"Babe...I said I was sorry. Like...twice, even." Chloe crosses her arms and looks away, grumbling a bit louder than intended, "Still wondering why I'm apologizing for winning a hella ton of money though..."

I stare down at the large pile of casino chips, each one stamped with the chintzy Luxor pyramid logo. In beguiling blacks, purples, and pinks, it's both horrifying and tantalizing all at once. I can't help but see it as some sort of honeyed trap, too sweet to resist, but too good to be true. I'm curled up in a loose ball on the bed right now, absolutely torn; half of me just wanting to just yell at Chloe for being so stupid and foolish, the other just about ready to pounce on her, hiss in her ear how incredibly hot she makes me when she gets away with shit like this.

Christ, wasn't I just telling her in Denver and Reno how much I was enjoying the new, more responsible Chloe Price? I don't know who I'm more upset with right now: her, or me.

"I know." I acknowledge, in a low, almost flat monotone. I labor to take a long, slow, deep and calming breath. "It's just...I can't believe that you went and did...it was such a huge risk, you know, and it could have just...like what would have happened if you lost, and then...ach!" I start to tug in my hair as frustration builds up inside me like steam pressure.

Chloe and I spent the better part of two weeks in Reno, where she underwent this initial apprenticeship under Roy. Turns out there's surprisingly little formal education for this sort of thing, let alone regulation. It's mostly the shops that have to be licensed, although some artists need certification in blood-borne diseases and stuff. like that. Depends on the state. But it was also cool in that he let Chloe continue working on my sleeve, which is now down to my elbow and coming along great!

So now we're passing through Vegas...it was just supposed to be for a weekend! I didn't think I had to point out to Chloe that her legal trickery wouldn't work with the casinos the way it did in the weed shops in Colorado. We were just going to have some nice meals, maybe try to get into a club...

"Okay, so I guess to start, I'm still kinda royal pissed you just left me behind after we got out of the show. You know, the high-class naked-time revue, or whatever it's supposed to be."

I do kind of crack a smile at this, despite myself. Apparently there was some major ticket brokers conference in town, which meant that all kinds of freebies were just randomly floating around. Getting in to see the Blue Man Group was a major score, but when Chloe got her hands on some free passes to some girly show at the Luxor...

Chloe smiles back, sheepishly, and drifts towards me, "Yeah, and can I say that was stupid rad , and that you're a way cool girlfriend for going with?"

I roll my eyes a little and look away. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Chloe's heart belongs to me. Still, she has an..appreciative eye. I get that. And despite the tacky glam of the show itself, some of the women really were...I mean, they were REALLY hot. Like I'm starting to think I'm more than just into Chloe, as far as other women go. Maybe.

"Yeah, the show was amusing if nothing else. Still mad about getting out of the bathroom, and how you're not there waiting. And then I have to wander around the whole casino until I find you half an hour later at the roulette table. Seriously, what the hell?"

Her eyes light up again, as she bounces off the bed excitedly, "Okay, okay! Yeah, maybe I got a little impulsive. But can you blame me? Because O-M-G, did you not notice how they DIDN'T card us for the show? And that no one cards you to get into the casino? It's like as long as you're not an absolute brain-dead moron, no one fucking cares! It was just...I was only going to put down a few bucks, and then walk away. I mean...ha ha...I didn't expect to win! Or keep winning."

Chewing down on my bottom lip, I cover up my eyes with the palm of my hand and groan out, trying to keep an even tone, "And what happened if you lost, Chloe? You put down five hundred bucks of your money..."

"Uh, yeah...of MY money, Max. I got it from Joyce, it was mine to lose."

I narrow my eyes, looking up at her, and hiss, "Too big a fucking risk. What if you just lost it on the first spin?"

She leans in, to meet my gaze, her eyes mirroring mine almost perfectly. "Then I guess I would have felt super-ridiq and walked away to go back and find you."

In a smaller voice, I ask, "What if you couldn't just walk away. What if you decided to go chasing after that, and then five hundred turns into five thousand, and then more, and more, and..."

