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When the Observers came, they were not quiet. They - the members of Fringe Division - had expected stealth. Insinuation, infiltration. Instead, the Observer menace had exploded on the world, an invasion force. They demonstrated their power and became like gods. Those who did not worship at least understood - they were an invading force, and humanity was subjugated. It happened so much more quickly than anyone might have guessed. Than anyone had planned for.
Henrietta’s nursery still sat empty in the little house with the brown picket fence, unused, furniture half assembled, forgotten.
***
Olivia lightly stroked the top of Henrietta’s head, the baby fast asleep in her arms. She was being watched from across the room by a woman who she had known of, but never met, until four weeks ago. Dana Scully, whose signature graced better than half of the old case files from the early days of Fringe Division. Broyles knew her and had gotten them in touch with each other - the last thing he was able to for Olivia, before she, Peter, and Astrid left the Fringe Division and fled Boston.
Olivia glanced up and met the other woman’s eyes. Dana smiled, a folder laying on her lap, but forgotten for the moment.
“Some resistance we’ve got here, huh?” Olivia said, but quietly, as not to disturb the sleeping infant she held. She smiled without humor. “Six people - one of which is a crazy old scientist that tends to piss himself - and a baby. The Observers must be shaking in their... hats.”
Dana shrugged. She stood and stretched, then made her way to Olivia’s side, crouching near the arm of her chair. She studied Henrietta, her funny little slightly misshapen baby head, her scrunchy face, and pink cheeks and eyelids. Once upon a time, perhaps even as recently as a few months ago, Dana would have felt a twinge in her heart and a lump in her throat upon seeing a mother and baby like this. Together. But now, all she felt was hope. Hope for a better future for this baby, and her own, wherever he was.
“Resistances have started before with fewer numbers and less resources than we have, and been successful,” Dana said finally, standing up again. “And we have the best weapon of all. Knowledge. We know who they are, and what they are. We can fight them.”
Dana put a reassuring hand on Olivia’s shoulder. She nodded and placed her hand over Dana’s, grateful for her support. Though they had known each other for only a short time, they had quickly become close. Dana had spent a lot of time with Olivia the last three weeks of her pregnancy. The others often had to leave their little cabin in the woods - meeting potential contacts for the war against the Observers, gathering supplies, and so on. Walter was usually around, but he had been fairly useless at that stage of Olivia’s pregnancy, unable to do little more than cook her waffles that she could take only a bite or two of at a time.
Dana had opted to stay behind most of the time. She had helped Olivia bundle up in clothes so they could take walks through the snowy woods. She had rubbed Olivia’s back when the pain twinged so badly that there was no comfortable position she could lay in. And most of all, Dana had been there to comfort her. She had been a mother, once, and was a doctor - she was the most qualified of any of their little group to help, particularly when it came time for the birth, since they couldn’t risk going to a hospital. Going through an experience like that brings two women together, regardless of how well they knew each other at the start. They had become close, and Dana was glad for it.
She was broken from her reverie by the sound of someone shuffling into the living room. She looked around, and caught sight of Peter. They nodded a greeting at each other and she moved back to her seat across the room, giving the two a bit of privacy.
“You shouldn’t stay up all night,” he said sleepily to Olivia, yawning in the middle of his sentence.
“I’d rather watch her sleep than sleep myself,” Olivia said. Peter lightly brushed the back of his fingers across Henrietta’s cheek. The baby made a small gurgling noise and fidgeted before stilling again.
“I get that,” he said. Peter leaned down and kissed Olivia on the top of her head. “Just make sure you get some rest too.”
“I’ll see to it,” Dana spoke up from her seat, and she and Peter shared a smile. He said goodnight, and moved down the dim hallway to the bedrooms.
“He’s got the right idea,” Dana said to Olivia. She straightened up the files she’d been reading before putting them aside, and bid Olivia goodnight, after coaxing a promise from her that she would sleep soon.
She made her way to the tiny bedroom in the back that she and Fox shared. Dana slipped inside as quietly as she could, not bothering to turn on the light so as not to wake him. But it didn’t matter, as she could tell from his breathing that he was awake. It seemed the Bishop men were the only ones able to get any regular sleep, as if the stress of invasion and threat of death was about as worrisome as forgetting to take out the trash. And the baby, of course, who slept like a rock. Dana figured it must be genetic.
Dana shed her clothes and slipped on a t-shirt, then crawled under the covers. Arms encircled her, and she twisted around in bed so she was facing Fox. She could easily make out the features of his face - the harsh moonlight outside was reflecting and bouncing off the snow covering every surface, and lighting up the interior of the room fairly well. His eyes were closed. Dana leaned in and kissed him, almost modestly at first, but then harder. The emotions of the events from past few months poured out of her - an invaded world, their gone but not forgotten son, the agony of loss and the miracle of new life, and a fervent desire to fight against those bald headed sons of bitches.
Dana had not said much over the past little while. Not since she had gotten that mysterious call from an old colleague and she and Fox had ended up joining forces with the newest team from the X-files (Fringe Division, she was always mentally reminding herself). But now she tried to communicate everything she’d been feeling, as if one heated kiss in the moonlit dark could ever fully convey it.
When Dana pulled back, Fox opened his eyes, reaching out to stroke her hair. He didn’t say anything. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he understood already.
***
Olivia had lied about promising Dana that she would sleep. She loved to stay awake until the sun rose. It cast an orange glow across the white that surrounded them. The slight heat from its rays would warm the icicles over the window near her chair, and they would drip as they melted, slowly, the big one letting go of a water drop about once every five seconds.
She craved these mornings. They were the most normal part of each day. Everyone else was asleep, including the new little human she now had to care for. The sun was bright and alive, and the world outside was cold and quiet. She could pretend she was in Vermont, on that skiing-but-not-actually vacation that Peter had promised her. She could forget of the menace that awaited them all. She could focus only on the small world outside this window, and the world held in her arms; this beautiful world.
The shadows of the trees outside grew shorter as the sun rose higher, and always by the time the closest pine’s shadow had cleared the little shed in the corner of the yard, a yawn would overtake Olivia, just as it did that morning.
“Let’s go to sleep, Henrietta,” she said. Henrietta wiggled in her arms and opened her eyes briefly - Olivia caught a flash of their brilliant blue - and then quieted again.
Olivia smiled. “It’s a new day.”