further signs of pursuit. She was just starting to think she'd imagined it when there was another quick dart of movement at the edge of her field of vision. Her grip on Peter's hand tightened.
“What?” Peter halted both his story and his forward motion, looking at Olivia in concern. “What's wrong, Olivia?”
“Don't look now,” Olivia muttered, trying to keep a neutral expression on her face, “but I think someone's following us. They have been for a few minutes.”
Peter waited a few seconds before casually glancing over his shoulder. They started walking again, and then he said in a low voice, “I didn't see anything unusual. Are you sure?”
Sighing, Olivia said, “No, not completely. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.” She looked around again and then shrugged. It had been such a perfect day so far. She didn't want to spoil it by making something out of nothing. “Let's just go look at the lions.”
Peter didn't seem convinced. “We could head for the exit if you want--”
“No, it's okay,” Olivia said. She tugged on his hand lightly. “So I'm guessing your cougar trap wasn't successful?”
After another second, Peter resumed his story. They arrived at the Kalahari exhibit without incident (unless dodging a group of excited kids on a field trip counted, Olivia supposed). The sensation of being watched did not return.
They swung by the tiger exhibit on their way back toward the entrance. Olivia was slightly disappointed that the tigers seemed to have decided to take a nap out of public view, but as she said to Peter, it probably got old to have a bunch of people staring at you all day. Peter couldn't disagree.
It was as they were walking to the edge of the lot, where Olivia had parked, when the feeling came back. Olivia looked around again but saw nothing. She was about to ask Peter if he saw anything when she felt something sharp bite into her leg. “Ow!”
“What-- ouch!”
Olivia saw the dart in her leg and tried to pull it out, but the tranquilizer was already hitting her hard. The last thing she saw before she crumpled to the ground was Peter staggering and falling next to her.
~
Olivia could hear someone talking nearby, but it was oddly muffled - and it was so hard to stay awake. She tried her best to concentrate, but all she could determine was that there was a man's voice, talking to a woman. She couldn't move, and her body and limbs felt extremely odd. There was a warmth that seemed to be spreading through her, very slowly. Even this limited awareness faded soon after she discovered these facts.
Some unknown time later, Olivia began to wake up. She could hear and feel that she was in a vehicle traveling at freeway speed. Strangely, she could also smell gasoline more strongly than she would expect, along with a variety of other scents. When she cracked open her eyes, though, almost no light met them. She opened them all the way - and when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she nearly screamed in shock.
There, not three feet from her face, was a large cage that contained a sleeping tiger. This extraordinary revelation distracted her for a few seconds from the fact that she was staring at the cat from out of the bars of the cage in which she herself was evidently being held. She was also lying down ... but it felt much different from the way she was used to feeling when she was lying on her stomach.
With more than a little bit of foreboding, Olivia looked down at herself. She saw orange fur with black stripes covering her ... paws, and the rest of her body.
What the hell?! Instinctively, Olivia got to her feet - all four of them - her heart starting to race. But she found she couldn't stay upright for long; she felt too woozy. She collapsed back onto the metal floor of the cage, shutting her eyes as the dizziness passed. This can't possibly be happening. I have to be dreaming, or hallucinating, or something.
Olivia opened her eyes slowly, to find that her circumstances had not changed in the slightest. She was still in a cage, still across from another cage that held a sleeping tiger, and still apparently a tiger herself. Then a thought occurred to her. Peter! He had been with her when they were attacked, and she could remember him falling as he was hit with the same tranquilizer dart as she had been.
As she thought about Peter, Olivia noticed the tiger in the other cage starting to stir. It blinked and yawned, showing off very impressive teeth, before it seemed to take note of where it was. Then its eyes opened wide, and its ears flattened against its head as it scrambled ungracefully as far away from Olivia's cage as it could. Its tail was lashing. It gave a low growl, which stopped quickly as the animal looked around in evident bewilderment.
Olivia couldn't help feeling sorry for the creature, even as she continued to worry about Peter. Had Peter been changed, somehow, like she had been? But in that case...
She fixed her gaze on the other tiger, which had just struggled to its feet again. It didn't look anything like him - but of course it didn't. She shook her head, darkly amused. No reason it would. She doubted she looked anything like herself, either. But she had to try, to see if there was any way she could even communicate with him, if it really was him.
