WARNING:
All characters and the story upon which this fanfiction is based are property of Dontnod Entertainment and Square Enix. I don't own anything.
As this is my first story to be published here, I will be happy about every reviews - both good and bad as only so I can know what I have to improve. :)
Rated M for crude and strong language at times, violence and mature content in later chapters.
-First it giveth-
Joyce was indeed still in the house as her shift at the diner would only start in a couple more hours. She was a bit mildly surprised to find out that Max was in their home and would eat breakfast with them, when the young woman approached her.
"Good morning, Joyce…" Max said a bit sheepishly, when the older woman mustered her from head to toe.
"My, my! Max, are those Rachel's clothes by any chance? If it wasn't for those boots and jacket, I might have mistaken you for her." There was kindness in Joyce's voice. "You fit those clothes well."
"Well, it's more out of necessity, really. But, um, thanks?" Max offered smiling at the woman, who was like a second mother to her.
"Now tell me exactly what you want to chow on?" Joyce asked with amusement in her voice as she saw that the younger woman was maybe even more of a hell raiser than her daughter.
"Well… I could do with what Chloe would have, but I'm all for bacon and eggs." Max grinned a bit. "Though I did kind of expect you to wake us up yelling 'wakey, wakey – eggs and bakey'. Your cooking is just the best and that is actually one of my fondest memories."
"You're hard on luck there, kid. But taking into account that the fridge is half-empty, I take it, that they starve you there at Blackwell." Chloe's mother said, with a knowing look in her eyes, but didn't comment any further. "Well, where is that daughter of mine anyways?" She crooked her neck a bit to see if Chloe was standing behind Max, which made the rocker-girl look around too.
"She's on the swing." Max face-palmed herself and groaned a little bit, when she saw the blue-haired girl swing on the swing giggling like a small child.
"Oh, well…" The older woman next to her sighed but decided to drop the question as to why her daughter was outside, although she could very well guess, and instead walked over to the fridge to get the ingredients for the meal. "Anyhow, after all these years and all that has happened, it's great to see you and Chloe together again. She hasn't had a good friend since you or Rachel… Those clothes remind me so much of her. Such a sweet girl. I'm just hoping she's living large in L.A."
"Hope so too." Max said as she made to help Chloe's mother to prepare breakfast. She couldn't really keep the emotion out of her voice – a mix between jealousy at the girl she didn't know, anger, hurt and sadness. Of course Joyce saw immediately that this topic bothered her and decided to lighten the mood a bit.
"Max Caulfield, are you actually jealous of Rachel?" The diner waitress asked bemused and with a light laugh, indicating she meant to tease the younger woman a bit.
"I know it's not fair against Rachel, but yeah… I am a bit jealous." Max said after a few moments, weighting in her mind what to say and what not to. "She's been around Chloe during these years and I know how much she means to Chloe. I bet she's a cool girl…"
"Oh, she's cool enough, but not so cool that Chloe wouldn't have been telling me she wishes she could be more like you over the past five years." Joyce replied, hoping that this small truth would lift the younger woman's spirits.
"Doubt it. She clearly had pictured a different Max, when she said that, if she said that." Max said and Joyce couldn't deny that seeing Max now it probably had been the case. The next few moments of them preparing breakfast went by in silence and Joyce could tell that Max had something important to tell her. So when the meal was ready she took the opportunity to prompt the young rocker-girl to say, what she had to say.
"Voila. A meal fit for us queens and a king." She smiled at Max. "Go sit at the table, sweetie, and with breakfast served we can talk about all you want to." The older woman, however, doubted that Max really wanted to talk about whatever it was, but that it was more of a thing that she felt she must do. She hadn't spent the time raising her own daughter without practically adopting the daughter of the Caulfields as her second child, just as Ryan and Vanessa had basically declared Chloe to be their second daughter too. Thus she knew – something was up and bothering the young woman next to her and the sooner she would get it out of her system, the better.
When Max had sat down on the chair by the dining table, Chloe's mother brought her a plate with eggs and bacon and went to get a photo-album from the nearby shelf, when she had set the other plates on their respective places.
"Seeing you again made me remember so much." She said as she laid the album between her and the rocker-gal on the table and started to turn the pages. "No doubt these here aren't as good as the ones you make, though." She indicated to the pictures. Some of them had been clearly taken by David, some by Joyce and some by Chloe's late father – William.
"I clearly remember some of the older ones." Max said looking down on a specific photo William had taken. It was the picture he took on the day when he died. "Joyce… I'm sorry, but I have to tell you something. I know my dad hasn't kept much contact with you throughout the years as he has done with other friends, but the reason why is that it pained him too much." Max took in a deep breath to steady herself as she saw the quizzical look on the older woman's face. "Joyce, my mom died. Three years ago. She had lung cancer, but nobody knew or even noticed until it was too late. I know it must be a shock and I'm sorry that I have to bring such bad news…"
"Oh, Max, darling!" Joyce was by her side in the blink of an eye and had her already in a tight hug. Max could feel how hard the news had hit the older woman as they – her mom and Chloe's mom – had been quite the good friends themselves. She could feel the slight tremble in Joyce's voice, but knew that the diner waitress wouldn't cry now. It probably would be late in the evening after her shift had ended and she was home that she would allow herself to mourn her friend. Right now she put her duties as a mom and as a substitute mom for Max as her priorities. "Oh, Max. I'm so sorry for you and Ryan." She stroked Max's hair gently as one would do with one's child, when it has woken up from a nightmare and needed the comfort of its parents. "I can only imagine how hard it must have been for the two of you and although I know this might not be what you want to hear right now – I hope you and your dad can find the strength to move forward with your lives. I know that Vanessa would have wanted for the two of you to be happy."
