Disclaimer: I do not own Fringe or anything affiliated with it. It is owned by Bad Robot and FOX. No infringement is intended and no profit is being made.

Spoilers: Little ones for 1x02: "The Same Old Story."
Time Line: A year after "Pilot."
Author's Note: This show needs more fanfic. (Hint, hint!) The title is stolen from Devics' song Just One Breath.

Summary: Almost a year to the day after their impromptu partnership she stumbles across a file she's only heard Walter mention once.

Release Into Air
by: chopsticks
g

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Almost a year to the day after their impromptu partnership she stumbles across a file she's only heard Walter mention once. It's in a tucked-away filing cabinet in an old filing room that hasn't been opened in at least five years, and for a minute she wonders if she's just so exhausted that she's seeing things (again). After the name refuses to disappear from the front of the manila folder, she decides it's probably real.

Bishop, Peter.

She briefly recalls lying to him about a file the FBI was keeping just to get him to come along, and somehow she's not surprised that the government has made her an honest woman.

The pages crinkle under her touch as she flips through them, wondering how in-depth she should read. This really isn't any of her business, but yet it still is.

Birth certificate, early records of cognitive function, prenatal care...oh.

Suddenly she feels faint, so she closes her eyes and tries to think about anything else but what Walter did to Peter, or however one would describe that. After taking a moment, she stands up, the file clutched in her sweating hands and breathes deeply. She closes the filing cabinet, grabs a few of the other files she'd pulled out, and leaves.

The next day she spends in a haze. They don't have a case to investigate, really, so she watches Walter potter around the lab while Peter tinkers with an old toaster, a lamp, a fried laptop, and a fork. She has no idea what either of them are doing, but it's strangely comforting to watch.

When they get up to leave at five o'clock, she stops Peter as he heads out the door, her hand on his arm lingering for a little longer than it should. He smiles softly, tilting his head in a question. He's much more relaxed today, and she can see the lines that are around his eyes are much softer today. She's loath to break his peace, but she knows that he needs to know this about himself. She respects him too much to keep this from him, and she likes to think they're friends by this point. She can't justify keeping it from him, no matter how she twists it.

She hands him the file, telling him she found it in an old filing cabinet and that it would be of interest to him, and walks out. She can feel him staring at her back.

The next day she's there before any of them, new case in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She glances up when Peter walks in, and immediately notices the red eyes and dark circles. She feels her heart swell in sympathy, and she mentally berates herself for bringing this mood down upon him. He meets her eyes briefly and then looks away, hanging up his coat and heading to the coffee maker. Walter shuffles in behind, eyes downcast and shoulders slumped, looking much like the man she first met. He looks up at her when she says they have a new case, and his eyes hold accusations, but also understanding.

When Peter comes to stand beside her, just a little too close, she swears she sees the ghost of a smirk on Walter's face.

She thinks they'll be okay.

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the end.