Word Count: 2667
Pairing: Caulscott
Summary: She knew she needed to try, and that she would try again and again if need be. Coming back at the end of the week if she had failed, if she had somehow done something wrong. Max realized she still couldn't sacrifice Chloe, that she just couldn't sacrifice anyone. With her knowledge from the future, she could save everyone. She could be an everyday hero.
Everyday Hero's Life is Strange
Chapter One
Staring at her photo of the bright blue butterfly that was laying on the floor where she dropped it, Max Caulfield was waiting alone in the girl's bathroom, waiting to let her best friend Chloe Price die. She knew that in just a moment Nathan Prescott would enter and that he would accidently shoot her friend shortly after she followed him. That her friend was supposed to die, just as she had the first time, before Max had gained her powers to manipulate time. Thinking of what was to be an inevitable outcome, she thought about why she had even gained these powers in the first place. Why had she already lived the future if nothing was ultimately going to be changed; what was the point.
Still deep in her thoughts, Max listened as a deeply agitated Nathan stepped into the bathroom and began pacing around talking to himself. Her mind was working fast over everything that she had already experienced. She had already tried to change this outcome twice, first by pulling the fire alarm, and secondly by having Mr. Jefferson immediately arrested. Both had not worked though because ultimately the storm would happen, killing everyone in her town of Arcadia Bay. Even when she thought everything had been perfect, it was not.
Knowing that Chloe was just about to walk in, she remembered that the Chloe from the perfect reality knew about the storm. Meaning she must have told her about it, that she must have showed her what she could do. Had Max used her powers in that reality to convince her friend of all that had happened before? Had she sill meddled with time after changing everything for the better? Maybe she was experiencing her favorite time travel movie Groundhogs Day, trying to make sure everything was just right. Then coming back again and again at the end of the week if she had failed, if she had somehow done something wrong.
Quickly processing through her thoughts, she knew she needed to try, and that she would try again and again if need be. Max realized she still couldn't sacrifice Chloe, that she just couldn't sacrifice anyone. She believed that maybe the storm would never come to pass if she made everything better while never using her powers again. So far in this new reality she hadn't, and she wouldn't. With her knowledge from the future, she could save everyone. She could be an everyday hero.
Max picked up the butterfly photo placing it in her bag as she did what she should have done the very first time; she stepped out from her hiding spot just as Nathan told Chloe "I got nothing for you."
Before Chloe could respond though, Max did with a confidence she had gained from experiencing the future. "I got something for you both, even if you don't believe me. But Chloe, Nathan, you guys need to listen to…" However, she couldn't get any further with her spur of the moment speech because Chloe and Nathan had negative reactions to her sudden appearance and interruption.
"What the hell Prescott!" Chloe seethed at Nathan. " I can't believe you brought backup you punk ass little bitch!"
"I didn't bring anyone you stupid whore!" Nathan hollered back while gesturing to Max. "I don't even know who the fuck that is!"
Max spoke up hoping to stop things from escalating further. "Both of you shut up!" She shouted at them, causing them to turn towards her. "I was already here! I have always already been here and I know how this was supposed to play out!" Taking a breath to calm down she continued, "But I'm changing everything again, I'm going to save everyone!"
"What the fuck ever!" Nathan exclaimed as Chloe yelled, "What the fuck!"
It was almost laughable to Max that they both had almost the same reaction to her outburst, which made her realize that they had some of the same reactions to things that had happened before, or would happen, or… God, this was giving her a headache.
"Holy shit! Max, Max Caulfield? Is it really you?" Chloe asked a moment later, staring intently at her, bringing Max away from her own thoughts.
"Yes, it's me." She said with a small smile, noticing that Chloe was looking at her in surprise while Nathan just looked pissed, his eyes narrowing even further as they swept back and forward between the two girls. "Look, I know you guys don't want to believe me, but this has all already happened before. I have already changed this and I'm changing it again. But I can't use my powers anymore without causing chaos. You should understand Chloe, you're the one who explained it to me before."
