October 14, 2013, 10:09 p.m.
Everything was pitch-dark. The rumbling had stopped, but the crackle of flames, random explosions, cries, and sirens could be heard in the distance. The air was filled with dust, making it hard to breathe without coughing. Max tried to squint her eyes in order to see, but the darkness was impenetrable. She felt that someone was lying next to her on the floor and assumed it to be Victoria, as she had been seeing to the blonde, when the earthquake had started. "Victoria?" Max tried to call her but got no response. Anxious, she felt the other girl's body, and was relieved to find a steady pulse on her neck. Thank god, she's alive! She must be still unconscious from the drug Jefferson injected into her.
"Max?" Chloe shouted from a few feet away.
"Chloe?" the brunette called back.
"Here, Max!" The punk flicked her Zippo on, illuminating herself and her immediate surroundings. She appeared to be partially buried under a fallen shelf. Based on the faint light shed by the lighter, the light wall separating the dark room from the rest of the space had at least partially collapsed, and there was a lot of debris on the floor. Max couldn't see Rachel, Frank or Jefferson.
"Where's Rachel?" Max asked.
"I'm here," the blonde responded from under the pile of rubble next to Chloe. "My foot seems to be stuck."
"Are you and Victoria OK, Max?" Chloe asked, shifting her position, careful not to make the debris collapse more.
"I think so, yeah. Victoria's still out of it," the hipster answered. "Where are Frank and Jefferson?"
"I'm not sure. They were struggling right outside the room when the lights went out."
"W-what just happened?" Max asked, trying to grasp the situation.
"It was an earthquake," Chloe answered. "We had one a few months back, but it was a small tremor compared to this. This was fucking colossal," she said as she looked around at their surroundings. "This must've been the big one they've been talking about."
"Big one?"
"Seismologists say that California's long overdue for an earthquake the level of the one that ruined San Francisco back in 1906, although I think this one might've been even bigger."
Even in a dire situation like this, Max couldn't help but smile at the fact that under her punk look and rebellious nature, Chloe Price was an intelligent and knowledgeable young woman.
"Well, things at least sound pretty serious based on all the noise on the outside," Max admitted. She thought about the apocalyptic vision she'd had when they had arrived. We averted the tornado but the earthquake hit us. Am I some kind of harbinger of disasters? "What are we going to do now?
"We should get out of this building," the punk answered. "The aftershocks might collapse the building on us." She looked around and let out a victorious gasp when she saw a flashlight on one of the desks. "Max, can you get to that desk and grab that flashlight?"
"I can try…" Max stood up, and slowly made her way through the rubble to the desk pointed by the other girl. "Got it!" she said, grabbing the flashlight and flicking it on.
"Great! Now, come here and help me see if we can get Rachel loose," the punk instructed.
Carefully, lighting her path with the flashlight, Max made it to Chloe and Rachel, who were both lying under the fallen shelf. Chloe was lucky, as some of the other debris was supporting the weight of the shelf where she was, but Rachel seemed to have her foot stuck between one corner of the shelf and some other rubble.
"OK, I think we can get you loose, if we lift up the shelf from this edge," Max said to the blonde. "Chloe, will you give me a hand?"
Chloe crawled out from the pocket and stood up. She and Max positioned themselves on one side of the shelf, and took a firm grip on the edge. "OK, once we lift, you need to get clear from under this thing, 'cause there's no telling what will happen when we let go," the punk instructed Rachel.
"Got it," the hazel-eyed girl complied.
"Ready? On three… One, two, three!" Max and Chloe pulled the shelf up. It was considerably heavier than it looked. Max grimaced and growled as she tensed all her muscles to keep the heavy piece of furniture lifted. "Now, Rachel!" Chloe huffed between breaths.
The blonde did not need to be told twice, as she pulled herself free and crawled out. "OK, I'm clear!" she shouted. A fraction of a second later, the other girls let go, and the shelf fell back, making the debris that was supporting it collapse and fill the pocket where Chloe and Rachel had been just moments ago.
"Are you OK, babe?" the punk asked as she knelt down to her partner.
"I… I think so," Rachel answered, wincing slightly when she tried to move her ankle.
"Let me have a look at it," Chloe said, and felt the other girl's ankle gently. "I think it's just bruised."
