Chapter Two
Birds of a Feather Rock Together

"Gotta say, Rach," Chloe began as they stared at the building in front of them. "This place is too sketchy for me, and I met you in an abandoned mill."

The bar was outside of Arcadia Bay proper, a few miles from the casino. It was situated flush against a large forest, with motorcycles and pick-up trucks parked out front. Music thrummed from inside, and the three of them stood before it, not moving.

"It's one of the only places around here that doesn't card, so long as you know the right people," said Rachel. "Besides, Max will keep us safe, right?"

Max blinked and shook her head rapidly in confusion. "What?"

"If Chloe or I catch a knife in the gut, you'll rewind and stop it, won't you?"

"Don't even joke about that," she said. "I'm not sure I want to be here."

"Then go home, dude." Chloe stared at the bar and frowned. "I'll be honest, though. I wouldn't go to a place like this unless I was looking to knife someone myself."

"It'll be fine," Rachel insisted. "And I'm going in with or without you two, so it doesn't matter to me either way." She started moving towards the door.

Sighing resignedly, Max and Chloe hung their heads and followed.

The door exploded open, and a large, heavyset biker flew forward, landing roughly on the ground. He scrambled to his feet, fists up, but caught a bat to the side of the head, and went down a second time. The owner of the bat rested it on her shoulder, then stepped hard on the man's chest.

She had rich bronze skin and deep black hair tied in a long braid, with a raven's feather tucked into a patterned headband. She wore faded jeans and a black leather jacket, and stood over the man with implacable menace.

"Remember this for next time, dickhead," she snarled, pointing the bat right in his face. "You start a fight in my bar, and I'm gonna finish it. Go home."

"Alright, alright, fucking uncle!" She removed her foot from his chest, and he rose to his feet with no small amount of effort, rubbing the side of his head. "What about the other guy?"

"He's seeing little cartoon duckies right about now," she replied. "But I'll send him on his way once you're safely out of sight. Get out of here, Leonard."

"Yeah, yeah, sheesh." He walked over to his motorcycle, then mounted it and drove away.

Chloe's eyes sparkled like Christmas lights, and her smile left her mouth hanging wide open.

"Holy fuck!"

The woman with the bat turned to regard them, a weary scowl on her face. "What the hell are you girl scouts doing here?"

"Relax, Sam," said Rachel, walking forward. "They're with me. This is Chloe Price, who I've told you about, and Max Caulfield. My other best friend."

Chloe rushed forward, extending her hand. "Hi there."

She didn't respond.

"Max, Chloe, this is Samantha Black Elk. The bar you see before you belongs to her."

Max waved. "Nice to meet you."

She turned to Rachel. "Look, you know you're always welcome here, but I stick my neck out enough for you without you bringing Thing One and Thing Two along." She gestured to Chloe. "This one might pass inspection if the Sheriff pops in for a visit." Her gaze moved to Max. "But you? This ain't a place that serves milkshakes, honey. You look fucking twelve."

"To be honest, I don't even want to be here."

"Good for you. Run along home now."

"Sam, c'mon." Rachel clapped a hand on her shoulder. "She's a lot more badass than she looks. I'll even prove it to you."

She crossed her arms. "That's gonna be one tough fucking sell."

Smiling, Rachel sauntered in a circle around her. "Let's play a game. If Max wins, then you let her and Chloe in, and I get to ask a favor of you."

"And when I win?"

She reached into her pocket, producing several thousand dollars in cash. "If you win, I pay for everybody's next round." Rachel leaned in closer. "All. Night. Long."

"Rachel, what the fuck?" Chloe surged forward, but Rachel stopped her with a gesture.

Sam stared at the stack of bills. "Where the hell did you get that kind of money?"

"Not important. Are you game or not?"

"Alright, color me fucking intrigued. What's the game?"

"Max here… can tell the future." She brought her hands together in front of her then spread them apart again. "She will predict four events that will happen in the next thirty seconds. All will transpire exactly as she foretells."

"Oh, this'll be cute. Tell me then, short stuff. What's the future hold?"

Max concentrated, then took a deep breath.

"Five seconds after I finish talking, the second man you knocked out will stumble out that door. He'll try and charge you, but you'll hit him in the stomach with the bat. Then Leonard will come back, but he'll be too drunk and crash his motorcycle into that truck over there. Finally, the second man will try and sweep your legs, but you'll knock him out cold with a kick to the face."

"Sounds like somebody's been watching too many late night movies. Quit making shit up and—"

"You fucking bitch!"

Just as Max had predicted, a second biker charged out the door of the bar, heading right towards Sam. She calmly stepped to the side, whacking him in the stomach and driving the air out of his lungs, causing him to double over and crumple like an accordion.

