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: "The Same Old Story," but nothing overly important to the actual plot.
Author's Note: I don't think anyone wrote about this yet, so. For your reference, the lanthanoid series is in the f-block on the periodic table (atomic numbers 57-71), and the name is derived from the Greek word for "to lie hidden." Incidentally, most of these elements are fairly abundant, though they're often incorrectly referred to as "rare earths." I can't recite the periodic table anymore (Who can?), so I yanked the info from webelements(dot)com, which is a pretty neat site if you're into chemistry.

Summary: The first time he finds Walter in the closet, he's not happy.

Lanthanoid
by: chopsticks
g

--

The first time he finds Walter in the closet, he's not happy.

Very, very not happy.

The only thing keeping him from throttling the old man is the sympathy he feels for him, because clearly spending time in an asylum made him crazier than he was when he went in. Peter only remembers the bad parts of his childhood, but he knows Walter wasn't this crazy when he was a kid.

That doesn't stop him from grinding his teeth and reaching out to prod him awake. He sighs when he realizes that Walter sleeps as deeply as he does, and considers just leaving him in a pile on the floor where he tumbled out of the closet when the door had been opened.

The only reason he'd even managed to find him was the loud thump Walter's head had made as it smacked against the closet door in his sleep. By that point, Peter had already started dialing Olivia, worst-case scenarios flitting through his head.

He decides to drag Walter out of the closet, at least, and gives him a pillow and a blanket. Walter snores lightly on the floor.

Peter is so getting the bed tomorrow night.

--

The second time he finds Walter in the closet, he doesn't even bother looking anywhere else first. He can hear him reciting the complete periodic table.

He sighs and grabs the pillow and blanket off of the couch.

"Praseodymium. Symbol Pr. Atomic number 59. Atomic weight 140.90765. Metallic. Solid at 298 Kelvins. Neodymium. Symbol Nd. Atomic number 60..."

Walter seems immersed in his recitation, his eyes closed and the words tumbling from him in a constant, monotonous stream.

Peter sighs again, but says nothing. Instead, he drapes the blanket over Walter, who has tensed his muscles in an obvious reaction to being cold, though he doubts the old man notices.

Walter doesn't respond, and Peter doesn't say anything. He closes the door and goes back to his book.

--

The third time Peter finds Walter in the closet, he's annoyed and in a hurry. Olivia's waiting at the door and he's still pulling his robe on. He feels like he's still half-asleep and really, can't Walter sleep in the bed like a normal person?

He rushes through the sections of their hotel room, not finding Walter and his (rather large) brain is not processing information particularly well. He can't think straight, and it takes him a minute to remember which of Walter's many quirks is important to this situation.

He lets his irritation get the better of him as he flings open the closet door, because it's four am and he just wants to be asleep more than anything else. He's not enjoying this responsibility crap and has no problem making Walter aware of it.

"Are you in the closet again?"

--

the end.