"Thank you, Joyce." Max said in a small voice. Despite, or maybe because, she had already told Chloe about all of it yesterday, Max still felt like a train had hit her when she told Joyce. However, she had to tell the older woman. She had to tell her the harsh truth. She had all the rights to know.
"If you ever want or need to talk to someone – you can always come to me. You will always find a home in this place." Chloe's mom released the younger woman from her embrace after squeezing her tightly for a last time and went to sit at the other side of the table, just to pick the photo William had taken of Max and Chloe on the day he died. "Max, I know this will hardly console you, as those are scars only time can heal, but I want you to have it. You two were so full of light and I want you to remember that there are good times in life, that life gives us so much joy…" Max didn't really know how to respond to this, as she pocketed the picture. She wanted to say something, but bitterness and hurt can be very tough hurdles to overcome as she had to discover yet again. So she remained quiet, hoping that the older woman wouldn't take it the wrong way.
"Are you guys having a bonding session or something?" The blue-nette entered the room as if on cue. Remaining standing in front of her mother and Max. The look on her face clearly showed that she hadn't expected this, when her mom just stood up and embraced her tightly. After all, it had been quite some time since they had been really close after her mom had married her stepfather.
"Chloe, I would like to have a talk with you." Joyce said as she released her stunned daughter from the hug, before turning a bit so she could address Max. "Max… is it alright if I-?" Max nodded understanding, what Joyce wanted to talk about with Chloe, or at least guessing what she wanted to talk about with the punk-girl. Max quickly cleared her plate of what was left on it, as she had managed to eat the biggest part of the portion when Joyce had shown her the pictures.
"I've finished my plate anyways. Um, I'll just go to Chloe's room and get my stuff…" She replied and went past the two women, but not without mouthing 'Garage' to Chloe as she passed behind Joyce, pointing towards the doors of said room. Max felt a little sick using this situation like this, but hadn't they decided, that they would need to see what David knows about Rachel's and Kate's cases? Hadn't she decided for herself that she would help Chloe? Hadn't Joyce been at home, they would have probably gone to the garage together, but right now – in this situation – it was just an opportunity she was not sure they would get any time soon… Chloe gave her the slightest of nods as her mother indicated her to sit at the table obviously wanting this to be a serious conversation and a long one... As they sat down at the table, Max already was in the garage. Still, she needed to act fast and find as many clues as possible, for despite the possibility that the two women in the living room would talk for a good measure of time, she didn't want to risk too much. However, it did take her quite a few rewinds 'till she got what she hoped was she was looking for – access to the security guards' laptop he seemed to have forgotten in the garage. Her search of the garage for other clues had been relatively fruitless, but what she had found made her reconsider the security guards' personality. Maybe he wasn't as much of an asshole, as she thought… Still, it would take a lot more to convince her to take him of her 'target-list'.
"Ok, let's take a look at what you know, Mr. Leisure-detective." The rocker-girl mumbled as she started to go through the various files on the computer. Surprisingly it didn't take much of a search to get to the folders and files about the Blackwell students. The former soldier seemed to keep extensive records of any 'suspicious' activity of the students. Some were articles or snippets of information; some were word documents, pictures from the net and so on. Some were about the Vortex Club, about Kate, some about Nathan and Victoria, some were about her. None of them had too much information in them actually, mostly the veteran's own suspicions and thoughts.
'Bingo!' The brown-red haired girl thought, when she finally found something about a certain missing young woman named Rachel Amber. These files seemed to be more orderly, as if the Blackwell security officer had paid special attention to her. 'Well, figures. Chloe was all over her for all I know…' She was scrolling through the files, when something specific caught her attention – a pdf-file of a police report about Rachel being under the suspicion of having brought drugs to the Academy. But what was most interesting, were the notes David had added. And, a certain picture showing Rachel and Frank together. Max's stomach turned at the sight – it reminded her too much of what she had experienced and she hoped that Chloe would be spared to experience something similar… Despite feeling a little sick about this all, she continued her search for a couple more minutes, but it was rather fruitless and she stopped there.
After exiting the garage she quickly ran up the stairs to the second floor and rewound so that when she came down the stairs again it seemed she had been in Chloe's room all along. 'Damn, I'm getting good at this…' She allowed herself a bit of self-admiration at the trick she had just pulled, despite the serious situation. It seemed however that in spite of the conversation starting about, what Max supposed was Joyce 'informing' Chloe about Vanessa's death, the conversation had turned sour quickly as the older woman was standing in the kitchen and the younger one still sitting at the table munched down on her food without even looking at the diner waitress.
The situation, however, turned even more awkward and uncomfortable as Chloe's stepfather entered the house through the front door just at the moment when Max was about to suggest for her and Chloe to get on their way.
"David, you're back already?" Joyce asked surprised as she saw her husband take off his shoes and walk towards the set table.
"Yeah, I have to take a nap after writing up vandalism reports last night." The security guard said tiredly, seeming all worse for wear. "Some little shitass punks broke into the swimming pool and into the principal's office. This is what happens at these P.C. bullshit colleges. Entitled students taking over the campus."
"Do you know for sure it was the Blackwell students?" Joyce asked trying to calm the situation as she saw that the former soldier was getting worked up. It was no wonder really though – he took his job seriously and was tired from a long and stressful night.