Max watched quietly as Chloe tended to Rachel's injury. Rachel's kept so many secrets from Chloe. I wonder if they'll be able to work out their issues. - The brunette left the girls alone and returned to Victoria. The pixie-haired girl was still lying on the floor, eyes closed, chest rising and falling as she breathed in and out. "Victoria? Vic?" Max called the other girl's name, nudging her gently.
"Mmhhh…" the blonde groaned, cracking her eyes slightly open.
"Victoria!" the hipster exclaimed, relieved. "You're awake!"
"W-what happened?" Victoria asked groggily. "Why is it dark and why all the sirens and racket?"
"Jefferson drugged you with something, and… we're not sure. There was an earthquake. That caused the power outage. We have no idea how bad the situation is outside, but judging from the damage inside, it can't be good."
"An earthquake?" The blonde's grogginess was swept away, as if she'd never been drugged in the first place. "Are you guys OK?"
"More or less, yeah," Max answered. "Rachel's got a bruised ankle but that's it."
"What about Frank, and Jefferson?"
"We don't know. They got into a scuffle just before the lights went out. There was one gunshot, and then nothing."
Just then, a painful groan was heard from outside of the room. "Frank!" Rachel exclaimed, being the first to recognize the drug dealer's voice.
"Rachel?" the man grunted, panting arduously.
"Max, shine the light over there!" Chloe instructed, pointing towards the doorway.
The brunette pointed the beam towards that direction, and she could see a leather jacket-clad arm waving from behind the rubble. Max gasped in shock, as she saw that the waving hand was almost completely covered in blood. "He's hurt!"
"Keep the light pointed there while we go to him," Chloe said, and helped Rachel up. "Can you walk?"
"I think so," the hazel-eyed girl answered, grimacing slightly from the jolt of pain as she put weight on her injured leg.
Max kept lighting the way as the two girls made their way to the injured man. She wondered what had happened to Jefferson, as there was still no sign of the photographer. Did he get out of the building, of is he lying there somewhere under the rubble?
"Yo, Max! Come over here!" Chloe shouted. "We need someone to hold the light while we try to lift this thing."
"Will you be OK?" Max asked Victoria.
"Sure, go ahead," the blonde answered.
The brunette walked through the rubble to where the other girls were. Frank was there, lying under a fallen cabinet. He was bleeding and clearly in pain, based on his dolorous expression. His breathing was shallow and labored, and his eyes were glazed. Chloe fussed over him in order to get Frank free from under the cabinet, but somehow Max already knew there was little more for them to do than to make his last moments a little bearable.
"Max, are you listening to me?" Chloe asked frantically, snapping the hipster out of her thoughts. "Give the flashlight to Rachel, and help me to get this cabinet off of him!"
"Uh, sure," Max responded, and handed the flashlight to the blonde.
"OK, you take that corner, and I'll take this one. There should be enough room to get it back upright," the punk instructed. "On three… One, two, THREE!"
Max pushed with her legs to get the cabinet high enough so that she could begin to push it with her arms. The cabinet was heavy, but with Chloe doing her part on the other corner, they managed to raise it into the upright position. As soon as the cabinet was out of the way, Rachel knelt down beside the injured man, who was now breathing slightly easier.
"Frank?" the blonde asked concernedly, wiping the debris off his face.
"Ray, is that you, baby?" Frank asked weakly.
"Yeah, it's me," Rachel confirmed. "Don't try to talk, we need to stop your bleeding!"
"Don't bother-" He paused to let out a bloody cough. "This is the end of the line for me." Another fit of coughs. "What happened to Jefferson?"
"We don't know. There's no sign-"
"Here!" Chloe interrupted Rachel. "I think I found him!"
Max took the flashlight from Rachel and walked to the punk. She was standing next to a concrete slab that had fallen from the ceiling. A pair of feet was sticking out from under the slab.
"Whoa! You think he's dead?" Max asked.
"Dunno, but I'm sure as hell not gonna waste my energy trying to find out," Chloe said dismissively.
Max looked at the pair of feet that belonged to the man she had looked up to, and turned out to be a murderous psychopath. A shiver ran down her spine when she thought about the photos he had taken of her while she had been unconscious. With Jefferson's equipment buried under the rubble, the evidence of the shoot was beyond her reach, and she thought maybe it was better that way.
