A/N-

This is the last chapter of the first story arc. I hope you enjoy!

IMPORTANT: CHAPTER 8 HAS BEEN REVISED, I ADVISE SKIMMING OVER IT BUT YOU WILL STILL UNDERSTAND THE STORY IF YOU DO OT CHOOSE TO DO SO.

There was no substance in the universe in which Maxine Caulfield resided. There was only space- empty space- with Max at the center. The blackness always clouded her vision and she had become blind to it, comfortable with it. It ate her alive until the day the darkness faded and Maxine found herself with the memories of a life- her life- and the itching of her skin.

Max blinked back into existence, her mouth was dry, her throat raw, her skin was itching and her hand was burning. Max forced herself into a sitting position on, what she soon realized, was a small narrow cot with anti-septic white sheets disturbed by her lower body under the blankets. As her consciousness returned Max became aware of the straps securing her to the bed, she was barely able to sit up. Max furrowed her brow and tugged at the straps attached to the side of the bed, her strength was short lived.

Max felt absolutely worn out, she couldn't remember much after she immersed into the time stream and saved William. Max suddenly became aware of a static-like noise coming from the opposite corner of the room. Max's ears adjusted and she was able to decipher the voices coming from the age old television mounted on the wall. She dragged her eyes up to focus on the screen, her vision still a bit blurry.

"The coastal town of Arcadia Bay took a hit last night. The strongest tornado ever documented in that area, however it quickly dissipated before reaching far along the shore…"

Max felt a pit deep in her stomach and she pulled hard at the straps as she leaned over the side of the bed, emptying out the rest of what she had in her stomach. Max dry-heaved a few more times only to be reduced to a coughing fit after she was incapable of puking any more. The storm was her fault and worse, she had enjoyed toying with the helpless residents of Arcadia Bay as she teased the storm at the shoreline. People had died, and she had been perfectly safe in her little time realm as she played with the lives of… Chloe. Max struggled against her bindings, she kicked her legs only to discover they were similarly restrained. The unruly brunette let out a loud scream followed by a string of curses.

Her wrists and ankles were raw by the time the automated door slid open. In walked in a man she thought- hoped- she would never meet again. She had been too busy in her panic to notice the familiarity of the room. The room, which was located in and underground bunker, existed under the name of The Gyker Research Center- unknown to the public. This was the sort of place parents told misbehaving children they would be sent off to if they didn't shape up- fix their behavior- only this place was a special kind of hell. Sculpted individually for anyone chosen for the program and as much as they try to make themselves believe it no one has a choice in being here.

Max had spent a good portion of her life here and had been in rooms of similar design as this one many times. She was somewhere in the medical ward and the nurse who had just walked into the room had been one of the only people she felt she could trust in here. Not even the researchers or their employees necessarily wanted to be here. Chris, the nurse, had been a primary example of this and he was also part of the reason she had managed to escape. She was glad he was alright.

Chris was adjusting the IV that ran into her hand while occasionally tapping on his tablet. With a heavy sigh he dropped the device onto the side table and turned to look directly at Max. She blinked a few times in an owlish manner before she opened her mouth to speak.

Her voice broke at the dryness of her throat and she absentmindedly attempted to move her hand to her throat only for the straps to hold her down. Chris ignored the look of frustration on Max's face as he paced to the other side of the room to a water cooler and filled a Styrofoam cup with the clear liquid.

Chris tipped the cup up to Max's chapped lips and she reluctantly swallowed it down, the cool water soothing her throat. After a few moments of what seemed to be a mental battle with himself Chris moved to the other side of the bed and untied her left hand, being fully aware that untying her right one would be a fatal mistake. Chris tried to mask the hope in his eyes as he looked at Max's weary features. Her shoulders slumped and she wrapped him in a hug with her free arm.

"Seems I'm a bit tied up at the moment." Max joked, referring to the one armed hug. Max swore she saw the corner of his lip twitch up, if only for a second.

"That storm took one hell of a toll on you." Chris informed her, as he made to shine a bright light in her eyes, ears, and mouth. Clicking the pen-light off he gestured to the news on the small television in silent question. Max shook her head. Chris moved to the remote and flicked the TV off. "The director will be in soon." Max wasn't sure if that was a statement of fact or a warning but she nodded anyway.

She was not disappointed. The director of Gyker came strolling into the room a few minutes after Chris's departure. His hair was slicked and despite his sleek, cynical appearance Max could see the worry lines creasing his brow. Something was wrong.

"Maxine Caulfield." He leaned on the bed frame, close but not close enough for her to be a threat.

"Max, never Maxine." She gritted her teeth as she glared into his blackening eyes.