"Who else would do it? And I'm going to bust them." David said and waved a hand in the air indicating he was just too tired of the whole topic to really want to talk about it. Once he saw Max standing a bit further away from Chloe he seemed to change his mind however. "Figures you'd be here… Is that your Rachel Amber Halloween costume?" He seemed not to really want to go into this conversation, but his temper had gotten the better of him.
"Look, Mr. Madsen, you said, I could talk to you whenever I had a hard time and just as it is – it is a hard time for me now, plus you seem to know more about her than me, and I would like to take you up on that offer on consultation." Max didn't even have to fake the sincerity in her voice, which was on par with the aggressiveness that came naturally to her, when she was confronted with accusations – true or false.
This seemed to take the security guard, as well as the two women in the room a bit aback, but all regained their composure rather quickly.
"Well, I really am tired right now, but if you insist…" the man seemed to be reluctant and truly tired, but at the same time he managed to sound grateful as no argument had yet come to pass from this conversation. "Still, I'd like to take at least a little time off from today…"
"No, I don't insist. Nonetheless, I'd like to talk to you about some things concerning Rachel." Max's tone was kind enough but left no room for interpretation – she would talk to him and get to know what she wanted. "But Chloe has promised me to bring me back to the Academy and as it is I've already missed the morning classes. Best we get going before I miss the midday classes too." She gave Chloe a look that could only be read in one way - 'Don't start shit now. We get out and talk about it later.' She had notice how the blue-haired girl had clenched her fists as the security guard had talked about the incident at the pool and her mentioning Rachel. She knew Chloe would have exploded on him if he had continued down that track or said anything about Rachel.
"Yeah, right. So if you don't mid, we're getting the hell outta here." Chloe stood up grudgingly and went up the stairs to her room get her stuff, leaving Max to say her good-bye's to Joyce. With David at home Chloe didn't want to stay any longer than she had to, but she had hoped that she and Max would have more time together to just chill and do nothing. With the ex-soldier in the house though it was not really possible. She felt a bit cheated and was deep in thought, when she noticed the other girl entering her room.
"So what's the plan, Punk-girl?" Max asked in a low voice as she closed the door. "Seems like we can't really stay here as you and security-douche can't even stay in the same room for five minutes without getting at each other's throats. Still, would be kind of a waste of a relatively good midday if I'd have to go to the Academy right away…" She said while picking up her things. It seemed that she'd have to stuff the still slightly wet clothes and her other stuff in her rucksack. 'Well, sacrifices have to be made…' The rock-girl thought as she started to do exactly that.
"Hey, give me a break! That prick is making me want to leave my own house the moment I see him here." The older girl replied a little snappy and with a bit of anger in her voice. The discussion with Joyce and now her step-father coming home early had seriously soured her mood. "Besides, what was that about Rachel?" She decided to change the topic. This morning's events already started to fade out in her memory as her thoughts began to again circle around the one thing they had for the past months – Rachel Amber and a way to find out where she was or what had happened to her. After all, had she not loved Rachel? Didn't she still love her? She needed to know…
"Chloe…" This was not a good start. The punk-girl could already feel the knots starting to form in her stomach at the tone in which Max spoke – it meant something was up. "Listen, when I went through David's laptop in the garage, I found pictures of Rachel and Frank… being more than just friends…"
"Right. No way, Max. She was just posing to tease Frank." The blue-nette didn't like where this was going. The thing Max had just said alone was enough to send her thoughts stumbling and her heart lurching. She wanted to deny that thought, but he had had her bracelet… 'No, there is probably a different explanation to this. He stole it. Yeah, that's right. He probably stole it…' Still, she had had doubts as she knew that Rachel had hung out with the dealer in the past too…
"If you don't believe it, why don't we see if we can get into Frank's RV and check out what he's got there?" The rocker-girl replied, still hoping to be proven wrong, by what they might or might not find in the dealer's mobile home. She had packed her stuff and was ready for take-off. "He has Rachel's bracelet. What else has he got in there? Besides don't you have to pay him back the money anyways?" That seemed to settle matters for Chloe as she picked up the last of her things and put on her trademark beanie-hat.
"Right, pay back…" It was helpless anger and part fear that made Chloe react so snappy at the girl with brown-red hair. But she had already made up her mind about what to do next. "Though motherfucker better not have anything. For his sake…"
It didn't take them five minutes and they were already in Chloe's truck and on their way, leaving the slightly stunned security officer and the diner waitress, who were still sitting in the living room at the table, to their own things to do.
-Smooth Criminal-
"Let's check the door. Frank gets so wasted that he sometimes forgets to lock it." The punk-girl said as they pulled into the parking lot at the diner, where she had last seen Frank's RV. It was still parked there and she had actually spotted Frank sitting in the diner eating something.
"Didn't you say he has a dog too?" The other girl asked as they got out of the truck and walked over to where the RV was standing.
"Oh, shitballs!" The slightly older woman face-palmed herself as they reached the mobile home and she could hear a dog barking in it. She had completely forgotten about the dog as she had solely concentrated on how to get into the RV and hoping that they wouldn't find anything. Going face to face against the drug-dealer's dog was definitely not something she wanted to do. "Okay, here's the plan. I'll go to the diner to distract Frank by telling him I have his money, but he has to come with me. Then you come in and can rewind so Frank doesn't see me, then you can tell Frank he needs to check out his RV and then you can rewind after you get the key, and…" She tried to come up with some sort of plan, but when she said it out loud it didn't sound as solid, as it had in her head.
"Look, Chloe, I really like you getting all imaginative, but I got this. I'll be right back." The younger woman sighed and rolled her eyes, before a slight grin appeared on her face. "Still, cool plan. Even if not the most thorough one."
