Fifty Fringe Fics To Get You Started
This rec list is for my fellow fan-girl tinkelo who I am navigating my third fandom with (woo hoo!) and who asked for a few recs. And because I'm me, I decided to go crazy and be all organized and give her a list of fifty to start with.
For anyone else coming to this list, a few things:
+ This list is basically all Peter/Olivia fics -- whether it's romantic or friendship, blatant or UST. I can't help it. I'm a conventional couple shipper.
+ This rec list, although complete (as in I'm not adding anymore fics!), is by no means meant to be exhaustive. There are a ton more great fics out there and I couldn't list them all (plus, I haven't read them all yet). This is meant to be more a sampling than anything, a stick your feet into the water kind of thing. In compiling this list, I tried to focus on including a variety of genre more than anything. So you have a little angst, fluff, humor, romance, smut, etc.
+ Why fifty? Because I like even numbers and alliteration and if I didn't give myself a max number I'd be rec'ing fics all day.
+ The list format used is credited to the ever-lovely kashmir1. The list is split into completed chapter fics, one-parters, and WIPs. Within those three categories, fics will be sorted in alphabetical order. Any summaries, ratings, etc. used are ones written by the authors themselves and if there were none, I substituted my own. All links for the stories go to fanfiction.net or livejournal.
+ Please report broken links or blatant typos/mistakes. Nobody likes those.
And a big, big THANK YOU to all the wonderful writers out there who share their wonderful fanfiction and keep a fanfic addict like me going.
Completed Chapter Fics
Title: Chain You Down
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter, Olivia, Nick
Rating: R
Spoilers: Season 1.
Summary: After five years on the run, Peter is caught by the ZFT and reintroduced to Olivia and Nick. AU.
Sug Says: This is my favorite Fringe AU! It’s snappy, fun, funny, and intense. The author has a really great voice for Peter and there’s lots of good P/O UST. A must read.
Quote: When he gets out of this mess, he's going to find out who the hell ratted him out and make them pay. He has no illusions. The problem with developing a web of contacts from the less than savory side of life is that too many people recognize him and too few people are above being bought. While he delayed the inevitable by staying a moving target, only luck has kept him free for five years. Luck that just ran out.
Title: Change
Author: midfielder
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through S1.
Summary: They start small, then time does its magic.
Sug Says: A fic with fantastic insight into both of their characters and how each of them perceives their developing relationship.
Quote: The trail of littlest breadcrumbs starts with the extra cup of coffee.
Then, the occasional scrutinizing looks, which later evolve and get articulated in "Are you okays?" and the unnecessary reassurances that take the various forms of "You're going to be fine", "You're not alone in this" and here's the kicker, "I care about you".
It's one thing to think it.
But to say it aloud?
Title: Far, far away from my heart
Author: MadeofStars
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: The longest journey is the journey inward. Reflections, introspections and reactions post-Jacksonville...
Sug Says: A really soft, lovely look at the P/O relationship.
Quote: She was left alone in his bed, stilled by a lifetime of self-restraint, knowing he would not act if she did not act herself. Move. Act. Reach out. Let go. She held these thoughts close as she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Title: Gone
Author: 221b Baker Street
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: Set immediately after the winter finale of Jacksonville. Just one possible course of events, which - like life- is not a straight line, but a series of choices leading in vastly different directions. This is one of those directions...
Sug Says: A brilliant fic that’s emotionally charged and action packed. It’s just a wonderful take on what could’ve happened after Jacksonville that’s an absolute must read.
Quote: When she stepped into the room, it was like stepping into a separate wing in the mind of Peter Bishop. She'd always known about his nomadic ways, his disability to stay at any one thing for longer than a few months, but to actually see it, to walk through the transience of a man's life, it began to connect the dots far faster than any lecture or analysis. The fear of putting down roots was more than psychological. With Peter it was probably physiological. He really didn't, or couldn't, belong.
Title: Row, row, row
Author: muselives
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia UST
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: The Same Old Story.
Summary: Four parts from four different points-of-view: Olivia feigns sleep and finds out something about the Bishop men; Peter contemplates his feelings for Olivia; It's like a train wreck. She can't help but watch it unfold; Philip Broyles makes sense of the team he's assembled.
Sug Says: An earlier P/O fic and so wonderfully executed. The author takes the “row, row, row your boat” song from early on in the show and uses it as a perfect framework for this. I’m basically in love with this fic. It’s a must-read.
Quote: He trusts Olivia. That is the first word that comes to mind, trust. Funny how he could say that about a woman who had bluffed and strong-armed her way into his life. He'd seen her in action, relentlessly pursuing any and all means to save the man she cared about, and he intuits now on some level that he has also entered her sphere of protection. If something happened to him, there's the comforting thought that Olivia would fight for him.
Title: Truth or Dare
Author: Skate-815
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through 210.
Summary: Peter and Olivia get trapped in an old, abandoned storeroom overnight. To pass the time, they decide to get to know each other a little better.
Sug Says: A wonderful fic with a mixture of light-hearted, fun moments and serious, sad ones that leads up to a very satisfying and worthwhile ending.
Quote: Sometimes Olivia just wished she could be the girl who could sleep with her cute co-worker without a second thought.
One-Parters
Title: Almost there
Author: helaluvE
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: Five times Astride wished something would happen between Olivia and Peter and the one time it did.
Sug Says: Because sometimes you just need P/O fluff and this is fluffiness at its best. It works really nicely from Astrid’s POV too. ☺
Quote: She was laughing, probably at one of his funny quips and Astride thought that she had never seen the agent look more carefree. He was smiling down at her with something akin to pride and she returned the look, hers as soft and as possessive.
Title: And the Four Tear Us Asunder
Author: Zaedah
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Through Jacksonville.
Summary: He accepts the words because she lives in lies but never speaks them.
Sug Says: Poetic, brilliant -- totally sad but then totally hopeful.
Quote: She wanted this sight to save others.
He can't be saved.
Title: Ask Me to Stay
Author: muselives
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Up to Unleashed.
Summary: She's running out of time.
Sug Says: I really love the characterization of Olivia in this and the backdrop of the storm is perfect.
Quote: With deliberate nonchalance, he moves right into her space. It makes for an intense game of chicken, staring down Peter Bishop; she honestly has no idea what he's going to do.
Title: Constant Change
Author: irony_rocks
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia; Olivia, Peter, Walter, Astrid, Charlie, William Belle, Nina Sharp, etc...
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Up till 2.07
Summary: Sometime after Olivia's fourth trip to an alternate reality, it becomes clear that there are life-threatening side effects to universe-hopping.
Sug Says: A fic that manages to encapsulate all there is to love about Fringe: its intensity, its creepiness, and all of its amazing characters. The writer is particularly great at capturing Olivia’s fierceness, while the P/O dynamic is captured in brilliant detail amidst a serious plot.
Quote: It always begins like this: an impossible event, an unlikely rationalization, and Walter in between.
Title: Convictions
Author: alamogirl_80
Characters/Pairing: Olivia, Peter
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Ability
Summary: She needs his rationality now more than ever, lest she dwell in the intangible ether of “what if”.
Sug Says: “Ability” is one of my favorite episodes and this fic complements it perfectly with a really insightful look into Olivia’s head.
