After the line died, there was complete silence.

For about two seconds.

Then there was a mad dash. Warren fished his keys out of his pocket and rushed to the door, while Max grabbed her phone off of the bed and raced to the door.

Kate sat for those two seconds, very confused. After the flurry of movement, adrenaline surged through the girl and she found herself racing too. "Who exactly is Chloe?"

"A friend," answered Max. Panic was evident in her voice.

"I'm coming," Kate said with steely determination. After learning about how loved she was by her friends, she wanted to stick with them as much as she could. She wouldn't abandon them.

They raced out of the dorms. Max nearly trucked over Brooke trying to get to the door.

"Watch where you're going, Max," she growled.

"Oh, sorry…" she muttered back. She tried to slide past the girl but her hand on Max's wrist stopped her.

"Max, wait, I actually need to talk to you."

"It'll have to wait," she said. She tried to shove herself out of Brooke's grasp but she kept a tight hold on her wrist, "You're going to the junkyard aren't you?"

Max stopped struggling, "You guys go on ahead."

Warren and Kate looked at each other, then looked back at the two. "I'll go start my car. Come to the parking lot as soon as you can." Warren opened the door for Kate and then they were gone.

"I'll make it as quick as I can," Brooke said with a serious face. "I woke up at dawn to fly the drone and study the strange weather. I saw Nathan walking to the parking lot. He had some weird shit with him in a bag. You know how he talks to himself a lot right? He was saying something about the "junkyard" and "dosage". He even said your name. I don't know what you're in a hurry for, and frankly I dont want to know. Just be careful."

"Uh, thanks Brooke," she replied. Despite herself, she felt her nosiness peak. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Yesterday, after I saw you kissing Warren, I got pissed. It was more jealousy anyway." Brooke kinda gave a half-shrug before continuing in her blunt style. "But I've been friends with Warren ever since we were freshmen. And I have never seen him so happy the way he was yesterday. To be honest, I don't know what he even sees in you. But you do make him happy, that's what counts."

"Uh, thanks?"

"You're welcome. We'll probably never be close friends, Max, or hang out or anything, but as long as you don't break his heart, I want us to be friends."

"I don't intend on ever doing that."

"I'm sure you don't. But even the best hearts do go awry. Just take care of him, okay? For a genius, he is an idiot."

"I will. I promise."

A moment of understanding passed between the two. "Good," Brooke replied.

"Thanks for the help. Sorry, Brooke, but I've gotta go."

"I figured. I do too. I'll see you around, I guess."

Max quickly opened the door and ran out of the dorms. She sprinted to the car, quite aware she wasted valuable time to save Chloe. Still, in the back of her mind she was relieved to hear about Brooke willing to accept her relationship with her best friend. Although she wouldn't admit it to him, she was glad to hear his friend wouldn't try to get in between them.

Still she had more important things to worry about. Like saving Chloe for instance.

Warren had left passenger door open for Max. Seeing this, she practically dived in the seat, "Drive."

Warren complied. He effectively peeled out of the parking lot and zoomed his way to the junkyard. "What did she want to talk to you about?"

She made a split second to only tell him the important details. He didn't need to hear how protective Brooke is. "She saw Nathan leaving this morning. He said something about the junkyard, dosage, and me."

"Do you think he's going to try to take you to the Dark Room?"

"I don't know, Warren. Chloe said he had a gun!" She could hear the frustration in her voice.

"We'll save her, Max."

"I know we will."

A million thoughts ran through each car patron's head during the short drive to the junkyard. Even if Max and Warren knew more of what was going on, none of them were certain what was going to happen. One thing was certain though, they were going to get through it together.

Warren quickly stomped on the break, forcing the car to drift to a stop at the junkyard. Ordinarily, he'd feel pretty badass, but this was not the time for that. The trio quickly climbed out of the car. They had no idea where Nathan and Chloe were, but they knew they needed to be careful. They trudged through the junkyard, ears and eyes perked for any sort of movement. Finally, they heard sounds. It sounded like a struggle, and a dragging noise.

They circled around an abandoned car near the entrance and found a sight. Nathan was dragging a unconsious Chloe by the shoulders. Chloe's beanie had fallen off and her hair was over her eyes. Warren assumed they had stupidly done a full circle around the two.