Suddenly I'm crying. Bawling, even. Inside, the dam bursts, and I lose all control. It happens so fast, I don't even have time to be surprised.

"I can't...I can't save you anymore, Chloe!" My voice is thick with emotion, wet as the tears running down my face. "I don't have my powers anymore! I'm so scared about something happening to you. It was easy not to worry when i could just rewind it all, take it back, make it go away. But I can't and I just...I don't know what I would do, Chloe!" I spring up slowly and cling to her, burrying my face in her neck, and give a few hard, body-wracking sobs. "I love you so much. I don't know what I would do if something bad happened to you, if I lost you. Sometimes I just still feel so...so powerless!"

Chloe sits down, pulling me into her lap as she does. Kisses away each and every tear away, shhhes me and my fears away as best as she can. More than my lover, she is, in this moment, my best and most precious friend.

"Max...sweetie. Oh God..." she almost crushes the breath out of me as she squeezes, but I draw such comfort from the pressure. "Seriously had no idea you still felt like this."

I sniffle loudly, grateful when she hands me some tissues. Try to talk, and it takes a few attempts, clearing my throat hard, before it loosens up enough to allow me to do so, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess...I didn't either. Not until this moment. You know, I wanted to put it all behind me, right? The powers...I mean, people aren't meant to live like that, you know? Not for the long haul. And you just had this crazy, fucked up way of getting into trouble..."

She bows her head and makes a quite, strained groan, "Shiiiiit. I'm...such a fucking ditz. I forgot the stories you told me, you know? About shooting myself in the junkyard. The train. I mean, shit, no wonder you're...I mean. No wonder it drives you crazy! Worrying about me when I go off all cray-cray." She beats her forehead a few times with the flat of her palm. "Stupid...stupid..."

I grab her wrist, and shake my head. "No...no it's...this is on me, Chloe. I keep forgetting that you - the woman here with me now - none of that happened to her. You just have my word, and the pictures to go on. I thought I was past it, Chloe. I thought it was all over and done with, but I guess an experience like that doesn't just leave you untouched." I bow my head and let out a tiny, "I'm sorry."

"No. *I'M* sorry. You're right. I need to start growing up. Getting my act together. I mean, I'm starting right? I'm on a good roll. But I should stop being so..."

I shake my head emphatically and cup her face. "No! Please...don't. I mean, yeah, you're figuring out what you wanna do in life now, and that's all hot and awesome and everything, but don't stop being you, Chloe. Not for my sake. You drive me crazy, but it's also what I love the most about you. How fearless you are. You know you can't take anything back, but you don't care. I just...I need more of that, you know? I need to work on getting over this hang up of mine, the control I had. Everything was so safe and secure, and nothing could hurt me, or us. That's how it felt for a while. I just...didn't realize it still haunts me, even a little. So don't go changing or turn into Ms. Super-Play-It-Safe all the time, for me. It would kill me to see you make yourself miserable just for my sake. I guess we just, we need to meet in the middle somehow, you know?"

"I know...I definitely know, Buggy. Believe me, all the times I wish I was more like you: calm. Cool. In control. You take the time to figure out the angles, I mean DAMN. I was just about to take thirty grand in chips and cash out like a dumb bitch, but YOU are seriously scary with Google and a smart phone. Doing the research. Saved me from falling into the trap of them wanting to see ID and Social Security for trying to cash out such a big amount all at once.

I pull my face back, glance over to my punk rock girl, and say, in a kittenish tone of voice, "I think I have a plan on how we can cash it out without problems."

Chloe gives a lilting laugh - God her laugh is the best! - and kisses me, quick but hard. "'Course you do, babe. It's your secret superpower now. You know, other than the actual superpower you used to have."

My voice strengthens. I calm. Having finally let it all out, this little micro-freakout, after all these weeks, I feel worlds better. "It's a little risky. We'll have to stay around Vegas for a week or so, I figure."

