A/N - So here it is folks, the new story. Slow chapter to start but that's never a bad thing :)

This one is based on a four hour conversation I had with my little sister. To be fair, that is where this entire idea came from.

This one sits in the lovely gap of season four and five.

So read, enjoy and review

Chapter One – It's Not Us, It's Them

Peter resisted the urge to laugh, knowing that it was a possible death sentence if he did. Olivia was already self-conscious enough without him adding to it. Olivia paused, licked her fingers before taking a breath and continuing. He thought that getting the cooked chicken from the deli was a good idea. It was quicker than cooking it at home and he figured it would do lunch as well as dinner. He had been wrong. Olivia had been like a bloodhound as soon as he walked through the door. He hadn't even had a chance to make a salad before she started eating it, tearing off a drumstick and munching away while she got the plates. He took a couple of slices from the breast and then sat back and watched his normally demure wife gobble down the rest. He knew that a woman's appetite increased with pregnancy but he was still deeply impressed. She never seemed to get full. And it was highly amusing. Olivia had rounded out nicely and Peter found her just as sexy with curves as he did with her normally lanky frame. He sometimes idly wondered why she wasn't the size of the house considering the torrent of food that always seemed to enter her system.

"Aren't you hungry?"

Peter glanced down at his plate, realizing he had only eaten half his food.

"I'm fine. I had a big lunch."

Olivia nodded before finishing off the last of the chicken.

"That was delicious."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Olivia smiled slightly.

"I need something sweet to finish it off."

This time Peter couldn't help the chuckle. Olivia, her head in the fridge, turned to glare at him.

"Something funny?"

Peter held up his hands.

"No, nothing at all."

Olivia sat back down, having found something that appealed. It was the other half of a cheesecake that Walter had made. Peter shook his head when she offered him some, watching as she cleaned off the plate quickly. She sat back with a sigh, a hand over her expanding belly.

"That was great. Remind me to thank Walter again for that cheesecake."

"You mean the one that produced dry-wrenching yesterday?"

Olivia smiled.

"I know. Your child can't make up its mind."

Peter started clearing up the kitchen, hearing Olivia migrate to the living room and switch on the T.V. It had been a long day. And it wasn't because of work. He was tired from defending Olivia and her right to keep working. If this was any other job, she would fine right up until the day she delivered. But with Fringe, it was risky. But Peter had decided to ignore the risks because he knew what not working would do to his wife. She would go nuts. She liked to keep moving, it helped, not only with her sanity but also with the pregnancy. She wouldn't take any risks, he knew that He had watched more than once when Olivia had taken a back seat to the action. But the FBI seemed determined to put her on home arrest. Walter had backed Peter up, saying he would refuse to work with another agent and they had managed to buy a little more time. Peter wanted to keep Olivia happy, that was his entire reason for being sometimes. If she was happy, so was he, simple as that. He had made the promise in his wedding vows and he wasn't going to turn his back on it just because she was pregnant. She was still his Olivia Dunham. Well, Bishop now. He had to keep reminding himself of that.

"Peter, come and see this."

Peter flicked the light off in the kitchen and moved into the living room. Olivia lifted her feet and placed them on his lap. She was watching the news.

"Apparently, Dr Duncan Freelancer is missing."

"Who?"

"The guy that was working on brain degeneration."

"Oh. You mean the zombie doctor?"

Olivia shook her head.

"There's no such thing as zombies."

Peter smiled.

"Maybe not Night of The Living Dead but people being reanimated? Not really my idea of good science."

"It's interesting though. I mean, he could have wiped dementia off the face of the earth."

"Yeah but did you hear why he's not doing it on human trials?"

Olivia shook her head.

"It's because something happened to the rats. They turned on each other."

"That's why they start on rats. Just imagine if the science could work. It's sad that it was cut off like that."

"How long has he been missing?"

"Two weeks. It was only reported today because he was a bit of a recluse. He missed his meeting with one of his interns and she got concerned."

"So you're telling me that you agree with all of this?"

Olivia shrugged.

"I think so. All science has to start somewhere, right?"

Peter shook his head before tugging off Olivia's socks and starting the ritual of rubbing her feet. She had just started having issues with swelling and they quickly discovered that nightly rubs made it easier on her.

"You have been hanging out with Walter way too much."

"Are you saying my new father-in-law has been a bad influence on me?"

"He's always been a bad influence. It just seems to have gotten worse."

Olivia laughed.

"Walter just explained some things to me."

"What exactly did he explain?"

"Well, there are diseases, real ones, that cause people to act the way zombies do. And I only say that because there is no other comparison. Lack of physical control, delusions and madness."

"Like what?"

"Mad cow disease for one thing."

"Ok, so far I'm with you."

"And there are tribes that still preform cannibalism where the same brain degeneration is present and it's called Prion or Kuru, depending on who you speak to."

"I am deeply impressed."

"By what?"

"Just how much you know about all of this."

"What, you don't think I pay attention when Walter gives his lectures?"

"No, I just thought you dismissed it. Like I do."

"Normally, yes."

Peter chuckled. In the time that she had been pregnant, Olivia had shown some little shifts in her personality and emotions. She was easy to tear up, her frustrations levels were through the roof and she was softer somehow. She would turn to mush over the puppies in the park and seemed to take on sympathies for people that didn't deserve it. And to Peter, this Dr Freelance was one of them. He had seen the destruction that science could do. And the destruction that a man without straight thoughts could produce. In fact both he and Olivia had lived through it time and time again.

"So, are you going to tell me that you want this case now?"

Olivia shook her head.

"No. I was just saying that it was sad. There's nothing Fringe worthy about it."

"That sounds like a good thing."

"True. But I like this little bout of peace, why jinx it?"

Peter smiled and finished off Olivia's foot massage before sliding off the sofa and kneeling on the floor, looking over their DVD collection.

"So what did we establish were bad movies for you?"

"Anything with dogs."

"Check. Marley and Me is a no go. What else?"

He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. Since she had gotten pregnant, vegeing out like this had become one of their favourite things to do. So much so, that they had to add to their DVD collection to mix things up.

"No romance. Oh what about Resident Evil?"

Peter turned on his heel to look at her.

"Are you serious?"

Olivia smiled.

"Yes."

Peter sighed.

"I get the feeling all this zombie talk should have me concerned. But I'm going to mark it up to hormones. Right, which one?"

"The first one. And technically, you're not right by the way."

"How so?"

Peter popped the DVD into the player changed the settings on the TV before settling back on the sofa.

"On Resident Evil, the people are infected by a virus. Remember? The release of the toxin?"

"Perhaps we should pick another movie? One that you don't know the plot of."

"Nope. I like this one, it's funny."

Peter shook his head, wondering at the working of the pregnant woman's mind. How could someone so incredibly logical and intelligent be reduced to discussing zombies? Olivia shifted on the sofa, snuggling into Peter's side as the movie started, a small smile on her face.