Quote: It’s all connected. From the start, the game was set out, and the players were chosen long before Flight 626. John’s betrayal, Walter’s work with Bell, all threads of the larger tapestry whose image she still can’t quite make out. And apparently, she’s been woven into the design for a long time now. There is something frightening about that realization that makes the wine in her stomach churn. What if her fate is not her own?
She wants to laugh at that thought, because she’s never really believed in fate. Life was what you made of it, the choices you make and consequences thereof, and nothing was preordained. Until now, it seems.
Title: Dating
Author: Sam Carter 1013
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: A trip through Olivia and Peter's dates. Set in the future.
Sug Says: A more fun, light-hearted fic with wonderful dialogue that reminds you why you love P/O.
Quote: "And then there was I, no pants, no shoes freezing to death outside MIT."
Title: Dichotomy
Author: arewewinning
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Just the first couple episodes of S1.
Summary: As cliche as it sounds, they are the epitome of the polar opposite.
Sug Says: This is beautiful and poetic and it’s a lovely look into how Peter and Olivia’s relationship could have progressed.
Quote: Working relationships usually go one of two ways.
Well. And not well.
Peter and Olivia are forever toeing this line.
Title: Drowning in You
Author: crazylittleelf
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: R
Spoilers: Just the first episode.
Summary: Sharing a fantasy.
Sug Says: Details a ridiculously intimate moment between Peter and Olivia in beautiful detail. I love it to death.
Quote: He watched her a moment, and she wanted to kiss away the wariness in his eyes, but she just waited. Trust was hard for her, too, even now with everything they'd been though. The wariness was a hard habit to break.
Title: Eight Christmas Eves
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Olivia, Rachel, mention of Rachel/Greg, Olivia/Peter
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: General spoilers for everything aired, more specific ones through 2.10, "Grey Matters".
Summary: Eight Christmas Eves between Olivia and Rachel from childhood on.
Sug Says: I happen to like the character of Rachel and I think the sister bond is important in grounding Olivia to reality and this fic really highlights that fact.
Quote: "Is Santa gonna come?" Rachel asked before she'd even tugged the blankets over them both.
"Of course Santa's going to come," Olivia said with the certainty of someone who'd been through this seven times to her sister's four.
"There's no snow." Rachel squirmed up to peer out the window, looking out at the green expanse of their yard just like she'd been staring at it hoping for snow to appear for the last week. "Can he get here without snow?"
"He has magic reindeer," Olivia said. "He can get anywhere."
Title: Entangled Hearts
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Through 1.16 to be safe, though nothing specific.
Summary: Olivia has come to depend on Peter.
Sug Says: One of my favorite P/O fics because it’s so sweet but not overly so. Totally in character and well-written.
Quote: He can't help but grin. Half a year into intimacy and their relationship is still a negotiation, pushes and pulls and careful steps forward and back. He's memorized every inch of her body, but her mind skitters into sideways leaps that amuse and confound him.
Title: Five Times Peter Talked To Olivia After Hours (And One Time He Didn't)
Author: Gilded Lily
Characters/Pairing:Peter/Olivia friendship with slightest bit of UST
Rating: PG
Spoilers: For 01x10 "Safe" and the teaser trailer for 01x11 "Bound" mentioned.
Summary: Five times Peter Bishop called Olivia Dunham after hours, and one time he tried.
Sug Says: This fic highlights some simple moments that speak volumes about the P/O relationship. A great feel for the dynamics of that relationship and a great voice for Peter.
Quote: She also takes things to heart. He imagines she's internalizing the defeat and saving it to punish herself with at a latter date. For reasons he doesn't quite understand, the thought makes him uncomfortable.
"We did what we could, Olivia," he assures her. He believes it. He wishes he had the words to make her believe it too.
Title: Five People Who Saw Olivia Hold Peter's Heart (And One Who Didn't)
Author: queenfaithie
Characters/Pairing: noir!Olivia/noir!Peter, noir!Esther, noir!Ella, noir!Broyles, noir!Nina, noir!Walter
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Brown Betty
Summary: The dancing leads to a whole different kind of dancing later, and the spare room of her office remains unused. An AU!noir fic.
Sug Says: Really wonderful expansion on the noir!world. It’s a delight to read.
Quote: Esther begins to silently divide Olivia’s life by life-altering events. She does the same with her own life-there is a Before Olivia and an After Olivia. For Detective Dunham, there is an After Ella and a Before John and an After John and a Before Peter and an After Peter.
The After Peter period starts the night Olivia walks into the office, and tells Esther that this is Peter Bishop and could she please set up the bed in the spare room because Peter needs a place to stay.
Title: Follow You Down
Author: Nights Sleepless
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Through "The Road Not Taken."
Summary: But, when we get busted for being drunk in your office, we can plea curiosity. Bolivia. Set after The Road Not Taken.
Sug Says: Fantastic dialogue. Shows us a really great, simple moment that definitely could fit into the canon of the show.
Quote: It was quiet for a moment, but she could feel Peter's eyes on her. It was hard not to, considering every time he looked at her she got this burning sensation in the back of her throat. Like she wanted to say something, anything, just to prolong his stare.
Title: Found
Author: neotantrika
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: NC-17 or MA
Spoilers: Through "The Man from the Other Side."
Summary: Basic hurt/comfort sex. Olivia goes looking for Peter, and finds him.
Sug Says: This fic takes a particular situation (making love in a graveyard) and manages to make it work in a realistic fashion for these two characters. It’s a beautiful and poignant look at the P/O relationship.
Quote: Olivia's heart ached for him. She could not imagine anything to say that did not sound trite or superficial or shopworn. So she rested her forehead against his shoulder, offering touch, which could not lie.
Title: Glimmers of Truth
Author: Della19
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: This time, he doesn’t tell her not to be afraid. A post-"Jacksonville," Olivia/Peter fic. Enough said, I think.
Sug Says: This is my favorite angsty post-Jacksonville fic. It's filled with some really compelling insights.
Quote: She hates that universe because she owes it, as without it she would never have met Peter, and she can't stand having to owe that universe anything.
Title: Happy Birthday Olivia
Author: with-one-r
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Through "The Cure."
Summary: Peter gives Olivia something important.
Sug Says: This is really beautiful in its simplicity. A lovely moment you could really see happening between these two.
Quote: He gets it for her, not because it's her birthday and everyone deserves one good gift, and not because he wants her to forget about the card she may or may not get in the next twenty-four hours, he gets it because he wants to.
Title: Hanging in the Balance
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter, Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: When the truth comes out, old instincts take over and Peter bolts.
Sug Says: Because this is really how I would’ve loved to see it play out; it’s so realistic. Great characterization and a perfect grasp of the dynamics of the P/O relationship, exactly as we’ve been given it on the show.
Quote: His whole life is a lie, and he still hasn't figured out how to twist that one truth into something he can live with.
Title: He's Gone
Author: muselives
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Through "The Man from the Other Side."
Summary: Olivia deals with Peter leaving.
Sug Says: This fic has a wonderful voice for Olivia, giving us great insight into the pain and anger she must be feeling. And the language is so precise, evoking the most vivid of emotions.