"Don't let my epic plan get in the way of yours." The punk-girl sulked a bit, but let it drop. Max had proven to have a better head on her shoulders for break-ins than she had anyways. "I'll try to scrounge up a Scooby snack to distract his mangy mutt…" With that she turned and walked over to the trash bins in the corner of the parking lot, right next to the backdoor of the diner, and started looking for some leftovers she could use as dog-bait.
'Okay, Rocker-woman. Time to get some keys and kick ass.' The rocker-girl thought as she walked over to the diner. 'This will be certainly fun.' But, before she entered the diner her phone buzzed and made a knocking noise. It was a message from her dad.
'Maxine, Pop here. I know your mom would have been just as proud of you saving that girl, as I am. I have no doubt sending you to Blackwell was the best thing you ever demanded me to do. :) It makes me so proud to read about you in the news and see actual video of you walking down from the roof with that girl. And if you would like to come back home now to relax, you know I'd be more than happy. Love, Pop.' Max knew her father missed her a lot and worried about her even more. He'd written her nearly every weekend and although she hadn't always replied, she knew how happy he'd be to hear from her. Now probably even more than before… Over the last two years her relationship with her father had improved again and he'd started to get back to his cheery demeanour, even with Max still rebelling against him and the school authorities and those outside of the school. He was just happy to see his little girl do something again with her life, even if it was anger that was driving her… He really loved her and she knew that deep down in her heart she missed him too, but there was no way in hell that she'd go back to that city just yet. She could feel the anger bubbling up in her at the thought alone...
'Thanx, Pop, but not gonna come home just yet. Talk later. Max' She sent the short reply. He meant well and she didn't want to vent her anger at her father. Still, thinking about the city brought back ugly memories and riled her up – not something she needed now as for once she had wanted to play things cool-ish…
She tried not to kick the door of the diner, when she entered, but taking in the rather empty restaurant made it quite clear that it probably wouldn't go as smooth as she wanted it to. Frank was sitting at one booth eating what appeared to be a simple broth made of beans, looking more miserable than anything else. A cop was sitting further away having coffee. And off all the people she had hoped not to see today – Nathan Prescott was sitting at the other end of the diner glaring daggers at everything and anything, probably here to buy drugs from the dealer. Seeing the young man nearly let Max slip into rage-mode and it took her quite a while to calm down enough as to be sure, to not right-out kill the guy or vent her anger on the dealer. It was one thing to talk to a person you nearly shot the other day, but it was way more stressful when you are enraged…
The girl with the black nose-piercing slammed her fist down on the table, where Frank sat as much to make him look up from what could be his last supper if he said the wrong things now, as well as to take out at least a small portion of her anger on something. Luckily for her though the police-officer didn't seem to have noticed the small ruckus she made.
"You show up after almost shooting me? You have serious balls, little girl." The slightly startled man said with anger and annoyance heavy in his voice. "But hanging out with Chloe, playing with guns and dressing like Rachel doesn't make you cool or tough. Now, the fuck do you want?"
"Listen up you, fucker. I want to get over this before I seriously murder someone in the presence of the police, so don't start giving me shit, 'cause I swear – you do that and getting nearly shot by me will be the last of your worries." Max sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes with one hand, while continuing to make small punches with her fist on the table. "Look, I want to buy something from you. So would you kindly get your ass over to your RV, so I don't have to break something, like your fingers for example? And how the fuck do you know these are Rachel's clothes?"
"Because she looks beautiful in them and you look like ass." The sorrow in the older man's voice made the angry rocker-girl overlook the comment about her, but it didn't lessen her anger. "And no, I won't sell anything to you, you crazy punk. You think I'd forget you nearly shot me in just one day? Now get out of my face. You're fucking creeping me out."
With a sweep of her hand Max sent the plate with the beans and the can of soda flying and nearly punched the stunned and angered man in the face, before she rewound. If she could not get the keys this way, she had to find another. And if she could vent her anger in the process – why the hell not? She could rewind after all. The thought nearly made her want to punch the man after all, but knowing how her powers failed her with Kate – maybe not risk too much or at least not now…
'Keep calm, Mad Max. No need to murder people in broad daylight, even if we could totally pull a 'magic trick' a la Joker.' Max thought as she simply walked away from the man sitting in the booth. 'Maybe I could chat up that officer, or even get Nathan to talk, by crippling that little fucker and then rewinding…' The later seemed a much better idea as it offered the possibility of slightly roughening up the younger man. An evil smile spread on the young woman's face as she walked over to the booth and the certain man in question after getting a few bits of useful information out of the officer after a few rewinds. 'So far so good and now for the really good part.'
"Rachel?" Nathan almost sounded happy as he turned to see who had just walked up to his table and at first mistook the girl in front of him for someone else. When he saw his mistake though, his reaction changed accordingly. "Whatevathefuck? Oh, look – 'Max Amber'. Nice outfit. By the way, thanks for getting me fucking expelled, you twee bitch!" He practically spat at her, but nearly yelped up in pain, when she kicked him hard in the side of his torso.
"This is a public place, you little stick-turd." Max leaned in a bit and her voice was so menacing that the stunned man actually forgot that he could react in any other way than just widening his eyes and moving a bit further to the window. "Let's not make more of a scene here, than we need to, hm? So you little dumb fuck, I bet Frank hooked you and Rachel Amber up with party supplies?"
"Nice try. Rachel partied like a fiend on her own. More than me." The young man seemed to regain his composure a bit and there was anger swinging in his voice. "Even that pig over there knows Rachel hung out more with Frank." Nathan threw a thumb over his shoulder indicating to the police officer.
