Sorry for not updating in a very long time. but I'm back!
Warren's POV
Thursday
After Warren opened the door for the party escorting a badly injured, clinging to life Chloe he runs into his cousin of all people. She's one of the paramedics on scene and immediately grips his arm and starts to check his badly, bleeding bruised face. He can faintly hear her ask him questions, but he isn't paying much attention to it. His attention is focused on the stretcher with Chloe's seemingly lifeless body on it which is being guided toward an ambulance by the paramedics, Max and Mrs. Grant. He sees Max briefly take in the sight of all the first responders that are on the scene as she walks through the school doors. For a second their eyes meet, and he can see Max's face contort into a horrified expression, probably by the look of his bruised face before she screams out his name in a very distraught way. Before he can respond, however, she's getting in the back of the ambulance and drives off.
She is devastated. I hope we did the right thing trying to save Chloe without rewinding. If she doesn't make it… I don't think Max will be able to cope with that… hell… I'm not sure I'm able to, and I just met Chloe this week. I know how much it takes for Max to use her rewind, I can only imagine how much of a strain it must be to travel back in time through the pictures. I don't think she will be able to muster that strength again for a very long time if Chloe were to die and besides, would it even be possible for us to get back? At the lighthouse, we assumed so, but what if Max no longer has her powers. The way she explained the time traveling to me was that she usually only went back for a very short duration before getting snapped back to the present again, with all the consequences her changes made. But we're still here, at least I am still here… what if… what if that Max isn't my Max…. no! It can't be… In the restrooms, that was my Max, I'm sure of it.
As he gazes at the back of the ambulance that is speeding off with his girlfriend and newfound friend, Chloe, he's brought back to reality by his cousin's snipping fingers.
"Earth to Warren… Hello Warren… can you hear me?" she says, quite annoyed and worried due to the lack of response she's getting from him while looking at him with deep worry on her face.
Warren gazes over and sees his cousin, his eyes widen and the realization of their little family reunion kicks in. "Clara! What are you doing here?" he asks as he sees her picking a small flashlight out of her chest pocket. Warren then looks around himself, like Max did and is also temporarily amazed by how many police cars and ambulances are parked in front of the school.
"Good, you recognize me, that's a good sign. Follow the light please Warren." She demands as she starts to move the flashlight to the left and right. Warren shifts his gaze back to his cousin and her flashlight. "Clara… I need to go to the hospital, I need to be with Max." He then says with a very serious and distraught expression on his face.
Clara looks him over and sees from the serious expression on his face that he's not messing around. This isn't the Warren she knows, the cheery, always smiling Warren. This is a clearly worried and distraught Warren, and she'll do anything to make sure her cousin goes back to his usual self again. "Alright, just let me check you really quick and then you can go." Warren nods and lets his niece do her business. "So, your Mom told me you have a cool new ride." Clara says, in an attempt to brighten up that look on Warren's face while she is running her checks, but to no avail. Warren merely manages to say half a 'yes' before he goes silent again, deep in thought.
I just need to get to Max she must be feeling so shit right now, Chloe really didn't look good. Mrs. Grant said she was positive, but there was a lot of blood, like bad horror movie amounts. I'm not sure if she just saying it for Max and David's sake. If I can just get to my car, I'm coming Max… soon….
"So, this Max.." Clara asks and pauses, to see if this changes her cousin's grim expression but Warren doesn't respond. " Is Max the girl you have been crushing on for the past months?" Clara continues but Warren simply keeps ignoring her. It's not her fault really, he isn't ignoring her on purpose. His head is just so full of thoughts that he doesn't even register her asking about Max.
A minute or so later Clara informs him that she's finished and that he seems to alright, albeit for some heavy bruising on his face that will surely leave some marks for a few days. She adds that he shouldn't drive but he doesn't care about her advice at the moment. He runs away and makes his way to the parking lot. When he's just a few feet away from his car he suddenly feels a tight grip on his arm, pulling him backward.
"Hey there son, where do you think you're off to?" A police officer asks, while he firmly keeps hold of Warrens' arm. Warren is temporarily dazed and thoughts of Jefferson or Nathan grabbing him rush through his head before he notices that it's a policeman. "Let me go! I need to get to the hospital" Warren says with panic in his voice as he tries to struggle out of the police officers grip. Unfortunately, the police officer looks like he could very well be a professional bear fighter in his spare time. The guy is huge, like Dwayne the rock Johnson huge and Warren is unable to struggle out of his grip, but even if he managed to, the guy will probably catch up with him in a matter of seconds and he doesn't want to get tackled to the ground by this huge bundle of muscles.
"Calm down son, I saw you in the corridor, you pointed us toward the two suspects in the classroom. You seem to know more about what is going on here, I need you to come to the station with me for a statement."
Warren tries to calm his now uprising anger to the fact that the police officer is completely oblivious that he needs to go the Max now. "Sir, please I need to go to the hospital, Max… my girlf…. She's there now, she got in the ambulance with Chloe." He manages to say, calmly.
"You mean your friend is the one who was with the girl that got shot."
"Yes!" Warren screams out, "Please… I need to go.." he replies as he tries to struggle out of his grip again.
The police officer ignores this and asks, "Are you the boy who was in the restrooms as well then? Together with this girl you are talking about?"
"Yes!" Warren says again, and he continuously tries to struggle out of the officer's grip.
"Well then…. You definitely need to come to the station in that case." He says and starts to pull Warren toward a police car.
Warren ends up making quite the scene trying to get out of his captor's grip. In the end, it takes 3 police officers to put him in the back of a police car and they drive off.
About 10 minutes later they arrive at the station's parking lot and the tall police officer looks over to the backseat at Warren with a casual expression on his face. "We're here… will you take it down a notch and come inside without another fit?" He then asks, with a calming voice.
Warren's face is all red with anger from all the time he already lost. "I…. NEED… TO… GO… TO…THE.. HOSPITAL!" he retorts, with heavy breaths of anger.
"Come now…. I will take you in by force if I have to!" the officer replies, with some annoyance in his voice while he holds up his cuffs.
Warren quickly goes over the options in his head but its no use.