"Fuck!" Nathan shouted. Before Max, Kate, or Warren could react, Nathan had put Chloe arm and shoulder over his head and lifted her up. He took the gun out of his jacket pocket and pushed the barrel into Chloe's skull.

"Nobody move a fucking muscle! And, uh, put your hands in the air!"

Three pairs of hands shot in the air as if they were shot out of a cannon. Unexpectedly, Kate was the first to speak back. "You don't want to do this."

"You don't know what I want!" he yelled.

Warren's hands itched to punch Nathan right in his square jaw. Sadly, he was powerless. He would not let Chloe get hurt.

"We know what this is about, Nathan."

"You don't know shit!" he laughed mirthlessly at the three of them. "I'll tell you what though: I'll give Gayram Priceless here, in exhange for you, Max. Nobody has to take a bullet to their skull. Deal?"

"No deal."

"No deal?" Nathan asked. His voice twinged on the edge of desperation, fear, and annoyance.

"We know what you're doing Nathan. How you killed Rachel."

"What the fu-"

"We know about the Dark Room. About you working with Mark Jefferson."

"How did yo-"

"And that's why you want Max," Warren spoke up, "you want to take her to the Dark Room. You drugged Chloe before we got here."

Kate wondered what she got herself into.

Nathan looked back in forth from Max to Warren and back again. "I didn't want her to die." Suddenly, Nathan looked… broken. Max recalled the voicemail a Nathan she knew had once left her. It was different circumstances, yes, but still that same tone of voice was heard.

Still, he had the gun pointed at Chloe's temple. His grip on the weapon had slacked, but nevertheless, Chloe was a trigger finger away from certain death.

"If I could take it all back, I would. Okay? Fuck I think about it every day. I have to take you, Max. Or else he'll kill me."

The answer stopped Warren and Kate cold, but Max continued on nonplussed. "Does he know you're here?"

"No, but he made it clear that he wanted you."

This wasn't going to work. Nathan was set on taking Max whether Jefferson knew he was at the junkyard or not. She needed to try a different tactic.

"Look," Max said pointedly. All three sets of arms were starting to get tired. "Nathan, all three of us know about you two and the Dark Room. If you take me, they'll tell everyone and expose you. If you let us go, and Chloe, we will tell no one you were here and no one you were involved with Jefferson."

"How can I believe you?!"

"Because I know how it feels. To be lost, to want to belong," she took a risk taking a step forward, "to want to have a purpose. We want to put away Jefferson, just as much as I'm sure you want to stop dealing with him."

The words seemed to have hit a chink in Nathan's defensive armor. He seemed to consider her words before lowering the gun slightly. "I'll make you a new deal. I'll give you back Price, if no one knows this happened. Especially Victoria."

"De-"

"I'm not finished," he interrupted. "When you do fuck over Jefferson, you don't mention me. I was never involved. Deal?"

"I have some conditions too."

Nathan just stared at her in disbelief.

Before doubt could surface, Max continued, "You need to get help."

Nathan just chuckled humorlessly. "I already have a therapist. And take a shit ton of pills."

"Not what I meant. I want, no, we want you to open up more. Whether that's Victoria or myself, we want you to be more open and stop bottling everything in. And, we want you to stop bullying Kate and Warren. They don't deserve it. On that note, I want you to delete the video of Kate."

Nathan considered her for a few seconds. Max started to get uncomfortable. She habitually bit her lip out of nerves. "You've got a set of balls, Caulfield."

Max audibly breathed a sigh of relief. "So, deal?"

"Deal." He put the gun in his pocket and nodded at Warren. "Take Price Gay… I mean… Graham."

Warren put his hands down. He ignored the still present impulse to deck Prescock and semi-carried Chloe to over by Max and Kate. The girls slowly lowered their arms.

Nathan looked at each of the friends in turn. "This does not leave the junkyard. Understand?" Each person muttered their agreement. "Good. I gave Price a very small dose, she'll be up in either 5 minutes or an hour."

"That's a pretty big ratio," Warren couldn't help but add.