"Oh, is that right, dipshit? Speaking about Frank, I heard your dad hired a local cop to keep an eye out on you and him, like a babysitter." Max placed a boot on the booth-chair and leaned in thumping a fist on the table, which made the young man slightly flinch.
"Bullshit! My dad doesn't hire, he owns. And these pigs know better than to narc on me." The man said trying to focus not to appear intimidated by the rocker-girl, who had given him a nice reminder of how violent she could be. He had experienced her hitting him once and the bruise was still there, plus he had heard from Victoria what Max was capable off. "But Frank's eventually gonna get busted, which is not on me. That guy is into some weird shit. He told me he once took a weird blood oath for Rachel… Uh, forget I told you that. Seriously." He caught himself before blabbing out more. "Now get off my crack, whore and keep your piehole shut." He added angrily as his anger seemed to give him enough confidence to show his rage-side.
"You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. Please, do speak up. I can't hear you telling me more about that blood oath Frank took for Rachel." The smile on Max's face widened a bit as she slammed her fist into the man's shoulder and grabbed him roughly by the hair before tossing his head back a bit. He hissed sharply in pain, but muffled his outcry as the look in the girl's eyes was purely murderous. How could he be intimidated by this fucking punk-bitch? How could anyone lay a finger on him? How could she dare? The stunned and battered man was reminded of how only the other diner waitress, who happened to be Chloe's mother, really cared for some sort of order in the diner, when the rocker-girl flicked a finger against his bruised brow ripping him out of his thoughts and nobody batted an eye. "I asked you something, you dickhead." Her tone was ice.
"Rachel wanted Frank's stash. She let him take pictures. Then he carries around her photo like she posed for love. Dumbass." He replied the rage, embarrassment and sudden fear that had emerged in him wrestling for control in his mind. "I will fucking sue you for this!"
"You will do exactly shit!" Max said in a low intense voice as she grabbed the man's hair again and slammed his head hard against the table, before rewinding exactly to the point where she had just walked over to the cop and chatted him up. She had the info she needed and her satisfaction of making the young Prescott whimper in pain, even if she had to rewind and pretend it never happened. 'Well, I'll get to do that again and hopefully without the need to rewind. He's a lot to pay for and this was only an appetiser…'
"What the fuck now?" The drug dealer looked up when Max sat down in the booth-chair in front of him. The annoyance in his voice nearly made Max want to pull the little stunt she had done with the young man a few moments ago on him too, but refrained from it – her mood had improved quite a bit and she smiled evilly at the man instead.
"You know, I saw the photo Rachel gave you." This seemed to surprise and catch the man completely off-guard.
"Ugh… How d'you know 'bout that, huh? Chloe, right?" The man replied with a bit of suspicion swinging in his voice.
"She just told me that one of Rachel's favourite pictures was the one she did for you." Max lied without batting an eye.
"Really? Yeah, I mean that's what I thought. She was just a natural beauty, y'know." The man still didn't seem to be completely convinced, but seemed to be a bit more at ease with this topic, even eager to comply, like it was something that brightened his day... "Wait-wait let me… lemme find it… here, judge for yourself." He added somewhat affectionately as he started to cram out the content of his pockets until finally finding the picture. She indeed was pretty… but Max had locked her eyes on a different item the man had produced from his pockets – the key to the RV.
"Whelp, you know it's been a real pleasure talking to you asshole, but I'll have to take the keys now. So, see ya 'round asswipe." The brown-red haired woman said as she stood up and snatched the keys from the table dangling them in front of the man's face.
"You did not just do that… Give me back my keys, bitch!" Frank started to get up from the booth but was stopped dead in his attempt to follow the girl as Max's shin connected to his left knee and nearly bent it in as to contact the other. She hadn't intended to use so much force, but it was a defence mechanism… or at least she told so herself, when she rewound as the man started to howl in pain. 'I warned him not to start anything, didn't I?' She rewound to the part where she had just come over to his booth again, just to be sure.
'Key brought. Now let's see if I have to take care of the dog too in case Chloe hasn't found anything to occupy the dogs mind for the time we get into the RV.' She allowed herself to grin a bit impishly – with the rage-burst out of her system the prospect of breaking into the mobile home with Chloe seemed more fun. 'Still, let's hope he hasn't anything else about Rachel in there…' The grin vanished nearly as fast as it had appeared.
"I should have known… The Amazing SpiderMax." Chloe chuckled a little as she saw the other girl coming over to where she was leaning against the RV and dangling the keys to the door in front of her nose.
"With great power and all that shit. Yada, yada. Right." Max grinned again – seeing Chloe's eyes light up with amusement, even if it was for her stunt and they still had to check out the RV, had this effect on her. "Now let's get in and out."
"Okay, on your mark, Max." Chloe said as she unlocked the door and gave Max a bone she had dug up from the trash-can. "Three. Two. One. Throw." She swung the door open and the dog instantly leaped in Max's direction.
"Get the treat-treat, boy." The young woman reacted quickly and threw the bone towards the far end of the parking lot. The dog seemed to be more than happy to oblige as it bound after the bone. "Well, that dog seems to be our bitch now." The grinned at Chloe, who again looked like she had wanted to say the exact same thing, but Max had beat her to the punch. "C'mon, time's a wastin'." She said as she got into the RV and motioned Chloe to follow her.