The sound of a motorcycle engine caused all of them to turn, and they saw Leonard, sliding out of control, careen into the exact pickup that she had indicated. The second man used that opportunity to reach for Sam's legs, but she avoided his hands with a quick hop, and kicked him in the face with a steel-toed boot, knocking him unconscious.

She stood there, staring at the young brunette fortuneteller, who smiled with a newfound confidence.

"Okay, I don't know how the fuck you managed that, but a deal's a deal. Come on in."


"Rachel, what the hell was that?" Chloe whispered as they walked inside. "Do you have any idea what flashing that kind of money around here could—"

"Chloe, I love you, but you need to trust me. We're safe here. Sam's an old friend."

"How old? How come I've never met her?"

Rachel shrugged. "To be honest, I haven't talked to her in a while. You both come from two separate parts of my life that, until now, had no reason to overlap. But desperate times make for strange bedfellows."

"I'm gonna need more than that."

"And I'll explain everything," she promised, gripping the sides of Chloe's face and tousling her bangs. "In a minute. Now why don't you and Max go find a seat? I won't be long."

Chloe glared at her, then took Max by the hand and yanked her off towards the nearest unoccupied table.

Inside, the bar was a mix of wood, neon, and a permanent smoky haze. The bar itself was directly across from the main entrance, and to the right there were numerous tables and chairs, with some booths running along the back wall. A pool table rested in one corner, while a dartboard occupied another. All in all, it was everything one could hope for from a dive bar.

"Cute friends you got," said Sam, setting the bat down behind the bar as she and Rachel found a corner.

"The best. How are things, Sam?"

She leaned against the wall. "Can't complain. Those guys were the only two I had to kick out tonight. It's the most exciting thing that's happened all week."

"More exciting than being reunited with an old friend?"

"Meh."

"So, a deal's a deal," she said. "I need a favor."

"You could have just asked for one. Didn't need to put on a whole song and dance."

"Yeah, but that was way more fun. Besides, after the way we left things, I wasn't sure you'd be willing to help me."

"Water under the bridge. I've got your back."

"Thanks. Now about this favor: I need to see your grandfather."

Sam crossed her arms and reared her head back. "That's no small favor."

"Hence why I wanted to make extra sure you'd do it. I know he doesn't talk to just anybody, but…"

"You're not just anybody. I'll make it happen. Text you the details when I set it up."

She grasped her shoulders with both hands. "Thank you so much, Sam. I knew I could count on you."

"Don't mention it. And go tell your friends that just because I let them in here, that doesn't mean I'll be serving them."

Rachel turned around to see Chloe holding an empty bottle over her head, one eye closed, poking at it with one finger while Max had buried her forehead in her palm. She laughed.

"No worries. And thanks again!"


"Chloe, can I ask you something?"

She grabbed both ends of the bottle and yanked hard in opposite directions, and it began to spin with feverish speed. "Fire away, Max."

"Is Rachel usually like this?"

"You really don't remember a damn thing, do you?"

Max shook her head.

"First night I met her was at a Firewalk concert in the old mill," she said. "So she knows how to thrash. First I've heard of her hanging out at a place like this, though. Even Frank doesn't come here."

"That you know of."

"Fair."

"What do you think of her friend?"

"Badass, natch, but you saw how she brushed us off. Thinks she's too good for us."

Max shrugged. "We're teenage girls showing up at a dive bar on a Friday night with no idea what we're even doing here. Admit it, Chloe: we look kind of lame."

"You? Totally. Me? Impossible."

"Maybe if we were at a rock concert. But you don't exactly blend into the crowd here. I definitely don't."

"Rachel's the only one who does." The bottle had stopped spinning by now, and Chloe started it up again. "The really special thing about her is that she just… belongs. Everywhere she goes. She's a girl who can fit in with any crowd. Even so, I'm just as in the dark about this place as you are."

"An easy problem to solve," said Rachel as she slid into a chair beside Chloe. "Like I said, Sam's an old friend."

"How'd you meet?" asked Max.

"Believe it or not, summer camp. Sam and I spent a lot of time together when we were young. But you know how life is. I got into Blackwell, she went to a public high school. Plus she's like three years older than me, so she graduated first. We sorta fell out of touch for a while."

Max and Chloe exchanged a glance.

Chloe looked around at the other patrons, eyeing the whole place skeptically. "And how does she own a bar?"

"It belonged to her father. She inherited it, opened it back up. Don't let the clientele fool you; this place is really hopping on ladies' night."

"The more important question," said Max, leaning forward. "Is what are we doing here?"

"Right." She rested her forearms on the table, forming a diamond with her thumbs and forefingers. "Sam… knows some people. People who might be able to help us get answers. Explain some things."