He shifted his weight off the bed and folded his hands behind his back in a show of power and dominance over the situation. Max scowled as he continued with his little speech. "Quite the storm you conjured up," He smirked as he twirled his finger in jest. "Could have been a terrible tragedy, almost a miracle- really- that it just… disappeared."

Max took a deep breath and rolled her eyes refusing to let him get to her. "Get on with it, already, I've spent years playing your games."

"This one is no fun." He pouted, pointing a meaty finger at Max but addressed the security guards posted just inside the door; part of Max took satisfaction in knowing she was dangerous enough to justify guards and handcuffs. "Alright, fine," He continued, "We seem to have a bit of a problem, see, this storm just comes out of nowhere without explanation. Meteorologists are absolutely stumped and then it seems we find little Miss Caulfield in the middle of this mess. Care to enlighten me." He raised his eyebrows at Max.

"I don't know anything." She said with a clipped tone but, kept talking at his look of disbelief. She just wanted to get home but couldn't reveal William had been the one stuck in the time stream, they would never let either of them go. That is, if I'm right and William is here. "I just took over, the tornado was representation of time itself, I can manipulate it so, I just made the storm stop." She shrugged as if it was no big deal. She had a plan and part of it meant she needed to seem cooperative but not like she knew anything, which wasn't too far from the truth anyway.

The director sighed and nodded at Max to his guards, who came over and released her. "I'm sure your hungry; after all, you have just saved the world." There was mockery in his tone and Max struggled not to roll her eyes. "I trust you remember you way to the cafeteria." He didn't so much as look at her as he left the room, leaving the door propped open for her. Max wasn't naïve enough to think they would ever just let her go. She had been kept prisoner in this bunker for years and knew that being allowed to walk around was nothing resembling freedom. Max pulled the IV out of her hand, which was surely a power oppressant- she had been given the same thing every day all the years she had been held here- and shifted her legs over the edge of the bed, hovering above the cold floor. Figuring she was due for some detective work, she finally climbed out of the bed and changed into the clothes that had been left on an armchair by the side table.

Max exited the Medical Ward without anyone giving her so much as a second glance; it seemed everyone was occupied with whatever chaos was ensuing now-a-days. The Director seemed oddly tense, more so than I remember. Max smirked but couldn't help the nagging feeling that she had something to do with the concern. I mean, obviously, why else would the Director have come to talk to me about the storm and leave the news on the tv- Max's train of though was cut off as she passed the entrance to the Psyche Ward, she had spent some time there in the early years. A chill ran down her back at the memory but she paused when she noticed the hallway beyond the "authorized personnel" door was bathed in a red glow. Her brow furrowed and she slowly moved towards the door, looking both ways before pressing her face to the barred glass. She couldn't see much, there was no one moving around in the halls and none of the doors she could see were open. Reluctantly she moved away from the door before the camera pointed in her direction filing the information about the Psyche Ward away for later.

Max took the elevator down to the cafeteria; there weren't many people there, which only furthered her suspicions. She made her way up to the counter and was pleasantly surprised to see Beth, one of the servers. Max had taken a liking to the southern woman, as she had reminded her of Joyce. Max smiled at the kind-eyed woman who took a moment before she registered who she was looking at.

"Max, baby, what're you doin' back here?" Beth had a sad smile on her face, she looked older.

"I thought you would be happy to see me." Max joked, in a failed attempt to lighten the mood.

"I am, you know I always am. I just hoped, as much as I love ya, that we wouldn't meet again. At least not here." She added.

Max nodded as Beth nonchalantly made up a plate of Max's usual lunch, she had remembered.

"So…" Max casually started, receiving a cocked eyebrow from the dark haired woman. "Where is everyone?" Max leaned her elbows on the silver countertop as Beth slid a plate towards her. "Your cooking was never that bad."

Beth narrowed her eyes at the chucking girl, "I don't have to feed you." She warned, pointing at the brunette who was devouring the burger in front of her. Max lifted her right hand in surrender, the other still holding her burger.

Beth cocked and eyebrow at the fresh gauze around Max's right hand and gently pulled it toward her. "What happened?" She asked, peeking under the bandages at the severe burns on Max's hand. She had honestly completely forgotten about her hand with all the weirdness when she woke up and the chaos of the storm.

Max pulled her hand from Beth grip waving it through the air, trying to show it was no big deal. She swallowed a bite of the burger before speaking. "I just touched a hot stove the other day." Max lied, unable to make eye-contact with the southern woman, who had her arms crossed in disbelief at Max's blatant lie.

"Nice try, young lady. Want to try the truth?" Max glanced up at Beth before returning her gaze to her sandwich. She set it down and wiped her hands on her pants.

