-1Sorry for the wait people. Apparently I'm one of those slow-to-update people. But I have an excuse. I hurt my back, and then my elbow, which doesn't sound like such a bad thing, but it hurt to sit in this chair with my back hurt, then it hurt to lift my arm when I bashed my elbow. Okay so not the best excuse, but still.

Thank you for all the wonder reviews! I appreciate them immensely, whether they're praise, critic, I loved reading everyone of them.

Unfortunately, this story is kinda one sided, isn't it? With Max being the only ATU character. ; So this story may be short lived, depending on how far I can get on one character inspiration. ;)

Across The Universe
Two Children, No Parents

Chapter 2

Anna crawled out of bed early that morning, wriggling from her uncles grip. Max grunted in his sleep and rolled over, pulling the sheets further up to his neck. Looking at the clock and figuring that she had let him sleep in plenty, Anna leaned across the bed and tapped her uncle on the shoulder. The blonde didn't make a sound and continued to sleep. Anna crawled back onto the bed and leaned over Max. She watched him sleep for a minute, his face was in a frown, like he was in pain. His bangs covered parts of his eyes and the girl brushed them with her little fingers behind his ears. Leaning closer she whispered, "Uncle Max. Uncle Max wake up."

No movement.

Anna sighed and proceeded to stand up on the lumpy bed. She jumped up and down a few times and shouted "Wake up, wake up!"

Max's eyes shot open and his body was being tossed around. "What the hell!" He said, trying to figure out what was happening. He grabbed Anna's ankle and pulled her down on the bed with a WHOMP. "What are you doing?"

"It's time to get up." She said simply and bounced off the bed.

"I could get in a lot of trouble for making too much noise so stop it." He grabbed his sheets and laid back down, covering his face with them.

Anna snorted in frustration. "Common, uncle Max, wake up!"

"No." He said from under the covers. The little girl crossed her arms over her chest then walked to the end of the bed. With one large yank, she stripped the sheet right off of her uncle. Max shot up and frowned at her with a look of death. Anna grinned slyly and wrapped the sheet around her, twirling around in the room. Max let out a groan of displeasure but got up anyway. It was futile to fight the little demon.

Max walked to the kitchen rubbing his eyes. They ate the rest of the Cap'n Crunch and the blonde decided to make a shopping list, since the fridge was generally empty. He rummaged though some drawers but found no paper for his list. Giving up, he sat down across from Anna and ate his breakfast. Anna ate with her body leaning over the table, legs swinging back and forth. Her strawberry hair was in disarray, frizzing out in wild directions.

"Uncle Max?" She said with a mouth full of Crunch.

"Huh?" was his reply.

"How come your room is so messy? Doesn't anyone tell you to clean it?"

"Nope. When you're my age you can do whatever you want." He said not looking up from his cereal.

"Oh. Uncle Max?"

"Hmm?"

"How come you only have Capn Crunch for breakfast?"

"Cause I don't have any money to buy other stuff." He said, a hint of impatience in his voice.

"Oh……Uncle Max?"

"What?!" He said, finally looking up at her, eyes blazing. She grinned.

"Does that annoy you?"

Max let out an amused grunt, his lips forming into a half smile, half warning glance. "Go get dressed you brat."

Anna hopped down from her seat, making the legs screech along the tile in the process, and went to the bed room to change. Max got up and put their dishes in the sink, contemplating washing them for a split second before walking over to the couch.

Later, Max stepped into the shower (removing the netted hammock first) and dressed into a plain blue tee and jeans. No more walking around in his underwear for him. When he emerged from the bathroom he found Anna on the floor, her back to the couch and her face looking up at the ceiling, clearly bored. Max turned on the TV and stepped over Anna, plopping onto the couch. The girl sighed and turned around, watching her uncle watch TV. At first he ignored her, but as her stare got more intense he couldn't help but let his eyes flicker her way.

"What?" He said finally.

"I'm bored!" She whined to him.

"Didn't you bring a backpack stuffed full of toys? Go play with those."

"I don't wanna play with those toys. I want to draw."

"Then go draw." He said waving her away.

"I didn't bring any paper. Or pencils."

"Well good luck finding some." He said and Anna didn't ask anymore questions, deciding that that was all she was going to get out of him. It was time to take things into her own hands. Sneaking into his room - their room - she started searching around for some paper and possibly a pencil. What she found was an old tub of toothpaste, a box of leftover pizza that she quickly dropped, a pile magazines that had pictures of girls in bathing suits on the front, and an old dried up piece of gum that was stuck to the carpet. But no paper.

Taking her search to the bathroom she found a notebook and a pencil in one of the drawers. She peered through it first, to make sure he wasn't using it for anything important but there appeared to be nothing written in it at all. Shrugging, she headed back to the living room to draw on her newfound paper from the bathroom. Go figure.