"Bite me, nerd."

Max was about to protest, but Warren held up a hand to stop her. "It's much nicer than he usually is."

"Whatever, I'll see you losers around I guess." Nathan turned and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. His phone dropped out of his pocket. With a muttered "fuck" he recovered it, stared at it for a few seconds, and then walked over to his truck. He climbed in and after a few seconds he was gone. Chloe was safe.

Kate turned and quickly hugged Max tightly. Max was surprised, but let herself embrace her friend. "Thank you so much," Kate whispered.

"You're welcome, Kate," she whispered back.

After they seperated, Warren and Max hugged. When they too seperated, Warren chipped in, "Max Power, you really are some superhero!"

"It wasn't that great," Max humbly replied. She still felt like she was going to throw up from nerves, but the adrenaline was slowly dying.

"Are you kidding me, Heisenberg? That was amazing!"

"Thanks, Warren. I just need to sit."

"Of course," he replied. He somewhat frantically looked for a place to sit while Kate rubbed circles on Max's back. "You look pale, Max."

"I'm always pale."

"More than usual," she smiled a little.

"Don't fret, Warren. I know a place. It'll make Chloe more comfortable whenever she wakes up too."

While Warren half-carried Chloe, Kate held Max's hand to steady her as she led them to Chloe and Rachel's old hideout. She brushed a pizza box off of a chair and plopped herself on it. While she did this, Kate and Warren made a makeshift cot for Chloe to rest. Max took off her jacket and tossed it to Kate to put over Chloe as a ghetto blanket.

Kate asked Warren to maybe find more chairs. Warren complied. He left the hideout and left Kate and Max alone. "Can you explain what has been happening lately? With Nathan and… well… everything?"

Max considered how much to tell her. She had only meant to tell Kate about the Dark Room, but she supposed Kate was now in far too deep to hide anything from her. "What do you think about time travel?"

Kate raised an eyebrow at the question. "That's an odd question. I'm more practical. You know, Bible Kate and all that, but, I suppose it is possible."

"It's more than possible."

Her eyebrow remained raised. "Oh?"

"What I need to tell you, well, keep an open mind will you?"

"I'll try my best."

Max began her story. After about a minute, Warren joined in. He mostly listened, but when Max ran out of breath, he continued. Kate never said anything, but she listened. She considered. They seemed to be completely serious, although she was secretly waiting for the punchline.

When they got to the part of her suicide attempt, each seemed rather uncomfortable. Hell, she was uncomfortable by the story. She didn't want to hear it, but she was morbidly curious how the story ended. It scared her to hear how she was willing to risk it all then, and how close she was to let it go today. If it weren't for Max talking to her earlier this morning, well, perhaps the same thing would have happened. That nearly crushed her. But hearing how Max had talked her down gave her hope.

Kate honestly wanted to hear more, they had stopped the story. When she asked what happened next, Max shook her head. "Not until Chloe wakes up. She heard about as much as you. She hadn't heard the whole thing and now here we are." She eyed Chloe sleeping peacefully. "God, she's so careless."

"She's your best friend."

"She is," she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples to hopefully stop the onrushing headache. "That's why I keep coming back for her."

Kate couldn't deny how fundamentally sweet that was. She thought about saying something but she was interrupted by the sounds of Chloe waking up. She sat up groggily and checked her surroundings. She saw Kate and looked confused before her eyes settling on Max and Warren. That's when she realized that she was safe. "Max, Warren, Kate. I'm so glad to see you."

"How could you be so fucking stupid Chloe?"

Chloe was struck speechless by the steel in Max's voice. This was by far the angriest she had seen the skinny girl been. "I-"

"After everything I've been through to save your life, you do this shit! I almost lost you Chloe! Again!"

"If you would let me just expla-"

"Explain? You want to explain why you were in the junkyard like this? Go on Chloe, I would love to hear your explaination."

Before she could start, she snuck a glance at Warren. He rose his lips in sympathy and put a hand on Max's shoulder to try to simmer her down. Chloe hoped it worked. She did not want to deal with this shit.

"After you left, I was still pretty pissed."

"Yeah, no shit."