-Dial;-
"Damn, and I thought my room was a shithole." The rocker-girl said as Chloe had just climbed into the mobile home and they both took in the look that presented them. It was really a mess. "At least I'm not a fucked up drug dealer…"
"Frank has his issues, but he's not so fucked up as one might think. At least that is what I thought until I saw him with Rachel's bracelet." Chloe replied as she strolled over to the drivers' seat, her mood seemingly slightly improving as when she sat down in the big and comfy looking seat. "Oh, we could cruise everywhere in this bad boy. Can you see us heading down the coast to Big Sur and beyond?" She asked excitedly. She liked the idea of her and Max just living like that – on the move, with no real boundaries and no ties to hold them down, just chilling and doing whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want – just the two of them. Maybe even continuing from where she had broken off the thing happening back in her room this morning…? 'And what about Rachel?' The tiny voice in her head had to sour her mood immediately, but it was right – what about Rachel? She still didn't know what she felt or how she really felt and if she was sure this was what she wanted. 'Well, the last part – sure and I think I know, but – ugh! Not now, okay? Let's just focus on one thing at the time. And this time around it is answers we are looking for.'
"Sure, we'd be tearing up the highway and I'd show you all the great bands you missed out while only listening to punk-rock." The rocker-gal teased and stuck her tongue out at the blue-nette. "However, we're on schedule, Chloe. Let's find what we need and get the hell outta here before the angry mutt comes back or his dog decides to show up."
"I know, just daydreaming." The punk-girl said grinning slightly at how cute the other girl could look when she teased. "You scope the area, while I hack his computer for info." She sighed as she walked over to where the PC was standing and started to look for clues. It did not take long for her to crack the password and get into his profile and despite the seriousness of the situation she just couldn't let the moment pass without making a jibe at the man's expense. "Crappy wi-fi here though. Must take him days to download porn."
"Chloe, yuck. You know I'm like standing in the area that is the warped image of a man-cave slash bed room of a drug dealer, right? I don't want that info in my head." She could hear the other woman say in disgust from the farther end of the RV.
It did take Max some time to find anything that might offer a clue about Rachel's and Frank's relationship in all that mess that the man called his abode, but when she saw the vent in the bed room looking kind off torn, she decided to see if she could pry it open. She took the knife she had earlier seen in the area that made up the living-space of the RV and went to work with it on the already damaged looking vent. It opened nearly instantly and without her using much force.
'You sure know where the good stuff is hidden, Garrett.' She thought priding her Thief skills as she took out what appeared to be a diary of sorts from the opened vent. 'Now let's take a look.' But the more she saw in the small book, the more she disliked what she saw. The more it reminded her of her own past – longer ago and more recent. The more disgusted she grew of the clothes she wore right now. The more her anger grew at the girl called Rachel Amber. The more she wanted to wring a specific someone's neck. She slammed the diary shut and walked over to where Chloe was sitting. It made her stomach turn to think that she had to show this to Chloe, still – she deserved the truth. She leaned in and placed her findings on the keypad before Chloe, letting her take in the information.
"It makes me ill that Rachel posed like this for Frank… or wrote him love letters." The blue-haired girl finally said with growing anger in her voice after a long silence, which followed when she had read and looked at the content of the small book. "I can't believe she was banging Frank! Rachel straight up lied to my face!" There was hurt in her voice too. "Why didn't she say anything…? Guess she wasn't much of a friend, huh? Just another person who shits all over me. Why does everybody in my life let me down? My dad gets killed, you bail on me for years, my mother gloms onto step-fucker and now Rachel betrays me…"
"Chloe, Rachel is missing. I'm not going to try to paint it all in black or white, 'cause that's just bullshit, but nobody betrayed you, if you look at it." The rocker-girl's temper flared up again, this time at her friend's accusation. She knew Chloe was hurt and vented that hurt on her right now too, but she had just the night before told her nearly every fucking detail about her own miseries and now this? "And if you have forgotten – I didn't want to move, I didn't want to leave your side, I fucking didn't betray you and I am fucking back at your side if you haven't noticed! And if you think I have, then fucking thank you very much! I have gone through a ton-load of shit and getting fucked over and over again! I even fucking told you!" She could barely keep her anger in check. "Ugh! Just… Fuck!" She hit the wall of the RV next to the door as the kick she gave the door nearly took them out of the hinges. She stormed out of the RV and over to the bus stop. She was positively fuming right now and didn't even bother to look back at the blue-haired punk-girl who had scrambled to follow her, with the look of utter self-loathing, shame and hurt on her face.
"Max! Come on, don't be that way. Please. I'm sorry." Chloe pleaded with the girl with brown-red hair as she pulled over with her truck, which she had started and driven over to the bus stop, when she saw that Max made no attempts to even stop and wait for her. She opened the door to the passenger seat. "Please, Max, just let me gather my thoughts and… uh… I'll drive you to the Academy."
The look Max gave her at that moment chilled her to the bone. It was more than she could bear – she had seen the rocker-girl upset, hurt and pained, but this time her friends unbound, seething anger was focused on her. And it was her fault. Hadn't the other girl told her, how hard life had fucked her over? What she had been through? Had she not trusted Chloe enough to tell her about all of it? Had Max not done enough in these last days to prove that she actually deeply cared about her and regretted ever moving, and now was reunited with her and finally at least a bit happy? Had she not brought Chloe happiness too, which she had not experienced since Rachel had disappeared? 'Goddamn, it makes this and all I've experienced look like child's play. And I just fucking wail in self-pity and vent everything on her… Fucking great job, Chloe. You hurt your friend. Again. The only person that came back to you. Well fucking done…'
"Max, please-" She started again, but was cut short, when the smaller woman got into the truck and closed the door with a bang. She didn't look at Chloe, nor did she say anything, but the tears in her eyes and the look on her face spoke volumes. For a while they just drove in silence. Chloe didn't know what to say or where to start.
