Daunting - chapter 5 by Xeen No copyright inFringement intended Note: set a few days after "AbilitY". So Peter has a new flat, but he can't sleep.... Prologue Coffee, What Else? Ground Control to Major Tom The Quiet Man Lest Ye Be Judged -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o - WITH A VENGEANCE Olivia dashed to her car, unlocked the doors and waited for Peter to get in. "We could have given Astrid a lift…" he said, dropping onto the passenger's seat. He fastened the seat belt and glanced at Olivia, wondering why? she didn't answer right away. "Probably," she finally said. She started the engine and drove away from her parking spot out of the campus and to the city. He sighed and half turned to her, his shoulder to the window ridge. "Okay... so I take it you're mad at me…" "Yep," she said crossly, her hands clenched on the steering wheel. She gave a quick look on both sides of the avenue and turned left, leaving Harvard and Cambridge behind her. "Where are we going? At least, you can tell me that much." "Nope." "For what it's worth Olivia, I should have told you way before. My mistake. I don't know what I was thinking." "Not much I guess," she snapped. She squinted, obviously annoyed at letting her inner turmoil show. "What is that supposed to mean?" he rasped. "Exactly what you think it means," she stated matter-of-factly. "You're supposedly bright but continuously fail to demonstrate it." "Olivia, please I'm too tired for that bicker." "I bet you are. And how do you expect me to react to that information?" "I-I… I have no clue," he stuttered. "You're an essential part of my team…" "Am I?" he teased her. She barely winced. "… and I'd hate to think that not only you're dumb but that you cannot be trusted." "I can't believe you just said that. God Olivia, do you mean that after all we've gone through during these last months, you still don't trust me? I thought that…" "Whatever you were thinking, you were wrong," she cut him abruptly. "Look at you. You're a wreck. I need my people to be in top shape. For god's sake, when I look at you all I see is someone fit for a casting call in the remake of "The Night of the Living Dead"." "Oh… I see. I'm sorry to disappoint you but there's not much I can do about that. I haven't been able to find my beauty sleep lately." "Except for last night." "And you left me!" he whined unwillingly. "You can't have it both ways Peter," Olivia retorted. "On the one hand, you're complaining about your insomnia and on the other hand, you want me to wake you up when you fall asleep. You don't make sense, really." She stopped at an orange light and rapped nervously on the wheel, checking the cars behind her in the mirror and avoiding purposely to look at him. "Do I really look like a guy with a plan?" he tried. "Sorry," she said, her face undecipherable, "not a Batman fan." The light turned green and she put her foot down, speeding down Massachusetts Avenue. Peter remained silent, surprised at his first glimpse of a very angry Olivia. That was the first time since they met in Iraq that she seemed immune to his charm. That was not in character. There was more to it than just a technicality over work and the whole shebang, he could smell something personal though he couldn't quite nail the feeling. His eyes went back to the road ahead and he leaned against the window, welcoming the contact with the cool surface. He knew first hand that she could be short tempered but this, this was new. Instead of driving smoothly through the traffic, she started to push the engine and race between the cars. He closed his eyes and tried to understand why she was so upset. The car pulled over with a screeching of tyres and he woke up. His eyes snapped open but he was too tired to focus. "We are here," she said. TBC |
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