I can't get out of this… the harder I make it for them the longer it will take me to get to Max… I just need to cooperate with them, do my bid and get out of here. But I shouldn't have to. If only I ran harder toward my car. Or if I just sneaked my way towards it. I should have known they wanted a statement from me.
Warren sighs in defeats and nods, to which the officer leaves the car and opens the car door for Warren. The police officer places his hand on Warrens his shoulders, and guides him, a bit forcefully towards the entrance.
As they walk into the station its chaos in there. Students are everywhere talking with police officers and what seems like a dozen phones are ringing with what must be concerned parents. At the reception's desk stands a small army of what seem to be lawyers by the look of their suits who are engaged in what seems to be a very frustrating discussion with a highly decorated police officer, who must be the caption Warren concludes.
Those monkeys are probably Nathan's dad's private army of lawyers. Trying to get Nathan out and sweep it all under the rug. Fuck you Nathan and your rich ass father. You deserve to go down for this… for all of it…
Upon closer inspection, the captain seems to hold his ground though and Warren can't help but smile before he is dragged into a room with a small table and a huge mirror on the wall.
If I didn't need to go to Max right now I would have probably freaked out right now, this is so Castle-esque! I'm in an actual interrogation room…. Wait… Why am I in an interrogation room? Am I…. no… I can't be… I'm one of the good guys… surely, they know that…. They have probably just run out of space and put me here.
When a man in a suit enters the room 10 minutes later, however, Warren starts to get a bad feeling in his stomach.
A guy in a suit… that doesn't look good…. That's no regular officer… that's a detective…. Oh fuck… I'm being interrogated for real…
The detective takes a seat on the other side of the table and takes out a cigarette before handing the box out towards Warren.
"Seriously? Can you be more cliché?" Warren asks with clear mock in his voice.
The detectives regard this for a moment before he speaks out. "So you're one of those I see, a know-it-all."
"Yeah, and I guess you're one of those as well, you know… those clueless detectives that have a 10% closing rate because of their cluelessness? I'm just still having a hard time figuring out if you are the good or the bad cop though." Warren replies, starting to get angry again as he feels his time is being wasted.
The man lets out a small laugh before replying. "I would keep those witty remarks to yourself If I were you, you're already in enough trouble. "
"How so?" Warren asks.
"Because those remarks are uncalled for." The man then replies.
Warren can't help but facepalm before replying. "I mean why do I already have enough trouble….? Seriously…. Who do they let become detectives nowadays?"
"Oh" Is all that the man replies, temporally out of it due to the realization it was pretty obvious he meant the latter. "Well… you're a suspect, obviously" he then replies, with a huge grin on his face, clearly enjoying informing Warren of his current situation and asserting out dominance because of it.
"Suspect? Are you kidding me? Nathan shot Chloe, not me!" Warren says with a raised voice, full with disbelieve.
"Oh is that so?" The detective asks with mock.
"Obviously…"
"Well then… why don't you tell me your side of the story then?" The detective then asks, as he puts out his cigarette in the tray and starts to light a new one.
That guy watches way too much cop shows…. Fuck… Of all the detectives I could get to plead my case I get this guy… Guess I won't be leaving here for a while if I'm a fucking suspect….WTF… Of all the things that could happen when we traveled back, this was the last I'd expect. Me, a suspect? I know I should play nice… really, I do… but this guy….
"Well?" The detective asks as he interrupts Warren's line of thought.
"Well…" Warren repeats, with his most rebellious voice. "It all started 3 years ago when I applied to go to school at Blackwell. See I've always been very good in class and I'm very good at all science related classes. I even skipped a grade back in high school, that's why I'm a bit younger than the other students. But anyway a few weeks after I applied I got a letter that my application was successful. Here I was, 15 years old and I had successfully applied to go to Blackwell academy the next year. So next September I started going to school there and I've been doing so ever since."
"And? What does this have to do with this mornings 'incident'?" The detective asks, now clearly getting annoyed.
"You wanted to know my side of the story, might as well give you the full picture you see. Every story needs a foundation, a beginning." Warren replies.
"Don't go there kid…. Seriously… I just want to know what happened this morning."
"Oh well… just this morning? Okay, my bad sorry. So, I got up around 7, I always get up around that time on school days you know, so I can shower properly and take my time and stuff, this hair doesn't make itself you know…"
"Mr. Graham! Start talking!" The officer interrupts him, quite rudely.
"Oh… so you do know my name? I believe you have me at a disadvantage then, Officer?"
"Detective… its detective for you, that's all that matters… "
"Figures…. Alright then, officer Detective…I had nothing to do with the shooting, can you please just let me get out of here. I need to see my friend at the hospital."
"Sure… just tell me what happened, and you can go." The detective answers.
"Yeah right… like I've never seen a cop show before…." Warren retorts back.
"Kid! Start fucking talking" The detective now practically screams at him, in anger.
Warren cannot help but chuckle. You'd think a detective is used to uncooperating suspects. But here is his losing his shit within the first 2 minutes of the interrogation…. This guy must be new or something.
"Okay okay, relax dude, trust me I don't want to be here anymore then you do." Warren then replies.
The detective doesn't respond.
"Okay, so this morning I was in science class when I heard a gunshot. I was pretty sure it came from around the restrooms and I knew my teacher, Mrs. Grant used to go to med school. I know her quite well you see, she's one of my favorite teachers. The stuff she has us do in class sometimes, man you wouldn't believe it…"
"The gunshot…"
"Oh, right, Sorry. So, as I was saying, I knew Mrs. Grant went to med school so it all clicked inside my head you know… I just got up and yelled at her to follow me and we made our way over to the corridor. I then saw Nathan Prescott leaving the girls restrooms while he was in the process of hiding his gun. So, I just tackled him, really… it was out of instinct. I was already tackling him before I realized what I was doing. I've always hated that guy you know… "
At that moment the door opens and a guy in an even more fancier suit barges in. "Stop talking to that suspect detective, I'll take it from here."
"Excuse me?" The detective calls out, quite harshly with an annoyed look on his face.
The other guy then grabs into his inner chest pocket and flashes out a badge. "Special Agent Fitzgerald, CTD"
"What?" The detective then asks as Warrens' stomach turns as he hears this.
"Counterterrorism Division" Warren then answers, with clear distraught in his voice as he sinks deeper into his chair.
