Subject 219: Maxine Caulfield


Notes: WELL Y'ALL FED MY MADNESS SO THANKS. Here's an update before I go on the beach trip with fam. I might not be able to update so soon after this coz I have a busy week next week, but just throw your feedback at me or you can even bug me on my socials to tell me how much you're itching for more.

ALSO. There are some very heavy themes in this chapter. We dabble a bit in Chloe's and Kate's suicide attempts as well as the torture of subjects in another facility that Chloe reads about. Just be warned and stay safe, friends.

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CHAPTER EIGHT


PRESENT


The locker room was quiet when Chloe first sat down, but now it was starting to bustle with activity as the day shift guards started coming in and shuffling through their uniforms and equipment. Their chatter seemed to be a lifetime away and Chloe felt detached from it all.

How could anyone gush about last night's date with the lady when human beings were miserable and trapped within the very walls of this hellhole?

If David was going to move Chloe to the day shift soon, that would mean seeing more of the subjects. Seeing the actual experiments even.

How was she supposed to be able to cope with that? How was she supposed to stand in a corner and just watch without comment or action?

Chloe tried to give herself the benefit of a doubt. Tried to convince herself that the tests can't be too bad. That the scientists were humane. That the tests actually brought some good into this world. That the Prescotts were right when (according to Juliet's article all those years ago) they were using their tests for the safety of Arcadia Bay and that psychics running amok were a danger to society.

Rachel hadn't been a danger.

But deep in her heart, Chloe knew that statement wasn't completely true.

Rachel hadn't exactly been harmless. And her erratic emotions didn't mix well with her powerful abilities.

"Chloe."

Interrupted from her thoughts, Chloe looked up to see David standing over her.

"Let's talk?"

Chloe shrugged. "Sure."

Uninvited, David sat down next to Chloe.

She curled her lip and was about to move away from him but stopped when he spoke. "You're right, I'm concerned about 219."

Looking at David, Chloe raised her eyebrow. "And how she knows shit she shouldn't?"

David nodded. "Exactly."

It was tempting to press David to keep going, berate him for being so slow about giving out the dirty details. But Chloe reigned herself in. The last thing she needed was to agitate him into closing up when he was already just on the verge of shedding some light on 219.

The crowded locker room began to clear as the night shift went home and the day shift began their duties.

"She asked me about you." Even if they were alone, David kept his voice low. "When I first started working here seven years ago, she already knew my name. She'd call me every time I passed by her room."

It bothered Chloe to know 219 was already here seven years ago, and was probably here even longer than that.

If she was really Max, then that meant she was already here as young as fifteen years old.

…and that she survived the crash nine years ago.

"Eventually, I folded and asked her what she wanted." David continued, his voice gruff. "She asked if you were okay."

"What did you say?" Chloe couldn't remember ever being okay. It felt way too long ago. Everything always just kept going downhill for her like the world was out to get her.

"I shook off the question. I think I let slip that you were fine and met a new friend. That was when you started spending time with Rachel Amber." At the mention of the name, David paused, clearly feeling uncomfortable bringing it up.

Thankfully, he shrugged off the tension and pushed forward."After that I avoided talking to 219 and stuck to the protocols of not engaging with the subjects."

Chloe found herself feeling disappointed.

Surely David could see that something was wrong with distancing yourself from the subjects? Or was this just a job he wanted to get done, regardless of any other factors?

Remembering Mom and how she couldn't work at the diner anymore, Chloe had to admit that the more focused they stayed in keeping this facility job, the easier it would be to keep paying the medical bills.

"The fact that she knows about you…" David shook his head. "That really worries me, Chloe."

Stepdouche was right about that.

"To be honest, she's one of the reasons I'm apprehensive about you working here." David admitted. "But it's our only option. So please just be careful? And I know I can't order you not to talk to her because knowing you…"

"Yeah, I'm probably going to talk to her."

David sighed. "Of course you are. Just don't let her get to your head?"

"Any other subjects you want to talk to me about?" Chloe changed the topic, not liking how intimate this conversation was getting.

David seemed put off by the abrupt question, but answered anyway. "Well there are other subjects here you might recognize. People who probably actually knew you from school."

"Yeah, I saw Kate Marsh last night." Chloe said, unable to keep herself from shuddering as she recalled the previous night. "She was really freaking out and I had to use the moves you taught me before she hurt herself or Victoria."

