Fringe Fanfic: Role Reversals
Here it is, guys. The long awaited Fringe fic. I've been in love with this show for over a year and we all knew it had to happen sometime. So, now that I've stretched my legs back into writing non-school related things, let's see if I haven't completely lost my talent for writing the fun stuff. :) Set during 1x10: "Safe." Enjoy! For better format, go to www.fanfiction.net/~jandl and click on the story of the same title.
Role Reversals
The students at that school of hers were completely wrong, he thought to himself. He sat in the bar in Cambridge, spinning his beer bottle between his fingers and taking advantage of her brief moment of distraction answering her mobile to study her. She may not have been a person with a constant best friend growing up, but she had one at some point. She had confessed as much to him earlier. That news made Peter Bishop very happy. He could not help but think that Olivia Dunham was a woman who needed as many friends as she could get, and he also hoped that not all of them were as jaded as he was, or as traitorous as John Scott had been.
Han Solo. That had been her nickname, or so she claimed. He could not help but feel that name sorely misplaced. Peter did not like to advertise many facts about himself, and his tendency to be a sci-fi nerd was no exception. He did not like to mention that he had seen both versions of Battlestar Galactica, and could write a treatise on the differences between the two and how the earlier version was a far superior vision. Nor did he see the need to mention that he had studied the symbols on the side of the Stargate, or that he could read Klingon. Some things were best kept to themselves, and thankfully he saw no reason why he should need to reveal his Star Trek predelictions. Revealing to her earlier that he could place a Star Wars reference with one name was geek-chic enough that he could get by without showing his geekiness, but he still wished to tread lightly. Olivia had more knowledge of his secrets than he would prefer as it was. But having a fact be a secret does not make it any less a fact, and the fact was that Peter Bishop was indeed a sci-fi geek, and as such had spent quite a few hours of his life analyzing the popular George Lucas series. Because of that fact, he could say without a doubt that Olivia Dunham was no Han Solo.
To be honest, he had always viewed himself as the famous charming, quick-witted, smart-mouthed con-man. And the last thing he really wanted was a FBI agent like Olivia Dunham stealing his hard-earned title. That small amount of trademark pettiness aside, he honestly did not feel that Olivia was very much like the famous ship-stealing con-man. For one, there was the obvious issue of gender, though he would never say that to her face. For another, there was the fact that, despite Han’s problems with Jabba the Hut and his tendency to stay on the wrong side of the law, he was not much of a loner. He may have claimed to work better alone (and to only want money), but he stuck around with the resistance fighters. This brought about another argument to Peter’s mind in that Olivia could never be Han; she followed the rules too much and would never be caught dead smuggling non-necessary materials.
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.
His first inclination was the cast Agent Dunham as Luke Skywalker. After all, she fell into the whole Fringe Division quite by accident and dragged him into things by sheer folly (much like in A New Hope). He also did not doubt that she had some sort of powers hidden on her person, and not necessarily the everyday weapon of a gun that he was so accustomed to seeing fastened to her waistband. Not only that, but she had succeeded in conning him of all people-the con-artist falling prey to the world’s most obvious con, and what should have been completely foreseen as a lie from a federal agent. If she had done such things, she had to have some presence of the Force about her (and he would forever deny that the Force he was speaking of had anything to do with her green eyes and obvious desperation).
As she put away her mobile, he rested his mind easy on that he had completely dissected the truth of the Star Wars and Olivia Dunham conundrum and she did not have to be any the wiser. He had also quietly casted Broyles as the giant fish head rebel leader and Charlie Francis as Lando Calrissian. The unseen William Bell was the Emperor and Nina Sharp was Grand Moff Tarkin. Everyone was cast and put away and he was decidedly NOT thinking that their group was seriously lacking a Princess Leia to make things interesting.
Then he had to go and look up at just the wrong moment and throw all his hard work at not thinking certain thoughts out the metaphorical window. She was giggling-Olivia Dunham, of all people, was giggling!-at one of his card tricks, and he felt not only a warmth in his chest of pride, but also the familiar beginnings of desire in the pit of his stomach. He felt his eyes widen slightly at the sensation and glanced down at the table, using Olivia’s request that he hand over the cards as a way to avoid looking her in the eyes for a few seconds. She had smiled and for the briefest of seconds he found himself deeply desiring that the inner casting director in his head recast her as Leia instead of Luke. After all, Leia also had the Force within her, didn’t she? She was Luke’s sister after all. And she kicked just as much ass as her brother and was more than a match for Han, both romantically and as a verbal sparring partner. Yes, Olivia definitely fit the bill on the latter of those two qualifications. Yes, Leia was definitely a better fit than Luke.
It was in that second that Peter realized he was screwed. He had fallen for the classic cliche and gotten a crush on a girl simply because she reminded him of the coolest chick he could think of when he was a boy. It was official. There was no way in HELL Olivia was ever finding out about his sci-fi tendencies. Because if she did, she’d connect the dots in no time, and Peter remembered all too well what Han had to go through to get the girl. And Peter was not too sure if he was ready for that sort of danger and debt-collecting quite yet. No, he would let Olivia believe she was Han for now, and he would settle for being the Millenium Falcon-the one thing guaranteed to keep Olivia safe. That was what would be best for everyone, and the only surefire way of ensuring that he didn’t fall prey to the other two massive cliches at the same time-a con-man falling for the goody-too-shoes and the employee falling in love with his boss. Oh yes, Peter Bishop considered himself the master of both poker and secrets, and this was one trail of secrets that Peter was sure he could convince himself to keep.