"That's right," the agent says with a little smile. "So detective, If you'd please come with me."
"What is the FBI's Counterterrorism Division doing here?" The detective asks as he sits more upright, in an attempt to assert dominance over the situation.
"School shootings fall under our jurisdiction until any affiliation with terrorism is ruled out."
Warren sinks even deeper into his chair while hearing this, and the pitiful look the detective gives him before getting up makes it even worse. It's a look that basically says, 'damn son, I'm sorry but you're screwed'.
The two men leave the room and leave Warren behind for what feels like hours. Thousands of thoughts rush through his head and Warren realizes him in very deep shit if the CTD is involved. The longer he sits in the little room the worse it gets. Eventually, he even starts to doubt if Max would visit him in prison, or the psych ward for that matter if he starts to tell the truth, the real truth about what all happened this morning. Even though he knows he didn't do anything wrong or illegal, he can't find but worry as he's seen lots of movies and documentaries about people who get arrested for crimes they didn't commit.
Eventually special agent Fitzgerald and some other guy, who's holding a bunch of files return and take seats on the opposite side of the table. Warren refrains from self from remarking about how long he sat here, alone.
"So Mr. Graham. You seem to be in a bit of a pickle" Fitz then says after looking Warren over for a few seconds.
Seriously. Do all these guys get their lines from a movie script…
"Warren please.."
"Excuse me?"
"Please just call me Warren… Only my teachers call me Mr. Graham."
The agent takes a moment to think about it and sees it as a good start to developing the agent-suspect bond. "Alright, Warren. Why don't you tell me what happened this morning"?
Warren shifts a bit in his chair and tries to sit upright whilst trying to look 'comfortable' but failing hard.
"Well… as I've already told the detective… I was"
"Never mind about that detective, start over, from the start."
"I was about to do… never mind….. Alright. I was sitting in science class, talking with my teacher about some books when I heard a gunshot coming from the corridor close to the restrooms." Warren then replies, truthfully as he doesn't want to make the situation even worse by aggravating anyone now the CTD is involved.
"And how do you know it was a gunshot and not just some object, that someone dropped or something like that?" Fitz asks, with a serious expression on his face.
"Well… besides the fact that I watch a ton of movies, my dad has a gun. He took me to the shooting range sometimes when I was a bit younger. A gunshot… it's quite a distinct sound if you ask me". As Warren mentions his dad owning a gun and visiting the shooting range the other guy fiercely starts to take notes inside one of the folders.
"But I don't like guns… not at all" Warren quickly adds, but the agent just keeps on writing. Warren looks at him, with a scared expression on his face.
Wow… Talking about guns and a gun range when you're a suspect in a school shooting Warren… It's nice to see your 4.0 GPA reflects your wit on the outside of the classroom as well… I can forget about lawyering up as well if these clowns are involved… they'll patriot act my ass so fast I won't even have time to realize I don't even have a lawyer.
"And after you heard the gunshot?" Fitz asks, to continue the story.
"Uhm…. Well… I knew my teacher, Mrs. Grant had some medical experience from attending med school, so I told her to come with me as I ran out of the classroom."
"And how did you know someone was shot?" Fitz then asks.
This question takes Warren off guard. How in the hell am I going to talk myself out of this one… "Uhm… lucky guess… I think?"
The 2 agents look at each other before the 2nd agent starts to write in the folder again. Fitz nods Warren to continue with the story.
"When I ran out of the classroom, I saw Nathan coming out of the girl's restrooms, and he was trying to hide his gun. I'm not sure how or why even, but I ended up tackling him and he got knocked out. When I made my way to the restrooms, I found Chloe, who was bleeding heavily on the ground. She was shot. Max was applying pressure to the wound. When Mrs. Grant entered a few seconds later, she took over."
"This Max, do you mean Maxine Caufield?"
"Yes, but its Max, just Max, never Maxine."
Fitz ignores this and looks over to the other agent. After a few seconds of dreadful silence, Fitz continues on with his questioning. "And how does your bruised face come into the story, Warren?"
"While we were helping Chloe, Mrs. Grant asked for duct tape to dress the wound. I knew the photography classroom probably had some, so I went in there to check. Mark Jefferson was in there, I think I interrupted him or something because it didn't take long for him to pull a gun on me. Totally out of the blue. When I cried for help he cold-cocked me and kicked me in the face as soon as I hit the floor… I don't know what happened after, I blacked out. I just know that when I woke up, David and Nathan were there as well. Jefferson was holding David at gunpoint. Jefferson didn't notice I was awake, and there was a pair of scissors laying next to me on the floor, so I smashed them into Jefferson's ankles."
"Oh yeah… I heard he wasn't pleased about that… but go on.." Fitz interrupts and the other agent chuckles.
"So, as I made my way out of the room with the duct tape after David had overpowered Jefferson I caught Nathan trying to leave, and I knocked him out with a tripod. After that, I made my way back to the restroom until the paramedics arrived. It wasn't long after when I was forced into a police car by that giant and his friends…" Warren finishes.
"Hhm that's a pretty good story wouldn't you say Cole, quite the heroic one we've got here right." Fitz asks the other agent. The agent merely nods and continues writing.
Warren is completely baffled by Fitz's response. Sure, he left a few parts out, like the fact he knew Jefferson was a psychopath and how he knew some has had indeed been shot. But still, the story, it sounds credible, right? It has to be, it's pretty close to the truth.
"You don't believe me?" Warren asks.
"Like I said Warren, it's a good story, it fits. But there's just this one small detail you had wrong."
Warren just looks at Fitz, perplexed.
We have an eyewitness report that has you freaking out and talking about someone getting shot, moments before the sound of a gunshot.
Fuck….. they must have talked to Brooke or Mrs. Grant…. Fuck…. How am I going to get out of this…
"I….. I don't…."
"You don't know?"
"No…. I mean… yes, I know…. Your witness… she must be confused…. How would I know that someone was about to get shot before even hearing the gun? You don't think I'm a psychic, do you?
"No…. I have all the confidence in the world that you're not a psychic Warren. I do however think that you planned the shooting with your friend, Nathan Prescott."
"Friend?" Warren yells out in anger.