Olivia managed to get into a sitting position without a return of the dizziness. She might feel foolish, she thought, trying to reach out to Peter telepathically, if she weren't already transformed into a tiger. As it was, she just closed her eyes and concentrated on him. Peter? Is that you there? Are you the other-- She faltered for a moment. The insanity of the situation made it hard for her to put it into words, but there didn't seem to be any other options. Are you the other tiger? I don't know what happened, but if you can hear me, can you give me some sign? I'm ... right across from you, in the other cage.
Olivia opened her eyes. The tiger in the other cage had frozen, staring at her. As she watched, it approached the front of its cage. She didn't think she was imagining it that its - his? - eyes looked desperate, almost frantic. Then there was a flash of sensation in her mind, a brief moment when she was sure she'd felt what Peter was feeling right now: terror, confusion, and a little bit of hope. No words accompanied these emotions.
Peter, it's me. It's Olivia. Is that you? Olivia asked again, this time keeping her eyes open and her gaze on the other tiger. She did her best to focus, as if she could attune herself more to his mind. Can you hear me?
Several seconds passed. Olivia was starting to worry when the silence was broken. Oh, God, she heard in her head - and somehow, the voice sounded just like Peter's. I really must be losing it. It can't be her. There's no way in hell any of this can actually be happening ... but at least I'm not ... lost. Or whatever that was.
Olivia all but pressed her face into the bars of her cage. Peter, she said, almost dizzy again with relief at hearing his voice - even if it was just his voice in her head. That *is* you, isn't it?
The other tiger blinked, coming even closer to the bars of the cage as well. There was another pause. Olivia? You can hear me?
Yes. Olivia wished she could smile, or reach out to him in some more tangible way. This is me. I woke up like this, just a few seconds before you did.
She could feel a mixture of relief and doubt coming from him. Um, okay. If-- if that's you, and you can really hear me, can you, I don't know, turn around in a circle or something?
Without hesitation, Olivia did so, trying not to be too distracted by the still-new sensation of moving on four legs, and with a tail. As soon as she was facing toward him again, Peter sat down. He was still as close to the front of his cage as possible. Oh my God. Olivia.
The emotion in the way he said her name made Olivia's heart ache. She wished again that there was some way to be closer to him. Yeah. I'm here.
There was a brief pause. And where is here, do you think? Peter asked. She was glad that his mental tone was starting to sound more confident, less lost. Because besides the fact that we're both in cages, changed into tigers somehow, and inside the back of a truck, I don't have a clue.
Me neither, Olivia admitted. She sighed - which was a bizarre sensation in her new body. I remember getting hit with a tranquilizer dart while we were walking to my car, and then I think I remember hearing someone talking to another person, but I have no idea how we could have ended up ... how and where we are now.
Peter was silent for another moment. Do you think this could have something to do with the guy you thought was following us at the zoo?
I suppose so, Olivia said. It seems like a pretty big coincidence, otherwise. She glanced around the dimly lit interior of the truck. The only other objects she could make out were a few boxes and crates. When she inhaled and focused on her heightened feline sense of smell, there wasn't a lot of new information. Except...
Peter, can you smell that? Coming from the other end of the truck?
She watched as Peter turned in that direction and opened his mouth in a sort of grimace. It was odd - but maybe she had looked the same way just seconds ago. She thought she remembered some nature program she'd watched once that had informed her that felines and certain other animals processed some olfactory data through their mouths. Walter could probably tell her all about it, she mused.
Yeah, I think I do, Peter replied. It's chemical, I'd say. Something you'd find in a lab. Faint, but definitely there. Too bad neither of us can use our fabulous feline senses of smell to narrow that down any further.
Olivia chuckled (not audibly, since tigers didn't seem to be equipped for that). Too bad, she agreed. But maybe that can help us figure out what kind of people could do this?
Well, it's not too surprising that whoever it was is some kind of scientist, Peter pointed out. I mean, unless we've fallen victim to a magic spell, it has to be genetic manipulation, right?
She wished she could shrug. You're probably right - although it could also some kind of memory or personality transfer. We've dealt with that kind of thing before. Olivia still had the bad dreams and occasional headaches to prove it, in fact.
He acknowledged that quietly, and there was a flash of his lingering guilt and anger in connection with that before he continued, But I don't think the goal of this whole thing was to put a human consciousness into an animal. For one thing, it seems like from what you remember and what I remember, we were unconscious for a long time before we ended up here - longer than it takes to transfer consciousness. And for another thing, he added, and then stopped.
What? Olivia once again started to feel fear from him.
