Ugh, this was a lot better sounding in my head. The you get it down on paper, and the whole thing falls apart. Oh well, hope you enjoy nonetheless.

Disclaimer: I don't own a gosh darn thing, not even Cap'n Crunch (except Anna, but then I don't even own that really), I'm just posting this because I love what I don't own. So please don't sue.

Rated for sexual things and cussing, and maybe some other things I've forgotten.

Across the Universe
The ATU Story Without A Beatle's Song in the Title
Or
Two Children, No Parents.

Years passed for Jude and Lucy after that magical day on the roof. Time flew by and they watched as all of their lives slowly began to change. Sadie and Jojo became famous and traveled around the continent. Prudence became a successful author ( Her most recent book being called "She Said She Said") and traveled around doing book signings. It was only Max who refused to let go of his pot smoking, playboy, carefree days of the years before. Lucy and Jude both tried to help him get his life together, but Max was so stubborn, he wouldn't give in. After Lucy and Jude decided to adopt a little girl, they stopped focusing on Max and let him be. They rarely ever saw each other. It was only those few occasions that they came to see Max Carrigan…

Max lazily shifted his position in his bed, one arm stretched out past the mattress, fingers dangling over the edge, and the other wrapped around the body of a gorgeous, totally naked, blonde. The girl let out a sigh and began to rub her hand over Max's chest. Looking up at him she smiled. "Good morning."

Max gave her a sloppy smile back. "G'moring to you too, gorgeous." The blonde rolled over away from Max, leaving him wishing it wasn't morning. Even more so after he heard a gasp.

"Shit! Eleven?" She cried, tossing the blankets from her as she rushed out of bed. "You let me sleep this late?"

Max watched the naked girl as she stepped carefully around the room trying to avoid the bachelors dirty clothe, cigarette butts, and half eaten food that were strewn across the floor. "Sorry babe, my clock doesn't have alarm on it." The girl continued her quicken pace, pulling up a pair of tight jeans and nearly falling over as she did. Max grinned and scooted over until he sat on the end of the bed. He reached for a pair of dirty boxers and pulled them over his hips. By the time he had gotten that much done, the woman was already in his bathroom checking her hair in the only mirror in the house.

"So you wanna come over tonight?" He said, leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom as she began to look for her purse.

"Can't. I got work early tomorrow, I need my sleep…that is…if I still have a job."

Max walked over to her as she put her last shoe on and wrapped his arms around her waist from the back. "You could sleep here." He said, kissing her neck. She moaned slightly in pleasure and turned around to face him.

"If it's anything like last night, I wont be getting sleep." She pushed away from him and he stepped back.

"So this is it?" He said, a hint of agitation in his voice.

"Well.. Yeah" She said as she put her hand on the doorknob. "What do you think a one night stand is?" Max watched as the blonde shut the door, giving him one last drop dead gorgeous smile before she did.

"I don't know." He mumbled to himself as he made his way into the kitchen for breakfast.

Max tossed a pile of unsorted clothe into the washer at the laundry mat. If he was going to get any sort of a job he was going to need some clean clothes. While he waited for his laundry to be done, he looked through some of the adds that were hung on a wall. "Mechanic, burger flipper, used car guy, ….ooh, nude model." He chuckled as he ripped off the paper and stuffed it in his pocket for safe keeping. Max sat back down and tried to imagine himself as a nude model. An entire class would see him, totally naked. "Draw me even." He thought to himself "Every part." Maybe he'd even became a famous painting like the Mona Lisa or something.

While thinking on this subject, his mind absently wondered to thoughts of Jude. He was a great artist. Of course Jude usually only drew Lucy, but once in a while he would use Max as practice. A sad look crossed his face as he thought about all they had been through together. "Now they hardly even talk to me." He thought. "And all they do is nag. 'get a job' blah blah blah. Just like in college, only it's my OWN sister. Ever since that kid came along." He thought about how Lucy had said it would be bad for his niece to hang around him. How she would pick up on his bad habits. "Bad influence, HA!" He said out loud, getting strange glances from people. Max grabbed his clothe from the washer and placed them in the dryer.

After finding out that the nude modeling didn't pay, Max spent the rest of the afternoon grabbing applications at any old store. Around three, Maxed stopped at a café to have something to eat. When he was finished, he noticed that his pockets were empty. Carefully waiting for the clerk to disappear to the back room, Max hastily made his get away. He felt bad for doing that, like he always did, but when you don't have money, you don't have money. It was a lame excuse, and he knew it. He could have washed dishes or something to pay for his meal, but in the back of his mind he knew he was just a lazy, no good, bum.

