Peter is walking. He has no destination in mind, no real plan, he's just walking, sometimes running -- picking a direction at random and going that way until he hits a dead end or the radius tugs him back, then picking another way to go. It's something to do, it's better than hanging around the Tower, and sometimes he'll finds somewhere interesting to spend some time.
It's really just luck, that he happens to head in the right direction at the right time. Because only a few minutes after Elizabeth sits, he's walking down the street, trying to judge how long it's been since he's hit the two-mile mark and how much longer he has before he hits it again.
And then he sees her, and for a second he freezes, because he can't believe she's actually there, because he's not sure he should believe his eyes.
"El?" Her name is barely out of his mouth before he's sitting next to her and reaching out to pull her to him.
Peter is pretty much the last person she thought she would be seeing here but she is not going to complain in the least.
"Hon, what's going on? What are you doing here?" She looks at him with confusion, leaning against him as soon as he's close enough. "I was coming inside and I was...here."
She laughs, looking around them. "People are telling me it's Chicago. I checked the papers too. I don't know what's going on." She looks at him hopefully.
To her credit she's not panicking. A part of her isn't entirely certain this isn't some sort of weird dream and another part of her knows that freaking out isn't going to get her anywhere, so she's doing her best to stay calm. That doesn't mean that anxiety doesn't occasionally flutter up inside her chest and make her heart start racing a little though.
Well, that answers his first two questions, how long she's been here and if she's gotten the rundown yet. He'd sort of hoped she'd know what was going on, because he's not very good at explaining it, but honestly right now? He's not going to complain about pretty much anything.
"It's a long story," he starts, wrapping his arms tighter around her. "It is Chicago, it's 2011." It should probably occur to him that she might not be from the same year, especially after Sara was, but right now he's not thinking that clearly. "It's also a different world."
She has absolutely no objections to him holding her closer. It's the one thing that makes sense right now. He's here and that means everything is going to be all right, maybe not right this second but eventually. It'll all make sense again.
"Another....world." She says i8t slowly, like she's trying out the words for the first time. She decides they don't' suit her.
"Peter, you do know that's crazy, right?" Then she considers what just happened to her, how she should be in her home and shakes her head.
It's good that she has no objection, because he's not going to let go of her for a while. There's a part of him that feels like she'll disappear if he does, and until that goes away, it's going to take a lot to pry him away from her.
"Yeah, I thought so too," Peter agrees, and then shakes his head. "But it's true. You fall through a... they call them rifts. Holes in the universe. You wind up here." He hesitates for a second before he goes on; he doesn't want to put too much on her at once, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, but she does need to know. "And there's no way home again."
"We're just...stuck here?" She looks around her, the feeling of being trapped suddenly sinking into the pit of her stomach. She doesn't want to be stuck in Chicago, she doesn't want to be stuck anywhere. She made a choice to stay in New York because she loved it, not because she was trapped there, knowing that she can't leave...
"Peter, this has got to be a joke. Or a dream. Or...I don't know. You can't be serious." It's not qu9ite panic in her voice but it's strained, trying to keep calm. The longer she sits here, the more she doesn't like it. It's sinking in, it's telling her that this is real, it's forcing her to face facts.
"This is...this is all wrong," she says it slowly, like it's dawning on her. "It's not real. It can't be.
He doesn't say anything for a minute, because he knows he can't say anything comforting. He can't tell her what she wants to hear, he can't change anything, he can't fix this. There's nothing he can do but try to help her through the adjustment period.
"It is," he says eventually. "I wish it wasn't real, but that hasn't changed anything yet. I know it sounds insane, El, but that doesn't make it any less true."
"It sounds more than insane," she says, the tension growing in her voice. "This is crazy, Peter. We can't have fallen into another world."
But she's sitting there, in Chicago when he should be in New York. Peter is there when he has no reason to be. Everything is telling her that this is true.