It was Peter's turn to sigh. I don't think they really intended us to have any human personality left, Olivia, he told her. His tail lashed, and he looked away. When I woke up, I was aware enough of the circumstances that I was scared and confused, but it was like I had to fight to remember why it was so different - what had changed. If you hadn't started talking to me, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have taken long for me to be gone.
Olivia's heart ached again as she imagined him struggling not to lose his identity. It was not an experience she wanted him to have in common with her. Then I'm glad I tried talking to you, she said softly. I had no idea if it would work, but I had to try.
Peter thanked her, his sincerity clear. He had just begun to ask a question when the sound of the truck they were in changed, and then both of them slid toward the front of the vehicle as it started down what was evidently a steep hill. Olivia's tiger instincts did not like having nothing to brace herself against on the slick metal floor of the cage - and neither did she, of course. At least, she reflected sourly, it didn't hurt too much when she crashed into the bars on the other side.
Well, Peter said in a dry tone, after they had both recovered their equilibrium, that was fun.
Yeah, a real blast, Olivia muttered. Nice of whoever is behind this to have secured us with so much care.
At least they did make sure we won't crash into each other, Peter observed, looking toward the wall of the vehicle on his side where there were bolts securing the bars of the cage to the wall of the truck.
That's something, I guess. Olivia looked at the wall to which her own cage was fastened. This evidence of long-term planning gave her an idea. Hey, Peter, doesn't it seem like if these people have cages set up like this, we might not be the first ones they've done this to?
He sounded intrigued. Yeah, you're right. So the question is, why would someone want to kidnap people, turn them into animals, and transport them to wherever we're being taken?
As she considered the question, the truck made an unpleasantly sharp left turn - and once again, the two of them found themselves sliding haplessly toward the bars of their cages. Holding back a growl with difficulty, Olivia had to marvel that whoever was behind this apparently didn't care about provoking the large carnivores they were transporting by putting them in this situation. God, that's annoying, she grumbled, her ears flat against her head in irritation.
I could sure go for a seatbelt right about now, Peter agreed. He picked himself up with care.
Anyway, though, Olivia said as the truck finally finished the turn, getting back to your question. The only thing I can think of is some kind of smuggling operation. But if this was genetic manipulation, there has to be a reason we ended up as tigers, and not some other animal. She shook her head, still finding it hard to accept the reality of their predicament.
Smuggling would seem to fit reasonably well, Peter said thoughtfully. And we can assume it took them time, effort, and resources to do the genetic modifications, so their end goal must involve us staying alive.
Olivia blinked, and then recalled another fact from that nature program she had seen. Oh, you mean you don't think they're selling us to the Chinese for traditional medicine? That's reassuring. She couldn't help being reminded of the alternate Brandon's plans for her on the Other Side once they'd gotten what they wanted from her. The thought made her feel ill. She shivered, and was suddenly glad she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
No, if they have the ability to change human DNA into tiger DNA, Peter mused, it seems probable that they could create their own black market organs if they wanted to. He lay down on his side, still facing her. In which case, what do they want with a pair of live tigers?
Well, Olivia said, thankful for the reason not to dwell on bad memories, tigers are endangered, right? Maybe they're trying to get money from selling endangered animals to groups or zoos or whoever might want them.
Now, that could be it. I mean, it's still a lot of effort and risk, kidnapping people and changing them - but maybe we're dealing with zealots.
Environmental activists, you mean, taking the fight against animal extinction one step further? Olivia pondered it. The idea seemed plausible, or at least as plausible as anything in this situation could seem. But activists, especially those who cross the line into eco-terrorism, aren't generally in favor of zoos, she pointed out. Which would suggest that's not where we're going.
That's true, Peter acknowledged. Then his mental tone darkened. Oh, damn it. Wouldn't that be just fantastic?
What? What are you thinking?
Peter took a deep breath. If they really are zealots for the cause, he said, maybe they're trying to bring us back to our homeland - which is to say, whichever country this kind of tiger is supposed to be from.
Oh. Olivia didn't know the full extent of the natural range of all the different kinds of tigers, but she was fairly certain that all of them were on the other side of the world. Damn it.
Exactly. He sounded close to hopeless.
Olivia couldn't really blame him; their situation was serious. She had no idea if their genetic tampering could be reversed, and even if it could, if they ended up in the jungles of some remote tropical country, how the hell would they ever get home?