The evening was spent like it always was for Max. (if he wasn't spending his nights at the clubs) With his feet propped up on the kitchen table, A deck of cards was held in his hands, trying to toss each one into an old college hat. A bowl of leftover Chinese food from the night before teetered dangerously at the edge of the counter. He had already flipped through the channels on his crappy TV (all two of them) And a shower just sounded like a bigger monthly bill. Reluctantly, Max headed for bed, dreadfully anticipating the haunting war dreams that plagued him every night.

It was cold. Tropical plants surrounded Max, but it was freezing out, like he was in the middle of a blizzard. Max was stretched out on the ground, arms bended in front of him as he crawled along the icy grass. He didn't no where he was going, but he felt an urgency to move, to get somewhere.

The sound of gunfire filled his ears. It was blurry, like hearing it from underwater. Lager explosions sounded from a distance, along with screams of terror. His heart racing and the urgency in his mind growing, Max tried to quicken his crawl along the ground. He only mad it so far when he felt he couldn't go any further. craning his head around his shoulder, he saw what was holding him back. Chains tied around his feet stretched back farther then Max could see. They were pulled to their limit and he could move forward no more. Off in the distance was a tiny greenish blur. Max had to squint to see that it was the statue of liberty.

Suddenly Max was upright, chained still, only this time to the statue itself. A firing squad of six Vietcong men stood before him, their gums aimed and ready. Max squeezed his eyes shut, thinking a heart attack would kill him before a shot was even fired. Silence screamed in his ears, and then the sound of the guns being loaded.

"Aim…"
"Fire!"

BAM BAM BAM

Max shot up from his bed, his eyes wide with terror. He clutched his heart, desperately trying to slow it's pace. Sweat rolled of his forehead and stung his eyes. His sheets were soaked from it, too.

BAM BAM BAM

Max jumped again, startled, and looked over at his clock. 6:0 5. Who the hell was knocking on his door at this hour? Already being wide awake, he decided to answer it, if for nothing more then to cuss at the person.

"Hey pal, what's with the loud shi-" He cut his sentence short when he had the door open all the way. For a moment he stood there, unsure of what to do. And since his mind wouldn't work for him he just chose to ask the obvious. "Jude?"

"Yeah." He said simply. Lucy was with him, too. And had Max bothered to look down he would have noticed a rather small, rather seven year old looking child with them as well.

Max stepped aside to let the couple in. Mentally he prepared himself for another lecture about his irresponsible ways and sloppy living conditions. It was bound to come up, no matter the reason they were here.

"We're not… interrupting anything, are we?" Asked Jude as he peeked his head around Max in the direction of his bedroom. Max shut the door to the outside.

"Just my own beauty sleep." He said, rubbing his eyes. When Jude said nothing else he turned to his sister. "Hey Luce, it's been so long and not even a hug?" Lucy smiled and embraced her brother in a short hug. Jude and Max also gave each other a pat on the back.

"So what's up?" Max made his way to the kitchen. "You want something to drink?" Max began to get glasses out from the cupboard, only to realize they were all dirty. Much to his relief neither of them seemed to want anything to drink.

"Actually, we have a favor to ask." Said Lucy

Max, who was now finally coming out of his sleepy state of mind, turned around and noticed the little girl clinging to her father's shirt. His eyes widened and a wide grin spread across his lips.

"Annie! Jeez, I didn't even notice you, come give your uncle Max a hug." Max spread his arms wide and knelt down to the seven year olds view. Letting go of her father she returned the hug and the shaggy hair blonde lifted her up in his arms.

"So what's this about a favor?" He said as he stood up and looked at Lucy. His sister cast a glace at Jude before speaking.

"Actually, it's about Anna."

"Oh?" Max was intrigued now. They hardly ever came to visit and now they wanted something from him? From the serious atmosphere Max hoped it wasn't something related to her health. He barely had enough money to support himself, let alone pay for doctor bills.

"Yeah, we were wondering if you wouldn't mind babysitting her for a while."

Max smiled in relief. Thank God. "Hey, no prob. I'd love to baby-sit the tyke. You need just the day to yourself or something? I don't remember it being any sort of anniversary."

"Actually," Started Jude (What was with the actuallys?) "We'll be gone a month."

"What?" Max bent down to let go of Anna, who had suddenly become very heavy. "I can't take care of a kid for a month. No fu-reaking way." He said, avoiding cussing in front of his niece at the last moment.

