Heh. Heh. I probably forgot to mention (only cause I never know how far into the story certain events happen) that this chapter has MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH! Yeah...aren't I a twisted one? ;) Happy Readings!

She thought it was just a nervous twitch, but it wasn’t at all. Her entire body was shaking and Olivia remained unaware as she held onto the fork. The room wasn’t even cold either. There was no reason for her entire self to be shaking like this.

Still the fork in her hand didn’t move. Her mind was wondering off again, forgetting that Peter was still in the room with her, watching her hesitating to take that first bite of food.

Although she was no longer pregnant, Olivia just could not eat. It was still shaking her up…the fact that she basically been feeding and incubating a large blue blob in her body all that time…

…well, earlier she and Peter were informed by Walter that there was still a baby under that unusual mess of blue skin, but it did nothing to make her feel any better. In fact, Olivia refused to find any truth in Walter’s words. But perhaps it was her own pessimism speaking for itself.

“I…” She dropped the fork as a means of surrounding. “I can’t eat this.”

Peter was a bit disappointed. He sighed as he pulled the hospital food tray away from Olivia’s sight. “It’s alright,” he assured her, even though he really wished that she would eat at least something. He knew that pushing it wouldn’t help the situation. “The stuff in this place doesn’t look anywhere near as appetizing as kim-chi.”

He hoped to shake at least a smirk out of Olivia, but once again Peter had failed. She turned away from him and said without emotion “You said the smell made you puke.”

Damn. It was clear that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with reaching out to her today. In a way though he couldn’t blame her. The blob baby was resting just right next door and she was still stuck in the same hospital that was giving her nightmares in between dozing off. Whenever Peter watched her wake up from one of these, he could tell they were nightmares but Olivia would quickly attempt to brush it off like she often would. Most of the time since he had been in that room with her, she would turn away from him. She would be distant and silent from him even though he was sitting right there. Having to be stuck in that bed with a catheter and a bedpan was making it even worse for her.

“Peter?”

“Yeah?” He leaned over in anticipation, ready to respond to even her smallest request.

“You’ve been in here for over a day. I think you can go.”

“Are you sure, Liv?”

“You and Walter should be moving stuff into your new apartment anyway. I don’t want to stop you.”

“Well that’s good…I was afraid for a minute that you want me to spend the rest of my life trapped in that hotel room with my father.”

Again no response, not even a rise in chest or a hiccup from her. Her mind was wondering off and it showed as her own head was twitching…her own head.

“Liv?” Peter gently placed his hand over hers, but apparently he wasn’t gentle enough. Olivia immediately responded by turning to her swiping away the arm before she could even realized what she had done. She could’ve leapt out of bed in response if she hadn’t been bedridden. Part of her must’ve wanted to because her body instantly got sore again from trying to be jumpy.

She looked at him now…fear turning into instant regret. “I’m…sorry,” she said in between deep breaths.

Peter was hurt but tried to remain very calm. “You don’t need to apologize, Liv. I understand completely.”

Olivia tried to look at Peter this time, trying to keep her gaze on him for a little longer. She couldn’t help but to turn away. She hated this…she hated being so weak and defeated to the point that she couldn’t be as tough as she often was infront of him. Now Olivia felt as though she had become a spiteful being. And damn Peter. How in the world could he possibly be so understanding about all of this? It made no sense to her. She would be punished and ridiculed by anyone else for being such a failure. The Guinevere Cult was already doing so.

Before Peter could ask her again, Olivia quickly answered. “…I’ll be fine, Peter.”

Peter finally got up. He was feeling sore himself. He must’ve been sitting in that chair for a longer time than he realized. “I’ll come back later tonight then,” he said. “I need a shower anyway. I’m starting to smell like Walter on his cleaner days.”

Olivia closed her eyes feeling worse about her inability to respond to Peter’s whims and sarcasm. She should’ve been strong enough for that at least. Now she was only making him feel bad. But she just couldn’t do it…she just couldn’t move her lips or make any facial sign of response.

By the time she opened her eyes again, Peter had already left the room…and possibly out of the hospital. There wasn’t even a clock in this empty sad cold excuse of a recovery room to let her know how long it would be before he would come back. She would have to depend on the sunlight coming through the window. Mid-afternoon perhaps. The painkillers were now kicking in again, bringing her both relief from her depression and irritation…but also bringing her fear.

~*~*~*~

“Walter, no!”

“But Peter, it’s only my collection of carnivorous plants.”

“I don’t care, find a place in your bedroom for them. We’re not keeping those things anywhere near the kitchen.”

Walter protested. “But they might eat me in my sleep.”

“That’s a risk you should’ve thought about when you created those plants.” The long hours Peter spent at the hospital was making unloading stuff into the new apartment very agitating.

“Son…,” Walter asked very cautiously. “Are we still…”

“Still what, fighting?”

“Oh yes…about the…”

“Me being dragged from another world? I’m too tired to care right now.” Peter wanted out. He wanted to escape all the hurt that was happening all around him but only time could allow him to do that. He wasn’t a very patient man though. “I’m going back to the hospital to see Liv.”

Walter watched his son dropped the box he was unloading and grabbed his coat. “Oh…son, you shouldn’t feel bad.”

“I don’t feel bad about being tired, Walter.”

“No, I meant you shouldn’t feel bad about missing the birth. There’s still the hatching to look forward to.”

“I don’t think either of us are looking forward to that,” said Peter…his thoughts straying back to deep remorse how he missed the birth…how he failed to be with Olivia during her greatest suffering. His father’s presence woke his mind up. “Why the hell are you talking to me about that for anyway?”