"Yes, you and your neighbor pal. What was it? A love triangle gone bad? Did she have anything on you? Tell us Warren, why did the two of you plan to kill that girl? Or was it perhaps, some sort of religious reason? Maybe you someone instructed you to do it?
"Friend!" Warren yells out again, ignoring Fitz's stupid response. "That guy is absofuckinglutely not my friend! I hate his guts! And he hates mine!"
"Come now Warren, that's hard to believe. You to have your dorms opposite to one another." Fitz replies.
"Yes! Sadly enough I didn't have a say in that matter. I'm no friends with Nathan fucking Prescott. He's a huge dick and a bully."
"Come now Warren, we talked to the other students. Nathan is popular, everyone seemed to like him before today."
"Then you definitely asked the wrong crowd your questions. Nathan is a bully to pretty much everyone who's not in his stupid Vomit uhm. Vortex club. Have you never fucking been in high school before? The jocks pick on the geeks, that's the way of life in here."
"It doesn't matter Warren, we're searching your room as we speak. We'll find the proof we need."
"Good! Please make sure to look closely at the bottom drawer of my closet. I'm pretty sure I still have some of the posters laying in there that Nathan made about me being a gay science fag. Oh.. and while you're at it maybe ask principle wells about the supposed relationship between Nathan and me. If Nathan's dad didn't control this school with all his donations, Nathan would have surely been suspended loads of times for his bullying. Or ask Kate, Alyssa, Stella, Brooke, Max, Daniel or Trevor they will tell you in full detail what kind of a scumbag Nathan is."
"Well, now you mention it. Why don't you tell me a bit about this Max Caufield? She was there as well, right? Was she the intended target, we have a witness saying you had quite the crush on here, some even say you stalked her."
At that Warren completely loses his shit and has to put some serious effort into not lunging over at the other side of the table towards Fitz's throat. After a few heavy breaths, he manages to calm himself enough to reply. "Well… You clearly have been talking to Victoria Chase… she's pretty much the only one that calls me a stalker. Trust me, she's not the best witness of character if it comes to Max and me. She's pretty much the female version of Nathan. "
"Why don't you tell me a bit about you and Max then." Fitz replies after a quick glance over at the other agent when Warren mentioned them talking to Victoria Chase.
"She's my…. She's my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend? That's the first we hear of it, no one mentioned you being together. This supposed relationship, is it mutual Warren?
"Well yeah, that tends to happen if you only talk to the person whose hatred for me is probably only outgrown by Nathan's. And… I'm not even going to answer that."
"We've talked to others as well Warren, they all talk about you having a crush on her. None of them, however, mentioned you dating."
"Well…. we've uhm… we've kind off just started dating recently… We've been keeping it on the down-low. What's it to you anyway. What does this have to do with anything?"
"Because we know how the human mind works Warren. Maybe you grew tired of her rejections and asked your buddy Nathan to threaten her. Or maybe you arranged it in a way you could be the hero…"
"Not that again! Nathan IS NOT MY FRIEND! And I told you! Max and I are together!"
"So you say…" Fitz replies and he looks over to the other agent. They both nod at each other and then get up and leave the room.
"That's it? You're leaving?" Warren asks, shocked.
"Yes, we're confident the search of your room will give us all the answers you need. We're also working on getting a court order to search your phone as we speak. If you had any part in this, we'll know soon enough."
"Let me save you the trouble….. my access code is 1337, enjoy yourselves… "Warren replies as he puts his head on the table in defeat.
I hope them reading the texts Nathan sends me every week or so informing me I'm a waste of space and don't deserve to be in his dad's dorm are enough to convince them that we're definitely not friends, and thus am innocent in all this.
Max POV, about 10 minutes later
Max is still sitting in on the bench close to the OR where she sat down a few hours ago. Maggy has been a great help comforting both Max and Joyce who came in not 5 minutes later then Max. David came in soon after.
Maggy had continually been repeating how good of a surgeon Dr. Rhodes is and after a while, it started to help. Max truly started to believe Chloe was in very good hands.
Eventually, Maggy had to excuse herself though, as she had ended her shifts hours ago and really needed to get home to her own kids now. Max gave her a quick hug and said her goodbye.
She'd spend most of the hours in silence, deep in thought while Joyce and Maggy talked every so often. Occasionally memory flashes of the darkroom, of Chloe getting killed and Warren laying lifelessly on the diner's floor flashed through Max's head, but she was too distraught with Chloe's situation to acknowledge them for long. Blessing in disguise I guess…. I'm going to have to own up to those thoughts eventually though…. If I have any say in it, it won't be for a very long time until I do so…
David was very silent. After telling Joyce what had happened, and how Max and Warren saved Chloe's life Joyce got up and gave Max a very long, and tight hug. They both broke down in tears at this and had been crying on and off ever since. Joyce often asked, mostly to herself really, what Chloe was doing at Blackwell. Even though Max knew the answer she never answered. If Chloe were to not make it out… she didn't want to taint her best friend's memory by informing her Mom of her daughters' blackmail attempt.
Now, a few hours later Max's eyes are red and drenched due to the excessive amounts of tears that came from them not long ago. She has been checking her phone every 20 minutes or so but still no text from Warren. Every time she has gotten a text she immediately felt a bit better but was immediately disappointed to see that it was someone else asking Max what happened or wishing her luck.
Warren should have been here by now… or at least contacted me. What if…. What if he went 'back' to the present, like I usually do after I finish the memory. What if this Warren isn't my Warren… Don't think like that Max… he's probably held up somehow. David said he saw him talking with a police officer when he left. Maybe Warren is held up giving a statement or something… but for 3 hours? I… I just need Chloe to be okay…. I need the doctor to come out of that fucking OR and tell me she will be okay so my mind is at easy… We didn't go through all this trouble, through this insane fucking week just to lose Chloe again. Even though I promised her I would keep going back until I save her… I don't know if I can stand to see Chloe again, on that dirty, bloody restroom floor….
This all shouldn't have happened…. Fucking rewind powers… Chloe wanted me to sacrifice her, so Joyce could live on. But I'm not sure if Joyce would be able to… after losing Chloe… she already went through hell and back again with losing William and now Chloe is on the brink of death to…. I…. I shouldn't have… I don't even know if I'm able to go back and try again let alone if I can 'take it'…. If something….. if something where to happen… Warren where are you! I need you.
