From a prompt I got on tumblr: Life is Strange AU AU - When Max saves Chloe's dad and enters the new timeline, she discovers that she doesn't have her powers anymore


None of this is right.

None of this was supposed to happen. She was trying to do something good. How did it all end up so fucked?

"I can't... kill you with an overdose."

"Max, I'm dying from my illness, not my dosage," Chloe says, so gently Max almost doesn't recognize her voice. This isn't the Chloe she knew; this isn't the Chloe she left. "This accelerates the process. I'd rather go out on a wave than a rock. And I want my best friend to help me out..."

Max feels her throat close as tears well in her eyes. She can't... kill Chloe. Even this Chloe, no matter how much she's suffering, she can't just...

Max swallows thickly. She has to struggle to keep her voice from shaking as she forces the words out. "I am going to help you, but not like that. You have to believe me, Chloe."

"Why?" Chloe whispers and the hurt in her eyes is too much for Max to bear. "You're just bailing on me like everybody else. Why don't you go now? You've been wanting to since you got here, right? So go and don't come back."

Max thumbs the photograph in her hand, the one that started this whole mess in the first place. Is this what it means to save Chloe? Does William really have to...?

"Chloe," Max whispers to herself. Even if it means letting William... die, she has to save Chloe. She has to. "I am never leaving you again."

Chloe doesn't look up. Max focuses on the photograph, ignoring the tears that drip from her lashes, and waits for the familiar sensation of burning to take over her.

But it doesn't.

Nothing happens.

Max feels her heart drumming in her chest and tries harder but there's nothing - no burning, no red tinted world as the earth itself reverses to accommodate her, nothing.

There's nothing.

'Shit!'

Max stands abruptly. Her hands shake around the photo. "This can't be happening..."

Max reaches out her hand and tries to go back but she can't. Nothing's happening and she can't go back anymore and how is she supposed to fix this if she can't go back anymore?

She spares a glance at Chloe, now asleep in her bed, her best friend, the girl she loves, the girl she'd do anything for. But she can't do anything anymore. She can't...

Max bolts from the house, tears streaming down her face, William's concerned shouts forgotten behind her. She did this. She caused all of this. She has to find a way to fix it; there has to be a way.

She runs until she can't anymore, as far as she can until her lungs burn and her legs give out and all she can do is sit on the curb and cry, photograph clenched in her fist like a lifeline.

Max's phone buzzes in her pocket. She answers reflexively, hoping beyond all hope that it's Chloe and that this has all just been a nightmare.

It's not Chloe.

"Maxine?" the voice on the other line says softly.

It's Victoria.

"Maxine, are you all right?"

"Victoria?" Max voice is strangled and hoarse. She tries clearing her throat but it's no use.

"You sound like shit," Victoria says but there's no real bite to it. Instead she sounds... concerned? Worried?

The urge to make a snappy retort is crushed by the sheer weight of the world crashing down around her. "Victoria," Max croaks, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "I screwed up."

"Sweetie, where are you?"

This whole thing is so surreal. Victoria shouldn't be this nice, least of all to her, but Max can't find it in her to care right now. She needs someone, anyone, any way to make this right. "Victoria, I need your help."

"I'll help you, Maxine, but I need to know where you are first, okay?"

"Okay."


Max never thought Victoria's car pulling up beside her would be the best thing that could happen to her in a day but it is.

She's had a few minutes to calm down since the call but that doesn't stop her from sobbing all over again as soon as Victoria steps out of the car.

Victoria wraps her arms around Max's shoulders and it's the weirdest, warmest, sweetest sensation Max has ever felt. She has no idea what to do with her own arms so she just cries all over Victoria's soft, cashmere sweater. "Hey, there, everything's fine," Victoria whispers, rubbing soothing circles on Max's back. "Come on, let's go back to my room and you can tell me what happened."

Max is too stunned and too exhausted to do anything but let herself be pulled into the car. There's so much she wants to say, so many things wrong with this picture, but she feels so grateful for Victoria's warm hands and soft voice.

How in the world did this happen?


Max sits on Victoria's bed, too numb to feel strange about all this anymore.

It's different, the room – softer somehow. Maybe it's just the light from the setting sun shining through the window but the room certainly feels different. There's a small plant on the desk that hadn't been there before and a dark blue blanket draped across the bed that looks too cheap to belong here.

There's a photo on the bedside table – a framed selfie of Victoria and Nathan with Max in the middle.

Max picks up the photo and runs her fingers along the glass. It's so weird seeing something other than a sneer on either of their faces but here, they're smiling. Here, they look… happy. So does she.

Victoria taps Max's head with a proffered water bottle. "I can't believe you made me get that picture framed," she says, something like nostalgia coloring her words. "I look like shit."

"No, you don't," Max says without thinking. It's true, though. She looks beautiful.

Even if they were never going to be friends, Max could admit that Victoria is, at the very least, incredibly pretty.

But they're not enemies here, are they? It certainly doesn't seem like it.