"I… I burned it." Max whispered averting her eyes from Beth, "On purpose." She finished so quietly she was unsure if the woman heard her. Max slowly lifted her head up to look at the woman, Beth was looking at her with sad eyes but there was no pity anywhere on her face. Max hated pity; the feeling that she was so broken and everyone could see that there was no way she could find all the shattered pieces. The woman gently rested her palm over Max's hand, before slipping away into the kitchen, sensing Max need to be alone.

Max was no longer hungry but threw away the paper plate to save Beth some trouble. The woman had been like a mother to her in her years spent at Gyker and the least she could do was clean up after herself. Max took a pen out of the jar on the counter and a napkin before sitting down in the back corner, away from the few prying eyes in the room. She drew up a map from memory of the facility, she remembered doing the same thing years ago. Serious déjà vu… I feel like I'm right back where I started before I met Rach.

Max surveyed her makeshift map, she hoped she remembered how to get through the emergency doors, Rachel had been the one to devise the actual escape plan, and Max had just mapped out the place and took note of when the guards changed shifts. They probably changed all the codes and tightened security after Rachel and I got out of here. She knew it could pose a problem getting out with William, as soon as she figured out where they were keeping him. Chris probably knows, I just have to find him.

Max made her way back up to the Medical Ward and quickly found Chris outside the Director's office. "Boo!" Max jumped up behind him, memories of Chloe doing the same thing to her when they were kids surfacing in her mind; she used to be so jumpy- that is before the super spy training. Chris spun around and Max ducked under his fist. "Hey, chill, man." Max raised her hands and pushed his fist down. He may have been a nurse but everyone at Gyker had some degree of training.

"Max, you can't do that." He looked around as if checking to make sure no one saw her scare him.

"Why, scared everyone's gonna-"

"Max. I'm serious. The Director is way more stressed than usual which means he's extra tense and short tempered."

"He always was." Max huffed out.

Chris sighed, "Did you need something?"

Max smirked, "Glad you asked."

Max quietly eased the large wooden door shut as she entered the Director's office, and she twisted the lock inside. Max made her way to the overstated glossy desk, for someone running a secret government research center it was relatively uncluttered.

Max hummed to herself as she sifted through the papers on the desk, one being her file. Deciding she didn't have the time to snoop through it she flopped into the desk chair, which looked like it belonged in the president's office. Max had learned a few things from Fernando over the years- not enough to hack the system but enough to the release the lock to the main control room as well as swipe the key to the Psyche Ward.

Despite the fact that she had gotten help from Chris all of this seemed too easy and Max was not naïve enough to believe that getting out of this place would take five minutes; it had taken her years the first time. Then again, five-years-ago-Max wasn't mega charged from a supernatural disaster. Just as Max was making her way to the office door the alarm system started going off. The Director must have gotten a motion alert from his office security. Shit! Shit! Shit! Max flung open the door just in time to see security rushing down the hall towards her.

Aaaannnnndddd… now no alarms, no security, undisturbed office, and very confused Chris. Max chuckled as Chris spun around.

"Max, I'm serious the director is-"

"Yeah, blah, blah, super tense, blah."

"Wait, how did you..? The dose I gave you this morning should have suppressed your powers."

"Yeah, about that..." Max glanced away from Chris with a small smirk tempting at her lips before her expression turned a bit more serious. "Guess that storm really charged me up."

Not wanting to risk anything, Max decided on another quick rewind to before she spoke to Chris and took a left to the Psyche Ward instead. Okay, Max, you got this. Get in and out. Max flung open the door to the Psyche Ward the red lights were still on and the alarms began blaring as Max had broken the handle on the door with a very handy fire extinguisher. She bolted down the halls taking quick turns as she read charts outside the doors. William must be in a private room with life support considering he's been in a coma for the past five years. Max flew up the flight of stairs to the private rooms- throwing a rewind back to moments after she broke in- looking for a room with regular lighting. Max stopped at the last room. The door was locked tight and Max banged on the metal with her fists. Her right hand burned and she took a few steps back to analyze the situation. Hands on her hips Max looked down the long hall. Hadn't there been a service desk? Max ran back the way she came, she remembered there being a counter here for whoever was monitoring the Ward. There was dry wall now. Max bit her lip, backing up against the far wall.

Before she charged it she felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around in confusion, pinning the attacker against the wall. Her hardened expression softened as she recognized the person in front of her. She shook her head and took a few slow steps back. "Sam?" She squeaked out. "Yeah, baby." Sam had saved her life on multiple occasions, they was the only person max had truly wanted to see again after she escaped from the institute. Sam had sort of taken up a parent role for Max, who had been without one since losing her parents. Sam had also been the one to find her the day she first saved William from the car accident. The brunette could feel the burning behind her eyes, doing her best to hold back tears as she lurched forward into Sam's arms. The protective figure had always been something of a mystery and though Max knew almost nothing of their life before Gyker she always found herself trusting Sam.