Quote: Astrid understands and that is a comfort in the sort of way every knife feels familiar when it's twisted in the wound. They have procedures and rule books for even this sort of thing: betrayal, total and complete. See agony.
Title: Here with Me
Author: oparu
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG-13 (smut implied)
Spoilers: "Jacksonville."
Summary: A tag to “Jacksonville.” What happens during the not-date.
Sug Says: A beautiful, bittersweet fic that is both sad and sexy. It really captures all that Anna Torv conveyed in Olivia’s final look at the end of that episode.
Quote: She doesn't believe in fate. Star-crossed lovers are not part of her universe and she's never fallen into those kinds of romantic fantasies. Olivia's always been rational, calm and collected. She's an FBI agent.
Title: I've watched the stars fall silent from your eyes
Author: orange_yarn
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Through The Road Not Taken, just to be safe.
Summary: "The world is always ending, for someone." -- Neil Gaiman
Sug Says: Dark P/O at its best. Stark, compelling sentences.
Quote: He’ll remember this moment later, when he can’t sleep, when he’d do anything, give anything to forget. The image is buried in his mind as deeply as the bullet is in hers.
There’s no denying it. She’s dead.
Title: Just One More Day
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through episode 2.5.
Summary: Olivia finds out that Cortexiphan has unanticipated side effects.
Sug Says: P/O angst at its finest. It’s painful and achingly beautiful to read but with some bright and beautiful moments.
Quote: She lets his warmth penetrate her perpetual cold, but still feels like ice.
Title: Lies My Parents Told Me
Author: Skate-815
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through Jacksonville.
Summary: A Post Jacksonville fic with a twist. Set at various times in the future, Olivia faces questions from her daughter about exactly where Peter is. Implied Peter/Olivia with a happy ending.
Sug Says: I really enjoyed this because it’s different in regards to the subject and the style, a refreshing take on what things could be like if Peter and Olivia had a daughter. And the author manages to give us a happy ending in a plausible manner.
Quote: "Is my dad dead?" her question isn't exactly unforeseen, but it still throws you for a second. The young girl before you has grown into a headstrong teenager with a general thirst for answers, and you know you can no longer hope to distract her from thoughts of Peter.
Title: Life Sentence
Author: Shane Vansen (lone_pyramid)
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia friendship/UST
Rating: PG
Spoilers: The Bishop Revival.
Summary: When it comes to Peter's family history, the hits just keep on coming.
Sug Says: I just love this because it fits so wonderfully into canon, really complements the episode. I love the author’s insights into Peter and how he’s affected by everything in the course of investigating the Pattern.
Quote: "Maybe it's time for me to go."
"Go?" she echoes, looking wary.
"Leave Boston. Get away from my father. Maybe give myself a shot at outrunning the Bishop family legacy." He can't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice.
Title: Like This
Author: Shane Vansen (lone_pyramid)
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: specific for Momentum Deferred; general through early S2
Summary: It starts like this.
Sug Says: A beautiful, poignant fic that really captures the essence of the P/O relationship from the friendship to the romance and basically sums up why I love them so.
Quote: Their first kiss (not counting that time they were undercover) (or that other time Walter spiked their drinks with homemade drugs) is a little anticlimactic and a lot cliché.
Title: Lions in the Desert
Author: crazylittleelf
Characters/Pairing: Peter, Olivia
Rating: G
Spoilers: Filler scene for "Fracture." Mildly spoilery for that.
Summary: Peter's past is just a step behind him.
Sug Says: “Fracture” is a really great one for Peter and the author takes what we get of Peter’s past and his character in that episode and just expands on it brilliantly. I just love the tone of this and all the vivid details.
Quote: The air was dry and hot, like it never was in Boston, welcome in the way it burned his lungs and warmed him from the inside out. Peter swore he'd felt the climate change on the plane, long before they'd touched down. It was a shift in the world around him that felt vaguely like coming home, more like stepping back into a lion's den. The two weren't terribly dissimilar in his experience. Lion's lurked everywhere, following him from the shadows.
Title: Losing Peter
Author: redhead88
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Through “The Man from the Other Side.”
Summary: That was her confession. She wanted to run but she felt one little confession pool in her right eye and then it dropped slowly, cascading down her cheekbone like a river, and falling to her blue shirt like a waterfall. Oh god.
Sug Says: This fic does a superbly great job at capturing what Olivia must be feeling upon Peter leaving.
Quote: It was like her body was involved in some massive internal tug of war between emotions, reason, exhaustion, and control. She never knew who was going to win.
Title: The Noose Around Your Neck
Author: menzjj815
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through Season 2.
Summary: The problem was never in running. It was in getting caught.
Sug Says: A great character study on Peter with some real gut-wrenching lines.
Quote: Walter always remarked on how you used to be fat as a child. What he didn’t know was that you lost the weight running away from him. Track all through high school (at least until you dropped out). The farther, the better.
Title: Never Goes Out of Style
Author: Della19
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through The Bishop Revival.
Summary: Purple may go out of style, but love never does. Inspired by that cute little Walterism from the beginning of "The Bishop Revival" and Peter/Olivia all the way.
Sug Says: A fun and humorous piece of fluff that the writer skillfully makes believable.
Quote: It's the first thing he sees when he walks into the lab and at the sight he stops dead in his tracks because it's shockingly purple, so bright that he wonders that his eyes aren't burning and it's easily the most disturbing thing he's ever seen in this lab (and considering some of the things he's seen in this lab that is definitely saying something). He stays frozen for a moment, his throat trying to find words, anything to explain the terrible creature that is now inhabiting the lab, but since there are simply no words his mouth moves soundlessly as he stares at the monstrosity as if it's going to rear up and bite him at anytime (this happens far too often with things in his father's lab he's found).
Title: Of Freedom
Author: greyslostwho
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Jacksonville.
Summary: "There's no getting rid of it, not anymore."
Sug Says: A wonderful insight into Olivia’s fears after the end of Jacksonville.
Quote: But she doesn’t want to blink, she’s so afraid of losing him.
Title: One Day
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: None, in particular.
Summary: P/O. "It should be quiet for at least a few days, right? Ella could milk Gene, or something."
Sug Says: An amusing one-shot thanks to one insightful little niece.
Quote: She was sure Peter wouldn't mind helping to watch after her; he was good with her, and it would be a welcome relief from chaperoning his father.
Maybe he'll play piano for her.
But then she got the call, because for Olivia Dunham, life could never be easy. Always exciting, but simplicity isn't a given when you're fighting bioterrorists.
Title: Pancakes
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Northwest Passage.
Summary: Olivia is determined to bring Peter back. Post Northwest Passage. AU. P/O.
Sug Says:Because as much as you love the show and the fact that they’re about to go “Over There,” the shipper in you really wants it to happen this way. Seriously, a great take on how Olivia could convince Peter to come back -- a great look into how him leaving affected her.
Quote: In Olivia Dunham's official report on the retrieval of Peter Bishop, she maintains that after cornering him on the sidewalk outside a rundown drugstore in Washington state, he agreed to talk.
Just talk.
So she talked.
He talked.
They talked sense.
And so he came back.
But that's not what happened.
