Fic: Feelings
Title: Feelings
Fandom: Fringe
Words: 1008
Rating: PG
Genre: Angst
Summary: "Then came the day that the universe remembered it did once contain an adult Peter Bishop, and decided the relevant members of its population should remember, too." After that, Olivia tries to figure out her feelings for the two men closest to her.
Characters/Pairing: Olivia/Lincoln, with hints of Olivia/Peter
Warnings: Spoilery for Season 4 thus far.
Disclaimer: It's not mine.
Notes: I've been writing this all week with the vision of getting it posted before the new episode. I have got it done with an hour (by my time zone conversions) to spare. Yay me. Also, Olivia!dialogue is actually really hard to write, partiularly when she's doing most of the talking. So I'm not overly happy with it, but considering this is how I've met my A Round of Words in 80 Days goals for this week, I felt the need to post it anyway. Let's ignore the ending of 4x07 and just assume things went on as normal(ish) for everyone.
Three am at the diner started to become a tradition for Olivia and Lincoln, so much so that they moved it forward to the more civilised hour of nine. Lincoln found himself sleeping better already; the de-stressing sessions were clearly doing some good. Or maybe the help was coming from the fact that he got to spend a couple of hours in the presence of Olivia’s rather pretty smile.
Then came the day that the universe remembered it did once contain an adult Peter Bishop, and decided the relevant members of its population should remember, too. It didn’t make any difference to Lincoln, Peter was a stranger to him either way, but it wasn’t that simple for the rest of the Fringe team.
Walter seemed to be struggling with the change the most, which Lincoln supposed makes sense. He had two different versions of the last twenty-five years in his head now: one in which he lost his son and one in which he hadn’t. He’d been committed to St. Claire’s in both, but in one Peter had gotten him out and they had begun to rebuild their relationship; in the other, even Fringe Division hadn’t really given him anything to live for.
It was Olivia’s reaction that concerned Lincoln the most, though, and he’d be the first to admit it was mostly for selfish reasons. He’d realised long ago that he had some kind of feelings for his new partner, and through their late-night diner dates he had begun to wonder if perhaps she didn’t have similar feelings for him. She had tended to pretty herself up a bit before she arrived, and she seemed to feel more relaxed when they were together, the same as he did.
He had also known, of course, through his chats with Peter, that Peter and Olivia had been together in the original time line. He knew Olivia was trying to work out whether any feelings she had for Peter were genuine or remnants of that time. Lincoln gave her the space he imagined she needed, though he still turned up at the diner at nine o’clock each night.
It was nearly a week before Olivia joined him there again. She smiled shyly at him as she slid into the seat on the other side of the table. He smiled back at her and motioned for the waitress to bring a second coffee mug and fill it up. Olivia sipped it in silence for a few moments, before looking up as though she wanted to say something.
“I guess you’ve noticed by now that I’m not all that great at opening up to people.” Lincoln didn’t respond; this sounded like the beginning of a rehearsed spiel and he didn’t want to interrupt. Olivia continued, “I tend to bottle things up and keep people at arm’s length. And now I find out there were three years with Peter Bishop, and that by the end of that he and I were...” She trails off for a second. “It’s in my head, it happened, and yet, I remember not remembering it a week ago.” She gives a small laugh. “It’s a lot for a girl to get her head around.”
“I can imagine,” Lincoln replied, nodding encouragingly.
Olivia looked him in the eye for a moment, before looking back down at her coffee. She seemed to be doing that a lot: making eye contact with him but looking away before she said anything.
“I’m sorry I haven’t shown up here these past few nights,” she said.
Lincoln shook his head quickly. “It’s fine. You had a lot to figure out.”
“The thing is... I feel like I owe something to Peter. I remember those feelings, and I’m sure Peter still feels something for me, but... it’s like I’m detached from it... like I’m remembering someone else’s feelings.”
At this stage she paused and looked at Lincoln again, almost as though she was waiting for something. Lincoln tilted his head slightly, not sure what she was expecting him to say. When he remained silent, she kept going.
“Before this, with us meeting here every night and everything... I guess I thought that maybe there might be something between us...” She snuck another glance at Lincoln; he couldn’t help the small, hopeful smile that appeared on his face, and she took that as encouragement. “I don’t suppose you’d thought that at all...?”
“It had crossed my mind,” Lincoln replied.
Olivia smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. She didn’t say anything else and for a while they sipped their coffee in silence. When the quiet started to drag on, though, Linjcoln started getting fidgety. With Olivia’s confession a moment before, came a dozen questions he wanted to ask. He was torn between seeking answers straight away and not wanting to rush in and ruin things. Olivia was still staring into her coffee mug.
After a few moments more, Lincoln broke the silence simply with, “So...”
“So,” Olivia agreed, and then after a moment added, “you know, I’m going to need some more time to figure things out completely.”
“Of course,” Lincoln replied.
“But I’m glad we had this conversation,” she added quickly.
Lincoln nodded. “Me, too.”
Olivia looked back down at her coffee mug and realised it was empty. “Well, I guess I should probably be going,” she said. She picked up her wallet and stood up, Lincoln following suit.
When they reached the door and were about to go their separate ways, Lincoln made a split-second decision. He placed one hand lightly on Olivia’s arm and bent to kiss her on the cheek. Anything else would probably have been too much for the moment, but he figured that he could get away with this small gesture.
When he straightened up again, Olivia was smiling at him, chewing on her bottom lip shyly. Lincoln felt a bit relieved that this was her reaction, and gave her a smile in return.
“Same time tomorrow, then?” he asked, and Olivia nodded.