'Everything is so fucked up.'

"You always say that," Victoria says. She takes a seat beside Max. "So, what was that back there? First you look totally out of it, then you bolt without a word, and then you call me crying in the middle of some random residential neighborhood? What's up with you today?"

Max takes a sit from the water bottle and tries not to look too much like she's stalling for time. She can't just go back if she messes this up, can she. "It wasn't random," she finally says.

Victoria's eyes widen just slightly. "You went to see Chloe?"

Max arches a brow. "You know about Chloe?"

"Well, duh. You've only told me about her three hundred million times."

Max has to take a second to let her brain catch up to the rest of her. Why the hell would she ever tell Victoria anything personal? And more so, why would Victoria even listen?

"How was she?" Victoria asks, nothing but concern in her voice.

Max snorts without humor. "Dying," she says.

"Oh, honey." Victoria wraps an arm around Max's waist and all Max can do is lean on her. This is so weird and everything is so fucked up right now and she has no idea how to feel about any of this. What should she do? What can she do?

"It's not supposed to be like this," Max mutters.

"I know, it sucks," Victoria says, that soothing voice so out of place but it's exactly what Max needs right now. "I'm sorry. Bad things happen to good people. But at least you got to see her."

'Got to see her' but it wasn't her. It wasn't Chloe, not really. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to be like that; nothing was supposed to be like this.

"No." Max sits up, letting Victoria's arm fall away from her. "It's not supposed to be like this. I did this."

Victoria bites her lip. "I know you're upset, Maxine, but you didn't-"

"I did though!" Max jumps off the bed and starts to pace, unable to keep still. Everything overflows, words spilling out of her mouth before she can catch them. "I went back and tried to change things. I tried to make things different for her but all I did was fuck it up even more and now I can't go back."

"Maxine?" Victoria calls. "Maxine, what's going on?"

"It's Max!" she snaps and she knows it's not fair the instant the words leave her mouth but she's too wired to care. "My grandmother doesn't even call me Maxine!"

"Okay!" Victoria shouts in return, jumping up from the bed. "Fine! Max then! Why are you freaking out so much?"

"Don't you get it? I changed everything and now I can't fix it!"

Victoria grabs Max's shoulders, effectively stopping her pacing. "What the hell are you talking about? What the fuck has gotten into you?"

Max stares at the girl in front of her, tall and surprisingly strong and this is so fucked up but she can't…

Max grips the hands on her shoulders. "I'm not from here," she says firmly. She can't do this alone.

Victoria blinks, clearly unsure how to respond. "Uh, yeah you are? You were born here, weren't you?"

"No, I mean…" Shit, how is she going to explain this without sounding absolutely crazy? "I mean, I'm not from this universe. I… I did something. I went back in time and I changed something and now everything is different and I don't know how to go back."

Victoria is silent for a moment. Then another. Then she snorts. "Max, I know you love sci-fi but isn't this a bit much?"

"I'm not joking!" Max shouts, anger seeping into her veins like acid. She doesn't have time for this! "Haven't you noticed anything weird around here? The bizarro weather? That freak snow storm? What about the eclipse?"

Victoria's face drops. "Well, yeah, things are weird sometimes but that doesn't mean-"

"How about the dead animals? Whales beaching themselves? That's not just a coincidence."

"Max, you're scaring me."

"I'm telling you, Victoria. I'm. Not. From. Here."

"And I'm telling you. That. Is. Crazy." Victoria sighs. "Look, we all have things we regret, like… like what happened to Kate…"

"Kate?" No, no, no, but Max stopped Kate from jumping. She…

"I wish I could go back and change it, but I can't. I can only do better now, that's what you told me…"

Max shakes her head. But no, Kate… She… "W-what do you mean? Kate's fine, I… I saved her. She… she's not…"

Victoria looks down, face stricken. "Kate's dead, Max. You saw her jump. We all did…"

No. No, no, no this isn't right. First Chloe, and now… This wasn't supposed to be like this.

"But I…" Max trails off. How could this happen? How could any of this happen?

"Max, you know I regret everything that happened, but I can't just go back in time and fix it. I have to move forward. You do, too."

No.

No. There's got to be a way to fix this. There has to be.

"No," Max says resolutely. "This is my fault and I can fix it. I'm going to fix it but I need your help."

"Maxine…"

"Whoa what the fuck?" someone shouts from outside.

"Dude, check it out!"

"Freaky!"

Max and Victoria exchange glances before making a beeline to the windows.

The sun's completely set by now but the sky isn't nearly as dark as it should be. Overhead, two full moons cast shadows over the students gathered in the courtyard.

"What the fuck?" Victoria whispers.

Max bites her lip so hard she tastes blood. What the fuck is happening?

She glances at the petrified Victoria, an enemy in her own world but her closest friend in this one. "You said you had things you regret," she says. "If you had the chance to go back and do it over, wouldn't you?"

Victoria turns slowly, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Max, tell me everything," she says.