These are the thoughts that have been haunting Max's head for the past 3 hours. When Max is in the progress of deleting yet another text, Courtney's this time expressing her gratitude for trying to save her friend Chloe…. Fuck you, Courtney… 'friend?' did you even know Chloe…? A door opens and a doctor, presumably doctor Rhodes comes out.
The party of three get up and instantly walk towards a doctor in some scrubs who has a facemask on.
"Is she alright? Is my little girl alright?" Joyce asks, with terror in her voice as the doctor's facial expression isn't readable due to the facemask.
"I assume you're Joyce?" The doctor asks.
"Yes! Chloe… is she alright? Will she make it? Oh, doctor please tell me my little girl lives!" Joyce cries out and tears start to flow down her cheeks again as David embraces his wife tightly.
"She asked about you, just before the sedatives kicked in. She wanted you to know she's sorry." The doctor replies.
"She's sorry?" Joyce asks while sobbing. "What is she sorry for? Please! Tell me… is my daughter still alive"?
"Yes, Chloe is stable for now, but there are some complications" the doctor answers and Joyce grabs David's arm and almost collapsed both from the joy of hearing Chloe's stable but also from the fear that followed when the doctor mentions complications.
Max is the first to respond. "Complications?"
"We managed to stop the bleeding and to remove most of the bullet."
"Most of the bullet?" David asks.
"Yes, but a very tiny part of the bullet remains in Chloe's body for now, but we're feeling optimistic. If all goes well, she'll have to undergo another procedure in 48 hours. The part is lodged deep inside Chloe's abdomen and she has already lost a lot of blood. Therefore, we don't want to risk cutting that deep. In its current state, there's only a very slim chance it will cause any harm, so we feel optimistic enough to wait. We'll still monitor her closely though, and a team is on call to respond when the slightest indication tells us it's going sideways.
Thank god! Chloe…. It worked…. We.. we saved you, we did it! Thank you, Warren, for your brilliant idea, wherever you are! Thank god for Nathan's bad aim….
They all sigh in relief. "So, does this mean we can see her?" Max asks, and Joyce nods in agreement as she hears this.
"I'm sorry, not yet. We aren't… the procedure is still ongoing, we're administering another heavy dose of sedatives as we speak?
"Heavy dose of sedatives?" Joyce asks, startled and a little panicky.
"Yes, to keep her still. The position of the wound, it's really susceptible to movement, and any movement will greatly decrease the healing process and risk the still remaining part of the bullet to lodge itself even deeper. It is vital that Chloe doesn't move for another 12 hours at least. Besides, her body needs the rest anyway. It's really important that Chloe gets as much sleep as she can the next few days. I'm talking at least 18 to 20 hours a day, so I'm sorry but visiting hours will be extremely limited."
"20 hours a day? Is that even possible?" Max asks.
"That's what sedatives are for, for 'encouragement'" The doctor replies.
Damn, I could use those meds doc, hook me up!
"But will she be alright?" Joyce asks.
"I can't say with 100% certainty, but we are very optimistic. Much worse cases have come through this door and walked out."
The three cry out in happiness and hug each other. As David hugs Max's he thanks her again for saving Chloe… for saving Joyce's little one, in which Max replies. "She's your little one as well David" and for a second Max swears she hears David make a sob.
"Alright, she'll be transferred to the recovery room in about half an hour or so. She'll be fast asleep, but I'll let you see her for a bit. I'll come and get you as soon as I can."
Max runs over toward the doctor and hugs him. "Thank you, doctor, for saving my friend!" she cries out, with tears of happiness rushing down her cheeks.
After that, the mood in the waiting room next to the OR changes completely. The lingering silence that was every so presence the past hours is now replaced by happy outcries and laughter as Joyce and Max reminisce about the past when Max practically lived at the Price residence.
David, never heard any of these stories lets slip a small smile at some of these stories. Especially when he hears the full story behind the wine stain in the living room, as he too, had drunk his first alcoholic beverage at the age of 9 on a dare.
The three are so caught up in their laughter and storytelling they don't even notice a nurse coming into the waiting room to collect them. As she makes her presence known the three shoot out of their chairs and quickly follow the nurse into a small corridor. As the nurse opens the door for them to go through, she places a hand on Max's shoulder as Max is about to enter. "Sorry honey, family only for now. You're welcome to visit when your friend is out of the recovery room."
Max's face confronts into an expression of utter disbelieve.
What! Who the fuck does she think she is. I haven't been sitting here for the past few hours, crying my heart out just to be disallowed to see her by some clueless nurse!
As Max is about to cry out in anger David gets there first. "Max is family missy, she has every right to see Chloe. Now would you please move out of the way, so we can see our daughter?"
The nurse looks like she's about to object, but changes her mind when she see's David's glance and moves out of the way quickly and starts to walk up front again, leading the three to the recovery room.
As they walk onward, Max' and David's stare meet for a second. Max nods in thanks, to which David replies with a wink.
You're not even half as bad as Chloe makes you out to be David. Thank you for those kind words… thank you for saving me in the darkroom… I'll do my very best to persuade Chloe to be…. To be… well… to be less Chloe…
A minute later they enter a very dark room and the nurse excuses herself. In the room are three beds, one of them is occupied by an old man, with a crying old woman sitting next to the bed, clasping the man's hands. Max gets a bit sad from this sight and tells herself to go and say Hi, and ask if there is anything that she can do when she gets the opportunity. The other bed, the bed in the middle of the room is occupied by a middle-aged woman with another woman sitting next to the bed. The woman is talking, very quietly with the nurse who stands at the foot of the bed. The women then notices the new people entering the room and the nurse looks over as well.
The nurse quickly excuses herself and walks over to the three newcomers. "Hey, you must be Chloe's family" She says quietly, with a very kind and gentle voice.
"Yes, how is she doing?" Joyce eagerly whispers back.
"She's fast asleep, would you like to see her?" The nurse asks.
The three nod in agreement and the nurse beckons them to come over, to a corner in the room which is filled by a bed enclosed by a set of four curtains. The nurse slides one of the curtains aside to reveal a beautiful sleeping girl with light-blue hair.
"Chloe!" Max gasps a bit too loudly and the nurse puts a finger to her mouth and smiles gently at Max.
