Bishop Legacy (ota, tag Olivia)

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In one had was a white box from the bakery with a dozen doughnuts and one danish and in the other hand was a tray of two coffees. One was regular and the other was toffee and gingerbread - a combination which had even the woman at the cafe look at him oddly. Somehow, even though his hands were full, Peter was able to navigate through the college

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Olivia had noticed Walter's name missing from the directory when she'd got ready to type him a message. Her little address book that she had the people she messaged all the time in there was one short. Olivia had gone to Peter's room after making sure that Braeden was enjoying himself at the retrocade. When she didn't find him there she thought that she'd try Walter's lab since Olivia wasn't really sure when or where Walter had left.

The first thing that greeted her was Gene's lowly mooing and then she noticed the tray that held coffee. It wasn't until she was further in the room that she saw Peter with his back against the wall.

"Hey." She said softly. "I thought I'd find you here. You okay?"

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“I wish it was just the side effect of something I saw.” Olivia had actually thought it might have been a residual something until she’d seen Walter’s expression and that was when she’d known for sure. He knew exactly what she’d seen.

“Yeah, I’m saying you’re from the other side.” She confirmed with a shift of her weight to look at him fully. “I wanted to tell you sooner. It’s something that I’d want to know and I know what it’s like to have your world turned upside down with a revelation and to try to hunt answers.” Olivia took a breath and then said, “I think that whatever is happening between the two worlds, we’re connected to it somehow.”

She still wasn’t sure how exactly, but Olivia knew in her gut that they were.

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Peter swallowed and then licked his lips as he tried to process the meaning and implications of Olivia's statement in his mind. It was a lot to take in at once. It might not have been fair, but he was angry at Walter for conveniently leaving the village before Peter found out.

His eyes, which had departed from Olivia's gaze as he thought about what she said, moved back to look at her where she stood. They were a little more distant than before, though he wasn't quite aware of it himself.

"Thanks." He wasn't sure for what. Probably for telling the truth.

Peter paused, then continued. "Other than Walter and you, does anyone else know?"

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She debated, she really did since it wasn't fair to tell this story without the two people that could enlighten him further there. Olivia thought about her own struggles with what had happened to her as a child and decided that she would have wanted to know it all even if she forgot if she were pulled away or if no one was there to answer the questions.

"Nina." She said quietly. "I made Walter tell me what happened and as you might expect, Nina was there in William Bell's absence during that time." Olivia sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "do you want to know or would you rather have Walter tell you when you return? If it's any consolation, when I confronted him about this, he swore that he was going to tell you. I came here before I knew if he did or not."

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Nina. Of course. Peter withheld a frustrated sigh as he listened to Olivia explain. At least Astrid didn't know.

"I don't think Walter ever would." He might have been a little cynical, but his mood was now altered. "Walter was never good at telling the truth to begin with, let alone to me."

To think he had actually said 'my father'. He was angry at Walter now for lying.

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"I thought about giving him a time line, to be honest." Olivia said. She could see the anger building within him. "Peter." She began softly. "Walter loves you very much. I know it isn't any consolation and believe me, I do understand some of the betrayal that you're felling though not to the degree, but he does love you. It began as a need to save your life. Not his son's, but yours."

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"Thanks, Olivia, but you don't know that for sure. If he really just wanted to say my life, he would have found a way to put me back where I belonged."

Peter's cynical response came mostly out of anger produced by the moment.

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Olivia had to honestly agree with Peter and it was ironic that she felt a need to defend Walter, but she did find herself saying, "I'm not excusing what he did, but I feel since I've told you without him here, I should at least tell you what he told me."

She sighed softly and leaned the back of her head against the wall. "It was his intention to go over to the other side, save you and send you back." Olivia didn't say anything about his mother seeing him and how hard it would have been to let the boy that looked exactly like her son that had just died go back. Instead she continued, "but that wasn't what happened. Peter, when you go back or if Walter arrives back here, promise that you'll at least listen to what he has to say."

Again the irony was not lost on Olivia, but she didn't want that relationship to be destroyed. Peter had changed a lot since she'd first met him and Walter most assuredly had.

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Peter held Olivia's gaze for a long moment without saying anything. In his head he was weighing the pros and cons of talking to Walter again. His gut instinct said no, but Olivia was asking him.

He sighed a little and closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them. His hand ran through his hair and then landed on the back of his nexk, rubbing there. "Alright, I'll listen." Peter wasn't sure how well he'd listen, but he'd listen.

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"Thank you." Olivia said softly. She knew how hard that was for him. Olivia had seen the internal debate but she was glad he'd come to the conclusion. She reached out a hand and placed it softly on his arm.

"I know how hard this is for you. After I found out about Jacksonville, it took me a long time to be able to talk to Walter that wasn't related to cases and yours is much deeper hurt and anger than that but he needs to have the chance to explain about it. I don't want you to have any regrets and have a what if in your life. You never know when someone will be taken away and you'll never have the chance again." Olivia was thinking of her mother as well as John. She'd long put the pain of his death behind her, but she had closure with him, even if it had the help of Walter's experiments.

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"But he's not really my father, is he?" At that very moment, Peter was of the opinion he wouldn't be phased if Walter died without speaking to him. His real father was on the other side.

Peter rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry, Olivia. I just... need some time to process." He felt like he needed a lot of drinks too. "I'm going to go for a walk. Clear my mind." or something.

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She was going to say something about fathers but changed her mind. Instead she just nodded, "I understand. It's a lot to take in." Olivia reached out and gave his arm a squeeze, then dropped her hand back to her side. "I'm sorry I was the one to tell you, Peter."

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He shook his head. "No.. I'm glad you're the one who told me." He didn't think Walter would ever really get the nerve to tell him and he trusted Olivia more.

"Thank you."