“Yeah,” she replied, “see you then.”
Fandom: Fringe
Words: 1008
Rating: PG
Genre: Angst
Summary: "Then came the day that the universe remembered it did once contain an adult Peter Bishop, and decided the relevant members of its population should remember, too." After that, Olivia tries to figure out her feelings for the two men closest to her.
Characters/Pairing: Olivia/Lincoln, with hints of Olivia/Peter
Warnings: Spoilery for Season 4 thus far.
Disclaimer: It's not mine.
Notes: I've been writing this all week with the vision of getting it posted before the new episode. I have got it done with an hour (by my time zone conversions) to spare. Yay me. Also, Olivia!dialogue is actually really hard to write, partiularly when she's doing most of the talking. So I'm not overly happy with it, but considering this is how I've met my A Round of Words in 80 Days goals for this week, I felt the need to post it anyway. Let's ignore the ending of 4x07 and just assume things went on as normal(ish) for everyone.
Three am at the diner started to become a tradition for Olivia and Lincoln, so much so that they moved it forward to the more civilised hour of nine. Lincoln found himself sleeping better already; the de-stressing sessions were clearly doing some good. Or maybe the help was coming from the fact that he got to spend a couple of hours in the presence of Olivia’s rather pretty smile.
Then came the day that the universe remembered it did once contain an adult Peter Bishop, and decided the relevant members of its population should remember, too. It didn’t make any difference to Lincoln, Peter was a stranger to him either way, but it wasn’t that simple for the rest of the Fringe team.
Walter seemed to be struggling with the change the most, which Lincoln supposed makes sense. He had two different versions of the last twenty-five years in his head now: one in which he lost his son and one in which he hadn’t. He’d been committed to St. Claire’s in both, but in one Peter had gotten him out and they had begun to rebuild their relationship; in the other, even Fringe Division hadn’t really given him anything to live for.
It was Olivia’s reaction that concerned Lincoln the most, though, and he’d be the first to admit it was mostly for selfish reasons. He’d realised long ago that he had some kind of feelings for his new partner, and through their late-night diner dates he had begun to wonder if perhaps she didn’t have similar feelings for him. She had tended to pretty herself up a bit before she arrived, and she seemed to feel more relaxed when they were together, the same as he did.
He had also known, of course, through his chats with Peter, that Peter and Olivia had been together in the original time line. He knew Olivia was trying to work out whether any feelings she had for Peter were genuine or remnants of that time. Lincoln gave her the space he imagined she needed, though he still turned up at the diner at nine o’clock each night.
It was nearly a week before Olivia joined him there again. She smiled shyly at him as she slid into the seat on the other side of the table. He smiled back at her and motioned for the waitress to bring a second coffee mug and fill it up. Olivia sipped it in silence for a few moments, before looking up as though she wanted to say something.
“I guess you’ve noticed by now that I’m not all that great at opening up to people.” Lincoln didn’t respond; this sounded like the beginning of a rehearsed spiel and he didn’t want to interrupt. Olivia continued, “I tend to bottle things up and keep people at arm’s length. And now I find out there were three years with Peter Bishop, and that by the end of that he and I were...” She trails off for a second. “It’s in my head, it happened, and yet, I remember not remembering it a week ago.” She gives a small laugh. “It’s a lot for a girl to get her head around.”
“I can imagine,” Lincoln replied, nodding encouragingly.
Olivia looked him in the eye for a moment, before looking back down at her coffee. She seemed to be doing that a lot: making eye contact with him but looking away before she said anything.
“I’m sorry I haven’t shown up here these past few nights,” she said.
Lincoln shook his head quickly. “It’s fine. You had a lot to figure out.”
“The thing is... I feel like I owe something to Peter. I remember those feelings, and I’m sure Peter still feels something for me, but... it’s like I’m detached from it... like I’m remembering someone else’s feelings.”
At this stage she paused and looked at Lincoln again, almost as though she was waiting for something. Lincoln tilted his head slightly, not sure what she was expecting him to say. When he remained silent, she kept going.
“Before this, with us meeting here every night and everything... I guess I thought that maybe there might be something between us...” She snuck another glance at Lincoln; he couldn’t help the small, hopeful smile that appeared on his face, and she took that as encouragement. “I don’t suppose you’d thought that at all...?”
“It had crossed my mind,” Lincoln replied.
Olivia smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. She didn’t say anything else and for a while they sipped their coffee in silence. When the quiet started to drag on, though, Linjcoln started getting fidgety. With Olivia’s confession a moment before, came a dozen questions he wanted to ask. He was torn between seeking answers straight away and not wanting to rush in and ruin things. Olivia was still staring into her coffee mug.
After a few moments more, Lincoln broke the silence simply with, “So...”
“So,” Olivia agreed, and then after a moment added, “you know, I’m going to need some more time to figure things out completely.”
“Of course,” Lincoln replied.
“But I’m glad we had this conversation,” she added quickly.
Lincoln nodded. “Me, too.”
Olivia looked back down at her coffee mug and realised it was empty. “Well, I guess I should probably be going,” she said. She picked up her wallet and stood up, Lincoln following suit.
When they reached the door and were about to go their separate ways, Lincoln made a split-second decision. He placed one hand lightly on Olivia’s arm and bent to kiss her on the cheek. Anything else would probably have been too much for the moment, but he figured that he could get away with this small gesture.
When he straightened up again, Olivia was smiling at him, chewing on her bottom lip shyly. Lincoln felt a bit relieved that this was her reaction, and gave her a smile in return.
“Same time tomorrow, then?” he asked, and Olivia nodded.
“Yeah,” she replied, “see you then.”