Title: Passing Ships Into the Night
Author: menzjj815
Characters/Pairing: Olivia, Peter, John, Charlie
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through the promo for 2.12
Summary: A look at the three men in Olivia's life and how they have affected her.
Sug Says: I think this is a fantastic look at Olivia’s perception of the three most important men in her life. Really wonderful insights.
Quote: With John it had been fast, with Charlie it had been easy, with Peter it felt right.
Title: Plummet
Author: HyperHarryPotterGoddesses
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: It takes six seconds to fall in love with someone.
Sug Says:Lovely, poetic look at Olivia falling in love.
Quote: Somewhere between saving the world and cleaning up other people's mess, you've fallen in love with him, and you're not exactly ready for it.
Title: Pomegranate
Author: Belladonna Novocaine
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: There’s really no decent way to eat a pomegranate.
Sug Says: A wonderfully delicious fic that humorously shows Peter getting turned on by Olivia eating a pomegranate.
Quote: Her blonde hair hangs in airy strands, loose wispy tendrils like gossamer spidersilk threads. Golden tresses he, on more than one occasion, longed to reach out and touch; feel them run through his fingers, across his face, his neck, fisted in his hands. He imagines it would smell great. Delicious. Intoxicating, even. Rich and deep, like the scent of the gleaming, divided pomegranate in her hand. Sweet and enticing; definitely delectable. She pushes an errant strand of hair back behind her ear and slowly, tantalizingly raises the tiny, dark pink bead to her lips, stained velvet red.
Title: The Probability
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: For late first season and Jacksonville.
Summary: An inter-dimensional incident occurs with physical repercussions for Peter and emotional ones for Olivia.
Sug Says: A heartwrenchingly beautiful fic in which each word packs a punch.
Quote: Hospitals are far too light. Maybe it was supposed to make the sick feel better, but that definitely wasn't happening right now, to her, the woman with the massive headache and the ball of nerves deep in her chest. The whiteness feels far too sterile and uneasy to be rehabilitating. She wishes to paint the walls in color for him in the hopes that he'll open his eyes to see it.
Title: Reason to Wake
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Through Season 2.
Summary: Sometimes waking up isn't a bad thing.
Sug Says:A perfect piece of smut. Sexy and fun but also sweet and serious.
Quote: "Fuck," he barely breathes, meeting her stare for stare. She's kneeling there, hair tumbled around her face and unbuttoned shirt hinting more than hiding, but that's all surface details; it's the Fed that has him in her hands. Her expression is cool and neutral, the game face she always wears in the interrogation room, and damn him if he doesn't get even harder.
Title: Role Reversals
Author: lunawho
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Through 1.10: “Safe.”
Summary: “She was no Han Solo." Peter Bishop muses on the nickname given to Olivia Dunham by her classmates. Set during the famous Bar Scene in 1x10 "Safe.”
Sug Says: A fic with a fantastic voice for Peter that draws on his super sci-fi geekiness to show how he views Olivia and his relationship with her through Star Wars parallels.
Quote: No, Olivia was no Han Solo. If anything, Peter Bishop felt he had sole claim to that title in their little carnival show from hell. It did raise the question in his mind of, if he was Han Solo, what did that make Olivia? Peter could not help but think that Astrid would inevitably be Obi Wan Kenobi and Walter would be an even mixture of C3P0 and Chewbacca.
Title: Saturated Sight
Author: Zaedah
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: ...I had no more eyes for sordid excellence... Emily Dickinson
Sug Says: Beautiful diction and a wonderful insight into how Peter differs from John Scott (including, of course, why Peter’s so much better ;)).
Quote: Peter's eyes are clever and taunting, a dangerous spice. A lively aroma to savor despite the bite of an ancient life compacted into scant years. His jaded gaze is a weapon and though he cuts her, she cannot look away. Emeralds are a treasure one must covet.
Title: To Move in Thought
Author: Zaedah
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Through Jacksonville.
Summary: He deserves to know but choice is the greatest fable of all.
Sug Says: Lyrical and poetic, it really captures the bleakness and despair of the entire situation.
Quote: Just when she’s ready to end the myth of her disinterest, she must hold back for the sake of a glow.
Title: Undone
Author: alamo_girl80
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: R
Spoilers: Set between "What Lies Below" and "Jacksonville."
Summary: If he looks her way with that dark, brooding glare once more, she’s going to do it. She’s going to punch him.
Sug Says: There are no words to describe just how mind-blowingly great this is. Any P/O shipper must read it. It captures all the different aspects of their relationship -- from the antagonistic and violent to the peaceful and comforting.
Quote: Peter has, and always will be a wild card that could fuck up the game.
Title: Use Somebody
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through beginning of S2, maybe.
Summary: P/O, AU. "So, what are you, the Ghost of Christmas Past?"
Sug Says: A wonderful AU that explores the consequences/knowledge that comes with inter-dimensional traveling.
Quote: She was desolate. She was lonely. She could use someone to have, to hold, to talk to. And Peter Bishop was more than willing.
Title: You Could Put The Past Away
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: None in particular.
Summary: Set in the future. "Peter couldn’t be sure, but he thought that Olivia Dunham had just crawled into bed with him."
Sug Says: I could totally see this happening in the future, as the way it finally happens. The simplicity and naturalness of it all is wonderful.
Quote: They sat in silence, watching each other. This was a strange situation. Technically, that hadn't done anything to cross any sort of barrier, and yet…something had changed. Something had opened up-an opportunity, maybe. She had only crawled into his bed because she was lonely, and in her tired state it had made sense. But she was much more awake now, and she found that she wanted to stay.
WIPs
Title: Light Up
Author: withoutdawn
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: A New Day in the Old Town.
Summary: It isn't fair, but sometimes we have no choice but to rise up and meet the challenges we face. Sometimes, there is no running away. A detailed re-telling of season two with extra scenes and insights. Starts toward the middle of "A New Day in an Old Town."
Sug Says: Really great insights and a great voice for Peter. I love this because it fleshes out what we’re given on the show beautifully.
Quote: Olivia-- her body, anyway-- looks odd, lying there on the hospital bed. It's so still. Peter can't remember Liv ever being still. Even when she's running on empty she's always up, moving, looking for something to do, some way to help. Her face is never that relaxed, that serene. He has to admit that it's not a bad look on her, but he doesn't like the price of peace for Olivia Dunham. It's selfish, but he would prefer her fidgeting and anxiety to this any day.
Title: Standby
Author: CiderApples
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Mostly “Jacksonville” but slight spoilers for episodes past that too like “Peter” and others.
Summary: Post-Jacksonville, mild AU. What Olivia sees changes both of them.
Sug Says: This is probably my favorite Fringe fic out there right now. Slightly AU and presents the Peter/Olivia relationship in the most romantic and beautiful light. There’s something very soft and intimate about the way the author portrays them. Also has some wonderful Walter/Peter, Walter/Olivia, and Walter/Astrid moments.
Quote: "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," he said, and hoped it was oblique enough. His hand was tipping her chin. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"You said it," he told her, "when you were in the chair the first time." She blinked. "It's still true, sweetheart," he said, and her heart tugged to hear him use that generic pet name again, the one she hadn't heard in more than a year. "You still don't have to do anything--" and he stopped here to make sure he had eye contact "--you don't want to do."