"Sorry!" Max whispers. "Its quite alright dear, she's heavily sedated so she won't wake, but Gabby here might." The nurse replies as she nods over to the other bed with the women in it. Max briefly glances over, and her gaze meets the women sitting beside the bed. Max mouths 'sorry' and the women gives her a small smile, before focusing her attention back to the bed.
Joyce quickly walks over to the side of Chloe's bed. "Can I… Can I hold her?" She then asks.
"Yes, go ahead," the nurse replies, "Just try not to squeeze too hard", she then jokes.
The three remain by Chloe's side for a while, in complete silence. Mesmerised by the peaceful sight of a fast asleep Chloe they don't even notice an orderly entering the rook until the nurse walks over to him. The three look over as the two hospital staff members briefly exchange words and then look over at Max with worried looks on their faces.
The nurse walks over and asks if the three of them would like to follow her out of the room for a second. Joyce hesitates but follows the party out of the room.
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with Chloe?" Joyce asks as they enter the corridor.
"No no, there's nothing wrong with Chloe" the nurse quickly answers.
"Thank god!" both Max and Joyce reply.
"There are two police officers here, for Max, I assume that is you?" The nurse asks while she looks at Max.
"Pppp-police officers? For me?" Max mutters.
"Yes, but the orderly assured me they just want to talk to you, ah! There they are" the nurse replies as the two policemen in question enter through the door leading to the waiting room in the distance.
"David," The two police officers say while nodding to their friend.
"McKinny, Daniels" David nods back.
"Are you Maxine Caufield?" The skinny, police officer asks.
"Uhm… yes, I'm Max Caufield."
"We'd like to ask you a few questions about this morning if that is okay with you" the skinny police officer then asks, with a very calming, soothing voice.
"Uhm… Okay" Max replies, not sure what to make of this.
"How's Chloe doing?" The other officer asks.
"She just got out of surgery McKinny, they are confident she will pull through." David replies.
"Thank god" McKinny answers, while Daniels pats David on his back.
"How are things, at the school and at the station?" David then asks.
"Don't get us started about that" McKinny laughs.
"About 10 minutes after you left David, the feds showed up and took over." Daniels finishes.
"The feds?" David asks, surprised.
"Yeah, Counterterrorism Division or something like that. Been bullying us around all morning, fetching students and the like."
"Counterterrorism?" Max gaps.
"Yeah… that was our reaction as well, apparently, all school shootings fall under their jurisdiction until any terrorism is ruled out. "
Max briefly closes her eyes upon hearing 'school shooting' as she's quickly reminded about the sound of the gunshot almost killing Chloe. Her mood briefly changes into the mess she's been the last few hours until she reminds herself that Chloe will pull through.
"Oh damn." David replies.
"Yeah, that's what we said. They just barged into the station and demanded we stopped questioning the three suspects and that we'd hand over any information we had gathered." Daniels replies.
"Wait… 3 suspects?" Max asks.
"Yeah, why?" Daniels replies as he focusses his attention on Max.
Three suspects? This can't be, right? Nathan.. and Jefferson, but who is the third? Did we miss something? Did they have another partner?
"Who is the third?" She then asks.
"I'm sorry we're not allowed to tell you." McKinny replies.
"Well… then I'll ask, who besides that prick Jefferson and that sob Nathan do you have in custody? And don't give me that we're not allowed bullshit, McKinny. Remember the trouble both you and your kid could have been in when I found that pot in his locker but kept it out of school records." David says, with an intimidating voice.
Max is in the process of trying to remember all the surnames of all the people on school to find out who David is talking about when her knees buckle, and she collapsed onto the floor in shock from hearing the answer. "Some kid, Warren Gray-ham, or something like that".
Everyone looks over to Max as she hits the floor and screams out "WHAT! WARREN GRAHAM IS A SUSPECT?"
"Yes, that's it, Graham not Gray-ham. Why, do you know him?"
"Yes! And he's no suspect! He helped Chloe for fuck sake!" Max replies with anger boiling up deep inside.
Warren a suspect! What! Who do those retards think they are! How the fuck is Warren a suspect. He saved Chloe for fuck sake! He's a hero, not a perpetrator!
"Well, the feds surely seem to think so" McKinny replies.
"She's right McKinny. Warren had no part in shooting Chloe, he'll he saved her life. Fuck… the kid even saved mine." David replies, with also some annoyance in his voice as he reaches out his hand to Max.
Max takes his hand and David pulls her up.
"Well then, why don't you come to the station Max, so we can clear this up."
"Yes please! Warren didn't' do anything wrong." Max replies.
David looks over at Joyce. Joyce nods and says "Yes David, go, you owe him that, we both owe him that.
"Yes Ma'am!" David replies.
Max briefly says her goodbye to Joyce, who heads back into the recovery room when Max, David, and the two officers start heading out.
Max is barely keeping it together. This explains so much. Of course, that's why he couldn't text me. They probably took his phone. Shit… he is probably being integrated as we speak. I know he loves cop shows… but I think this is a bit close to the vest even for Warren. How can they be so stupid! How can I? I should have figured out something wasn't right the moment he didn't answer any of my texts.
As David sees how Max is struggling to keep upright, how much anger and hatred is displayed in her face he puts a hand on her shoulder and whispers "He'll be alright Max, we'll get him out". Max doesn't respond.
"If its alright with you, I'd like to drive Max to the station myself." David then says.
"Uhm, that's not protocol" Daniels replies.
"Screw protocol Daniels, it's David whose asking. Its okay David, you can follow us to the station, just don't get any crazy idea's." McKinny interrupts.
"Thanks, McKinny, and trust me I'm not going anywhere but the station till Warren is excluded of all charges. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be walking here right now."
Max gets in David's car without saying a word as David is quickly reminded again by the officers that he will be in big trouble if he doesn't follow them. David gets in as well and they start heading for the hospital.
The first few minutes pass in silence until David speaks up. Max had been looking out of the window, deep in thought when she faintly hears David saying her name and she looks over.
"Max" he repeats, "don't worry, he'll be alright."