Chloe crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Like what?"

"Like Max's theory that there's more to me than meets the eye," she said. "Arcadia Bay is old, and it's got a lot of history. But I don't know all of it, and Sam's family has been here since before Ezekiel Blackwell's expedition. Her grandfather's something of an expert."

"So why aren't we talking to him?"

"We will. That's why I needed to see Sam. So she can set up a meeting. He can be… hard to find."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Because he's kind of a fugitive?"

"What?!" Max and Chloe shrieked in unison.

"Calm down." She gestured with her hands, and they stared at her, waiting for an explanation. "Have you heard of the Organization for Protecting the Environment Now?"

Max frowned. "OPEN?"

"It's… a group of people who take environmental conservation very seriously. But you could have guessed that from the name."

"How seriously?"

"Enough that a few of them got arrested for trying to bomb Pan Estates."

Chloe glanced at her shrewdly. "So they're eco-terrorists."

"Basically. My dad's office investigated them a few years back, before the FBI got involved. Sam's grandfather Joseph is their leader."

"And we're meeting him why again?"

"He knows more about Arcadia Bay than anyone else alive," she said. "If we're going to figure out what's going on with me, we need the answers he has."

"And that's the only reason we're meeting him, right?" asked Max. "I'm all for getting answers, but not if it means ending up on a watchlist."

She patted the other girl's hand reassuringly. "I promise that's the only reason. You don't have to come, but you never know when your powers might come in handy."

"Speaking of which, why'd you make her show them off?" asked Chloe. "You were willing to risk the money Frank loaned us on a stupid bet?"

"It's not a risk if you have faith," said Rachel, smiling. "I knew Max would impress her. Well done, by the way."

Max smiled back. "Thanks. In the other timeline, Chloe made me do the same thing to prove my powers were real."

"Well congrats, Super Max." Chloe scowled at the rest of the bar. "There's no doubt about it now."

"Oh, don't be so grumpy." Rachel wrapped her arm around Chloe and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry for not telling you before we got here. But we're here now, and this is a great place to go if you want to blow off steam without anyone in town finding out about it the next day."

"That so?" She twisted the bottle one more time, watching it as it spun. "Because I could stand to get wasted right about now."

"Out of luck on that front. Sam says just because she let you in here, that doesn't mean you get any booze. She's pushing the limits of her liquor license as it is."

"Then I'll make my own fun." She snatched the bottle, lifting it off the table, then stood.

"Chloe, what are you—?"

"Hey dillhole!"

A large biker wearing a Harley Davidson jacket turned around just in time to get clocked across the face with an empty beer glass. He doubled over, right into Chloe's rising knee. He crumpled to the floor, and Chloe held the shattered bottle in the air, shouting obscenities as the man's companions started to surround her.

"You fucking pencil-dicks want some? Then come on!"

"Hey, that's enough!" shouted Sam, clearing the bar with a single leap and marching towards her. "Get out of my fucking bar!"

"Come and make me, Pocahontas!"

"Oh, you did not just call me that!" Sam rolled up her sleeves and charged at Chloe, punching her right in the face. Her jaw popped out of place and a spray of blood and teeth hit the floor, with Chloe following soon after.

"Max!" Rachel whispered. "Do something!"

Max nodded. "Right."

She extended her hand, and time froze for a moment. Rachel glanced over in Chloe's direction, and her eyes grew steadily wider as she saw the other girl rise from the floor, and jaw moved back into place. Sam's fist withdrew backwards, and soon she was walking in reverse, back over the bar.

Chloe was in retrograde as well, and the bottle reformed before her eyes as the blue-haired girl moved back to the table, depositing the bottle back onto it, where it began to spin in the opposite direction. Max lowered her hand, and time began to flow normally again.

"Then I'll make my own fun," Chloe said for the second time, reaching for the bottle. Rachel got there first.

"Chloe, don't. I know you're about to start some shit because you're jealous of Sam, but just don't. All you'll do is get your ass kicked."

She raised an eyebrow. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Doesn't take a fortuneteller to know when my best friend is about to act out. If you want to smash something, wait until we're out of here."

Chloe scowled at her, but relented with a huff. "Fine. Sorry."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Max was staring at her with wide eyes, and Rachel looked back at her in understanding. "We'll talk later," she whispered.

She nodded, and after a few more minutes, the three of them left.


Author's Notes: Well, now that it took me precisely one chapter to fix the biggest plot hole in the series, we need an actual story to tell. I have a fairly strong idea of where I want to go with this, and I have about six chapters total written out so far. Updates will still be weekly for the foreseeable future.

We'll get to Amberpricefield eventually, but I try not to jump into shipping at the very beginning. Let's give it some time to build.

Enjoy, and please tell me what you think.