She looked at him squarely. I'm glad you're here, Peter.
For anyone else coming to this list, a few things:
+ This list is basically all Peter/Olivia fics -- whether it's romantic or friendship, blatant or UST. I can't help it. I'm a conventional couple shipper.
+ This rec list, although complete (as in I'm not adding anymore fics!), is by no means meant to be exhaustive. There are a ton more great fics out there and I couldn't list them all (plus, I haven't read them all yet). This is meant to be more a sampling than anything, a stick your feet into the water kind of thing. In compiling this list, I tried to focus on including a variety of genre more than anything. So you have a little angst, fluff, humor, romance, smut, etc.
+ Why fifty? Because I like even numbers and alliteration and if I didn't give myself a max number I'd be rec'ing fics all day.
+ The list format used is credited to the ever-lovely kashmir1. The list is split into completed chapter fics, one-parters, and WIPs. Within those three categories, fics will be sorted in alphabetical order. Any summaries, ratings, etc. used are ones written by the authors themselves and if there were none, I substituted my own. All links for the stories go to fanfiction.net or livejournal.
+ Please report broken links or blatant typos/mistakes. Nobody likes those.
And a big, big THANK YOU to all the wonderful writers out there who share their wonderful fanfiction and keep a fanfic addict like me going.
Completed Chapter Fics
Title: Chain You Down
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter, Olivia, Nick
Rating: R
Spoilers: Season 1.
Summary: After five years on the run, Peter is caught by the ZFT and reintroduced to Olivia and Nick. AU.
Sug Says: This is my favorite Fringe AU! It’s snappy, fun, funny, and intense. The author has a really great voice for Peter and there’s lots of good P/O UST. A must read.
Quote: When he gets out of this mess, he's going to find out who the hell ratted him out and make them pay. He has no illusions. The problem with developing a web of contacts from the less than savory side of life is that too many people recognize him and too few people are above being bought. While he delayed the inevitable by staying a moving target, only luck has kept him free for five years. Luck that just ran out.
Title: Change
Author: midfielder
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through S1.
Summary: They start small, then time does its magic.
Sug Says: A fic with fantastic insight into both of their characters and how each of them perceives their developing relationship.
Quote: The trail of littlest breadcrumbs starts with the extra cup of coffee.
Then, the occasional scrutinizing looks, which later evolve and get articulated in "Are you okays?" and the unnecessary reassurances that take the various forms of "You're going to be fine", "You're not alone in this" and here's the kicker, "I care about you".
It's one thing to think it.
But to say it aloud?
Title: Far, far away from my heart
Author: MadeofStars
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: The longest journey is the journey inward. Reflections, introspections and reactions post-Jacksonville...
Sug Says: A really soft, lovely look at the P/O relationship.
Quote: She was left alone in his bed, stilled by a lifetime of self-restraint, knowing he would not act if she did not act herself. Move. Act. Reach out. Let go. She held these thoughts close as she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Title: Gone
Author: 221b Baker Street
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: Set immediately after the winter finale of Jacksonville. Just one possible course of events, which - like life- is not a straight line, but a series of choices leading in vastly different directions. This is one of those directions...
Sug Says: A brilliant fic that’s emotionally charged and action packed. It’s just a wonderful take on what could’ve happened after Jacksonville that’s an absolute must read.
Quote: When she stepped into the room, it was like stepping into a separate wing in the mind of Peter Bishop. She'd always known about his nomadic ways, his disability to stay at any one thing for longer than a few months, but to actually see it, to walk through the transience of a man's life, it began to connect the dots far faster than any lecture or analysis. The fear of putting down roots was more than psychological. With Peter it was probably physiological. He really didn't, or couldn't, belong.
Title: Row, row, row
Author: muselives
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia UST
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: The Same Old Story.
Summary: Four parts from four different points-of-view: Olivia feigns sleep and finds out something about the Bishop men; Peter contemplates his feelings for Olivia; It's like a train wreck. She can't help but watch it unfold; Philip Broyles makes sense of the team he's assembled.
Sug Says: An earlier P/O fic and so wonderfully executed. The author takes the “row, row, row your boat” song from early on in the show and uses it as a perfect framework for this. I’m basically in love with this fic. It’s a must-read.
Quote: He trusts Olivia. That is the first word that comes to mind, trust. Funny how he could say that about a woman who had bluffed and strong-armed her way into his life. He'd seen her in action, relentlessly pursuing any and all means to save the man she cared about, and he intuits now on some level that he has also entered her sphere of protection. If something happened to him, there's the comforting thought that Olivia would fight for him.
Title: Truth or Dare
Author: Skate-815
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through 210.
Summary: Peter and Olivia get trapped in an old, abandoned storeroom overnight. To pass the time, they decide to get to know each other a little better.
Sug Says: A wonderful fic with a mixture of light-hearted, fun moments and serious, sad ones that leads up to a very satisfying and worthwhile ending.
Quote: Sometimes Olivia just wished she could be the girl who could sleep with her cute co-worker without a second thought.
One-Parters
Title: Almost there
Author: helaluvE
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: Five times Astride wished something would happen between Olivia and Peter and the one time it did.
Sug Says: Because sometimes you just need P/O fluff and this is fluffiness at its best. It works really nicely from Astrid’s POV too. ☺
Quote: She was laughing, probably at one of his funny quips and Astride thought that she had never seen the agent look more carefree. He was smiling down at her with something akin to pride and she returned the look, hers as soft and as possessive.
Title: And the Four Tear Us Asunder
Author: Zaedah
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Through Jacksonville.
Summary: He accepts the words because she lives in lies but never speaks them.
Sug Says: Poetic, brilliant -- totally sad but then totally hopeful.
Quote: She wanted this sight to save others.
He can't be saved.
Title: Ask Me to Stay
Author: muselives
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Up to Unleashed.
Summary: She's running out of time.
Sug Says: I really love the characterization of Olivia in this and the backdrop of the storm is perfect.
Quote: With deliberate nonchalance, he moves right into her space. It makes for an intense game of chicken, staring down Peter Bishop; she honestly has no idea what he's going to do.
Title: Constant Change
Author: irony_rocks
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia; Olivia, Peter, Walter, Astrid, Charlie, William Belle, Nina Sharp, etc...
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Up till 2.07
Summary: Sometime after Olivia's fourth trip to an alternate reality, it becomes clear that there are life-threatening side effects to universe-hopping.
Sug Says: A fic that manages to encapsulate all there is to love about Fringe: its intensity, its creepiness, and all of its amazing characters. The writer is particularly great at capturing Olivia’s fierceness, while the P/O dynamic is captured in brilliant detail amidst a serious plot.
Quote: It always begins like this: an impossible event, an unlikely rationalization, and Walter in between.
Title: Convictions
Author: alamogirl_80
Characters/Pairing: Olivia, Peter
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Ability
Summary: She needs his rationality now more than ever, lest she dwell in the intangible ether of “what if”.
Sug Says: “Ability” is one of my favorite episodes and this fic complements it perfectly with a really insightful look into Olivia’s head.
Quote: It’s all connected. From the start, the game was set out, and the players were chosen long before Flight 626. John’s betrayal, Walter’s work with Bell, all threads of the larger tapestry whose image she still can’t quite make out. And apparently, she’s been woven into the design for a long time now. There is something frightening about that realization that makes the wine in her stomach churn. What if her fate is not her own?