She swallows hard, closing her eyes and forcing herself to take a deep, slow breath. "So what happens now," she asks quietly, pulling back just a little so she can look at him. "What do we do?"
"I know," he says quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and going quiet again. It's not as if he has any way to make this easier. He doesn't even have any proof, besides the sudden relocation, to show her that he's telling the truth. So he doesn't say anything until she pulls back, just holds on to her.
"There's a place set up for the people who fall through, somewhere to stay," he answers, glancing in the direction of the Tower. "We can head back there for now. I can fill you in on the rest when we get there."
He hadn't actually meant to mention there was more, not yet, but, well, there it is.
"So people just do this," she says quietly. "They just fall through cracks in the universe and end up here." That frightens her, it almost terrifies her and she shifts closer, forcing her breaths to be slow and steady.
"Can we not go just yet," she questions, looking up at him. "I just...Need a few minutes, I think." She smiles weakly, apologetically. "It's kind of a lot ot take in."
Which she thinks is a huge understatement but well.
"Yeah, of course," he answers immediately. "Take as long as you need."
He leans forward to kiss her, and he really does mean it to just be a second, a reassurance. It doesn't actually work out that way, though. It's much longer than that. He can't help it; he didn't think he would ever be able to kiss his wife again and now that he can, it's hard to let go.
Five months. He knows it could have been so much worse, that he could have never seen her again, but after so many years where he barely went a day without at least speaking to her, five months without her felt like years.
He does pull away eventually, though he doesn't actually let go of her; if anything, he holds her tighter.
She is going to kiss him back, grateful and relieved and confused and a number of other emotions that she can only somewhat put a name to. All of this is so strange, so confusing but she's so grateful he's there. She could figure it out without him, she knows she could but it's better that he's there, she can get through this and be okay if he's there.
When they break apart, she doesn't even try and move away. She presses herself close to him, her arms wrapping tight as she breaths him in. He's comforting, he's a promise that things will be all right, he is everything she needs right now.
"I don't want to live in Chicago," she says quietly. "I want to go home."
"I know," he answers quietly, because it's the only thing he can say. He can't tell her it's going to be okay, not really, because it's not a guarantee in Chicago. He can't even tell her that it gets better, because he hasn't stopped being homesick since he showed up.
He closes his eyes, pressing another kiss to her forehead instead. He doesn't mean to say what he's thinking, he means to sit there silently and wait for her to get herself together, but he does anyway, can't stop himself. "I missed you."
And it's with that sentence, that one sentence that something strikes her. She's not really sure she wants to know the answer either but she feels like she should, that it's important for her to know.
"Five months. It feels like longer," he admits, his tone still quiet.
"Neal's here, too," he adds after a moment. "He's been here as long as I have. So is Sara. She hasn't been here long, though, and she's younger than she should be. Apparently it does that sometimes," he adds, and yeah, that fact still kind of makes him want to facepalm.
"I saw you this morning," she says quietly, confusion returning to her voice. "I saw you this morning, we were rushing out and we'd decided to have date night." She laughs a little. "God, this place...."
She can't help but laugh a little when she hears that Neal is there. "O(h, I'm sure that's got to be fun for you. Has he been behaving?" Sara being from 'the wrong time' only confirms that strange feeling that things aren't right with dates and she shifts a little, not away from him just moves because she feels like she has to.
It's really just luck, that he happens to head in the right direction at the right time. Because only a few minutes after Elizabeth sits, he's walking down the street, trying to judge how long it's been since he's hit the two-mile mark and how much longer he has before he hits it again.
And then he sees her, and for a second he freezes, because he can't believe she's actually there, because he's not sure he should believe his eyes.
"El?" Her name is barely out of his mouth before he's sitting next to her and reaching out to pull her to him.
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"Hon, what's going on? What are you doing here?" She looks at him with confusion, leaning against him as soon as he's close enough. "I was coming inside and I was...here."