"Oooooh nooo! The worst!" Chloe gasps in mock-horror. Then pauses. Brushes her thumb against my lips and whispers. "Max...we don't need to. We can just drive away, with a pile of chips we can't cash in. At least not for eight months. Then I can come back, when I turn twenty-one, and cash it all in at once. Nice and legit. That's the best plan. Safest. I don't mind. What's eight months compared to making you happy, Max." She takes my hands, cupping them in hers, and covers them in kisses, tiny little licks of devotion. "There isn't anything I would do for you. I love you, so much."

I can't believe what I'm about to say, .but I think I need to. I need to do this. I have to show myself that we can take a chance and even if it goes bad, it won't be the end of the world. I've already made so much progress over the last year...this is just the next challenge, right?

"You know what, baby?" I whisper. "There's thirty fucking thousand dollars in chips on the bed. All house money. We each take half, and we each cash out twenty-five hundred a day, every day or two? I mean, that's just peanuts to them, right? And so what if they catch us halfway through, we just tell them we forgot our drivers licenses, and run out of the casino, come back later. Let's do this...let's get crazy, just a little, here in Vegas?"

Chloe blinks, looking over at me, her mouth hanging down just a bit. "Whoa...wait. Seriously? Okay, Max, you don't need to..."

I stop her with a kiss, "Yeah. I do. I really do. This time."

Chloe swallows hard, still disbelieving. "Really? All...all right then. Yeah...let's get crazy! So you wanna start by making out on top a pile of casino chips?"

I burst out laughing; it takes me a good ten seconds to stop before I glance up at her, and with a minxish grin on my lips tell her, "Nah. I got something better in mind."


"Holy...holy fuck, Max! I think you went temporarily insane! Don't get me wrong, I love it, but...ha ha! I can't remember what I was going to say. I think you sexed it out of me! I just gotta say though, as hot as movies make the whole idea look? Not a damn CANDLE to the amazeballs reality!"

Two days later, Chloe and I are lying in bed together, in a classy suite at the Venetian, on a crazy huge pile of twenties, fifties and hundreds, about five grand worth, I think.

"Way the fuck better than my idea!" she admits, after we manage to successfully cash out the first seven and a half thousand. We've been trying to stagger it at different times of the day, usually the busy times at night when they are pressed for time. So far, so good. No one has even blinked.

Still doesn't lessen my excitement any further. Wild, yet safe. That's about the best I can describe what we're doing. But Chloe just goes crazy at my idea of sex in a fancy suite on a pile of cash, and I do too. I mean, we don't just go and make love, all sweet and romantic, no. It literally starts with a cash fight, throwing great big handfuls of bills at each other, laughing like we're mental, until the bed is just strewn with them, and then I have her just...thrown me down hard, and royally fuck me.

I mean we're - oh God, I am blushing so hard at the thought NOW, but we got toys involved and everything, you know? And I just hope no one was looking up at us on the twenty-third floor when she took me against the window.

Now we are both glistening with sweat, and the bills are sticking to skin; we're still panting, catching our breath; the aftermath is...well...not as sexy as events leading up to this moment, but still: so totally worth it.

I snuggle up close against her, into the crook of her arm, and murmur, "You know it won't always been rad-as-fuck cash fights and money-themed sexytimes, right?"

"There's my babydoll, bringing down the mood."

I giggle drunkenly and mmmmm, "Yeah. Just promise me something?"

"After the past three hours? Hell, Imma go off and kill in your name right now if you asked." She pauses, then adds, "But it's not, right? Because you know, pillow talk is one thing..."

I smirk and gently swat at her tummy with a handful of bills. "No! Dummy. Just...you know how I'm here to keep you from going too off the rails? Promise me you'll keep me from being too safe. That you'll remind me that I'm nineteen still, even though sometimes I feel - and act - like I'm thirty-eight.

She reaches over, casually groping one of my breasts, "Oh don't worry. You ABSOLUTELY feel nineteen right now."

I jump onto her, pinning her down and laughing. "Smartass!" Then my eyes light up. "Oh! Hey, you know, I forgot to mention it to you, what with all the freaking out, and then the crazy money and sex, but...too bad for you."

"Wait. What? What's that mean?"

"It means that when I got out of the bathroom the other night, I got propositioned by one of the girls from that show. She was classy about it, in her own way."