She wants to laugh at that thought, because she’s never really believed in fate. Life was what you made of it, the choices you make and consequences thereof, and nothing was preordained. Until now, it seems.
Title: Dating
Author: Sam Carter 1013
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: A trip through Olivia and Peter's dates. Set in the future.
Sug Says: A more fun, light-hearted fic with wonderful dialogue that reminds you why you love P/O.
Quote: "And then there was I, no pants, no shoes freezing to death outside MIT."
Title: Dichotomy
Author: arewewinning
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Just the first couple episodes of S1.
Summary: As cliche as it sounds, they are the epitome of the polar opposite.
Sug Says: This is beautiful and poetic and it’s a lovely look into how Peter and Olivia’s relationship could have progressed.
Quote: Working relationships usually go one of two ways.
Well. And not well.
Peter and Olivia are forever toeing this line.
Title: Drowning in You
Author: crazylittleelf
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: R
Spoilers: Just the first episode.
Summary: Sharing a fantasy.
Sug Says: Details a ridiculously intimate moment between Peter and Olivia in beautiful detail. I love it to death.
Quote: He watched her a moment, and she wanted to kiss away the wariness in his eyes, but she just waited. Trust was hard for her, too, even now with everything they'd been though. The wariness was a hard habit to break.
Title: Eight Christmas Eves
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Olivia, Rachel, mention of Rachel/Greg, Olivia/Peter
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: General spoilers for everything aired, more specific ones through 2.10, "Grey Matters".
Summary: Eight Christmas Eves between Olivia and Rachel from childhood on.
Sug Says: I happen to like the character of Rachel and I think the sister bond is important in grounding Olivia to reality and this fic really highlights that fact.
Quote: "Is Santa gonna come?" Rachel asked before she'd even tugged the blankets over them both.
"Of course Santa's going to come," Olivia said with the certainty of someone who'd been through this seven times to her sister's four.
"There's no snow." Rachel squirmed up to peer out the window, looking out at the green expanse of their yard just like she'd been staring at it hoping for snow to appear for the last week. "Can he get here without snow?"
"He has magic reindeer," Olivia said. "He can get anywhere."
Title: Entangled Hearts
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Through 1.16 to be safe, though nothing specific.
Summary: Olivia has come to depend on Peter.
Sug Says: One of my favorite P/O fics because it’s so sweet but not overly so. Totally in character and well-written.
Quote: He can't help but grin. Half a year into intimacy and their relationship is still a negotiation, pushes and pulls and careful steps forward and back. He's memorized every inch of her body, but her mind skitters into sideways leaps that amuse and confound him.
Title: Five Times Peter Talked To Olivia After Hours (And One Time He Didn't)
Author: Gilded Lily
Characters/Pairing:Peter/Olivia friendship with slightest bit of UST
Rating: PG
Spoilers: For 01x10 "Safe" and the teaser trailer for 01x11 "Bound" mentioned.
Summary: Five times Peter Bishop called Olivia Dunham after hours, and one time he tried.
Sug Says: This fic highlights some simple moments that speak volumes about the P/O relationship. A great feel for the dynamics of that relationship and a great voice for Peter.
Quote: She also takes things to heart. He imagines she's internalizing the defeat and saving it to punish herself with at a latter date. For reasons he doesn't quite understand, the thought makes him uncomfortable.
"We did what we could, Olivia," he assures her. He believes it. He wishes he had the words to make her believe it too.
Title: Five People Who Saw Olivia Hold Peter's Heart (And One Who Didn't)
Author: queenfaithie
Characters/Pairing: noir!Olivia/noir!Peter, noir!Esther, noir!Ella, noir!Broyles, noir!Nina, noir!Walter
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Brown Betty
Summary: The dancing leads to a whole different kind of dancing later, and the spare room of her office remains unused. An AU!noir fic.
Sug Says: Really wonderful expansion on the noir!world. It’s a delight to read.
Quote: Esther begins to silently divide Olivia’s life by life-altering events. She does the same with her own life-there is a Before Olivia and an After Olivia. For Detective Dunham, there is an After Ella and a Before John and an After John and a Before Peter and an After Peter.
The After Peter period starts the night Olivia walks into the office, and tells Esther that this is Peter Bishop and could she please set up the bed in the spare room because Peter needs a place to stay.
Title: Follow You Down
Author: Nights Sleepless
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Through "The Road Not Taken."
Summary: But, when we get busted for being drunk in your office, we can plea curiosity. Bolivia. Set after The Road Not Taken.
Sug Says: Fantastic dialogue. Shows us a really great, simple moment that definitely could fit into the canon of the show.
Quote: It was quiet for a moment, but she could feel Peter's eyes on her. It was hard not to, considering every time he looked at her she got this burning sensation in the back of her throat. Like she wanted to say something, anything, just to prolong his stare.
Title: Found
Author: neotantrika
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: NC-17 or MA
Spoilers: Through "The Man from the Other Side."
Summary: Basic hurt/comfort sex. Olivia goes looking for Peter, and finds him.
Sug Says: This fic takes a particular situation (making love in a graveyard) and manages to make it work in a realistic fashion for these two characters. It’s a beautiful and poignant look at the P/O relationship.
Quote: Olivia's heart ached for him. She could not imagine anything to say that did not sound trite or superficial or shopworn. So she rested her forehead against his shoulder, offering touch, which could not lie.
Title: Glimmers of Truth
Author: Della19
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: This time, he doesn’t tell her not to be afraid. A post-"Jacksonville," Olivia/Peter fic. Enough said, I think.
Sug Says: This is my favorite angsty post-Jacksonville fic. It's filled with some really compelling insights.
Quote: She hates that universe because she owes it, as without it she would never have met Peter, and she can't stand having to owe that universe anything.
Title: Happy Birthday Olivia
Author: with-one-r
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Through "The Cure."
Summary: Peter gives Olivia something important.
Sug Says: This is really beautiful in its simplicity. A lovely moment you could really see happening between these two.
Quote: He gets it for her, not because it's her birthday and everyone deserves one good gift, and not because he wants her to forget about the card she may or may not get in the next twenty-four hours, he gets it because he wants to.
Title: Hanging in the Balance
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter, Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through "Jacksonville."
Summary: When the truth comes out, old instincts take over and Peter bolts.
Sug Says: Because this is really how I would’ve loved to see it play out; it’s so realistic. Great characterization and a perfect grasp of the dynamics of the P/O relationship, exactly as we’ve been given it on the show.
Quote: His whole life is a lie, and he still hasn't figured out how to twist that one truth into something he can live with.
Title: He's Gone
Author: muselives
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Through "The Man from the Other Side."
Summary: Olivia deals with Peter leaving.
Sug Says: This fic has a wonderful voice for Olivia, giving us great insight into the pain and anger she must be feeling. And the language is so precise, evoking the most vivid of emotions.
Quote: Astrid understands and that is a comfort in the sort of way every knife feels familiar when it's twisted in the wound. They have procedures and rule books for even this sort of thing: betrayal, total and complete. See agony.