She laughs, looking around them. "People are telling me it's Chicago. I checked the papers too. I don't know what's going on." She looks at him hopefully.
To her credit she's not panicking. A part of her isn't entirely certain this isn't some sort of weird dream and another part of her knows that freaking out isn't going to get her anywhere, so she's doing her best to stay calm. That doesn't mean that anxiety doesn't occasionally flutter up inside her chest and make her heart start racing a little though.
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"It's a long story," he starts, wrapping his arms tighter around her. "It is Chicago, it's 2011." It should probably occur to him that she might not be from the same year, especially after Sara was, but right now he's not thinking that clearly. "It's also a different world."
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"Another....world." She says i8t slowly, like she's trying out the words for the first time. She decides they don't' suit her.
"Peter, you do know that's crazy, right?" Then she considers what just happened to her, how she should be in her home and shakes her head.
"...Another world."
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"Yeah, I thought so too," Peter agrees, and then shakes his head. "But it's true. You fall through a... they call them rifts. Holes in the universe. You wind up here." He hesitates for a second before he goes on; he doesn't want to put too much on her at once, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, but she does need to know. "And there's no way home again."
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"Peter, this has got to be a joke. Or a dream. Or...I don't know. You can't be serious." It's not qu9ite panic in her voice but it's strained, trying to keep calm. The longer she sits here, the more she doesn't like it. It's sinking in, it's telling her that this is real, it's forcing her to face facts.
"This is...this is all wrong," she says it slowly, like it's dawning on her. "It's not real. It can't be.
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"It is," he says eventually. "I wish it wasn't real, but that hasn't changed anything yet. I know it sounds insane, El, but that doesn't make it any less true."
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But she's sitting there, in Chicago when he should be in New York. Peter is there when he has no reason to be. Everything is telling her that this is true.
She swallows hard, closing her eyes and forcing herself to take a deep, slow breath. "So what happens now," she asks quietly, pulling back just a little so she can look at him. "What do we do?"
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"There's a place set up for the people who fall through, somewhere to stay," he answers, glancing in the direction of the Tower. "We can head back there for now. I can fill you in on the rest when we get there."
He hadn't actually meant to mention there was more, not yet, but, well, there it is.
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"Can we not go just yet," she questions, looking up at him. "I just...Need a few minutes, I think." She smiles weakly, apologetically. "It's kind of a lot ot take in."
Which she thinks is a huge understatement but well.
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He leans forward to kiss her, and he really does mean it to just be a second, a reassurance. It doesn't actually work out that way, though. It's much longer than that. He can't help it; he didn't think he would ever be able to kiss his wife again and now that he can, it's hard to let go.
Five months. He knows it could have been so much worse, that he could have never seen her again, but after so many years where he barely went a day without at least speaking to her, five months without her felt like years.
He does pull away eventually, though he doesn't actually let go of her; if anything, he holds her tighter.
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When they break apart, she doesn't even try and move away. She presses herself close to him, her arms wrapping tight as she breaths him in. He's comforting, he's a promise that things will be all right, he is everything she needs right now.
"I don't want to live in Chicago," she says quietly. "I want to go home."
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He closes his eyes, pressing another kiss to her forehead instead. He doesn't mean to say what he's thinking, he means to sit there silently and wait for her to get herself together, but he does anyway, can't stop himself. "I missed you."
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"How long have you been here?"
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"Neal's here, too," he adds after a moment. "He's been here as long as I have. So is Sara. She hasn't been here long, though, and she's younger than she should be. Apparently it does that sometimes," he adds, and yeah, that fact still kind of makes him want to facepalm.
Oh, honey, you have no idea yet.
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She can't help but laugh a little when she hears that Neal is there. "O(h, I'm sure that's got to be fun for you. Has he been behaving?" Sara being from 'the wrong time' only confirms that strange feeling that things aren't right with dates and she shifts a little, not away from him just moves because she feels like she has to.
"Where was she from?"
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