"Eat shit and rot," Max addressed the immobile feet, before she turned her attention back to Frank and Rachel.
"I'm sorry about… how things went between us," Frank said quietly to the blonde between breaths.
"I'm sorry too, Frank." Rachel answered. "You deserved a better girlfriend than I was."
"Don't worry about it, kid. I… knew what type of… relationship we had." Another fit of painful coughs. "Would you do me… one last favor?"
"Anything."
"Take care of… Pompidou, would you?"
"Of course."
"Appreciate it. He always liked you..." The last words faded away, and he closed his eyes.
Rachel didn't say anything. She just sat there, as tears began running down her face.
"Hey, Price…" Frank croaked, opening his eyes once more, and addressing the punk, who had stood there stoically.
"Yeah, Frank?"
"I free you from your debt," he said with a smirk. With that, he let out his last breath.
Max couldn't help her eyes welling, as she watched the two girls weeping silently over their lost friend. Her own encounters with Frank Bowers had not been the most pleasant ones, but she understood that beneath the rough surface, there was a more complex person.
"OK, we need to get out of this building, and find a safer spot to figure out what to do next!" Chloe said eventually. "Victoria, can you walk?"
"I think so," the pixie-haired girl responded.
"Good! You and Rachel stay behind while Max and I find out a safe path out of here. You with me, Maxaroni?"
"Sure," the brunette answered.
-ooo-
Chloe was a mixed bag of emotions as she helped Rachel walk through the debris and burning cars that were packing the streets. Within the last 24 hours, Chloe's world had been turned upside down. First her childhood friend and her teenage crush had appeared on her doorstep out of the blue after five years, then she'd found out that her partner had been cheating on her with their mutual friend, and apparently also with her teacher. As if that hadn't been enough, both her friend and her partner had been kidnapped by said teacher, and their mutual friend had died in the process of freeing them. Add a city-levelling natural disaster into the mix, and you got the emotional wreck that Chloe was right now.
They'd been on the move for almost an hour now. The city once associated with angels, was now a mass of burning ruins. Distant sounds of cries and sirens could be heard through the crackling sound of burning and crumbling. A few helicopters could be seen roaming the skies between the plumes of smoke. Most of the vehicles, including Chloe's own, were wrecked by the collapsed buildings, and even if they'd found an intact car, it would've been impossible to drive as the streets were packed with debris and running people.
From the ground level, it was impossible to evaluate the full extent of the damage, but even based on what she could see, Chloe was able to determine that this was the big one. This was the quake that had been looming like the Damocles' sword over California since the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. Still, what she was witnessing exceeded her wildest imaginations. Chloe had told Rachel on numerous occasions how she wanted to drop a bomb on her old home town, Arcadia Bay and turn it into glass. Now, she felt that fate was playing a cruel joke on her wish.
They found a relatively obstacle-free path that lead up on the Hollywood hill. Most of the letters belonging to the landmark sign had collapsed, leaving only the letters 'H', 'O', 'L' and 'Y' standing. Holy indeed, Chloe thought as she looked at the remaining letters. She turned to look at Rachel, who was holding her hand, and Max and Victoria, who were coming a few steps behind them. They all looked weary and discouraged. They all had gone through hell but they were alive, that was what mattered. They all needed rest, however, and a suitable spot for that was just ahead of them. They arrived to a vantage point that offered a view over the city.
"Let's catch our breath for a moment and think about our next move," Chloe said to the others. Max and Victoria took a seat on the bench while Chloe joined Rachel at the railing. The setting reminded her of a similar one, from what felt like an eternity ago. The view that opened before them was somewhat different, though. Even though Chloe was looking at it with her own eyes, she had a hard time believing in what she was seeing.