The combined look of shock and pride in David's eyes made Chloe uncomfortable. "Good job, Chloe."

Searching for a barbed response, Chloe came up short and wound up just shrugging and looking away. Pleasing David still felt really gross.

"Steph Gingrich is here too." It was David's turn to uncomfortably redirect the conversation. "And… Nathan Prescott."

"Nathan?" Chloe frowned. "As a scientist or as a lab rat? Why would-"

David lifted his palm to stop any more questions from coming. "I don't know the details and as guards, we're not supposed to. I just know that he's been tested ever since he was a kid and just like everybody else, after…"

He hesitated.

Chloe clenched her teeth and kept her eyes on the floor, knowing what event he was going to mention.

"…after the storm, he was kept as an in-patient."

That storm apparently changed everything for everyone, too.

And Chloe wasn't ready to think about that. She needed a drink and a good long sleep.

"I'm done." Chloe stood up and headed for the changing room without looking back at David.


FLASHBACK; ALTERNATE TIMELINE


Did it work?

Finding herself back in her dorm room at Blackwell, Max was surprised to see pictures of herself together with Kate and Steph on the photo wall. There was even a group photo where Max and Steph held up a sign that read PSYCHIC CLUB.

But where were Chloe and Rachel?

There was another photo on the wall, of what looked like an assembly, with Jefferson speaking to the student body. Squinting at the picture, Max could just barely make out Chloe and Rachel in the crowd.

Taking the picture, Max was about to start searching her room for more clues when she heard a knock on her door.

"Max, are you there?"

"Steph?" Max frowned, still not sure what to make of being Steph's friend in this timeline. And a close friend at that, if the pictures on the wall were any indication.

Opening the door, Max was nearly knocked over by Steph rushing inside, phone in hand. "Have you heard what happened?"

No... Dread filled Max.

In her mind, Max silently prayed, silently begged for the universe not to bring her more news of another way Chloe died.

Max held her breath. "Heard about what?"

"It's Chloe…" Steph's voice was shaky. "She and Rachel were in a car accident."

"No…" Max felt her stomach twist into knots while her heart sank to the floor and her legs threatened to buckle underneath her. "Please tell me they're alive."

The unshed tears in Steph's eyes broke Max's heart as the reality set in for what felt like the millionth time.

Feeling her world shatter all over again, Max half lowered herself, half collapsed onto the side of her bed and pressed her face into her hands. "This can't be real."

"I know you two weren't close lately… but you always talked about being good friends with her when you were younger…" Steph tried to put a hand on Max's shoulder but she shook it off. "She really didn't like Jefferson. She always managed to say something nitpicky about him when I had DnD games with her and Mikey."

Dragging her hands up to her hair and ruffling her fingers into her scalp to release pent up energy, Max groaned out her frustration and pain.

It wasn't over yet.

She had to find another way.

"Jefferson was caught with those photos and those audio logs just last week…" Steph continued to talk. "There's a possibility the crash was arranged by people who were running those tests with him. Honestly, I think the Prescotts are on his side."

"Shit." Max stood up and started to pace the room, trying to think of another way they could get this to play out.

"People suspect Chloe had something to do with Jefferson's arrest since we all know how much she antagonized him."

"Steph, I want to be alone right now." Max opened the door with shaky hands. "Please leave."

If in this timeline, Jefferson was not just taking pictures but running weird tests and making audio logs about it, then more and more things about the universe were changing the more Max tampered with time.

Was Max leaving traces of psychic energy with each rewind?

If psychics were becoming more and more of a reality in this universe, Max wasn't sure how many more times she could change things before the universe became completely unrecognizable.

But she couldn't give up yet. Chloe wasn't meant to sacrifice herself for this town and she wasn't meant to die unloved in a bathroom and she wasn't meant to die saving her love in a bunker and she wasn't meant to die in car crash.

Stubbornly clinging to the hope that there was some way to save everyone, Max focused on the picture of the assembly.


PRESENT


It took a few nights, but Chloe finally steeled her resolve enough to visit the lower floors during her patrol rounds. She had to see who else was in here.

And she had to talk to 219. Chloe was losing too much sleep dwelling on the mystery of whether or not 219 was really the same Max that Chloe used to play around and pretend to be pirates with. If she was really the same kid who saved Chloe from that deadly crash.

Heading down to the lower floors, Chloe took a peak into a random cell, one with the label that read Subject 228.