Chloe gives me an expression that says she's calling bullshit.

"Reallly?"

"Oh yeah." I nod emphatically. "The red head. The one you couldn't stop drooling over. With the..." I hold my hands under my chest, "...proportional developments."

She snorts with bemusement, and then narrows her eyes. "No, seriously, I know you're shitting me."

"Swear to Dog, she was totally coming on to me. I told her that I had a girlfriend already. So she said, 'That's okay. I do too. Let's get together, sometime.' Then she hands me a playing card with a room number written on it."

Chloe squeaks - she literally says the word 'squeak!' - then asks...no, more begs-slash-pleads, "Please, please PLEASE tell me we can do this!" After a few seconds pause, she continues, "I mean..oh. Sorry. Shit. Did I just totally come off as way too eager...? I mean. Uh. Yeah. Whatever. Foursome might be...neat. I mean, only if you reallllllly wanna."

I scoop up a couple handfuls of bills and drizzle them over her face, as I shimmy slowly, straddling her hips, "Toooo bad." I call out in a sing-song voice. "I lost the card somewhere trying to find you in the casino. If only you had stuck around, like you should have from the start."

"Fuck! Now I know you're hella lying, Caulfield!" she booms out, with the biggest grin on her face. She pivots, reversing our positions and starts to tickle me mercilessly.

"Fess up!"

"Fuck you, no way! It totes happened and was awesome!"

I give as good as I get though, and before too long, we're rolling around. Until we fall off the bed...

...landing with a loud thump, and we're just lying on the floor, laughing and crying, with bills stuck to our skin.

Eventually, I look up at her, and tell her the three words I know she longs to hear.

"So. Room service?"

"Fuck yeah, I want room service!" She all but bounces on me. "But...ah...lets keep the tab under a grand, right? We gotta think about the future."

"Oh baby, nothing makes me hotter than when you exercise fiduciary restraint."

"What? Jesus, Max. You're such a huge nerd sometimes."

I smirk hungrily, "You love it! Why else did you give me that word-a-day calendar for Christmas?"

"I do. I totally do. Your nerdy ways are my kryptonite, babe."

Room service came later. You see, there was this giant jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, and...well seriously, we had to check that out first, right?


In the end, we get away with it. We get all thirty grand cashed out in the span of a week and a half, although the last night, we started getting followed around by someone in a suit. Chloe thinks it was just my paranoia. Maybe she's right. Still, I'm glad we didn't push our luck too far.

I know that everything that happened to me during the "Never-Time" is going to be with me, probably forever. Even as the memories fade, the experiences leave their mark. I'm just really glad to be so blessed to have a girlfriend who understands and is always going to love me, as I try to figure this shit out. I mean, it's not like I can go talk to a therapist about it. Gotta figure it out on my own.

Well...no. Not alone.

It's late at night when we finally leave Las Vegas. Our eyes fall on one of those quicky-wed chapels. The kind of places where you can drive through and have Elvis marry you. Chloe and I, we just smile at each other. I reach over, take her hand, kiss it and then hold on to it for the better part of an hour.

We're not in a rush, but we both know it's coming. Life's Biggest Gamble, as it were. But there's no one else I'd rather take that risk with, than the girl holding my hand and driving us out into the dark.


A/N: For some reason, I'm not so thrilled how this one came out. I almost didn't do it at all, but it read better the next day during editing. Admittedly, I have trouble letting go of certain "darling" ideas. Oh well, that's what the fluff series is for, to get that kind of stuff out of my system. On a related note, I might have to turn the cash pile sex scene into it's own one-shot someday.

"proportional developments" almost became "epic warhammers of badass vengeance" due to an well-endowed friend of mine.

Anyhow, have a great weekend!

P.S. OOOOOH Holy crap I am such a moron! I can't believe I originally published this up without saying: WAA HOO! Go SCOTUS! Same sex marriage, now law of the land! (backflips!)

Of course, we've had it here in Massachusetts for a decade, so of course I forgot ;-) But seriously. *pumping fists in the air* Yay!