So that means we have to escape somehow, before they put us on a plane across the ocean, she declared. She wanted to stand up and pace, but even if there were enough space in her cage, she couldn't be sure that the truck wouldn't take another sharp turn and knock her off her feet. There has to be a way to do it.
If you have any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them, Peter replied. These bodies are pretty strong, sure, but I don't think they can break through solid metal bars.
Olivia shot him a look, although it probably lost something in her current form. Uh huh, which is why I was thinking we would concentrate on the doors.
They both spent several minutes examining the doors of their cages. The lock mechanism was not overly complex on hers, Olivia found, and Peter reported that his was similar. It was just a basic lock and key system. Unfortunately, it was still strong enough that no amount of pushing against the hinges or the other side of the door had any noticeable effect, and the cage ceiling was too low for either of them to get any real leverage.
Okay, Olivia said, panting from the effort and trying not to give in to despair. Maybe there will be a time when we're somewhere less secure, on the way to wherever they're taking us. I mean, it's a long trip overseas, and depending on where they want us to end up, we might have to travel across the country first. We just have to stay alert as much as we can.
Peter nodded, which looked odd, coming from a tiger. Right. She could tell he didn't really think it was going to happen, but at least he wasn't being overtly negative.
The two of them fell silent for some time. Olivia rested her head on her paws, listening idly to the hum of the truck engine and the occasional sound of a car passing in the opposite direction. She was startled out of her near-doze when Peter remarked, I bet Walter is wondering where we are by now.
I'm sure he is, Olivia said, shifting so that it was a little easier to see Peter. You told him we'd be back for dinner, didn't you?
Yep. Peter yawned again, and added, And speaking of dinner, I hope they're going to feed us at some point. I'm getting hungry.
Olivia twitched her tail. And if they do feed us - which they should, if they're all for saving the animals - we'll know more of who we're dealing with.
They'll be expecting us to act like normal tigers, Peter cautioned, so when we do see them--
What? Don't try reasoning with them? I wasn't planning on it, Olivia interrupted shortly. Then she sighed. Sorry. I just...
I know, Peter said. We've both been in a lot of bizarre and dangerous situations - but this one might just take the cake. I doubt even Walter would imagine a scenario in which we were kidnapped by environmental activists and transformed into big cats, even if he'd just self-medicated.
Olivia laughed once before sobering. You're probably right. But who knows - there might be security camera footage from the zoo parking lot, at least.
Could be. Peter paused, and then said hesitantly, Olivia, there is one other thing I can think of that could possibly get us out of here.
She had a suspicion of where this was going, but she asked, anyway. And what would that be?
Have you thought about trying to use your abilities? Before she could say anything, he continued, Because I was thinking, there's no reason the genetic manipulation would have gotten rid of them. It might be that that's the reason you were able to keep yourself from losing your identity and your memories when you first woke up. And it could be how you were able to start talking to me telepathically.
You're talking to me telepathically right now, Olivia pointed out, and you were never treated with Cortexiphan.
Sounding exasperated, Peter said, Okay, so that part doesn't make sense. That's not the main issue.
Peter, Olivia protested, I don't know what I'm doing with those abilities. I don't know how to use them. All I've managed to do is turn off some lights - unless you count what I apparently did at Jacksonville when I was a kid. The memory of that burnt-out room still haunted her.
You made it back to this universe by yourself, Peter reminded her gently.
But I'd just given myself a massive dose of Cortexiphan, Olivia said, trying not to dwell on her final memory of the Other Side's Broyles. She swallowed, hating how scared she sounded. And besides, what do you expect me to do? I'm not crossing over just to get out of here. Even if I could, if I knew I could get back, that would be leaving you behind. I'm not going to do that. I can't. At the very thought of returning to that universe, especially now, leaving Peter at the mercy of their kidnappers, she was close to panic.
Peter's voice was calm, compassionate. That's not what I meant, Olivia. I wouldn't ask you to do that.
She tried to calm herself. He wasn't glimmering, a part of her noticed. Perhaps the gene therapy had somehow removed the evidence of his origins - or maybe her abilities were actually gone. Or maybe she just couldn't see it through tiger's eyes. So, what then?
He turned his gaze toward the door of his cage and then back to her. Maybe opening the locks on these doors is close enough to turning off the lights that you could do something similar.