Chloe just stared at her working it out in her own brain while Nathan was beginning to seethe in full denial, scoffing at her claims. "Do you really expect us to believe you… you crazy bitch! That you have powers, that you came from the future or something? What the fuck are you on because I know I didn't give it to you!" He spouted angrily while he started stalking towards her. Chloe went to grab him and pull him from Max when he suddenly jerked away, glaring as he yelled, "Don't touch me you fucking whore!"
Max was almost at a loss of what to do because they seemed to be in a stand off with her near the back of the bathroom, Chloe closest to the door and Nathan standing between them in the middle. He was starting to shake with rage at this whole situation, once again glancing back and forward between the two girls, beginning to feel trapped. Max could see his deterioration and knew she had to do something before he pulled out the gun he had hidden on him.
"Look, just look, I can prove it. I… I know I can. Just let me think of something." Max stumbled over her words trying to come up with an idea. "Originally, I pulled the fire alarm to distract you so you wouldn't accidently shoot her…"
"What the fuck!" Chloe shouted at Nathan, "You have a gun on you?"
Nathan just glared at them both before pulling it out, the gun resting loosely in his hand, pointed at the floor.
Max interrupted whatever he was going to say, telling him, "Put that away Nathan."
He turned towards her furious, prowling even closer as he raved, "Don't ever tell me what to do. I'm so sick of people trying to control me!"
Max held up her hands in a surrendering gesture to Nathan, at the same time gesturing Chloe to stay back as she had started to move towards him from behind. Speaking calmly she said, "I'm sorry Nathan. I'm not trying to order you around. I just want to help. I'm trying to save you; I'm trying to save everyone. You, Chloe, Kate, Victoria, everyone he's going after."
Nathan paused upon hearing her explanation. "What do you mean? What the fuck do you know?" He lowered his gun as he gazed into her eyes as though trying to decipher what she possibly knew. He stood so close that she could easily reach out and touch him, the warmth of his body heat invading her own space.
" I know everything that's going on. Well, almost everything." Max declared looking at them both. Peering back at Nathan she uttered in a soft voice, "I'm just trying to make everything better for everyone." Her sincerity was unquestionable.
He put his gun away taking a small step back from her while Chloe edged closer to the pair, side eyeing Nathan as they all practically huddled together near the back of the bathroom. Max took a deep breath and let out a whoosh of air before continuing, "I'm not sure how to prove it without using my powers, but I can tell you what's going on outside right now. Classes are over, so it should still be the same even without pulling the fire alarm. Any second now I should also be getting a text from Warren asking for his movie flash drive back." Her phone beeping before she was even able to finish her prediction.
Lifting the phone to their eyes she showed them the text just as she opened it. She then told them who was doing what and where of those outside before saying, "We are already wasting time, because before, I received that text just after I got outside. Hopefully everything should be the same until I bring the flash drive to him in the parking lot. That's when we had originally all met up. So, I know that's not happening the same way again, and I'm hoping we can change what happens after."
"What the fuck ever… lets just see if you're right." Nathan sneered before stomping towards the door to exit the bathroom. Chloe and Max followed, Max hoping this would be enough proof to gain their help in saving everyone.
Walking out the school doors everything was as Max said it would be. Brooke stood just outside flying her drone around while Hayden was hanging out with others nearby. Stella was chatting next to one of Mr. Jefferson's pictures with the skateboarders chilling closer to the street. They could see further on that Daniel was drawing under a tree, just as Luke sitting at one bench and Evan sitting at the other. As they walked by the science teacher she even stopped them to sign her petition. All of it was just as Max had said it would be.
"Daniel drawing and Justin skateboarding aren't really that fucking surprising." Nathan said dismissively as they continued walking to the dorms.
Chloe followed them with a big smile on her face. "I can't believe I just got my best friend back and she has superpowers. This is hella cool!" She declared, draping her arm over Max's shoulders while also smirking over at Nathan. Max sighed, at least one of them was willing to believe her. She would just need more proof for Nathan. He was important if they were going to stop everything, she needed him on her side.
As they neared the dorms Max suddenly came up with something else to prove she was telling the truth. "Okay, okay, I have another idea." She stated pointing at the dormitory. "See that window on the first floor? Zachary is going to break it soon. Victoria is also going to get covered in paint before allowing me to walk into the dorm."