After several minutes, Max unfixed his eyes from the television to see what she was doing. When he looked down to see her drawing she quickly covered it up with her hands.

"Hey! I want to see what you're drawing." He said smiling. Anna shook her head.

"hu-uh. You gotta wait until it's finished." Max playfully rolled his eyes and laid his head against the arm rest. After a moment of silence Anna asked a question.

"What's that?"

The blonde lifted his head and followed his gaze in the direction of her pointed finger, his eyes landing on a bong in the corner of the room. "That's a umm.. A flower vase." He stuttered, thinking quickly.

"Oh." Was all she said and Max was thankful she didn't ask any questions, like as to why it was sitting in the corner or why it didn't carry any flowers in it.

After a few minutes of hearing the scratch of Anna's pencil as she worked on her drawing, Max slowly drifted off, not quit asleep but his mind wondering off in all sorts of directions. He was just about to drift off to wonderland when he felt a presence hovering. When he opened his eyes, Anna's face was right in his, her hair just barely brushing over his forehead.

"Shit!" He said at the sight and sat up, slightly whacking Anna's forehead as he did. He rubbed his own and looked at her. She seemed to be in pain for a moment but quickly recovered, putting her hands on his knees.

"Can we go to the library today uncle Max?" She pleaded, removing her hands from his knees and standing up straight, waiting for his answer. Max leaned his head forward and rubbed his temples.

"I don't have any money to go to the library, Annie."

Anna crossed her eyes in exasperation, her shoulders slumped and she dropped to her knees to try to get in her uncles face. "The library doesn't cost any money uncle Max." She said shaking her head. Max gave her a blank stare, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. Anna looked at him with big eyes and a pout on her lip until her uncle's lips formed a small grin.

"Fine." He said and she jumped up and down, all excited, then ran to their room. "What're you doing?" He asked as he watched her through the open door. She grabbed her backpack and dumped it's contents onto the floor. She came back with it strapped on her back.

"I needed a book bag." She said happily, standing near the door. Max stood up and grabbed his car keys from a hook in the kitchen and headed out the door, locking it on the way out. The two got into the car, Anna protesting that it wasn't safe for her to sit in the front seat, and Max telling her that she'd be fine. This resulted in a look from the girl that stated that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. She sat in the seat behind Max.

Getting to the library took longer then expected, since Max forgot to check to see where it was located. He insisted he knew where it was, but Anna knew better then to trust the word of her uncle. She was no dummy!!

They finally "found" the library, and the first thing Anna did was head straight for the kids section. Max looked around the large building, secretly in awe of how many books there were. Having nothing else to do he followed Anna to the children's room.

"Look at all this shit." He said and was immediately shushed by several people, including Anna.

"You gotta be quiet in a library, uncle Max." She whispered.

"Oh, sorry." He said making a face.

"Why don't you go look around elsewhere." She suggested, taking a hold of his hand and giving it a pat. Max gave an amused snort at her grown up demeanor and was about to tell her not to act like that, but instead just smiled and nodded, heading in the direction of the stairs.

Max browsed through the aisles of books, absently gazing at random titles while he walked, not really caring one way or another. Suddenly he passed over a collection of books that had anatomy in the title. His eyes bounced back to the set of books, familiar of the words. He knew the word, obviously, he was a Ivy League drop-out after all, but the words meant more then that. He remembered countless times when Jude would talk endlessly about art, using the word "anatomy" frequently. Max smirked at the thought of his mind wondering sometimes during these talks. He tried to be a good friend, but sometimes it was just so hard to stay focused.

Casually, Max reached for one of the books and opened it, flipping briskly though the pages. His face lit up and he closed the book, looking to see if anyone was watching. Again he opened the book (more cautiously this time) and his grin widened. He now understood why Jude liked art so much. This wasn't a dirty thing, Max told himself. He was just admiring the human body. Jude did it all the time, (admire bodies that is) especially that of Lucy's. Taking another book from the shelf, Max began to casually walk downstairs.

He found Anna coming out of the kids section right as he came down the stairs. She waved to him, her backpack filled to the top. "Are you getting books, too" She said while she tried to see what he held. "Yep." Said Max, hiding them from her sight and guiding her to the checkout counter. She gave him a frown but moved along nonetheless.

Anna checked out her books first, Max right behind. "I don't have a library card." He said to the librarian with cat eye glasses and black hair tided back into a bun.

"That's alright. To get one all you need to do is fill out an application." She grabbed a piece of paper from the table and handed it to Max, who started to fill it out. "The process takes about two weeks then we mail your card to your address, and voila, hundreds of books at your fingertips." She smiled an overly happy smile.