Olivia thought about it. She still didn't really know how she'd managed to turn off the lights on the bomb that Jones had devised; it had been the only option, that was all. She met Peter's eyes for a moment. I really don't know, but I guess--
Her tentative statement was interrupted by the sensation of the truck beginning to decelerate. At least the reduction in speed meant that when it took a right turn, the two occupants of the cages didn't slide around quite as dramatically. Still, Olivia was tense at this indication that they might be seeing their captors face to face sometime soon - and she could feel that Peter was getting anxious as well. She tried to brace herself as much as she could. If she was going to make her move, now would be the time to do it, before the two of them were tranquilized again in preparation for the next stage of their journey.
Despite her resolve, though, it proved impossible for her to concentrate on using her abilities to unlock her cage. Wherever the truck was now headed, it seemed to be traveling on only the roughest, most pothole-filled roads available. Every time Olivia thought the jolts and jars had passed, they would start up again.
It's like they're doing this on purpose, Peter complained, looking and sounding miserable as he curled up in the corner of his cage.
Yeah. Olivia was sure she would have more than a few bruises when they finally stopped. She wondered if their guess that they were dealing with environmental activists was incorrect, since these people didn't seem to care about the well-being of the animals they were transporting enough to have provided some kind of cushion for this phase of the trip. She was also becoming more and more sure that it was a very good thing for their captors that she and Peter hadn't been able to break free yet. Otherwise, human personalities or no, it would be really hard to resist attacking them at this point.
Not too much later, the truck finally came to a stop. Olivia met Peter's eye as they heard the driver and passenger side doors open and shut. They both waited, but though there was the sound of footsteps coming around to the back of the truck, it didn't open.
“Well, he's supposed to meet us here,” a man's voice said suddenly.
There was a sigh. “I guess he's late,” a different guy said. “Let's eat lunch while we wait.”
The first guy agreed, and their footsteps faded as they walked away from the truck.
Great. So they're just going to leave us here? Peter asked incredulously. And then on top of that, they had to go and talk about food.
Olivia had to give the mental equivalent of a smile at that. Seriously. Don't they know it's not polite to eat a meal without offering it to your guests? she remarked.
Just then, there was the sound of another vehicle approaching. The engine sounded like it belonged to a smaller car. It pulled to a stop to the right of the truck. Olivia and Peter didn't have to wait in suspense for long before the driver started to speak. “Hey, get over here,” she called. “What the hell do you guys think you're doing?”
After a few seconds, during which Olivia heard the footsteps of the two men coming closer again, the first guy who had spoken replied, “We're just eating lunch. It's after 12:45.”
“I don't care if it's dark outside,” the woman snapped. “You're being paid to transport some very important cargo to a specific location, and we are on a time schedule. You can eat later.”
Under the sound of footsteps coming closer to the back of the truck, Olivia caught the other man muttering something about how they weren't the ones who had arrived late to the meeting point.
The footsteps stopped. “I was not late,” the woman shot back. “I was on time, and you two were early, which probably means you were driving too fast. If you hurt these animals in any way...” The threat was left unfinished. There was the sound of keys jingling, and then within a few seconds, the back of the truck was unlocked. Olivia exchanged another glance with Peter as her heart started to pound. She wished there were some way of knowing what was about to happen to them.
When the door rolled up, Olivia couldn't stop herself from drawing back and hissing as the light struck her eyes. Thankfully it didn't take too long for her to adjust to the brightness - although being able to see meant she was aware of the intense scrutiny she was undergoing from the woman who had opened the door. The mixture of clinical detachment and barely-concealed avarice in her gaze reminded Olivia again all too much of her treatment at the hands of Walternate's scientists. That association caused her to growl, almost involuntarily.
The woman hardly paused in her examination. Pushing her graying brown hair behind her ear, she nodded in satisfaction, and then took a step closer to Peter's cage to begin her next visual examination. Olivia watched as his ears went back, though he stayed silent.
“Well,” the woman said after she finished, “two superb specimens of Panthera tigris sumatrae. They appear to be in good condition, no thanks to their handling on the way here.” This remark seemed to be addressed to herself, although the two truck drivers were standing within earshot. “I'll have to compliment Dr. Berg on his work when I talk to him next.”
Olivia forced herself not to react outwardly to this last statement, but she filed it away for future reference as the name of the probable culprit in modifying Peter's and her DNA. He would certainly be an accessory to their kidnapping, as well.
“So,” one of the men asked, “are we good to go, then?” He was the shorter of the two drivers, and by his voice, he was the one who'd made the snide comment about being late.
The woman didn't bother to look in his direction. “After we give them their lunch, yes.”
“They get to eat before we do?” the other guy said in what was obviously meant to be a jocular tone. His companion laughed.
