Prologue:
-Five Year Ago-
Solid arms encircled Maxine Gibson's middle, making her smile. "You're late." she declared.
"Sorry, I was working on this amazing surprise for this amazing woman I know." Carver Hawkins, Max's long term boyfriend- oh, to admit it at her age…- pressed a kiss to her cheek.
It was a small barbeque and pool party at the not-so-small upstate villa of Terry McGinnis. A few of her goddaughter Alexis McGinnis' friends ran around, hitting each other with water and scarfing hot dogs. It was a retro affair, with Lexi's father Terry McGinnis, manning the grill. Other parents rounded out the chaperoning group of adults, most of whom were sitting in the shape talking. The party had started almost an hour ago, and Max had been worried Carver had shade, abandoned by their children. Again. Lately, he had been like that, forgetting arrangements, dates and the like. To know it was for her made it somewhat more palatable.
"Oh?" she murmured, returning a kiss of her own to his firm lips.
"Uh-huh, but she'll have to wait-" A sudden burst of cold water hit the bikini clad biochemist on the back. She gave a sharp squeak and turned around to see Lexi with a water gun a few feet away, in front of the grill. Clad in a light purple tankini ensemble her mother had foisted onto her an hour ago in lieu of the dark green swimsuit Lexi favored, she looked like an impish little sprite, her shoulder length jet black hair hiding devil horns most likely.
"Kissing is gross." the ten year old declared, smirking before raising her Super Assault Soaker IV at the couple and dousing them.
"Lexi!" her mother Dana Tan-McGinnis, hissed at the Asian American girl.
"What?" the suddenly innocent girl smiled.
Reaching under her chair, Max slowly pulled out her own Mega H2O Blaster and pumped it once. A quick glance confirmed that Lexi was still distracted by her mother. Winking at Carver, she unleashed a steady stream of chilled water on her goddaughter and, accidentally, her good friend Dana.
"AAAEIII!" the two female screeched, catching the attention of everyone around them.
Dana wrenched the gun from her daughter's hand and fired back at Max, who dodged, leaving Carver to get soaked.
And that was how the water war began. At first it was Dana and Lexi vs Carver and Max, and then they accidently hit the Queen matriarch, who then roped the adults into a Children vs Adults war that soaked the grill and Terry. Hot dogs and hamburgers abandoned-"I guess we're having pizza, then."- the secret vigilante dove into the war with water balloons at the ready.
For half an hour, the party was in all out war, until finally the children exhausted the adults to submission. A truce was declared that involved ice cream and pizza for each child and abstaining from cleaning rooms for eternity.
Finally, after the children all went upstairs to change, Max and Carver were able to get back to the matter at hand. "So, my surprise?" she prompted.
Carver grinned, a lopsided slash of white teeth against dark mocha skin. "You really have a one-track mind, Maxie."
She wrinkled her nose at the abhorrent nickname. "Just tell me."
"Okay okay…" He got up for a second, rummaging around in his knapsack for a few moments before coming back with a small orb or something. He knelt in front of her with it like he would a box from Tiffany's, face expectant. It was black, opaque with no openings or hinges. So much for that theory, Max mentally lamented.
"You got me a ball off obsidian?"
Carver frowned. "What? No- Oh wait one second…" he went back to the sack and returned with an eye dropper. "Okay, okay….Now!" He depressed the eyedropper over the orb and she saw it dissolve the dark covering, revealing a platinum band with a mid-sized pink diamond in the middle of a set band of black- probably obsidian, since it was her favorite mineral.
"Oh, Carver, it's beautiful…" She was awestruck. It was her dream engagement ring. Not flashy or high maintenance but sedate and sweet. Like the man in front of her.
"So, will you?" he prompted.
She frowned. "Will I what?"
He blinked before sheepishly chuckling. "Oh, yeah… Will you marry me?"
Max's lips parted on a small, "oh," before she vaulted into his arms, repeating, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"
For every "yes" she pressed a kiss to his face. Around them, adults clapped and 'awe'd.
"Ew! They're kissing again!" she heard her goddaughter yelled, " Julie, get the water blaster!"
Max and Carver smiled against each other's lips. "Should we surrender, Sergeant Gibson?" chuckled Carver lowly. Their eyes twinkled at each other, her deep brown pools into his bright hazel orbs.
"Never surrender, Lieutenant Hawkins...Now hand me my blaster before she gets ammunition."
XXX
-The Present-
"Hey, Lieutenant Hawkins." Max said to the cool marble headstone.
The Neo Gotham cemetery was almost deserted. Several people were attending to farther off graves: a mother and three children, a son who was speaking animatedly to a grave a few feet away, and a solemn looking widow dressed in all black.
"It's been a while, Hawkins… A long while. Sorry I haven't visited as much as I used to…" She paused, passing a gentle hand over the curve of the stone marker. "I'm trying to move on, forget the past and all that… I told you I work at Wayne Powers now, right? It's a pretty fancy gig, we should have gone there from graduate school... There's a science gala tomorrow night- the big Einstein brain-soup, as Lexi calls it… I made it before you...Without you…" Max sighed deeply. "God, I miss you so much…"
Max knelt in the hardened earth of the ground, though was careful of the thatch of wild daisies pushing from the ground. "I came to get some encouragement, you know? It's a big shindig… I could use some help from-wherever you are."
The wind answered her, slightly ruffling her black and pink asymmetrical-cut bob. "Well, just watch me wow the crowd with this discovery, alright. I'll make you hella proud, Hawkins." she forced a grin, before letting her face collapse to a sullen mask. "I'll always love you Carver. Never forget that."
Rising to her feet, Max made her way from the cemetery, holding back a well of long banked tears and sobbing. Seh had to move on. Carver wasn't around anymore. She had to survive this alone.
XXX
AK: Hey my beauties, I'm back with a Max-centric story. You know that old saying that superheroes can never have easy love lives? Well being the new Oracle makes Max a bit of a tragedy magnet. Don't get me wrong, I love Max! I really do… But I'm about to give her major depth here. R&R, please