"So I can't rent books today?" He said flashing her a charming grin.

"I'm sorry sir, but two weeks is the best I can do."

"Eh, never mind, then." He said scooting the paper back to her and setting his anatomy books on the counter. "You wouldn't mind putting these back for me them would you doll?"

The librarian grabbed the books and looked at him. "You're an artist?"

"I doodle." He said nonchalantly. "Why, do artists get to rent without little cards?"

"I'm afraid not, sir." She placed the books in some mysterious place under the counter.

"Hey buddy." Said someone behind Max "would you mind hurrying it up? Some of us have things we could be doing."

"Yeah yeah we're going." He gave the librarian a wink and turned around, Anna at his heals. Max burst open the doors to the outside and started down the stairs to his car. "Man, what a bunch of pricks." He said more to the air then to Anna. "And did you see that chick?" He looked down at his niece and gave her bug eyes "Who wears glasses like that anymore?"

"I thought she was pretty." mused Anna. Max stopped in front of his car and searched his pockets for his keys.

"Yeah, well you can be the hottest thing in town and still be a jerk." He opened the car door for Anna and she got in, stopping to look at her uncle.

"You mean like you?" She grinned.

"oh 'ha ha'." He said sarcastically, and shut the door tightly once she was all the way in.


Later that day Max tried his hand at cooking lunch for Anna. The process consisted of Max spouting profanities to the air while hurting himself, and an unrecognizable pile of food. They made sandwiches instead. After lunch Max decided to wash a few dishes while Anna sat at the table with her new books from the library.

"Uncle Max, could you help me?" Asked Anna from her spot at the table. Max turned around and wiped his soapy hands on his pants.

"With what?" He sat down across from his niece.

"I can't do this one." She said handing him a book with a picture of a origami crane. A few mishaps were scattered about the table. Max reached for a piece of notebook paper and began to follow the instructions in the book. A few minutes later and Max was hunched over his "creation" with a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

"No, this goes here," He mumbled to himself, glancing from the book to his paper "it, wont line up….no no….damn it…..what the hell does that mean?…damnit!"

Just then the phone rang and Max tossed the paper crane across the table, it landing on the floor. "Hello?" He said without trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

"Mr. Carrigan?" the man on the other end said.

"Yes?" He said, his eyes lighting up as the man informed him of his new job. Max hung up the phone with a big grin on his face. "Yes!" He said as he moved his arms in triumph. Anna was grinning, too, if only because her uncle was excited.

"Who was that?" She asked, Max giving her a rub on the head.

"I got a job." He said proudly.

"What kind of job?"

"Burger flipper." He said more cautiously. Anna's smile didn't lessen and Max was relieved she didn't make any wise cracks about his job. Not that he cared what a little girl thought about him…

"Should we celebrate?" Suggested Anna, getting down from her seat.

"Like with booze?" He smirked. She gave him a playful eye roll.

"No. We should go somewhere!"

"We just went to the library."

"Let's go to the park." She said while ignoring his comment. She ran to their room and grabbed her shoes and a hair tie. "Well come on!" She exclaimed while passing him to get her jacket. Max wasn't sure whether to scold her for pushing him around or to just shut up and take her to the park. It was better then hanging out in their boring apartment, he supposed, and especially better then making stupid paper thingies. Max grabbed his shoes and followed Anna down to his car.

It was perfect summer weather for a day at the park. And apparently a few other dozen families thought so, too. They had to settle for a spot in the sun and Max shooed Anna off to play on the playground.

The grass felt nice and warm on Max's back. A little itchy, but he didn't mind. It reminded him of the times he spent in his parent's backyard playing with Lucy, so long ago.

Max watched Anna play on the monkey bars as he started to doze off. With his eyes half closed, and his head being baked by the sun's rays, Max's vision started to blur. At first he could still see a little girl in jeans and a pink shirt, but the more he watched the more she changed. Soon she was a little Vietnam girl, with dirt covering her clothe. The playground became a jungle. Max watched in horror, unable to wrench his mind away from the scene playing before him. The girl came his way, stopping over his head and looked down on him with a curious glance. He saw her lips move but all he could hear was a roaring in his ears. It became cold suddenly, and Max's head lolled backward before he was completely submerged in darkness.


I have never been to NYC library, or NYC for that matter. Sorry if the description is wrong. Do they even have kids sections? I don't know, so I just based it off of my own, tiny library. Sorry!!

Okay so boring chapter. I promise next chapter will have more drama. Also, the whole Max passing out thing seems a bit unreal, since I read something has to trigger it usually. Oh well, I'm just flying by the seat of my pants. Please review!!!