"I hope so.." Max sighs. "I… I couldn't live without him, I… I wouldn't forgive myself if he ended up…"
"Don't think like that Ma'am. We couldn't have known they were going to suspect him from any involvement, I would have gone to the station much earlier if I did, I owe Warren my life."
"Yeah.. you said as much, what exactly happened in the photography classroom David?"
"Uhm… when you send me off to find Jefferson, I headed for the photography class because I heard some commotion coming from it. I went in, gun drawn, and I saw that Jefferson was aiming his gun at Nathan. He tried to give me a line about Nathan trying to hurt him, but I knew better. You told me better, Max."
Max lets a tiny small slip out, eagerly waiting for David to continue.
David makes a left turn before he picks up his story. "Jefferson aimed his gun at me… It reminded me… of combat and I briefly froze. Jefferson would have had me for sure, but then Warren lunged them into that prick's ankles. That was enough for me to overpower him, and so I did."
Max's smile widens, as she imagines her boyfriend's heroic actions.
"Truthfully I never thought the kid had it in him. I've seen him in the hallways of Blackwell and he never looked the type. Looked more like the binge-watching type to me to be honest Max.
Another smile spreads across Max's face as she is reminded of this new side from Warren that she recently discovered. "You'd be surprised". She then replies as they drive up to the stations parking lot.
Max and David wait by their car as McKinny and Daniels walk over, and the four of them walk into the station. "You can sit over here Max, someone will be there for you shortly." Max hesitates and looks over at David, with a worried look on her face. "It will be alright Max, just speak the truth and he'll be out in no time." David says, in an attempt to make her feel at ease.
"You can sit down as well David." McKinny then adds.
David looks like he's about to object when an FBI agent walks in with a clipboard. "Max Caufield? David Madsen?" he asks, without even looking up from his clipboard. The two answer 'Yes' in unison.
"Alright, even though you already made a statement this morning to the police officer on scene, we'd like to go over it again, and see if they missed anything, Mr. Madsen." He then looks over at McKinny. "If you'd be so kind, please bring Mr. Madsen over to Agent MacTavish."
"Follow me David" McKinny grunts as he adheres to the order. Max and David briefly exchange a look before David walks off.
"You can come with me Ms. Caufield, I'm agent Fletcher and I'll be interviewing you." Agent Fletcher says as he beckons Max to come with him.
"Warren Graham… I need to see him." Max replies, with utter desperation in her voice.
"I'm sorry but that's not possible. Please come with me now."
Max thinks about making a fit, but concludes it will only be counterproductive, as making a fit right now, right here will make her only less of a credible witness.
Max follows agent Fletcher toward some corner in which a small table with 2 chairs is placed. Max takes her seat and starts to answer Fletchers questions, starting with a full explanation of what Max had witnessed, and how she came to be with Chloe in the restroom. She fed him some lie about being in the process of urinating when Chloe and Nathan went at it and quickly came out of the toilet booth as she heard Nathan leave. The rest of it was the actual truth, and Fletcher seemed to believe it, or so she thought anyway. Cop shows were more Warren's slice of cake, so she didn't know for sure if the friendly manner in which she was treated by Fletcher was just him being good at his job, or if he believed her.
"So, you think Chloe Price was the intended target?" Fletcher then asks.
"Yes, who else could have been?" Max asks.
"So you don't think you were the intended target? That Nathan was there for you? That Nathan was just trying to deliver a threat to you for Warren Graham because you neglect his feelings towards you?" Fletcher then asks.
What! Me? The intended target? On Warren's instructions? What?!
"Uhm… what? Me? Warren? How? Uhm.. why?" Max starts to mutter, confused as hell.
"Well?" Fletcher politely asks.
"No! First of all, Nathan would never, and I repeat, NEVER! Do anything for Warren. Those two hate each other's guts. Nathan is just a huge bullying brick and more often than not Warren is the target of it. Second of all Warren… Warren would never…"
"You sure of that? Do you know Warren well enough to say for sure? He's often described as very clingy like he always follows you around."
"Yes! I know him well enough, and so he should. He's my boyfriend."
"Oh… I see… well, that's everything for now Max. I need to process your statement and more likely than not a follow up will be needed after that. If you will, you can wait in the cafeteria. It's through that door." Fletcher points.
"Warren had nothing to do with this, please believe me. He helped me save Chloe." Max desperately pleads.
"That will be all Ms. Caufield. Thank you for your cooperation." Fletcher answers, without even looking up from his note-taking.
Max lingers for a few seconds more, but its clear that Fletcher is done with her, so she gets up and heads over to the cafeteria.
There are a bunch of students in there, and there's also Mrs. Grant. Max walks over to her table and asks if she can sit.
"Of course you can sit Max, how is Chloe?"
Max takes a seat and replies. "She's in the recovery room, sleeping it off. The doctors are positive about her making a full recovery."
"Oh Max I'm so very glad to hear that. She wouldn't have made it without your heroic efforts."
"Thank you to Mrs. Grant, thank you very much for all the help, Chloe wouldn't have made it without you."
Mrs. Grant smiles before replying. "And how are you holding up Max? Are you doing okay?"
The small smile on Max's face fades. "No… not really…Warren….. They're suspecting Warren of being involved…"
"Oh no.." Mrs. Grant asks in shock.
"Yeah… unbelievable right… he just helped Chloe… but they think he had something to do with it. Or that he was in on it with Nathan and that I was the target…" Max replies, with a sigh.
"I'm sorry to hear that Max…. And I almost don't dare say it… but I think I had some part in them suspecting Warren. Are you sure he had nothing to do with it?"
"No! He most definitely had nothing to do with it! How can you even ask, you know Warren? He would never do anything to hurt me or do anything with Nathan at all, period!"
"Yes, you're right Max, but I just had to ask."
"So why do you think you have anything to do with him being suspected?" Max then asks.
"My statement… it can be easily interpreted as if Warren had a part in the shooting, now I look back at it."
"How so?" Max asks.
"Well… as I told the officers when giving my statement, Warren freaked out about someone getting shot moments before it even happened."
"Oh.." Max replies, sinking into her chair.
Yes, I get it now…. Every half decent cop would find that very suspicious…. Oh Warren… how am I going to get you out of this…
"You don't seem surprised" Mrs. Grant replies.
"What? Oh no… I am… it's just…" Max falls silent after that, at a loss for words.