"Common Max." Pleaded a desperate Lucy. "Daycares can't do this kind of stuff, and you know what our parents would try to do to her."

"Naw, no." Said Max, backing away from them. "Don't you common Max me. You spent the last seven, eight years criticizing me and my life, and now you want to put a little kid smack-dab in the middle of it?"

"You know we wouldn't do this normally, but it's Jude's only chance. This could be a big brake for him. A chance to get some big bucks for his art. But he has to be there in person if we want the deal."

"Where?"

"Missouri." Answered Jude "I need Luce to be there with me, but it's just to much to take Anna with us."

"Whatever happened to "irresponsible Max"?"

"Please?" begged Lucy, giving him a pouty lip.

Max put his hands in his face and rubbed up and down. Finally he let his hands drop at his sides and looked up, his eyes darting from Lucy to Jude and back to Lucy. With a defeated sigh he said, "Fine." Lucy went to hug him but he put a hand up. "But I want no more complaining about my life after this. And by God it better only be a month!"

"Thank you!" Said Lucy as she gave her brother a squeeze. Jude left to get his daughter's things. He returned with a rolling suitcase(Covered in sparkles), a backpack (Also covered in sparkles) and a purse.

"Be good for Uncle Max." Said Lucy as she hugged her daughter. Anna hugged her mom back and then her dad.

"Mummy and daddy will be back before you know it. You'll have a blast with Uncle Max, you wont even notice we're gone."

"Please be careful, Max." Lucy said to him, looking directly in his eyes. Max reassured her with a smile.

"Yeah, sure."

After saying goodbye on last time, Jude and Lucy left their kid behind them and shut the door. Once halfway down the stairs Lucy stopped.

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing? Maybe we should take her with us after all."

Jude rapped an arms around his wife's shoulder and kissed her on top of the head. "Max may be a bugger, but he has a good heart. This'll be good. For the both of them."

Max stood by the window and watched until his sister's car drove out of sight. Letting the curtains fall back into place, he let out a long, exasperated groan and sat down on the couch with a plop. "I can't believe I'm doing this." He thought to himself "I can't believe they're LETTING me do this." When he looked up he saw a little Anna in front of him, staring at him. "Well, I guess it's just you an' me, kiddo." The little girl continued to stare at him.

Max yawned, suddenly aware of how tired he was. "Hey, listen kid. Your mommy woke me up very early today, so I'm just gonna go lay in bed for a while. You can stay out here and play dolls or watch TV or something, K'?"

"Mommy says early to bed early to rise makes a person healthy wealthy and wise." Stated the girl matter-of-factly. Max looked at Anna in disbelief. What were they teaching this kid?

"And where did your mommy get that shit, off a cereal box?"

Anna cupped a hand over her mouth at the mention of a cuss word. Inwardly, Max flinched. Outwardly, he rolled his eyes. "All I need is one hour. Just one hour. Then we can do something together alright?" The little girl nodded and Max padded off to his room, shutting the door behind him.

Almost exactly an hour later Max woke up with a start again. This time not from banging at the door, but from a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Max leaped out of bed and dashed toward the kitchen. He found Anna standing on the counter over the sink. All the cupboards were opened and a pile of broken glass and Chinese food was splattered on the floor. Max cursed to himself.

"What are you doing?" He cried. The little girl turned and looked at him, her face was in a an expression of shock.

"I was getting a bowl for my cereal." She said, pointing to a box of Cap'n Crunch that was laying on it's side on the table, some of its contents spilling onto the floor.

"As if my house wasn't a big enough mess." He said, moving to the table and setting the box right side up.

"Apartment." Anna corrected.

"Whatever. Anyway, all the bowls are dirty, so you'll have to wash one." Max grabbed his niece and set her down on the kitchen tile. He then grabbed a bowl from the sink and began to wash it. "Like so." After pouring a bit of cereal for Anna, who was now sitting at the table, he went to the fridge and grabbed the carton of milk. The jug was light and when he poured, only a little came out, covering just the bottom of the bowl, which the cereal easily soaked up. Anna looked up at her uncle, expecting more. "Sorry." He said and threw the carton of milk into an overflowing trash can. Max began to walk back to his room until he was stopped by Anna's small voice.

"Eh-hem."

Max turned around to see Anna throw her hands up and gave him a look that said "well!?". Sighing, Max grabbed a spoon from a drawer and handed it to the girl. When she began to eat he trudged even slower back to his room. This was going to be a looong month.