Sam gently pulled back from the embrace but continued holding Max in place by her shoulder while they gently wiped the tears from her face. "Let's get you out of here, yeah?" Sam asked as they surveyed down the hallway in both directions. Max found herself nodding caught up in being reunited with Sam before she remembered her mission.

"No, no not yet. I have to do something first." Max declared a sharp look of determination on her face as she stared up at Sam. They let out an exasperated breath bowing their head for a moment before looking back at Max and nodding.

Max returned the gesture and lead the way down the two of them- in hushed voices- established the plan.

Max layed out on the grass in a small garden near a safe house, which Sam had assured her would actually be safe. She stared up at the clouds thinking of Gyker, William, Sam, and most of all, Chloe. She wasn't sure where they stood. They were technically together but both had agreed things moved way to fast, the two of them having been so caught up in seeing each other again. Max wanted to make sure it was real. She didn't want to think about Gyker or what she had just done, playing with time was dangerous and she wasn't sure what repercussions what she had done could have. She wasn't even sure her powers were still intact or upon her return to Arcadia, anyone would even recognize her.

Max and Sam had come to the conclusion that the only way to keep Gyker out of their lives for good was to completely eradicate the whole place. She had wiped it out of existence but not in a it was never there way, more it a, it disappeared without a trace way. Although it was never that simple and she had to destroy a place funded by government which meant messing with individual time lines of specific people. She had tried to let those important to her remember it while removing it from the memories of those who were powerful enough to create a place like that in the first place. It was a possibility she would return to Arcadia and Chloe wouldn't remember her. Max sighed, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes. Only to jump when she removed them and Sam was hovering over her.

"God, Sam, you can't do that shit." Max mumbled as she moved to a sitting position.

Sam ignored her and sat herself down beside the time traveler, or used to be time traveler. Max hadn't been able to use her powers since after the Gyker time trip. She only knew what happened from what Sam told her. "This about your powers?" Sam glanced at Max and ran a hand through their pixie cut strawberry blonde hair.

"Maybe, but I don't know if I really care… Part of me hopes they won't come back." Max finished with a whisper. Sam wrapped a comforting arm around Max's shoulders, pulling her into her side.

Sam didn't say anything, she didn't need to.

The peaceful silence was interrupted by William limping outside to join them. Max peered up at him, a look of shock in her eyes. "You're awake." She paused. "I wasn't sure…"

William slowly eased his body to the ground, "I may be gettin' old, but I'm not going out yet." Max smiled, she had no idea how she was going to explain William's sudden appearance to Joyce. "Hey, Joyce, I resurrected your dead husband five years ago and he's been in a coma in a secret government facility. Don't worry though, it doesn't exist any more because I used my magic time powers to wipe it out of existence!" I'm sure that'll go over well. Max could tell Chloe the truth, maybe not every detail as she didn't understand every detail but, enough.

"So, how much of what happened do you…?" Max started but trailed off not knowing what she should say.

William chuckled, "Nothing, but your friend here filled me in on the accident." Max just nodded, too exhausted to ask for more detail or what he planned on telling Joyce and Chloe.

They all sat in silence letting the moment stretch on for as long as possible. "Ready to run back into the gunfire?" Max asked, brushing off the worn out sweatpants Sam had given her to wear as she stood up.

"Let's get you two home." Sam responded, joining Max as the two of them helped William to his feet.

A/N-

The last chapter of the first story arc is completed! Yay! I know there wasn't a ton of pricefield but the second story arc will be all about them, so stick around for that. I know I've never stuck to a schedule in the past but it has been way to long since the last update. I had finals and it was taking up a lot of my time. This turned out a lot differently then I planned in the beginning so I'm sorry if this story came across as confusing to any of you. That would be my lack of keeping drafts and notes throughout my writing process which I did start to do at chapters nine and ten. The second story arc won't happen for some time as I want it to be my best which means I want to draft it out beforehand in general plot points. Instead of drafting chapter by chapter after I had spent too much time away from the story to do it justice. I may revise this one day, but for the second story arc the most important thing to know is that William is back and he has been held in captivity for the years Chloe and Joyce thought he was dead.

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the first part of this story and stick with me for the second, which will be called The Return of Max Caulfield, or something to that degree.

Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, and following! Have a great day or if you happen to be on a break like I am, I hope you are enjoying yourself!

*flies off in spaceship*

If you feel like it;

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