"Can I continue uninterrupted please? Anyway, you left your journal at my house. I looked at it a bit and you said Rachel was buried here. It took a hella long time, but I found her. I balled my fucking eyes out for a while, but then I got the gun and shot some shit to calm down."

"Of course you brought the gun with you. God, Chloe, you could've killed yourself."

"I know, Max. Trust me. I listened to you. I made sure to shoot at things that wouldn't ricochet and kill my bony ass. But that's not the point. Nathan had come to the junkyard for whatever reason. Maybe he wanted to fuck Rachel's corpse, I don't know. Anyway, he heard me be all shooty so he pulled his gun out to investigate. He found me and pointed the gun at me. He made me call you and then he told me I had to come with him. Not much I can do with a fucking gun to my face. So I walked with him. Bastard knew I'd try something, so drugged me. Then viola, I'm here."

Max still seemed infuriated, but she seemed to accept Chloe's explaination. Kate, perhaps seeing the present red flags, decided to interrupt. "Chloe, are you feeling alright?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess. Glad to see you can join our merry band of thieves Kate."

"I'm glad to see you're okay. Do you think you're able to go for a walk?"

"Uh, sure." Chloe looked over at Max one more time, and she could see that the girl really needed a chill pill. Perhaps Kate had the right idea. "Lead the way."

After Kate helped Chloe on her feet, the two slowly walked out of the hideout, towards the setting sun.


"Are you okay?"

Max pulled her legs up to her chest and put her head on her knees. "What do you think?" She felt bad for being sarcastic, but she was so tired of having to drop everything to save Chloe.

"I'm sorry, Max." He rubbed the back of his neck. He knew Kate had made the right call to give them space, but he had no clue how to make her feel better.

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

"Look at it this way, at least she's safe. We seem to be on Nathan's good side now."

"Yeah, she's safe. But for how long? 5 minutes? Tomorrow? How long will it be until her life is in danger? Next chapter?"

"I don't know."

"I don't know either, and it scares me." She could hear her voice break, but she wasn't ashamed.

"Oh, Max." He had awkwardly put her arms around her fetal position state. Although she was still upset, she was thankful for his presence. She didn't want to be totally alone, she just couldn't stand to be near Chloe right now. The sight of her drowned her in worry, anger and anxiety.

A part of her thought just how comfortable she was with Warren touching her. Max secretively an anxious person who wasn't very comfortable with physical contact, but for some reason Warren was different.

Slowly but surely, she felt her rage melt into fatigue. Since she lost her abilities, she seemed to get tired much easier. "Better?" Warren asked. He had to be uncomfortable from the awkward position he was in. But he didn't complain. He probably wouldn't complain even if he held the position for hours.

Max nodded and lowered her legs to sit normally in her chair. Warren grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back. He always seemed to have that ability. He grabbed a chair he had retrieved and sat it in front of her. He sat in said chair and reached over to hold both of her hands. Max's imagination went wild. She imagined a table between them at some sort of restaurant. A taste of normalcy she was suddenly craving.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yes," she smiled a little. "I just wish we could be normal."

Warren gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean all four of us. No time travel, no Nathan or Jefferson, no tornado or anything else. I just want all of us together for something, I dunno, ordinary. Like movies, or Monopoly. I just want simple.

And I guess I mean us too. We never got to go to the drive-in, did we?"

"No, we really didn't." He cheekily smiled at her and she returned a grin.

"We should, sometime."

"When all this is over, Max, we'll go to the drive-in. And, I'll take you to dinner."

"I would like that." They smiled at each other. Warren ran his thumbs over her knuckles. By God, it felt so good. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure, Max."

"I secretly wish you could remember the first time we kissed."

"Me too. But you know what I will remember?"

"What's that?"

"This time we kiss."

"This time-?"

He gently reached in and planted his lips on hers. Her right hand let go off his and reached around his neck. She grabbed a hand full of his soft hair and deepened their kiss. He unintentionally moaned into her mouth. God, how did she go her whole life without this?

After a few seconds, pushed him up. Smiling, she stood up and wrapped her arms over his neck. He placed his hands on her hips. They mutually leaned in to continue their session.

