Okay this chapter had to be fixed. Let's hope that it is now.

Please read and review.


Olivia wasn't panicking yet. Emphasis on the "yet". She'd called the lab to get Astrid who was just receiving the new body she'd had sent to the lab and also keeping an eye on Walter who was apparently a little rambunctious in his excitement of a new body. Peter however, was nowhere to be found. She'd called their house and his cell phone and got no response from either source. So now instead of driving straight back to the lab after the never ending raid on a warehouse downtown she was speeding toward his place, wondering if she'd find another crime scene and if she didn't she wasn't sure if she would kill him for making her worry. She'd pulled up to the house and rushed out of the vehicle and bound up the stairs, Kevlar vest and gun holsters still on complete with guns. Her braided hair whipped from side to side as she hurried to his door and burst in without knocking.

The place was absolutely empty as far as she could tell from her place in the entrance. Olivia was torn between calling out for him and searching each room as if she were still on a raid. Nothing seemed out of place, but Olivia decided to err on the side of caution as she unholstered the gun from her shoulder and crept around the house with her back hugging walls and poking her head into rooms with her gun pointed at the floor. When she'd cleared each room in the house, she really began to worry. Thinking about calling the lab again to check and see if he hadn't just been in route and she was just being foolish, Olivia paused at the back door. Deciding that she might as well be thorough she exited out into the backyard, letting her gaze sweep the entirety of it before she turned to go in.

"A little decked out for a visit, aren't you?"

Olivia spun around and pointed her gun in the direction of the voice only to see Peter sitting on a large branch of an oak tree with his hands raised in surrender.

"Peter! You scared the shit out of me!" Olivia immediately lowered her gun and holstered it. "What in the hell are you doing up there and why don't you have your cell phone?"

"Whoa there! What'd I do to deserve the third degree interrogation?" Peter asked defensively.

Olivia wanted to tell him, but she knew he'd read into it and he would probably be right in assumptions.

"We've got a new body at the lab," she said instead, switching to case related talk rather than give away anything more.

"You were worried about me!" Peter exclaimed, not even bothering with making it a question.

"I was not!" Olivia huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

He gave her a look of utter disbelief and after a few moments Olivia rolled her eyes and her posture relaxed.

"Fine, but just a little. But it's only because 90% of the time you're in trouble, causing trouble, or diving head first into trouble," Olivia said with a raised brow and smirk on her face.

"Look who's talking!" Peter laughed. "Someone promised us a day off though and it's not my fault if I want to take it."

"That was before the dead body turned up – which wasn't my fault." Olivia countered.

"Well, is the body running anywhere right now?" Peter asked.

"Uh, no…" Olivia said tentatively.

"Then I'm spending the rest of my day up here. I'll check it out tomorrow." Peter said decisively, leaning back on the thick trunk like branch.

"But- "

"You could always come up here and make me leave," Peter winked down at her and chuckled at her obvious annoyance, but he started from his place when she began to untie her boots and remove her holsters and vest. "Wait – you can climb trees? Why am I not too surprised by that," Peter pondered out loud.

"I don't know but you shouldn't," Olivia said as she began circling the tree, trying to find the easiest way up until she settled on a medium branch that separated from the tree's main trunk about four feet off the ground. Pulling herself up, she surprised Peter by swinging herself up to straddle the branch rather gracefully and then up to her feet to stand on the branch with the balance of a professional acrobat.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" Peter said, watching her carefully as she navigated the tree's branches on her feet and swung from branch to branch until she too was on his larger branch.

"I spent eight years doing gymnastics as a kid. I guess it was a little more engrained than I thought." Olivia bent over so that her feet and hands were both on the trunk and she dropped her legs out to the sides and lowered herself so that she was sitting just a foot away from him.

Peter stared at her with his mouth gaping open in shock. Olivia laughed at him before gently bumping his chin up to close his mouth.

"Get to know me a bit," she grinned devilishly at him. "So do I just push you out of this tree to get you down or what?" Olivia eyed the earth beneath him and Peter began to back up in panic. "I'm only kidding, Peter!" She laughed at him; head thrown back and with her whole body and Peter dropped his guard as he watched her.

He'd always thought Olivia Dunham was too attractive for her own good, but seeing her act so carefree was a completely different kind of beautiful that he just wasn't used to seeing. Peter felt his heart begin to race and his stomach flip as affection for the woman before him settled into his being. He had been good at fighting it up until now, but he couldn't deny it now.

"So what are you doing up here anyways?" Olivia asked, making herself as comfortable as she could get while sitting in a tree.

"I thought I'd enjoy the first day of autumn from some place quiet," Peter said.

"So Walter doesn't know about this place then, huh?" Olivia smiled.

"Nope, and neither did this pesky FBI agent I know, but now that's over." Peter said sarcastically.

"Hey! You didn't have to say anything. I hadn't seen you in this tree." Olivia countered.

"What and let you go raise the alarm and have the rest of the SWAT team searching the house?" Peter laughed when Olivia didn't deny it. He was just adjusting his seat on the tree when he lost his balance and started tipping off to the side. "Shi- "

Olivia reached out with lightning quick reflexes born of many years served in the military and FBI training and took his hand in hers, but he was heavier than she had anticipated and she ended up falling over right after him. Peter landed in a decent pile of leaves that he had thankfully raked that morning, but then Olivia fell right on top of him, forcing all the air out of his lungs. Olivia sat up and realized she was now straddling Peter who had landed on his back and was gasping for air.

"Sorry," Olivia stammered. "Are you okay?"

Peter laughed mid-gasp and nodded. "As good as I can be for having fallen out of a tree. You?"

"Well I had something soft and squishy to land on, so I'm fine." Olivia smiled down at him, still not budging from her position.

