The Date

Peter and Rachel go out on their first date, leaving a jealous Olivia to babysit Ella. Peter/Olivia undertones.

This is my first serious Fringe story. It's a oneshot and will remain that way. Big thanks go to Emma who planted this idea in my head!

If you enjoyed this, or even if you didn't, reviews are really appreciated! Xx

"Thank you for agreeing to this Liv, I really appreciate it." Rachel had caught her sister's reflection in the dresser mirror, and turned to face her.

Olivia Dunham stood in the doorway, leaning her hip against the frame and watching as her baby sister prepared for her first date with Peter Bishop, keeping her eye on her niece at the same time. She had watched as Rachel applied her make up and ran a brush through her blonde curls, feeling a familiar stir somewhere inside that she refused to accept as jealousy. Olivia had tried to be rational about this, she loved her sister and Peter was important to her, so she should be happy that they had found each other, shouldn't she?

"You're welcome." She replied. "It will be good to spend some time with Ella, just the two of us." They both knew that this was not what Rachel had meant.

"Liv," Rachel began, trying to explain herself better this time but as she opened her mouth to speak the doorbell rang. "Oh my God, I'm not ready yet!" She panicked.

"I'll get the door." Olivia offered resignedly. She had planned on avoiding Peter this evening.

When Olivia opened the door, Peter Bishop was grinning but when he saw it was her rather than her younger sister, his smile flickered a little. Maybe she wasn't the only one feeling a little awkward about this situation.

"Hi Olivia," He greeted pleasantly enough but he seemed to be having trouble meeting her eye. Peter hadn't felt this ill at ease as this in her presence since he had known her.

"Hey," She replied, trying to be polite but she knew that her body language was colder and more unwelcoming than she had intended. She tried to fight against it, after all there had never been any solid evidence for Olivia to believe that Peter really cared for her. Still, it was hard for her to think of him dating her sister. They haven't even been out together yet, she scolded herself. "Come on it, Rachel is nearly ready."

Peter followed Olivia into the apartment, wishing for once that he had not decided to be early.

"Hi Peter!" Ella greeted him with far more fervour than Olivia had. Her book fell from her lap in her excitement to rush to Peter, who scooped her up into his arms. Ella let out peals of laughter as Peter spun her around in the air.

Olivia watched them, noting somewhat fruitlessly how good Peter was with children. John had hated them, she remembered.

"Sorry I'm late," Rachel apologised, stepping out of the guest bedroom as Peter set Ella back down on her feet.

Olivia felt the same pang again, the one she refused to acknowledge as jealousy. It had always been this way between the two sisters though. Growing up, Rachel could have had any boy she wanted, but she always seemed to set her sights on the ones Olivia wanted. It appeared that, even after all these years had passed, not much had really changed.

"Be a good girl for Aunt Liv," She heard Rachel telling her daughter. She gave Ella a kiss on the cheek and turned to Olivia. "See you later sis, but don't worry about waiting up."

Olivia remembered telling them to have a good evening but it was like she wasn't in control of her own tongue, or her heart. All part of her really wanted to do was to mope around with a glass of wine all evening but she suppressed the urge and psyched herself up to entertain her niece.

"What do you want to tonight then?" Olivia asked, checking to make sure the door was locked. Back in the living room, she ruffled Ella's hair affectionately.

"Baking!" She announced. "Let's bake cakes...or cookies!" Her brow crinkled with the enormity of the decision. Olivia just hoped that they had the right ingredients.

They went through to the small kitchen together and Olivia began opening up the cupboards. She was relieved to find that Rachel had been shopping recently. Together, niece and aunt weighed, stirred and mixed together the ingredients. The simple task of baking was a million miles from Olivia's day to day life, and she welcomed the reprieve. She wondered idly what it would be like to live Rachel's life rather than her own.

They put the cakes into the oven and Olivia helped Ella to clean herself up. Tired, the two of them curled up on the couch to watch one of Ella's favourite movies. Olivia could feel the little girl beginning to doze off in her arms and she was just about to put her to bed when her phone vibrated to life on the coffee table. She grabbed for it, not wanting the noise to disturb Ella.

Olivia answered the call, waiting until the she was at the other end of the room before she spoke and keeping her voice low. "Dunham."

"Liv, it's Charlie. Sorry to disturb your evening but we have a situation and Broyles wants you here."

"Charlie," She began, looking over at her niece who was awake again. At that moment the oven timer beeped.

"Cakes!" Ella smiled delightedly, running for the kitchen.