"Look, Max, I'm sorry. I really am." She tried again; there were tears in her eyes too. "It hurts and I took it out on you… I'm sorry. I just-… I just don't know how to handle this or if I can handle this or what to do…" The girl next to her didn't reply or even looked her way. "I'm sorry, Max. I know it's not fair for me to blame you… It's just that none of this makes me feel better about my fucked-up life, you know?" 'Ugh, even in my own ears that sounds lame as hell…' She groaned.
"So who do you wanna blame then, huh?" The first response from the brown-red haired girl since she got into the truck and it made Chloe's gut twist into even more knots, but at the same time it sent a new jolt of anger through Chloe as she thought about the question.
"My fucking dad of course…" There was more anger in her voice than she had intended to let through. "He chose to go out of that door and leave me forever…" The silence stretched on for a while, before the blue-haired girl let out a deep sigh and continued. "I know, he didn't really 'choose' to 'leave' me… Mom actually blames herself… just because she wanted a ride home from work. Sometimes even I blame her… I wish thinking it was just a terrible accident would make me feel better, but it doesn't. Ever since he died my life has been dipped in shit…" Again she realised too late, what she had just said. What she had said to her friend, who had experienced even more pain and anguish due to her mother dying and blaming it on everybody else, on her mother, on her father, but most of all on herself. 'Jesus! Fuck! Can you for once shut up? You never really received a clear answer from Rachel about your relationship in the first place, did you? You knew she partied hard and was just as much enjoying the company of guys and then you go and tell everything you just said to the girl, who had her heart ripped out by really lying and abusing bitch and who tried to kill herself 'cause she couldn't bear constantly blaming herself or everybody else and went through hell and what not? God, why do I fuck everything up so much?'
"Shit, Max, I-…" She couldn't finish what she wanted to say, even if it would have been another lame 'I'm sorry' as they had just arrived at the Blackwell Academy and she had pulled over. Max just took her bag and got out of the truck. Not even looking back. "Max!" Chloe shouted after the leaving girl from her seat in a pleading voice, which only stopped the woman with brown-red hair to take a short hurt-filled look over her shoulder, before she continued her way to the dorms.
"Fuck. Just brilliant work, Price!" Chloe hit the steering wheel in frustration. This would take some serious mending from her part, but for now she would have to get back to her home or her hideout so she could come up with a way to apologize to the woman she had hurt with her carelessness. It was only, when she had arrived back at her home (she had figured David would be away already and Joyce would be at the diner by this time, so it was safe enough to ponder aloud in the comfort of her own room) and brought the truck to a halt, when she noticed two photos which had apparently fallen out of Max's bag, when it was lying on the floor of the truck at her feet a short time ago. As she picked them up her heart squeezed in her chest. One was showing Max's startled expression in what appeared to be a classroom. The other had apparently shot just this morning, probably a few couple of hours before Chloe had woken up, with Max angling the camera over the sleeping form of Chloe, who had squeezed the smaller girl close to herself and Max was placing an affectionate kiss on the blue-haired woman's forehead. The look on the rocker-girls face, even with her eyes closed in the photo, could be only described as loving, caring and truly happy. To Chloe's surprise she had even managed to scribble the something on the both pictures. The first one had the time and place on it - was the early morning of two days ago in the photography classroom. The other one had a different text on it in very small letters so that it would fit – 'I keep on playing our favourite song, I turn it up while you're gone, It's all I've got when you're in my head. And you're in my head, so I need it. – gotta love my Blue-Jay'. Max probably hadn't meant for Chloe to find this picture, but she had and it hit her hard, bringing new tears to her eyes. This time partially out of regret for how much she had hurt the girl giving her a kiss in that picture and partially out of joy she still couldn't really explain to herself. Still – it didn't change the situation she was in… 'Right. Get your shit together, Chloe. You hurt the one person, who you absolutely shouldn't have. Not it's time to pay up and apologize in earnest.' She thought as she pocketed the photos and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
- Revenge-
On the other side of the town in the girl's dorms of the Blackwell Academy a certain rocker-girl had decided to skip classes for the rest of the day. Unlike her usual self today she just couldn't shove all the thoughts out of her head by rocking out and playing along her favourite songs… She didn't know how long she had just laid there on her bed crying, angry at herself being angry at Chloe, desperate to hear the other woman's voice in the affectionate tone she had had just this morning, wanting to be near her and at the same time dreading it. It was not fair how she reacted to Chloe or how Chloe had acted on her… It took her a while to regain her composure, enough to at least get off her bed and wipe her reddened eyes. She booted up her laptop and put on a playlist on, for her standards, surprisingly low volume. Still deep in thoughts about what had happened in the RV and on the way back to the Academy she nearly unconsciously took out the photo Joyce had given her. She and her best friend looked so happy that day. So fucking happy and innocent… Why had it all gone down the shitter?
It was only after the song 'Dial; Revenge' by Mogwai had ended, that she actually believed what she had heard and thought to be just memories plopping up in her head – she heard her and Chloe's voices. Voices from the time they had been kids. She looked at the picture and let it drop in shock as suddenly the visuals of the photo started to twist and shimmer.
'What the fuck?! What the hell is happening now?' The short girl thought as she reluctantly picked up the picture again. Immediately the voices were back – clearer this time, and again the photo started to shimmer and twist. She focused on the photo more out of a weird sense of curiosity than anything else, partially believing she was going insane, when suddenly it flashed white before her eyes and she saw Chloe's biological father standing before the two teenage girls and took the photo from his camera.