"Squishy? Hey, I am not squishy!" Peter said, mocking outrage as he tipped her over and wrestled her beneath him and held her arms pinned above her head. They were so busy laughing that neither had noticed the new position and all its implications for a few minutes, but when they did their laughing came to a nervous stop and Olivia's cheeks flushed a shade of pink that wasn't due to the cold.

Peter lowered himself until their faces were a foot apart and he really looked at her. Dilated green eyes that seemed to be flashing at him, the faintest dusting of freckles across her rosy nose and cheeks, and very soft and kissable looking lips that were slightly parted. His eyes seemed to be transfixed on those lips of hers that practically begged to be tasted and explored. Peter was about to force his gaze away when her head rose to his and their lips met in a soft kiss. Peter froze and his eyes widened in shock before he gave into the sensation of her supple lips yielding to his and he angled his head to deepen the kiss, easing her head down to the leaves below her. Peter's hand eased from around her wrists and moved to her waist and her hands twined themselves around his neck and into his hair, pulling him closer so that his building state of arousal was pressed between her legs. Olivia gasped in surprise and Peter quickly pulled away in panic, only to have her pull him back down and grind her hips up into his, making him groan into her mouth. She took advantage of his groan and slipped her tongue past his defenses and eased it into his mouth and began exploring every crevice until his tongue entwined with hers causing her to shiver beneath him.

Olivia slipped her hands underneath the hem of his t-shirt and slid her fingers up his bare torso until her palms lay flat on his chest making goose bumps raise where ever she touched. She explored the expanse of his torso, reveling in the muscles that tightened and loosened beneath her roaming touch. Peter let his fingers drag the length of her side before he reached the bottom of her shirt and inched his fingers and then hand underneath to feel her warm bare skin. Yelping into his mouth in surprise, Olivia's body arched into his touch so that their bodies pressed together along every inch of their fronts. Encouraged by her reaction to his touch, Peter moved his hand up until it brushed the underside of her right breast and he was rewarded with an all over body shiver as she wriggled underneath him. He traced his fingers and hand over her stomach, feeling the dip from her ribs to open stomach and then her belly button and every time he got close to her breasts he would pull back and slide his hand down until her body fairly hummed in anticipation.

"Peter, please…" She whined, breaking their kiss for only a moment.

Unable to deny her anything, Peter's hand enveloped the whole of her right breast and rolled it in his hand, squeezing and brushing his thumb over her already erect nipple. Olivia's head tipped back in ecstasy, breaking their kiss as she groaned her pleasure for anyone to hear. Peter was now painfully hard as he watched his gorgeous partner reacting to his touch like a violin being played by a prodigy. Soon her fingers were fumbling at his belt and working the button loose on his jeans to release his erection from the confines of its painful prison making him groan in relief. Her hand wound itself around his arousal and she caressed him through the fabric of his boxers until he was fairly certain he would embarrass himself if she continued. Quickly stealing her hand with his, he brought it up beside her head.

Olivia pulled back looking like a cross between confused and embarrassed when he smirked at her.

"You're not playing very fair," Peter said huskily and moved his hand away from hers to undo the button and zipper on her jeans. Olivia lifted her hips so that her jeans could be shimmied down until they were lost in the leaves behind Peter. Peter's hand moved from her knee up her leg until he brushed the fabric on her hip. He paused and broke their kiss to stare into her eyes, pleading with her silently for what he wanted and needed. Lucky for him, Olivia understood and took his hand in hers and guided it towards the apex of her legs. His hand brushed the drenched fabric and he groaned in appreciation. "God, Livia…"

Olivia bucked her hips further into his hand letting out a throaty moan that sent a shiver down his spine and made his erection throb in pleasure.

"Can't… wait…" She moaned, and brushed her hand up the length of him and then parted the fabric so that his hard on came free of the material and it was her hand sliding over the bare length of him. He rested his forehead on her shoulder as her fingers teased him to the edge.

"Sweetheart, stop, please… I can't take much more." Peter whispered huskily. He pulled his head back to see her giving him a wicked grin before she guided him toward her center with a silent plea. Nodding, he hooked a finger into the crotch of her panties and moved them to the side and he pressed his arousal into her slowly, savoring every new inch as it came until he was completely sheathed in her.

A rush of tears came to Olivia as she fought the feeling of just how right this felt and she blinked them away quickly so he wouldn't see.

"Livia," Peter groaned. He looked into her eyes and then lowered his lips to kiss hers. "I think I'm dreaming…" He murmured against her lips.

Despite their current position, Olivia blushed and smiled coyly. "If you wake up I'll have to come and kill you," Olivia murmured back, placing a sweet and loving kiss on his lips.

Peter chuckled and finally began to move, causing them both to forget about talking all together as their bodies parted and then joined back together in a rhythm that left their defenses blown away by the autumn wind. Olivia wrapped her legs around his hips loosely and her hands twined his hair only to travel lower so that her nails bit into the flesh of his back in ecstasy. Peter's pace quickened and their breathing became labored with hints of moans and something more. In one last shuddering moan, Olivia called out his name as her body shivered and convulsed around him, drawing out his pleasure until he too came murmuring her name while burying himself deep within her. Time seemed to start again as the cool autumn breeze caressed their bodies sweating bodies and the temperature seemed to drop drastically. Reality settled on them like a prickly blanket and they slowly pulled apart to get dressed again and fix their clothes.

Emotions warred in Peter's mind as he grappled with what to say or do to make everything alright again, but then he felt her hand slip into his and squeeze reassuringly. He stared down into her eyes that seemed so calm and confident.

"One step at a time, Bishop." She said, smiling up at him.

Peter squeezed her hand in return and smiled back.

"Right. One step."