Smiling thinly, the woman finally turned to face them as she said, “I don't think you really want to be driving a truck with two irritated and hungry full-grown tigers in the back, do you?”
“Good point,” the joker said, clearing his throat.
The three of them walked in the direction of the woman's car. As soon as they were out of sight, Olivia turned to Peter. I guess we're getting fed after all.
Yeah, Peter replied, his tail twitching. But somehow I still don't feel a lot better about the situation.
So it's not just me who thinks there's something very wrong about that woman? Olivia said.
Peter scoffed. No. Definitely not just you. And if it weren't for the fact that we know that our old friend Dr. Fischer is still in prison for experimentation on humans, I'd be wondering if he were in on this somehow, too.
Further conversation was halted by the return of the three humans. The men were each holding a long, pointed metal pole with a slab of what smelled like raw beef on the end. The woman simply watched as they each slowly brought their offerings closer to the cages. Although she was in fact ravenous, Olivia waited until the meat was guided between the bars of her cage before she grabbed it with both front paws and pulled it to the ground. She thought Peter might be doing something similar, but all of her focus was on the food for the moment. The man holding the pole let out a startled exclamation when she struck and nearly dropped it. Olivia ignored his reaction in favor of pulling the entire cut of meat off the pole with her teeth. It was still partially frozen, and the cold was unpleasant on her tongue and teeth, but she dug in anyway.
“That should be enough to keep them happy until we get to the facility,” the woman said. She coughed and then added, “You two can finish your lunch while I make a few calls.”
“Sounds good,” one of them replied, with more than a touch of sarcasm.
Olivia looked up from her meal briefly to see the men and the woman go out of sight. It was hard for her to stay distracted for long, though. Tigers evidently took eating very seriously, based on how strongly her instincts were driving her not to worry about other things at the moment. Her human self, meanwhile, was just trying not to dwell on the fact that she was eating raw, bloody meat.
It didn't take long for the two of them to finish their meal. Olivia took a look at Peter after she was done, and saw that he was already cleaning off his face and paws with his tongue. He caught her look, and without stopping, he said, What? It's not like we have any napkins or paper towels, and it's perfectly normal behavior for a cat.
Oh, I know, she replied. She began the same process for herself as she remarked, It's just strange, is all. Not something I would have guessed I'd be doing today.
Peter stared at her for a second as if he might want to say something to that, but he remained silent.
A minute later, there was a quick conferral outside during which it was determined that the woman - addressed by one of the men as Dr. West - would lead the truck to the site, which was about two more hours' distance from here. Though they were both listening as carefully as they could, nothing was revealed about what would happen once they got to their destination.
Dr. West walked to the back of the truck again. Her eyes traveled over Peter and Olivia, and she smiled again - a calculating smile that made Olivia want to growl again. Then she pulled the door shut, plunging them back into comparative darkness.
Two more hours of driving to look forward to, Peter said with a sigh. I don't know if it would be worse or better if we had a clearer idea of what this Dr. West and her associates had planned for us.
Olivia though once again of her experience Over There. Trust me, she answered grimly, turning away from his gaze, it's better before you know. At least then you can still imagine something that isn't entirely awful.
Peter didn't respond right away, and Olivia began to regret her comment. She knew Peter had read her report of what had happened to her while she was trapped in the other universe, but she had spoken to him about it as little as possible, and he hadn't pried. But now she'd all but invited him to make comparisons between their current circumstances and what she had gone through.
God, Olivia, he said, in a tone of chagrin, I didn't even think-- I didn't realize how much this is like what happened while you were Over There. I'm sorry.
She found herself still unable to face him. It's, it's okay, she told him. We've already established that they want us alive, at least. So that's an improvement, despite the whole tiger thing.
He didn't sound satisfied. Olivia...
And at least-- She stopped herself. It was selfish of her, but she was glad that Peter was here with her this time, even though it meant he was in danger along with her.
At least what?
Olivia turned toward him, but before she could say anything further, the truck started up, and they were once more jolted painfully as the vehicle began to move along the same poor quality roads.
What were you going to say, Olivia? Peter asked again. He was crouching in a corner of the cage in an attempt to guard himself from injury.
She waited until the road had smoothed out a little, which thankfully did not take as long this time. I was just going to say, you're here this time, she said quietly. Maybe it's selfish, but I'm glad you are.
When he replied, Peter's voice was warm. I'm glad neither one of us is alone, too.
~