Title: Here with Me
Author: oparu
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG-13 (smut implied)
Spoilers: "Jacksonville."
Summary: A tag to “Jacksonville.” What happens during the not-date.
Sug Says: A beautiful, bittersweet fic that is both sad and sexy. It really captures all that Anna Torv conveyed in Olivia’s final look at the end of that episode.
Quote: She doesn't believe in fate. Star-crossed lovers are not part of her universe and she's never fallen into those kinds of romantic fantasies. Olivia's always been rational, calm and collected. She's an FBI agent.
Title: I've watched the stars fall silent from your eyes
Author: orange_yarn
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Through The Road Not Taken, just to be safe.
Summary: "The world is always ending, for someone." -- Neil Gaiman
Sug Says: Dark P/O at its best. Stark, compelling sentences.
Quote: He’ll remember this moment later, when he can’t sleep, when he’d do anything, give anything to forget. The image is buried in his mind as deeply as the bullet is in hers.
There’s no denying it. She’s dead.
Title: Just One More Day
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through episode 2.5.
Summary: Olivia finds out that Cortexiphan has unanticipated side effects.
Sug Says: P/O angst at its finest. It’s painful and achingly beautiful to read but with some bright and beautiful moments.
Quote: She lets his warmth penetrate her perpetual cold, but still feels like ice.
Title: Lies My Parents Told Me
Author: Skate-815
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through Jacksonville.
Summary: A Post Jacksonville fic with a twist. Set at various times in the future, Olivia faces questions from her daughter about exactly where Peter is. Implied Peter/Olivia with a happy ending.
Sug Says: I really enjoyed this because it’s different in regards to the subject and the style, a refreshing take on what things could be like if Peter and Olivia had a daughter. And the author manages to give us a happy ending in a plausible manner.
Quote: "Is my dad dead?" her question isn't exactly unforeseen, but it still throws you for a second. The young girl before you has grown into a headstrong teenager with a general thirst for answers, and you know you can no longer hope to distract her from thoughts of Peter.
Title: Life Sentence
Author: Shane Vansen (lone_pyramid)
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia friendship/UST
Rating: PG
Spoilers: The Bishop Revival.
Summary: When it comes to Peter's family history, the hits just keep on coming.
Sug Says: I just love this because it fits so wonderfully into canon, really complements the episode. I love the author’s insights into Peter and how he’s affected by everything in the course of investigating the Pattern.
Quote: "Maybe it's time for me to go."
"Go?" she echoes, looking wary.
"Leave Boston. Get away from my father. Maybe give myself a shot at outrunning the Bishop family legacy." He can't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice.
Title: Like This
Author: Shane Vansen (lone_pyramid)
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: specific for Momentum Deferred; general through early S2
Summary: It starts like this.
Sug Says: A beautiful, poignant fic that really captures the essence of the P/O relationship from the friendship to the romance and basically sums up why I love them so.
Quote: Their first kiss (not counting that time they were undercover) (or that other time Walter spiked their drinks with homemade drugs) is a little anticlimactic and a lot cliché.
Title: Lions in the Desert
Author: crazylittleelf
Characters/Pairing: Peter, Olivia
Rating: G
Spoilers: Filler scene for "Fracture." Mildly spoilery for that.
Summary: Peter's past is just a step behind him.
Sug Says: “Fracture” is a really great one for Peter and the author takes what we get of Peter’s past and his character in that episode and just expands on it brilliantly. I just love the tone of this and all the vivid details.
Quote: The air was dry and hot, like it never was in Boston, welcome in the way it burned his lungs and warmed him from the inside out. Peter swore he'd felt the climate change on the plane, long before they'd touched down. It was a shift in the world around him that felt vaguely like coming home, more like stepping back into a lion's den. The two weren't terribly dissimilar in his experience. Lion's lurked everywhere, following him from the shadows.
Title: Losing Peter
Author: redhead88
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Through “The Man from the Other Side.”
Summary: That was her confession. She wanted to run but she felt one little confession pool in her right eye and then it dropped slowly, cascading down her cheekbone like a river, and falling to her blue shirt like a waterfall. Oh god.
Sug Says: This fic does a superbly great job at capturing what Olivia must be feeling upon Peter leaving.
Quote: It was like her body was involved in some massive internal tug of war between emotions, reason, exhaustion, and control. She never knew who was going to win.
Title: The Noose Around Your Neck
Author: menzjj815
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through Season 2.
Summary: The problem was never in running. It was in getting caught.
Sug Says: A great character study on Peter with some real gut-wrenching lines.
Quote: Walter always remarked on how you used to be fat as a child. What he didn’t know was that you lost the weight running away from him. Track all through high school (at least until you dropped out). The farther, the better.
Title: Never Goes Out of Style
Author: Della19
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through The Bishop Revival.
Summary: Purple may go out of style, but love never does. Inspired by that cute little Walterism from the beginning of "The Bishop Revival" and Peter/Olivia all the way.
Sug Says: A fun and humorous piece of fluff that the writer skillfully makes believable.
Quote: It's the first thing he sees when he walks into the lab and at the sight he stops dead in his tracks because it's shockingly purple, so bright that he wonders that his eyes aren't burning and it's easily the most disturbing thing he's ever seen in this lab (and considering some of the things he's seen in this lab that is definitely saying something). He stays frozen for a moment, his throat trying to find words, anything to explain the terrible creature that is now inhabiting the lab, but since there are simply no words his mouth moves soundlessly as he stares at the monstrosity as if it's going to rear up and bite him at anytime (this happens far too often with things in his father's lab he's found).
Title: Of Freedom
Author: greyslostwho
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Jacksonville.
Summary: "There's no getting rid of it, not anymore."
Sug Says: A wonderful insight into Olivia’s fears after the end of Jacksonville.
Quote: But she doesn’t want to blink, she’s so afraid of losing him.
Title: One Day
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: None, in particular.
Summary: P/O. "It should be quiet for at least a few days, right? Ella could milk Gene, or something."
Sug Says: An amusing one-shot thanks to one insightful little niece.
Quote: She was sure Peter wouldn't mind helping to watch after her; he was good with her, and it would be a welcome relief from chaperoning his father.
Maybe he'll play piano for her.
But then she got the call, because for Olivia Dunham, life could never be easy. Always exciting, but simplicity isn't a given when you're fighting bioterrorists.
Title: Pancakes
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Northwest Passage.
Summary: Olivia is determined to bring Peter back. Post Northwest Passage. AU. P/O.
Sug Says:Because as much as you love the show and the fact that they’re about to go “Over There,” the shipper in you really wants it to happen this way. Seriously, a great take on how Olivia could convince Peter to come back -- a great look into how him leaving affected her.
Quote: In Olivia Dunham's official report on the retrieval of Peter Bishop, she maintains that after cornering him on the sidewalk outside a rundown drugstore in Washington state, he agreed to talk.
Just talk.
So she talked.
He talked.
They talked sense.
And so he came back.
But that's not what happened.
Title: Passing Ships Into the Night
Author: menzjj815
Characters/Pairing: Olivia, Peter, John, Charlie
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through the promo for 2.12
Summary: A look at the three men in Olivia's life and how they have affected her.
Sug Says: I think this is a fantastic look at Olivia’s perception of the three most important men in her life. Really wonderful insights.