The person inside was curled up on her bed, facing the wall.

Looking more closely, Chloe could see that her wrists were in glowing cuffs similar to what 219 wore to block her powers. That meant that whoever was in here couldn't play any tricks on Chloe.

But she probably didn't want to talk to anyone either. This was her time to rest, most likely before having to go through more tests tomorrow.

Something about her was familiar though.

Chloe squinted at the glass, taking in the short, reddish hair, almost long enough to count as a pixie cut.

Then she rolled over in bed and Chloe froze at the sight of familiar blue eyes. "Steph?"

Eyes wide and shocked, Steph sat up and gaped.

And Chloe couldn't help but take in the thinness of her face, the hollowness of her cheeks and the way her eyes sank into her skull. She was a shell of the bright and lively person Chloe once knew and their tabletop sessions seemed to be a lifetime ago.

She could still remember the way Steph would cast illusions to complement their games, showing little visual snippets of the characters Chloe and Mikey played. The best part was always when Steph would narrate the defeat of a Big Bad while letting an illusion of the scene play out across their maps and character sheets.

"Chloe?" Steph seemed to finally get over her shock enough to stagger over to the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Guarding you, I guess?" Not Chloe's wittiest response, but given the shock of the situation, it deserved at least a passing mark.

Instead of laughing though, Steph's eyes darkened at the response. Glancing pointedly at Chloe's cap and uniform before glaring directly at her, Steph said, "You're one of them."

"Steph, no, I just-"

"Are you here to pick me up for a new test?" Steph lifted her hands so the cuffs were visible, "Should I face the wall and put my hands behind my back, ma'am?"

This anger had been the last thing Chloe expected and she tried to stutter out an explanation, but no intelligible words came out.

"If not, then leave me the fuck alone." Steph spat, retreating back to her bed.

"Steph, wait-"

"PRICE!" Zachary Riggins' voice startled Chloe as she turned to see him walking over. "The fuck are you doing?"

Recovering quickly enough to respond, Chloe straightened up and said, "Just making my rounds, ensuring subjects are in their beds."

Riggins looked at her suspiciously before glancing through the window, where Steph was already back in bed and facing away from the door. "Looks like everything's in order here."

"Right. Yeah."

"Go another round upstairs then. Logan and I got this floor covered."

And that meant there wasn't going to be an opportunity to talk to 219 tonight.

Swallowing back any protests, reluctantly acknowledging defeat for now, Chloe headed back to the elevator.

There would come a time when she could get even with Riggins for bossing her around. It wasn't going to be today, but Chloe wished it would come sooner. She didn't know how much longer she could fold under him and pretend to be a good little trainee.


PRESENT


Rubbing at her newly shorn hair, Max sat on her bed with her knees close to her chest and her back against the wall.

Chloe was alive. Chloe was safe.

That was the only consolation Max could find in this universe. The fact that Chloe Price was alive and arguably in better health here than any other timeline Max had seen her.

But at what cost?

Pressing her forehead into her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs, Max thought about the psychics she'd inadvertently created in this world. The rise of this version of the Prescotts where they'd captured every psychic in Arcadia Bay to further their study and theoretically maintain public safety.

Max?

Not bothering to lift her head, Max already recognized the presence in her head as Kate's. They were a few cells away from each other but Kate's telepathic ability of reading minds and, if she focused enough, create a mind link, meant they could sometimes converse.

Max could feel the link just hovering at the edge of her consciousness, asking permission to enter.

"Hi Kate." Max allowed the link to take shape, just enough for them to be able to read each others' surface thoughts.

There registered a low level of amusement at how Max still liked to sometimes reply verbally even if it took less effort to think her responses.

And there was also a heavy sense of sorrow and loneliness. She hated being trapped here but felt like she had nowhere else to go. She found consolation in the fact that she had food and shelter, even if the price meant being experimented on and treated as less than human.

Then she thought of the recent experiment she went through.

Victoria Chase was there. Running some tests, getting frustrated with Kate. Kate couldn't filter out the other thoughts in the hallway. She heard Chloe's turmoil of thoughts about the facility and her mixed feelings about David. She felt Victoria's growing impatience.

And the panic just set in and Kate lost control of herself.