Olivia went after her, knowing she would never forgive herself if Ella got burned. Rachel probably wouldn't either. The cell phone was still pressed to her ear and she committed the address Charlie gave her to memory before disconnecting the call. She took the cakes from the oven, sliding them onto a wire rack to cool.

"Ella, I've got to go and do something for work. Can you be a good girl for me and wait in the car?"

Ella nodded soberly, looking up at Olivia. "Can we take the cakes with us?"

Liv smiled, putting the cakes in a polythene bag and handing one to her niece. Ten minutes after Charlie's call and they were in the car on the way to the address he had provided. Before she got out of the car, Olivia turned to Ella.

"I need you to listen to me," She said. "I'm going to lock you in the car, and you must not unlock the doors for anyone, okay?"

Ella nodded. "If you need me, press this button here." Olivia pointed to the switch on the car Bluetooth. "There's a bottle of water in the glove compartment but I shouldn't be long."

"Okay," Ella replied. "I'll be okay, Aunt Liv."

Olivia smiled. "I know you will." She kissed Ella's cheek and then shut, and locked the car doors. She trudged across the damp grass to where Agent Francis was waiting for her.

"Who's that?" Charlie asked when Liv caught up to him.

"My sister's kid, Ella." She replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but why is she here?"

"My sister is on a date, with Peter." She had no idea why she was telling Charlie this. "And I offered to babysit."

Charlie looked mildly shocked. "You should've said, we could have managed without you Olivia."

"I'm not staying long," She replied, before asking him to explain the case to her.

Olivia returned to her car twenty minutes later. Nothing could be determined until the autopsy was performed and Walter would run tests on the unusual rash the male victim bore. When she unlocked the car and opened the driver's side door, she saw that Ella was eating cake and listening to the radio.

"I saved you one." Ella said, looking up at her aunt.

"Thank you," Olivia smiled at the little girl. "We'd better get you home before I get in trouble with your mom."

She turned on the engine and started towards home, her mind still preoccupied by thoughts of Rachel and Peter's date. She wondered how their evening would end; a kiss outside her apartment door perhaps? Back at Peter's place? Olivia had to suppress a laugh at the thought of them trying to have sex with Walter in the next room. She didn't need to have worried about it though because when she and Ella arrived back at her apartment, Rachel and Peter were already there.

"Oh, Ella!" Rachel exclaimed, running towards her daughter and enveloping her in a hug. "I've been worried sick." She said coldly to her sister. "I tried calling you over and over."

Olivia took her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and saw that the battery was now dead.

"I'm sorry Rach, I didn't think you'd be home so soon." She apologised.

"We'll talk about it later." Rachel replied, taking Ella into the bedroom and shutting the door, leaving Olivia and Peter standing about awkwardly in the living room.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that." Olivia said quietly, trying to make eye contact with Peter.

"It's okay," He brushed a hand down her arm in a soothing gesture.

"How was your evening?" Olivia asked, knowing it was the right thing to say but not wanting to know the answer all the same.

"Your sister is a lovely woman." Peter's blue eyes burned with something Olivia could not read or understand.

Liv nodded. "We've got a case, and it's a nasty one." She said, reverting to topics they were both more at ease with.

Peter didn't look particularly surprised. "Goodnight 'Livia."

Olivia smiled softly, letting him out of the apartment. "Goodnight."

When he was gone, Olivia sat on the couch, resting her forehead on her palms.

"Is he gone?" Rachel asked, closing the bedroom door softly behind her so as not to wake Ella. Liv nodded in response and Rachel moved closer to where her sister was sitting. "Ella is okay; sound asleep."

"I'm sorry Rachel, we were only gone for half an hour. I never would've let any harm come to her."

"I know." The younger Dunham sister replied with a sigh, finding some glasses and a bottle of wine. "Ella wants to be an FBI agent now." She said, helplessly fighting against a smile.

Olivia smiled too. "She'll grow out of it, I hope." She took a long sip of wine before speaking again. "So, how was your date?"

Rachel kicked off her high heels and reached for her wine, curling into ball in the corner of the couch. "Peter's great. Sweet, funny and a good listener." Olivia already knew all of this but she kept quiet. "But it's hard work being on a date with a guy who talks almost constantly about your sister."

Olivia concentrated fully on swallowing her mouthful of wine. "Will you be going out again?"

Rachel shook her head emphatically. "No, it may have been the best first date I've ever been on, but no." She drained the last of her wine. "I'm going to bed, sis. Goodnight."

"'Night Rachel." Olivia replied but she made no move towards her own bedroom. She savoured a sip of wine, thinking about what Rachel had said, a small smile playing around her lips.