The silhouette of downtown Los Angeles was a torn, ragged travesty of what it used to be. Fires were burning all over the city, filling the sky with smoke. The most significant thing, though, was the rift that had split the downtown area half. Going relatively straight from Topanga to Long Beach the street-wide rift glowed in all shades of amber, illuminating the nightly sky, as it was filled with molten lava. The scene could be described with only one word: apocalyptic. Chloe could only begin to imagine how many victims the catastrophe had claimed. Still, the effects of the earthquake seemed surprisingly, some might even say unnaturally, isolated. Looking further south the fires and smoke plumes were practically nonexistent. Same applied to east and north, leaving just Los Angeles, and its neighboring counties as the single victim of this freaky phenomenon. Weird, the effects of an earthquake of this magnitude should've been more widespread, the punk thought, bewildered.
"Wherever we go, we seem to leave smoldering ruins behind us," Rachel said.
Chloe couldn't help a short smile at the irony of the remark, despite the severity of the situation. Her expression went serious, however, as she turned to look at her partner, who stared wistfully at the desolate scene. "Rachel…?"
"Yes?" the blonde turned to face Chloe, the expression in the hazel eyes revealing that she already knew what the conversation would be about.
"Why?"
"Why did I sleep with Frank? Why I went to bed with Jefferson?" There was less penitence in Rachel's voice than Chloe had expected. "Remember what you used to have written on your room wall, 'Everyone lies, no exceptions'?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I used to think that you were the exception, until I found out you weren't," Rachel said, a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Why did you lie to me about Sera?"
Rachel's question got the punk completely off guard, her reaction a clear indication of admitting guilt. "Y-you knew?"
"I didn't at first. I didn't found out until a year later, when Frank, high as a kite, told what had actually happened that day at the mill. How he saved both you and Sera from Damon Merrick."
Chloe was loss for words. Of course she remembered how Frank had appeared at the last possible moment and taken on Merrick. Frank had never told of the outcome, and Chloe had never asked, but she knew. Frank had been a changed man after that. Chloe had just wanted to leave that day behind her, so she had never really spared much thought to the fact she wasn't the only one who knew what had actually happened.
"You want to know why?" Rachel asked. "I was angry and disappointed about yet another person that I thought I could trust lying to me. I wanted to get even, and Frank was there." She looked shyly away. "It was supposed to be just that one time. I never intended it to become serious, but then I realized how well things clicked between Frank and me. I wanted to do right by you, and end it between us, but… I just couldn't."
"Why couldn't you?"
"I don't know. Maybe I still had feelings for you. Maybe I realized how big a blow our break-up would've been to you, and despite everything, I couldn't find it in myself to do it to you."
"How did Jefferson fit into all this?" Chloe asked, her emotions fluctuating between anger and self-contempt. She felt betrayed, but at the same time remorseful. She'd lost count of the times when she'd second-guessed herself about her decision not tell Rachel about Sera. Now the truth was out in the open, and she'd have to face the consequences.
"Well, Frank grew tired of waiting for me to end things with you," Rachel explained. "We got into a fight over it one night, and things got heated. By that time, Mark had already begun to teach at Blackwell. I saw an opportunity to get a good start on my modeling career, so I ended things with Frank, and began flirting with Mark." She turned to face Chloe again. "This time I wasn't going to keep you lingering. I'd written a letter for you, in which I was going to end our relationship. I never got to deliver it, though, as the whole thing with Nathan went down, and Mark left Arcadia Bay right after that. It wasn't until a couple of days ago, when Mark contacted me and offered to do the shoot. I never realized his true intentions." Rachel covered her eyes and began weeping.
Chloe took the crying girl into her embrace and held her. As much as she wanted to be angry at Rachel for cheating on her, she found that she couldn't. Despite all that had happened, Chloe still loved Rachel, and she also knew that she was at least partially responsible for Rachel's actions.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth, Chloe?" Rachel finally asked between sobs.
"Sera asked me not to," the punk answered. "I tried to convince her otherwise, but she was adamant, and her reasoning just seemed to make sense. Even after all your dad had done to her, she didn't want you to become estranged with him. She wanted you to have at least one constant in your life. Considering the mess my own family situation was back then, agreeing to keep the truth from you felt like the right thing to do." It was Chloe's turn to look away bashfully. "I've regretted that decision ever since."
"But I had a constant in my life. It was you, you dumbass!" Rachel said in tears, pounding Chloe's chest angrily. "My family or Sera didn't matter, but you did! You mattered to me!"
"I- I'm sorry," Chloe stammered. "I should've told you about Sera. I thought I was being responsible for a change."