I saw Chloe. Your Chloe. The one you think about a lot. Kate walked Max through the memory of being restrained by Chloe. Of how she was harsh at first, before lowering her voice and calmly trying to get Kate to come down from her panic. I barely remember her from school. I didn't think she would be the same person you always think about.

"Do you know what happened to her?" Max asked, unable to shake off the hints Chloe dropped the last time they talked. The anger she suddenly showed. The way she was alluding to almost not being alive. "Did she…?"

There was hesitation from Kate. She seemed to be blocking off her thoughts to keep Max from peeking.

"Kate." Max needed to know.

She did try. Once. Kate answered, her heart heavy. Her stepfather... that head guard, David... He thinks about it sometimes but doesn't dwell on the details. He just gets sucked up in the terror and pain from when he first got the frantic call from his wife.

Max felt her heart break into a million pieces.

Leaning her head back against the wall, she bit her lip and tried to stop the tears from falling.

Chloe… why?

I don't know how to answer that, Max. Kate's sympathy filtered through their link. She wasn't thinking strongly about it when she cuffed me. She felt sick of this place though. I could feel her resenting the way they treat us.

Max wiped at her eyes and swallowed through the tightness in her throat.

Max…

"Just think about something else." She wanted to dwell on this alone. Wanted to cry about this alone. Wanted to mourn this alone.

Chloe survived and Chloe was alive, but what had she gone through? What pain did she suffer from?

Thinking it over, Max knew Chloe was still convinced that Max died in the car crash together with William. So those were two deaths Chloe was forced to grieve for. Then… whatever happened to Rachel in this universe was probably a point of major pain.

She must feel so alone…

Max, I miss my family… Kate's clumsy attempt at diverting Max's thoughts was jarring but at least there was something to dwell on instead of spiraling into feeling bad about Chloe. I mean… I know I'm dead to them and I should let it go but I… I still miss them.

The grief Kate still felt at being abandoned by her family weighed heavily on Max, filling her with guilt.

"Kate, I'm sorry…"

Confusion came through the link.

For what?

"I'm the reason you're here, aren't I?" Max thought back to the day Jefferson had her dragged to the testing room and pressured her into winding back to before Kate jumped. It gave Jefferson's men time to stop Kate and bring her here.

And now she was a prisoner.

Max, it's not your fault. I don't blame you. Genuine warmth came from Kate as she sent waves of comfort towards Max. I forgive you for that, you know.

Even with the forgiveness, Max still felt buried deep in guilt and despair.

Besides, my family would have disowned me one way or another. They're convinced my powers are from the devil. That the voices I hear are demons.

Max felt terrible for Kate either way and wished there was some way to make things better.

But trapped here, with no access to her powers unless for tests in a highly controlled, heavily guarded room, Max had no choice but to live with this reality.

After being stuck here for what? Nine years? Max doubted she could leave this reality after sloppily tumbling into it.

Do you miss your family? I mean the one from your original timeline at least?

Max clenched her teeth. She didn't want to think about that. That meant thinking back to the first timeline she ever lived with. Thinking back to just being a stupid regular photography student exchanging letters with her parents.

It was a lifetime ago and Max didn't want to dwell on it.

Do you want me to leave you alone?

"Yeah." Max wanted to break down in peace.

Goodbye, Max... I'll talk to you later.

The link wavered before fading away, leaving Max alone with her thoughts and her pains.

Completely, painfully alone.


PRESENT


The anger in Steph's eyes still burned through Chloe's mind as she got home and made her way up the stairs.

Noticing that Mom's door was ajar, Chloe walked over and gently knocked to announce her prescence.

"Hi, Chloe." Mom's voice was still gravelly from sleep.

"How are you?"

Mom stretched before curling back into position. "Tired. Just going to sleep a bit more."

"Sleep well, Mom." Chloe closed the door slowly and went to her own room. The bottle of booze in her hand suddenly felt too heavy.

Putting it in her cabinet, behind the jackets and button-down shirts, Chloe flopped down onto bed.

She felt lost.

David wanted her to just keep her head down and do her job. Mom wanted her to excel at work. Mom needed her to excel at work and earn some extra cash because holy shit, the medical bills.

But how could Chloe just turn a blind eye? She could see how terrified and fucked up Kate was. She could see how thin and angry Steph was. And 219? If that was really Max? She was in terrible shape, too.

How could Chloe just keep her head down and transport them to and from their tests like prisoners?

You're one of them.

The barbed words still pierced Chloe and she couldn't shake off the way Steph looked at her.