Once again sleep didn't last long for Max. Anna begged him to play with her, which he responded to with a grunt. It wasn't until after she started jumping up and down on his bed that he finally got up. They played stuffed animals for a while, Max was lazily stretched out on the couch, like a bottle of toothpaste that was oozing out its gel. He held the little toy in his hand and responded only when Anna spoke to his animal. When she finally gave up on the possibility of her uncle acting remotely interesting they moved to the next thing until she decided just to watch TV.

Max took her to his interview at the fast food restaurant that afternoon (taking a long shower beforehand) and walked her around town a bit. This time he remembered to grab a few bucks to pay for some lunch.

By the time evening came around Max was completely exhausted. Dinner was some frozen burritos that were still cold on the inside. Anna only ate half of hers then excused herself and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed without even being told.

While she was brushing her teeth, Max decided to figure out sleeping arrangements. He didn't have a cot or anything, so she couldn't sleep in his room. He figured she could park it on the couch, but thought better of it when he remembered how much noise the neighbors on that side made. It would mostly likely freak her out, cause it sure as hell freaked him out.

Suddenly having a great idea, he rushed to his room and started digging through his mess. What he found was a sort of a netted blanket. Stretching it from one end of the room to the other, he latched it to some hooks that were already there from before. "Perfect." He said at the sagging hammock type thing. Anna opened the door of the bathroom and was immediately greeted by her sleeping quarters. "Okay so it'll be a little hard to get to the bathroom. No big deal we'll just go through the kitchen way." Anna didn't say anything and ducted under the hammock to get to her suitcase. She pulled out a blanket about the size of her and climbed up into her temporary bed. Max brought her a pillow and another larger blanket.

Max leaned down to kiss Anna goodnight when he suddenly stopped, a wave of awkwardness sweeping over him. He smiled nervously at her and lifted his head back up. A look of longing crossed the little girls face, but Max ignored it and crawled into bed, wondering why he couldn't even kiss his own niece.

"Uncle Max."

Max heard his name being whispered, like an angel calling his name. A very short, very young angel. Max flipped over and pried his eyes open to look at the figure that stood at the edge of his bed. For a minute he laid there, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He looked at the clock and saw that it was well into the night, or morning, depending how one looked at it.

"Uncle Max." The voice said again. Max could now see Anna's figure standing in front of him.

"Annie?" He asked in a sleepy voice. "What is it?"

Anna stood fidgeting with her fingers, a look of embarrassment on her face. "I wet the bed." She said in a low voice.

"You what, hun?" He said, not quit hearing or understanding. The little girl leaned in closer, like she was afraid of someone else hearing her.

"I…I wet the bed."

Max closed his eyes, drowsiness still clouding his mind. "Don't you get over that at, like, two?" Anna stared at the ground, and Max realized he had made her feel bad. "Okay. Don't worry about it. We'll fix it." The blonde reached his arms and turned on the bedside lamp. Once again he found himself unwillingly prying himself from his warm bed.

First he grabbed the hammock by the corners and placed it in the shower for dealing with later. Then he told Anna to undress while he got her a new pair of pajamas and undies. When Anna exited the bathroom, Max motioned for her to come over to the bed. She did so quickly, trying to steer clear of his dirty clothe and other stuff lying on the ground. Max helped her onto his lap and began to stroke her red locks of hair.

"So what's with the bed wetting?" He asked, trying to be nice but then not really caring all the same. "The bathroom is two inches from your bed."

" I guess, I guess…I was scared." She said.

"Scared?" He said, compassion filling his voice. "Of what?"

"The dark." She said quietly. Max roped her into a firm hug and rocked her back and forth. He hadn't thought of that. And why would he? He certainly wasn't. And he didn't bother to try to think back to that age, when he was scared of the dark. He just assumed she was like her mother, which was dumb because they weren't even really related.

"Don't worry Annie," He reassured her. "I'll protect you." He grabbed for the covers. "You can sleep with me tonight." The little girl nodded and crawled in next to her uncle Max, who turned off the light and put an arm around her, drawing her in close. His nose buried itself into her hair, and within the next minute he fell asleep, the smell of strawberry shampoo filling his lungs.

I know the plot is weak, but I just needed Lucy and Jude out of the way in a no death sort of way. Hopefully the next chapters will be better? Plot suggestions, what you did/didn't like, are the character true to themselves. Anything like that would be greatly appreciated in a review. Or if it's crap I'll just stop where I am XD . Thanks people!