"Someday Dad will get one of them new-fangled computers." Chloe chirped beside her excitedly. She was just fourteen years old and still had her strawberry blonde hair.
"I hope the flash didn't scare you, Max." William chuckled a bit. "This is a keeper."
"Not until I see it first! You know the rules, Dad!" Chloe said happily as she walked over to where her father was standing with the photo in his hand. "Max, tell him… Whoa, hey, you look totally pale. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I-… Uhm… Yeah, I'm fine…" She stuttered. It took all of Max's will not to yell 'What the actual fuck?' on the top of her lungs at that moment. It was all so surreal. It was all too real. It was real. It was not a memory. She was there again. It took her an even greater amount of willpower to stay standing and not to black out. 'This is so messed up…'
Max didn't really pay attention to the light banter between Chloe and her father. She was far too shocked at what was going on. 'The fuck? What is this? William is here. And Chloe is just a kid… Am I that far back in time? I'm 18 years old inside my 13 year old self… How? What is happening?' Her thoughts were stumbling one over the other as she took in the scenery before her. It was all like she remembered it. Even the smallest details. Chloe and her dad were still blabbing and making fun of one another, when suddenly the phone rang. 'Shit, it's that day!' It hit Max like a truck. 'I have to stop William from taking his car today.' Was the first thought that struck her at that moment. She could actually maybe prevent the death of her best friends' father. And after that… maybe even that of her mom…
"Excuse me ladies, I have to go rescue yonder Queen at the Sav-Mart. She doth have many bags of delicious grub for us to feast upon." The older man put down the phone after saying goodbye to Joyce on the other end of the line.
"You are ridiculous." Chloe chuckled from where she was standing in the kitchen.
"You'll be grateful for that someday." Her father replied in amusement. "Shit, where are my keys?"
"That is a dollar for the swear-jar!" Max heard Chloe shouting from the kitchen. 'Fuck, it's all happening like it did before. Fuck where are those keys? I have to get rid of them!'
"You mean your college fund – keys, please." The man said turning to the mess that was on the table in the living room. "A-ha! Can't hide from me forever!" He exclaimed in his happy demeanour as he finally found them.
Max rewound as if on instinct, but to her dismay found that again, like with the time Kate had tried to commit suicide, she could only rewind so far – and this time it was only a few minutes before the fateful phone call. William and Chloe were again standing in the kitchen, happily chatting. She frantically tried to come up with a plan how to prevent the man from leaving the house in his car as she searched for the keys. 'I have to try! I was put here to use this power. I have to save William. For Chloe… and maybe then… maybe Karma will look more kindly on mom? God there has to be a way to save them! I want to see mom again!' The thought nearly brought her to tears. The prospect of her living a happy life with her family and Chloe doing the same was dangling before her.
Still it took her several rewinds 'till she found the keys in time and could hide them in a place where Chloe's dad wouldn't be able to find them. The agonising feeling of failure had nearly overwhelmed her in the last three times she had rewound after William had found those blasted keys using a tracking tool, regardless of how hard to reach the place was. The fourth time seemed to do the trick, when she simply threw the keys out of the window. The simplest solution was sometimes the best.
"I know I had those keys here… I know it…" The man pressed again the button on the tracking device without receiving any confirmation that the keys were indeed in the house. "Forgot all about you, little buddy… Release the keys!" He muttered to himself walking down the length and width of the living room. "Of course. Last time I order from SpyGuy Electronics…" He finally said with resignation after yet another fruitless attempt to get to know where the keys were.
"You can take the bus, right?" This was Max's moment to shine. She had succeeded. Now only to wrap up the situation. Or so she thought…"The stop is right down the street!"
"This I can do. Good call, Max." The older man smiled at the young girl in appreciation.
"Right? It comes every 15 minutes or so and there'll be plenty of room for you and Joyce and all the groceries and stuff!" Max couldn't contain her excitement. Oh, how she hoped this would work. It was just too good to be true.
"You sold me already. I'm off to yonder bus stop." The man said still smiling, but sighed when he turned for the door. "Joyce will love this…"
"Max, you are being so fucking strange. You feel okay?" Her best friend had come over from the kitchen to see what the commotion was all about.
"Oh, hell yeah! I'm great, Chloe! We are so fucking awesome!" Max couldn't contain the smile spreading on her face and started to jump on the spot excitedly, and for once the slightly older girl with strawberry blonde hair just joined in in her fun and spun her around in a small whirl.
And then, just as suddenly, as Max had been thrown into this 'past' the time or whatever it was she had changed tried to correct itself after the new measurements. Max's vision seemed to blank out and for a split second all turned white again. Memories, which were somehow weirdly ordered as snapshots and pictures of her and Chloe's life started to rush by, changing all the while before settling on something specific. It all felt so fuzzy and warm for one moment, that the excited young woman didn't see the dark edges around her vision at first. And by the time she realised what was happening, how her memories changed, how she changed, what she experienced by changing this one thing – for her friend, for her mom's and her own happiness - it was already past any possibility of stopping. Her vision returned. And everything she had hoped for had gone down the drain…
AUTHORS NOTE:
I'm sorry that it took so long to update this rather small chapter, but work is keeping me very busy at the moment and it can happen that the next chapters will follow in a similar interval (from the release of the last chapter about five days [maximum one week] 'till the next one is released).
Thank you for your understanding and I wish you all a wonderful week.
SLIGTH SPOILER ALERT:
P.S. Really recommend the Georgian song 'Tu ase turpa iyavi' sung by Hamlet Gonashvili. It will also play it's part in the upcoming chapter :P ;)