Quote: With John it had been fast, with Charlie it had been easy, with Peter it felt right.
Title: Plummet
Author: HyperHarryPotterGoddesses
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K+
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: It takes six seconds to fall in love with someone.
Sug Says:Lovely, poetic look at Olivia falling in love.
Quote: Somewhere between saving the world and cleaning up other people's mess, you've fallen in love with him, and you're not exactly ready for it.
Title: Pomegranate
Author: Belladonna Novocaine
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: There’s really no decent way to eat a pomegranate.
Sug Says: A wonderfully delicious fic that humorously shows Peter getting turned on by Olivia eating a pomegranate.
Quote: Her blonde hair hangs in airy strands, loose wispy tendrils like gossamer spidersilk threads. Golden tresses he, on more than one occasion, longed to reach out and touch; feel them run through his fingers, across his face, his neck, fisted in his hands. He imagines it would smell great. Delicious. Intoxicating, even. Rich and deep, like the scent of the gleaming, divided pomegranate in her hand. Sweet and enticing; definitely delectable. She pushes an errant strand of hair back behind her ear and slowly, tantalizingly raises the tiny, dark pink bead to her lips, stained velvet red.
Title: The Probability
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: For late first season and Jacksonville.
Summary: An inter-dimensional incident occurs with physical repercussions for Peter and emotional ones for Olivia.
Sug Says: A heartwrenchingly beautiful fic in which each word packs a punch.
Quote: Hospitals are far too light. Maybe it was supposed to make the sick feel better, but that definitely wasn't happening right now, to her, the woman with the massive headache and the ball of nerves deep in her chest. The whiteness feels far too sterile and uneasy to be rehabilitating. She wishes to paint the walls in color for him in the hopes that he'll open his eyes to see it.
Title: Reason to Wake
Author: chichuri
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Through Season 2.
Summary: Sometimes waking up isn't a bad thing.
Sug Says:A perfect piece of smut. Sexy and fun but also sweet and serious.
Quote: "Fuck," he barely breathes, meeting her stare for stare. She's kneeling there, hair tumbled around her face and unbuttoned shirt hinting more than hiding, but that's all surface details; it's the Fed that has him in her hands. Her expression is cool and neutral, the game face she always wears in the interrogation room, and damn him if he doesn't get even harder.
Title: Role Reversals
Author: lunawho
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Through 1.10: “Safe.”
Summary: “She was no Han Solo." Peter Bishop muses on the nickname given to Olivia Dunham by her classmates. Set during the famous Bar Scene in 1x10 "Safe.”
Sug Says: A fic with a fantastic voice for Peter that draws on his super sci-fi geekiness to show how he views Olivia and his relationship with her through Star Wars parallels.
Quote: No, Olivia was no Han Solo. If anything, Peter Bishop felt he had sole claim to that title in their little carnival show from hell. It did raise the question in his mind of, if he was Han Solo, what did that make Olivia? Peter could not help but think that Astrid would inevitably be Obi Wan Kenobi and Walter would be an even mixture of C3P0 and Chewbacca.
Title: Saturated Sight
Author: Zaedah
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: ...I had no more eyes for sordid excellence... Emily Dickinson
Sug Says: Beautiful diction and a wonderful insight into how Peter differs from John Scott (including, of course, why Peter’s so much better ;)).
Quote: Peter's eyes are clever and taunting, a dangerous spice. A lively aroma to savor despite the bite of an ancient life compacted into scant years. His jaded gaze is a weapon and though he cuts her, she cannot look away. Emeralds are a treasure one must covet.
Title: To Move in Thought
Author: Zaedah
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Through Jacksonville.
Summary: He deserves to know but choice is the greatest fable of all.
Sug Says: Lyrical and poetic, it really captures the bleakness and despair of the entire situation.
Quote: Just when she’s ready to end the myth of her disinterest, she must hold back for the sake of a glow.
Title: Undone
Author: alamo_girl80
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: R
Spoilers: Set between "What Lies Below" and "Jacksonville."
Summary: If he looks her way with that dark, brooding glare once more, she’s going to do it. She’s going to punch him.
Sug Says: There are no words to describe just how mind-blowingly great this is. Any P/O shipper must read it. It captures all the different aspects of their relationship -- from the antagonistic and violent to the peaceful and comforting.
Quote: Peter has, and always will be a wild card that could fuck up the game.
Title: Use Somebody
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: Through beginning of S2, maybe.
Summary: P/O, AU. "So, what are you, the Ghost of Christmas Past?"
Sug Says: A wonderful AU that explores the consequences/knowledge that comes with inter-dimensional traveling.
Quote: She was desolate. She was lonely. She could use someone to have, to hold, to talk to. And Peter Bishop was more than willing.
Title: You Could Put The Past Away
Author: piratesmiley
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: None in particular.
Summary: Set in the future. "Peter couldn’t be sure, but he thought that Olivia Dunham had just crawled into bed with him."
Sug Says: I could totally see this happening in the future, as the way it finally happens. The simplicity and naturalness of it all is wonderful.
Quote: They sat in silence, watching each other. This was a strange situation. Technically, that hadn't done anything to cross any sort of barrier, and yet…something had changed. Something had opened up-an opportunity, maybe. She had only crawled into his bed because she was lonely, and in her tired state it had made sense. But she was much more awake now, and she found that she wanted to stay.
WIPs
Title: Light Up
Author: withoutdawn
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: T
Spoilers: A New Day in the Old Town.
Summary: It isn't fair, but sometimes we have no choice but to rise up and meet the challenges we face. Sometimes, there is no running away. A detailed re-telling of season two with extra scenes and insights. Starts toward the middle of "A New Day in an Old Town."
Sug Says: Really great insights and a great voice for Peter. I love this because it fleshes out what we’re given on the show beautifully.
Quote: Olivia-- her body, anyway-- looks odd, lying there on the hospital bed. It's so still. Peter can't remember Liv ever being still. Even when she's running on empty she's always up, moving, looking for something to do, some way to help. Her face is never that relaxed, that serene. He has to admit that it's not a bad look on her, but he doesn't like the price of peace for Olivia Dunham. It's selfish, but he would prefer her fidgeting and anxiety to this any day.
Title: Standby
Author: CiderApples
Characters/Pairing: Peter/Olivia
Rating: K
Spoilers: Mostly “Jacksonville” but slight spoilers for episodes past that too like “Peter” and others.
Summary: Post-Jacksonville, mild AU. What Olivia sees changes both of them.
Sug Says: This is probably my favorite Fringe fic out there right now. Slightly AU and presents the Peter/Olivia relationship in the most romantic and beautiful light. There’s something very soft and intimate about the way the author portrays them. Also has some wonderful Walter/Peter, Walter/Olivia, and Walter/Astrid moments.
Quote: "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," he said, and hoped it was oblique enough. His hand was tipping her chin. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"You said it," he told her, "when you were in the chair the first time." She blinked. "It's still true, sweetheart," he said, and her heart tugged to hear him use that generic pet name again, the one she hadn't heard in more than a year. "You still don't have to do anything--" and he stopped here to make sure he had eye contact "--you don't want to do."
She looked at him squarely. I'm glad you're here, Peter.