Ficlet: Broken (Peter)
Title: Broken
Fandom: Fringe
Author: chichuri
Characters: Peter, Olivia, Walter
Word Count: 318
Rating: PG
Summary: As soon as Peter sees Olivia, he knows something is wrong. Follow-up to "Jacksonville".
Spoilers: Through episode 2.14, "Jacksonville".
Disclaimer: I don't own Fringe or its characters.
Broken
Her eyes are broken.
Deep in the back of his mind, howling sets in. For her, for him, for both.
Not a minute before, Olivia was as happy as Peter's seen her; now, pain and despair war in her eyes. More so than when she thought she'd been killing people in her dreams; more so than hours before, when she thought she'd failed and even more people would die.
Less than a minute he was gone, and now she's staring at Walter like he's destroyed her world.
The howling rises, threatening to drown out his thoughts. "Olivia," he barely whispers, as gentle as he can manage. She's the strongest person he's ever met but right now he's afraid if he pushes wrong, she'll shatter.
She turns to him and her eyes are unfocused, not quite looking at him but not not looking at him. She's completely raw, none of the walls she normally throws up hiding her pain, and it hurts to look at her and not know what happened or how to make it better.
She shifts back on her heels and not-looks at him still, head down and darting glances up. "I have to talk to Walter. Alone. I'm sorry." She wraps her arms around herself, shaking slightly, but her voice is even. "I'm sorry," she repeats, and her voice breaks on the final word. She blinks rapidly, hands fisting and relaxing at her sides.
Peter tears his eyes away, studies Walter huddled against the wall. His father's staring at Olivia, eyes pleading. When Peter finally manages to speak, the words don't come out venomous, like he expected, but hollow. Hollow and empty, just like he feels. "What did you do?"
Olivia chokes back a desperate snort, then a something that sounds suspiciously like a sob, and he knows, knows that the world has dropped out from under him and nothing will ever be the same.
Fandom: Fringe
Author: chichuri
Characters: Peter, Olivia, Walter
Word Count: 318
Rating: PG
Summary: As soon as Peter sees Olivia, he knows something is wrong. Follow-up to "Jacksonville".
Spoilers: Through episode 2.14, "Jacksonville".
Disclaimer: I don't own Fringe or its characters.
Broken
Her eyes are broken.
Deep in the back of his mind, howling sets in. For her, for him, for both.
Not a minute before, Olivia was as happy as Peter's seen her; now, pain and despair war in her eyes. More so than when she thought she'd been killing people in her dreams; more so than hours before, when she thought she'd failed and even more people would die.
Less than a minute he was gone, and now she's staring at Walter like he's destroyed her world.
The howling rises, threatening to drown out his thoughts. "Olivia," he barely whispers, as gentle as he can manage. She's the strongest person he's ever met but right now he's afraid if he pushes wrong, she'll shatter.
She turns to him and her eyes are unfocused, not quite looking at him but not not looking at him. She's completely raw, none of the walls she normally throws up hiding her pain, and it hurts to look at her and not know what happened or how to make it better.
She shifts back on her heels and not-looks at him still, head down and darting glances up. "I have to talk to Walter. Alone. I'm sorry." She wraps her arms around herself, shaking slightly, but her voice is even. "I'm sorry," she repeats, and her voice breaks on the final word. She blinks rapidly, hands fisting and relaxing at her sides.
Peter tears his eyes away, studies Walter huddled against the wall. His father's staring at Olivia, eyes pleading. When Peter finally manages to speak, the words don't come out venomous, like he expected, but hollow. Hollow and empty, just like he feels. "What did you do?"
Olivia chokes back a desperate snort, then a something that sounds suspiciously like a sob, and he knows, knows that the world has dropped out from under him and nothing will ever be the same.