“Oh, I only ask because you’ve been spending an awful amount of time with her…”

Peter grabbed the doorknob. “Dammit, Walter. Knock it off!” He slammed the door before Walter could put in another word.

Bitter and angry, he stormed the nighttime streets towards the hospital instead of walking. The apartment was in close distance to the facility after all. The streets were awfully quiet. He checked his watch. “Shit.” He had lost complete track of time during the whole move-in. It was now 2:30 in the freaking morning. What if the guards wouldn’t allow him to visit Olivia this late? Well, to hell with them. He wasn’t going to wait till morning to see her again.

But he took his time getting there, as impatient as he was. Too many thoughts were weighing him down forcing him to look at the concrete more than where he was going.

When he looked up again, he found himself instantly stepping back into an alleyway. He had to look again to see what made him respond so quickly. Peter noticed that he was only a couple of blocks away from the hospital. A white van was parked halfway down. Two men stepped out.

One of them, he knew immediately was Harold Ziegler. He was carrying a large duffle bag of sorts. Peter still couldn’t get a good view of the other guy, only that he was tall and old looking.

Carefully Peter walked in the shadows away from the streetlights and got closer to the scene. The two men were now entering another alley across the street, and Peter quietly followed.

“I suppose you will be doing it,” said Ziegler. “Seeing that the building is storming with FBI. They probably have my face on a flyer in there.”

“Agent Dunham and I have met once before,” said the other as he took the strange bag from Ziegler’s hands. “I will explain the situation calmly to her and she might possibly cooperate.”

“I have my doubts about that,” said Ziegler. “You might want to take a gun with you.”

Peter stepped into the dark alley, hoping to identify the other man without being seen.

“Have the van ready at the back entrance. If anyone from the Cult gets here before we do…then I WILL have use for a gun. And that’s when you will have to activate the device.”

A sudden clanging noise. Peter wasn’t sure if he was the one who caused it.

“Someone’s here!” cried Ziegler.

The other man flashed a light at Peter and he grinned. “Peter Bishop…I don’t believe my eyes.”

Peter was blinded and confused to respond to the man, who seemed VERY familiar…yet he couldn’t recall from where.

“Dammit,” said Ziegler. “He’ll ruin everything!” Ziegler charged at Peter causing the two men to wrestle with each other once more. The feud and confrontations with this man was getting old in Peter's opinion.

“Ziegler!” the other man called. “Take him away from here. Someone else is coming!”

Ziegler grabbed Peter and threw him around the corner of the alley behind an abandoned building, punching him until Peter fell to the ground. Peter was still conscious when he found a rusting pipe of sorts. He picked it up and slammed Ziegler unconscious.

Peter was about to turn back into the alley, ready to go after the other man, when he saw another figure entering. He stepped back to watch once more. It was a woman this time, and she immediately pulled out a gun on the other man forcing him to raise his hands in a form of surrender.

“Evening, Emmeline,” the man greeted calmly. “I must say that I am not pleased with the way you treated Agent Dunham when you delivered the child, and neither will Guinevere…”

“Quiet!” she said. “Don’t you dare talk about Guinevere like that, you traitor! You never cared about the cult at all! All this time you acted like an advisor to her…you told her to use a Cortexiphan soldier to carry the child but now I see right through you!"

“I never lied about their usefulness.”

“But you lied about their purpose, didn’t you? You didn’t create them to protect Guinevere. You’re using them to destroy her…and you were planning to steal the child to ensure you win. Tell me the truth. You ARE the Mole, Dr. William Bell!”

Peter froze. Did that woman just called him…Bell? William Bell? It couldn’t be this was all hurting his brain. How in the world did William Bell become involved in all of this?!

“I am exactly what you have discovered,” Bell confessed. “I was arranging to retrieve Agent Dunham and the child to take them to a safe location. I have also ensured that the cult does not interfere so that we may prepare for the destruction of the other world.”

Emmeline angrily held a tighter grip on her gun. “How dare you…I won’t let you!”

William Bell began to wrestle with the woman hoping to get the gun out of her hands. Peter was unsure as to whether or not to intervene. It was all too confusing…too shocking. He didn’t know who to trust.

It was too late to make a choice. He heard a gunshot.

William Bell fell over. Emmeline was looking down at him putting the gun back in her pants and taking the strange duffle bag from the ground.

“Once I tell Guinevere of your treacherous deeds…she will have no choice to but approve the destruction and conquest of this world.” She then disappeared back into the streets.

Peter ran over to the ailing man’s side. Bell was still breathing, but it would not last. Peter knew this as he watched blood spew out of the bullet wound in Bell’s chest. The man was looking at him now…with both greeting and sadness.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Peter said to him. “You’re William Bell?”

Bell nodded. “’ell ‘er…”

“Huh?” Peter leaned in to listen more closely. Bell was coughing up blood. “Tell…Miss Dunham…Tell Wal-ter…that I’m…sorry.”

Bell coughed again…the last exhale of life.

Peter just stood there, over Bell’s dead body confounded…

“SHIT!”

He ran out of the alley and ran down the street…searching for the woman as he kept moving.

It finally registered in Peter’s mind that she was heading towards the hospital. For now, all the shock of Bell’s death and involvement would have to be put on hold. That woman, who killed Bell in cold blood, was part of the cult…

…now she would go after the child…after Olivia.

He ran blindly faster knowing this time…failure wasn’t an option.

He had to get to Olivia first.

Come on, people. Just admit that you like these character twists and cliffhangers so much :)...I do what I can to annoy my readers anyway.

I guess I will be doing my updates in intervals. Update to "Growing Up in the Dark" should occur around Sunday-ish. Toodles.