Let me know what you think!
Role Reversals
The students at that school of hers were completely wrong, he thought to himself. He sat in the bar in Cambridge, spinning his beer bottle between his fingers and taking advantage of her brief moment of distraction answering her mobile to study her. She may not have been a person with a constant best friend growing up, but she had one at some point. She had confessed as much to him earlier. That news made Peter Bishop very happy. He could not help but think that Olivia Dunham was a woman who needed as many friends as she could get, and he also hoped that not all of them were as jaded as he was, or as traitorous as John Scott had been.
Han Solo. That had been her nickname, or so she claimed. He could not help but feel that name sorely misplaced. Peter did not like to advertise many facts about himself, and his tendency to be a sci-fi nerd was no exception. He did not like to mention that he had seen both versions of Battlestar Galactica, and could write a treatise on the differences between the two and how the earlier version was a far superior vision. Nor did he see the need to mention that he had studied the symbols on the side of the Stargate, or that he could read Klingon. Some things were best kept to themselves, and thankfully he saw no reason why he should need to reveal his Star Trek predelictions. Revealing to her earlier that he could place a Star Wars reference with one name was geek-chic enough that he could get by without showing his geekiness, but he still wished to tread lightly. Olivia had more knowledge of his secrets than he would prefer as it was. But having a fact be a secret does not make it any less a fact, and the fact was that Peter Bishop was indeed a sci-fi geek, and as such had spent quite a few hours of his life analyzing the popular George Lucas series. Because of that fact, he could say without a doubt that Olivia Dunham was no Han Solo.
To be honest, he had always viewed himself as the famous charming, quick-witted, smart-mouthed con-man. And the last thing he really wanted was a FBI agent like Olivia Dunham stealing his hard-earned title. That small amount of trademark pettiness aside, he honestly did not feel that Olivia was very much like the famous ship-stealing con-man. For one, there was the obvious issue of gender, though he would never say that to her face. For another, there was the fact that, despite Han’s problems with Jabba the Hut and his tendency to stay on the wrong side of the law, he was not much of a loner. He may have claimed to work better alone (and to only want money), but he stuck around with the resistance fighters. This brought about another argument to Peter’s mind in that Olivia could never be Han; she followed the rules too much and would never be caught dead smuggling non-necessary materials.
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.
His first inclination was the cast Agent Dunham as Luke Skywalker. After all, she fell into the whole Fringe Division quite by accident and dragged him into things by sheer folly (much like in A New Hope). He also did not doubt that she had some sort of powers hidden on her person, and not necessarily the everyday weapon of a gun that he was so accustomed to seeing fastened to her waistband. Not only that, but she had succeeded in conning him of all people-the con-artist falling prey to the world’s most obvious con, and what should have been completely foreseen as a lie from a federal agent. If she had done such things, she had to have some presence of the Force about her (and he would forever deny that the Force he was speaking of had anything to do with her green eyes and obvious desperation).
As she put away her mobile, he rested his mind easy on that he had completely dissected the truth of the Star Wars and Olivia Dunham conundrum and she did not have to be any the wiser. He had also quietly casted Broyles as the giant fish head rebel leader and Charlie Francis as Lando Calrissian. The unseen William Bell was the Emperor and Nina Sharp was Grand Moff Tarkin. Everyone was cast and put away and he was decidedly NOT thinking that their group was seriously lacking a Princess Leia to make things interesting.
Then he had to go and look up at just the wrong moment and throw all his hard work at not thinking certain thoughts out the metaphorical window. She was giggling-Olivia Dunham, of all people, was giggling!-at one of his card tricks, and he felt not only a warmth in his chest of pride, but also the familiar beginnings of desire in the pit of his stomach. He felt his eyes widen slightly at the sensation and glanced down at the table, using Olivia’s request that he hand over the cards as a way to avoid looking her in the eyes for a few seconds. She had smiled and for the briefest of seconds he found himself deeply desiring that the inner casting director in his head recast her as Leia instead of Luke. After all, Leia also had the Force within her, didn’t she? She was Luke’s sister after all. And she kicked just as much ass as her brother and was more than a match for Han, both romantically and as a verbal sparring partner. Yes, Olivia definitely fit the bill on the latter of those two qualifications. Yes, Leia was definitely a better fit than Luke.
It was in that second that Peter realized he was screwed. He had fallen for the classic cliche and gotten a crush on a girl simply because she reminded him of the coolest chick he could think of when he was a boy. It was official. There was no way in HELL Olivia was ever finding out about his sci-fi tendencies. Because if she did, she’d connect the dots in no time, and Peter remembered all too well what Han had to go through to get the girl. And Peter was not too sure if he was ready for that sort of danger and debt-collecting quite yet. No, he would let Olivia believe she was Han for now, and he would settle for being the Millenium Falcon-the one thing guaranteed to keep Olivia safe. That was what would be best for everyone, and the only surefire way of ensuring that he didn’t fall prey to the other two massive cliches at the same time-a con-man falling for the goody-too-shoes and the employee falling in love with his boss. Oh yes, Peter Bishop considered himself the master of both poker and secrets, and this was one trail of secrets that Peter was sure he could convince himself to keep.
Let me know what you think!