Maybe she might never have that normalcy she craved. Maybe there will be a tornado. Maybe Jefferson is coming for her. But she knew that right now, she was just fine.


Kate and Chloe had walked around the junkyard in silence for a few moments. Finally, Chloe had been the one to break it. "You know, I've never talked to you one on one like this."

"Why is that?" Kate asked kindly.

"I dunno," the blue-haired girl shrugged. "I've never been one to mingle with religious types."

Kate couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah, I don't see you being the type to go to church every Sunday."

"What can I say? I wear my heart on my sleeve." She bent down to pick up her beanie that had fallen to the ground. She brushed up the grass and "anything else" that was on it before putting it back on her head. Kate tried not to tell her how gross her beanie probably was after being on the ground.

"So how did Bat-Max save me, huh? Did she do some cool kung-fu moves?" she tried not to use profanity around the girl. She didn't know how strict she was. She knew she was cool, more so than some other students at Blackwell, but she didn't want to offend the girl.

"Not exactly. She basically talked him out of taking her. Convinced him not to bully me and Warren. Told him we would take down Jefferson. I still have no idea how he's involved in this, but it's not good apparently."

"That bastard. Nathan, I mean. He needs to pay for what he did to Rachel."

"I think he should too. Apparently it was an accidental overdose. He seemed really sad about it. He was going to visit her grave."

"Doesn't change sh- anything. He still killed her."

"I know, Chloe. For now, we have other things to worry about. You think we should go back to Max and Warren?"

"Yeah. I just hope she isn't pissed at me. Whoa, shit, look at that!"

Chloe pointed up at the sky. Neither girl had ever seen anything like it before. Not only was there a double moon, but one of the moons was stuck in an eclipse with the sun. "What is happening?" Kate whispered.

"I don't know. We better go ask Dr. Who."

Kate wasn't sure if she understood the reference, but she still followed Chloe back to the hideout. There she came across the peculiar sight of Max and Warren kissing. It's a good thing they had talked earlier about their relationship, or else this situation would've been more surprising.

Before she could say anything, Chloe had put a finger to her lips and shushed. It was obvious to both of them that the couple had not noticed that they had entered. Chloe had slyly snuck up behind Max and Warren (it would not have worked if they had their eyes open). She tapped Max on the shoulder. The girl yelped and accidentally pushed Warren to get away from Chloe. Warren promptly fell on his rear end.

"Are we interrupting?" Chloe gave Max a shit-eating grin.

"You asshole," Max complained with a playful punch to Chloe's shoulder. She turned and helped Warren back up to a vertical base. The boy rubbed the point of impact.

"There's something crazy out here," Kate pointed with her thumb to the outside. "A double moon and an eclipse. It's pretty freaky."

Instead of answering, Max and Warren gave each other a pointed look. Max bent down to retrieve her jacket off the ground. "It's accelerating. We can't waste any more time. Sit down, you guys. It only gets weirder."

Finally, all four of them were able to sit down and go through the Max's story. They had somehow managed to take it all in. Thankfully Warren was able to help tell the story, or else Max's voice would be hoarse. She decided to not tell them her struggles mourning for Chloe. She had also spared them the details of Max and Warren confessing their feelings, but they ended the story with Max going back to save Chloe.

"Wow," was all they could say. Chloe, for her credit, was humbled by her "other" self for willing to sacrifice herself for the town. She was humbled by Max's mourning for her. Suddenly, she realized that Max's power was not all fun and games.

"I'm sorry, you had to go through that, Max. That had to be awful."

Max and Warren sat next to one another on the ground, holding hands. "It's in the past. Or future. Or… I don't even know anymore. We have to stop the tornado. Or, at the very least. Get people to evacuate."

They continued to converse, brainstorming ways to stop said tornado. But as they brainstormed, they were unaware of a new presence in the junkyard. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.


Hey all, my goal (although I probably won't get it) is to finish the story sometime between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Master Assassin Ezio has gifted me with a new story idea, so right after this story ends, I will start the new one.

That being said, I'm not going to rush this story. It will have a (hopefully) satisfying conclusion. Still, don't be shy. Tell me what you think! It really speeds up the writing process.