" I'm not going to let you throw a bucket of paint on her." Nathan said, grabbing Max's arm as if to stop her.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt her Nathan. She'll be fine." She responded, "But she is not going to let me in there and I'm not going to see if you can get her out of the way. I'm not going to change anything yet. And I'm not going to actually throw any paint on her. So, just please stay here and don't do anything. Let me prove this to you."
Nathan narrowed his eyes, glaring at her before loosing his grip and letting go of her. "Fine! But she better be okay, or we won't be." He threatened.
Chloe and Nathan watched as Max walked away from them towards the dorm's front door, only to be stopped from walking in by Victoria Chase who was sitting there with Taylor Christensen and Courtney Wagner. While observing their conversation, Chloe pulled her cigarettes out of her pocket. "You want one?" She asked him before lighting up her own. He nodded his head grabbing his own lighter out of his pocket.
"Our bidness isn't finished yet." She announced as she handed the cigarette to him. "We still have a lot to talk about."
"Get off my crack, whore." Nathan uttered after exhaling his first puff of smoke. "If we're talking about it, then we're talking about it later." He said before smirking when he heard Victoria tell Max to "go fuck your selfie."
They both saw Max bend down by the latter before walking towards the maintenance room just as Samuel was walking towards the latter. Chloe and Nathan were silently observing the surroundings while smoking their cigarettes, when suddenly the three girls jumped up from the steps when the sprinklers came on and only a moment later the paint bucket Samuel had brought up the latter with him fell, completely splashing Victoria.
"No way! No fucking way!" Max heard Victoria screech as she glanced over to Chloe and Nathan. Both of them seemed shocked, but only one of them seemed to find the situation funny. Continuing towards the girl who had sent friends inside to grab her a towel, she comforted her, just as she had before. She figured it really was the best option, much better than making fun of her.
Walking into the dorm, she didn't do exactly as she had done before. There was no reason to go to her room when she already knew that Dana Ward had Warren's flash drive inside her own room. So, Max waited a moment until Juliet Watson joined her by storming into the hallway, slamming the door. "You can't get out now, Dana! So tell me the truth, or rot in there!"
"Hey Juliet, is everything cool?" Max questioned while walking up to her as the girl barricaded the door.
"Oh yes, Max. I've locked Dana in the room because we're "cool."" Came her sarcastic response.
Max already knew the whole story, having already gone through this drama once before with the drama queens of Blackwell. She carried on with the same conversation that she had already experienced, before walking over to Victoria's room. Without messing around with other girl's selfies this time, she, once again, printed out the proof that would convince Juliet of Dana's innocence.
"Juliet, read this." Max said handing her the printed out piece of paper.
"Of course…" Juliet sighed before opening Dana's door. "I'm an asshole. I'm sorry, Dana."
"You are, and I hope so. You really think I'd mess around with Zachary?" Dana asked her while stepping outside her room.
"No. But I get stupid jealous. I owe you dinner. Still love me?"
"And you do my laundry."
"Thanks Max. You're like the Blackwell Ninja." Juliet said to Max as she started walking away. "Now let's see what Zach has to say about Victoria…"
"You set me free! Thank you. Warren's flash drive is on my desk." Dana gratefully told Max, backing into her room before sitting on her bed.
Max knew she had no time to chat, not if she was going to succeed. "Thanks Dana. We'll talk later, okay?" Max responded while grabbing the flash drive and rushing out the room, hearing Dana's "Okay" as she ran out of the dorm.
Just in time too. "Alyssa, move your head." Max warned the girl reading a book on the bench, while peeking over at Chloe and Nathan.
"If you insist, Max." Alyssa said scooting over on the bench just missing the ball that came flying by her head, breaking the window.
Max looked over again to Chloe and Nathan, both of whom seemed to be in shock that the window had just broken, like she said it would. She took another photo of the window, still upset that Mr. Jefferson had burned all her original ones. "See, I'm not lying. I'm telling you guys the truth." Max declared handing Nathan the photo after walking up to them, she implored, "I need you to believe me. I'm going to need your guys' help."
Inspecting the photo and peering between it, the broken window and Max, Nathan seemed to be at a complete loss for words. Chloe, on the other hand, quickly glanced at both of them before throwing her arms around Max, smiling brightly. "Fuck yeah, this is so hella cool!"