Vibrating in her pocket probably meant another call from Dana.

"Fucking hell." Maybe answering her would stop the calls for a little while. Chloe pressed the phone to her ear. "What?"

"Have you thought about meeting us on your next day off?"

If Chloe were to be honest with herself, she was on the verge of meeting up with Dana and talking through these thoughts with her. But knowing Juliet was part of this was enough to send Chloe running.

"I haven't decided yet."

It was possible that Juliet genuinely changed and really was trying to make things right. But there was no way Chloe could know that for sure and she would rather be suspicious than stupidly trusting.

"Have you looked up Baelfire?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "No."

"At least look it up? It might bring you some fresh perspective."

Whatever it took to get Dana to stop calling so Chloe could have some peace to think things over. "Fine. I'll look it up before I sleep. Will you leave me alone for a couple of days?"

"Yes!" Dana sounded too eager.

"Fine. Bye then." Chloe hung up before Dana could protest.

It was tempting to just sleep or even retrieve her hidden bottle, but Chloe had a feeling that if Dana somehow found out Chloe didn't actually look up that facility from Maine, then there would not be an end to the incessant calls.

With a loud groan nobody was meant to hear, Chloe stomped over to her computer and started her search.

Baelfire was a facility headed by lead scientist Dr. Robert Gold. He led a lot of research on psychics and supernaturals, contributing to major developments in both medical and military fields. He was friends with Dr. Aldous Leekie of the DYAD Institute. They collaborated a few times but Gold mostly kept to his own experiments.

Until a bunch of subjects broke out of his facility and were now loose and nobody knew where they were. It sparked debate over whether or not facilities should treat their subjects more humanely. There were also conflicting articles about whether or not psychics and supernaturals posed a danger and should remain in facilities or at least be under heavy monitoring.

But if the subjects of Baelfire Research Center were able to escape successfully, maybe there was a chance that Chloe could somehow get Kate, Steph and Max out of PRIPS? And whoever else Chloe could try to help.

This was assuming she was insane enough to really try busting them out because it was not going to be easy. Especially not while Riggins kept trying to get Chloe to stay away from the lower floors.

As Chloe continued going down the Baelfire rabbit hole, she found videos. A lot of them. Being uploaded by an anonymous account. Many of them looked like security footage from the facility itself.

Whoever was involved in the subjects' escape must have hacked into the system and released footage of the fucked up conditions the subjects lived with. There was one where Gold had a guard break some girl's arm, forcing her to use her telekinetic abilities to heal herself.

Chloe wanted to look away but instead found herself watching the next video. It was of a scarred up woman with a shaved head being dunked into a tank of water until her eyes glowed unnaturally. She was the one they called a lycanthrope.

There was one where their telepathic subject threw a fit and was roughly subdued by the guards. Another where the lycanthrope was being sliced open to monitor her healing abilities.

And that was when Chloe got to a different video.

They had a woman cuffed to a chair. Her undershirt had blood down the front, most likely from what looked like a broken nose. Gold was questioning her, asking her why she helped the subjects escape. Who helped her? Who planned it? Who else was part of it?

And why she suddenly decided that helping those creatures was worth more than her well-paying job as a guard.

That was when Chloe had to close her browser and lean back against her chair.

There was this huge mess of technicalities regarding public safety and the danger those with strange abilities could pose. Rachel… as much as Chloe hated to admit it… Rachel had been dangerous.

But what troubled Chloe the most was that guard. She turned her back on her boss and helped the subjects escape.

Just like what Chloe was vaguely considering doing.

If at least one company was going so far as to torture a guard for that… (nevermind the legalities of it because these rich people would be getting away with it one way or another, wouldn't they?)… then was Chloe willing to take that risk?

Was Chloe ready to get her face fucked up if she attempted to help the subjects and failed?

And that wasn't even considering yet what the Prescotts could do to Mom.

Now, Chloe couldn't stop herself from heading to her closet and grabbing the vodka.


Closing Notes: I doubt there's much overlap between the LiS fandom and the Once Upon a Time fandom but if you're intrigued a little bit by Baelfire, you can take a peek at my finished fic, Subject 204. It's not required reading tho and any mention of it in this fic more or less gets explained anyway. What happened in that fic kind of sets the stage a bit for this one and also, as shown in this chapter, shows what the stakes are and what potential consequences would look like.