Bobbins (1/1)
TITLE: Bobbins
AUTHOR: chloesilvers
RATING: T/PG-13
PAIRING: Alt-Lincoln and Fauxlivia
SUMMARY: It wasn't a piece of spy equipment, but the box of bobbins was still important to Fauxlivia.
Bobbins
The first time she saw the box, it was in his left hand. She was smiling at everyone that she had come in contact with that day, since she just finished an incredible day at the shooting range. She felt unstoppable that day and didn't take much notice to the people that she saw.
She just smiled widely, nodded her head at him, and walked right past. She saw him hesitate for a split second from the corner of her eye before popping one of them into his mouth. She thought that he was some sort of pill-popper, or that maybe he was coming down with some illness.
The second time, it was more about the candy than the box. She learned his name a week prior because she had been assigned to work with him, to learn everything that she could about Fringe Division. Olivia considered herself lucky to be working with someone who had graduated from The Academy, and most importantly, she didn't want to screw up and get kicked out.
She had a feeling that if she didn't know every single rule to every possible scenario, she would be out on her ass before she could even explain herself. One of the things that he made absolutely clear was that in this job, there was never time to ask what the rule was. Protocol needed to be so well known that they were followed instinctively.
She read the digital case files, the old dusty books that hadn't been opened in years, and studied up on them. They made her obedient, and she followed them to the T. And then one day, there was a class four vortex. They were doing a clean sweep of a building and Olivia was almost out the door when she felt it trying to suck her in. She grabbed the door's threshold because it was closest to her, and he got sucked in, grabbing the ends of a bookcase that was quickly moving towards the center.
Protocol said to close the door, seal everything off and let him go. She remembered the look in his eyes that day especially because she never saw it again. It was like he understood that she needed to go, that it was in the rules and thus inevitable. But at the same time, she saw just how terrified he was.
The vortex was sealing up. It was going to close right around his chest.
He must have seen the hesitance in her own face, because he told her to leave. His exact words were, "Evacuate the building. That's an order, Agent!"
Maybe she didn't know the rules as well as she thought. But she found herself aiming her body at an angle towards the bookcase and letting go of the threshold between a safe haven and a danger zone, heading straight to the chaos as the vortex continued to close.
She reached the top of the bookcase and climbed over to Lincoln, holding an arm out. "Come on, Lincoln", she said, stretching as far as she could. "Don't give up on me now."
She struggled for a moment, her eyes shifting from Lincoln to the sealing vortex until their hands finally made contact. She didn't know where the strength came from, but she was able to pull him up the book case as the vortex closed on the bottom shelf, the constant wind disappearing, and the need to watch out for flying objects attacking her head suddenly gone.
It must have been the adrenaline that day, because she turned to him, defiance in her eyes, about to tell him that his little rules could go to hell.
The words never made it out, because he grabbed the sides of her face with both hands and kissed her. And as she tasted the smoky, minty sensation, she realized that it was wrong. She had a boyfriend and even though she was currently throwing the rules in the trash, it was frowned upon for Fringe Division agents to see each other romantically.
She didn't want the kiss to end, but she pulled away, gave him a small, apologetic smile, and said, "Sorry, stud. I have a boyfriend."
The third time, he accidentally left the metal box of mints behind at the scene of a Fringe Event. It had never happened to Lincoln before, and she knew that he was under a lot of pressure. It was the first time that they had even heard of someone from the other side crossing universes, she knew that every important eye in the world was watching to see how they would handle the situation.
She took the box from the scene so that he wouldn't get in trouble, because she knew that it was protocol to leave everything exactly as it was to begin with if the place wasn't being filled with amber. She didn't realize that it would stay in her pocket for the rest of the day, and that the box would cross universes with her as she was assigned to cross over to the other side to gain valuable intelligence.
She found the box in her jacket pocket one day when the other side's Astrid had asked her to repeat a numerical sequence. Olivia couldn't complete the entire thing. That was when she knew that she had to get out of there as soon as possible. She found the typewriter that she was using to communicate with her world and explained what had happened.
She went back to Walter's Laboratory in an attempt to retrieve everything and anything that seemed to be important, and was about to go searching in his office when she heard them coming. In a panic, she hid in the bathroom, and tried to figure out some sort of escape route from the window when she heard the high pitched frequency. In a split second, she returned to her own home without her possessions, and the box was gone.
The fourth time she saw it, it was dumped on a table in Walter's lab, and the crazy old man had thought that it was a piece of spy equipment. She picked it up and smiled for a second, remembering all of the memories that came with it, and laughed at the thought that a simple metal box of bobbins could cause Walter so much trouble. She doubted that he ever got it open.
She kept it in her pocket that day, her hand brushing against the cool metal as she crossed the bridge to tell Agent Broyles that she had found Astrid, that she was safe, and that no harm had come to disrupt the alliance on the other side.
The fifth time she saw it, she had taken it out of her pocket and showed it to Walter. When he gave her a red vine to go, Olivia took the box and put it in the pocket of his lab coat before she went home.
It was when she crossed the bridge and saw that who was waiting for her that she realized why she gave it to Walter.
She gave him a hug hello, and took in the scent. She didn't need the box to remind her of home anymore. Lincoln was right here.