"Which one of you is it Max?" Mrs. Grant then asked, with kindness and understanding in her voice.
"What do you mean?" Max asks, confused as she turns her head back towards Mrs. Grant with a sinking feeling inside of her, as the realization that Warren is in very big trouble starts to kick in.
"Which one of you can manipulate time Max?" Mrs. Grant reminds, gently, as if it was the most casual thing in the world.
Max's throat clenches up for a second before she swallows hard and replies with shock as her hearth starts to pound rapidly. "You…. You know about that?"
"Now you seem surprised" Mrs. Grant smiles, before adding "I'm guessing it's you?"
"Yes but how!" Max exclaims.
"You forget Max, I'm an expert in Arcadia Bay folklore."
"What? You mean… it happened before? You know about rewinding time?"
Mrs. Grants smiles. "Yes Max, I know about it. I've never told anyone this but, its what got me interested in folklore in the first place."
Max just looks at her, with a confused look and Mrs. Grant notices this so she elaborates. "I used to go to high school as well, here in Arcadia Bay, at the Arcadia Bay Educational Institute of Science and Medicine as it used to be called back then. In my second year, my roommate… my best friend… she woke up one day with the same powers I assume you now have. And she confided in me. It was scary, but interesting at the same time, from a science perspective. That's how I got to be an expert in folklore, that's what got me interested in it. I pretty much read all the folklore there is on Arcadia Bay the following weeks and it has happened before."
"Really? We searched… but we couldn't find anything." Max replies, astonished by Mrs. Grant confession.
"You just need to know where to look, there are few mentions of it, but there are nonetheless, dating back to the very year Arcadia Bay was founded." Mrs. Grant smiles, as she recalls how excited she had been upon first discovering some clues about other time travel related occurrences.
"And what happened to your roommate?" Max then asks, curiously.
"I'm not sure, her Mom died that same week, and she left school. We haven't spoken since."
Max sinks a bit deeper in her chair upon hearing this. "Oh…"
"Its alright Max, you seem to have managed to save your friend because of it. I assume you told Warren and devised a plan for him to get me? But I wonder… why didn't you just prevent Nathan from shooting her altogether?"
Max sinks even deeper into her chair. "I tried… I mean I did… but… Saving Chloe… it messed with the balance of the universe or something like that… and there was this huge tornado and… and…" Max falls silent after that.
Mrs. Grant remains silent as well, deep in thought.
"How'd you know?" Max then asks.
"I suspected really, I didn't know for sure… but like I said, Warren freaking out moments before the gunshot, and what you said in the restrooms. About Nathan… and Jefferson. The way you said it really… There was so much disgust in your voice, while I had happily seen you chatting with Jefferson not two hours before. It seemed genuine, I didn't think you were able to act so happy if you knew what you know to do and I'd be very unlikely that you would have discovered about him and the kidnappings in just those hours. It all clicked really."
"Wowser… you should be a detective…"
"Speaking of detectives, I'll go and revise my statement. Tell them I was confused, and that Warren clearly only freaked out after hearing the gunshot." Mrs. Grant replies.
"Thanks! But won't that be weird? You suddenly revising your statement?"
"I'll figure something out Max, I always do" Mrs. Grants smiles, before getting up and walking away.
Max can't help but feel a bit better, and she's still baffled that Mrs. Grant knew about her power.
Warrens POV
Sometime after the two agents left another came in to collect Warren and took him to a holding cell. This was about the time when Warren really started to lose his shit. He had been in there for quite some time now, waiting, thinking, crying, wondering where Max was, and how she was doing.
Max's POV
Max had been sitting in the cafeteria for quite some time now, wondering in which of all those rooms Warren was, and how he was doing. Eventually, David walked in and sat beside her, not saying much.
After some time, agent Fletcher came into the cafeteria and walked over to them. "Warren, is he alright? Is he cleared?" Max eagerly asks.
Fletcher smiles, "We're leaving. We've concluded that there isn't any affiliation with any terrorism. But as our last active act, after taking another look at all the statements, and evidence found we concluded that Warren had no part in it what so ever and that he merely did everything in his power to help Chloe".
"Thank god! Where is he now?" Max exclaims.
"He's still in the holding cell, he's being processed out as we speak. We figured we'd let you do the honors and tell him he's free to go. If you follow me, please." Fletcher replies.
Max gets out of her chair so quick it's almost inhuman. A few seconds later she walks through a door and sees Warren sitting on a bed in the holding cell. Their gazes meet and a huge grin spreads across both their faces.
"Warren!" Max exclaims.
"Hello Clarice!" Warren answers, from behind bars.
Max is temporarily dazed but then starts to laugh, very hard. Warren joins in and walks over to the bars. Max quickly walks over as well, and they hug through the bars.
"Oh, you can't imagine how long I've been waiting to use that one." Warren exclaims as puts his head through the just wide enough bars and lets his head rest on Max's shoulders.
"You're free to go Warren… the FBI's leaving and their last active act was to let you go."
"Thank god" Warren exclaims.
"I… I thought I lost you Warren… you didn't respond to any of my texts… I thought… I feared you might be sent back to the present, and that you weren't the real Warren… the Warren that went back with me."
"I feared the same Max, thank god you're here! I love you so much, Max."
Max tightens the hug. "I love you to Warren!" she says as agent Fletcher, and Officer Daniels enter the room. Daniels opens the cell and Warren steps out, Max and Warren hug again and start to kiss, when Agent Fletcher puts out a few fake coughs and they look over and start blushing like crazy.
"If you'd please follow me, we'll get everything sorted out." Fletcher says and they head over to his desk.
"How's Chloe?" Warren asks while walking and holding Max's hand.
Max squeezes his hand. "She will be fine. The doctors are positive."
Warren squeezes back, and after receiving some apologies takes in the fresh air as he walks out of the police station, a free man.
I loved writing this chapter so much. I'm sorry if I have offended anyone by the way I wrote the dialogue and actions of all the officers/agents. I truly have great respect for them and there aren't many cop shows I haven't binge watched, but I tried to write them as the villains in this chapter as they prevented Max and Warren from meeting-up.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, I've already outlined the next chapter so that will be uploaded soon-ish as well. It will be a bit shorter and involve Kate.