"Acting responsible has a tendency to backfire on you." A hint of smile grew on Rachel's face. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry too. What you did was terrible, but you didn't deserve to get cheated on over it. I was acting childish and impulsive."
"Well, you do have a tendency to act childish and impulsive when you're angry," the taller girl remarked, grinning. "When you were missing I realized I didn't want to lose you, despite what you had done."
"When I thought I was going to die I would've given anything just to see you once more." Rachel looked Chloe straight in the eyes. "I want to give us another chance, if you're still willing."
Chloe didn't say anything. Instead, she planted her lips on Rachel's and gave her a long, passionate kiss. "I love you," she said when their lips finally parted.
"I love you too."
Chloe and Rachel kept gazing into each other's eyes. The world might have been burned around them, but at least they had each other. That's all that mattered.
"Chloe! Rachel!" Victoria's distressed voice broke the tender moment. "Max went unconscious all of a sudden, and she's not waking up!"
-ooo-
She finds herself in a restroom. It takes a while for her to realize that it is the ladies' room of the Two Whales. She's lost count of how many times she's washed her hands on either one of the sinks. She can almost remember each stain and tag on the faded, dirty yellow tiles that cover the facility. She has no idea how she has ended up here. The last thing she remembers is that she was with Chloe, Rachel and Victoria on a lookout on the Hollywood Hills, witnessing the devastation that had been wrought upon Los Angeles. What happened to me? Am I dreaming? Are the others all right? she asks, but the answers seem to evade her.
Well, staying here isn't going to solve anything, she thinks as she walks towards the restroom door, only to find it to be locked. There is a keypad attached to the door handle, indicating that a right combination would open the door. Now, why would anyone put a combination lock on the inside of a restroom? Whatever the reason, she needs to get out, so she raises her hand to the keypad. The moment her finger touches the keypad, the numbers '0311' flash into her mind. Where did those come from? she wonders for a fleeting moment, before she hunches her shoulders and types in the combination. A green light on the keypad, and a click indicate that the door is no longer locked, so she turns the handle and pulls the door open.
She enters the dining space of the Two Whales. The first thing that catches her eye, is what's happening right outside the diner. Dark clouds cover the skies making it almost as dark as the night. The only sources of light are the nests of fires that illuminate the debris that is scattered all over the streets. The rain is pounding the walls of the ruined buildings, and the stormy gusts are bringing in more debris over the wrecked cars. All of that isn't nothing compared to the humongous tornado that is looming over the town, ready to engulf it.
"It's quite magnificent, isn't it. At least from a photographer's point of view," a voice that she recognizes to be her own says from the other end of the diner.
She turns to look and sees that someone is sitting at her usual booth. Despite the dim lighting and the distance, she can see that the person sitting at the booth is her, or someone that looks just like her.
"Please, come, and take a seat. I believe we have a lot to discuss," the other Max says.
She walks through the diner, making a note how it seems to be completely unaffected by the raging storm outside. Every item is where it's supposed to be, and everything is nice and clean. She makes it to the booth and sits opposite to her counterpart. The girl sitting at the other side of the table is wearing the same clothes that she was when she and Chloe found Rachel's body at the junkyard.
"Are you…?"
"…the Max whose life you're now living?" the other Max completes her question. "That's me."
"What is this place?"
"To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself. From what I've gathered, it is some kind of limbo, a moment that is detached from the normal timeline. It is stuck on a permanent loop, like an overridden security camera feed. That's why the tornado isn't going anywhere, even though it appears to be in motion."
She turns to look again at the raging vortex, and, as her counterpart said, it is indeed repeating a sequence that lasts a few seconds before starting all over. She has to admit that the sight is magnificent, in all its carnage.
"Have you been stuck here ever since I jumped back from the photo?" she asks when she turns her attention back to the girl wearing her clothes.
"I was at first, but soon I discovered that I could jump back into my own body, and observe what you were doing," the other Max explains. "It wasn't long until I realized that if I concentrated hard enough, I could have an influence on what you said or did."
"Those things I said to Victoria… That night at the hotel…" she gasps as she realizes. "You made me fall for Victoria!"
"I only gave you a few gentle pushes and nudges, so that you could see Victoria the way I see her. The decision to go all the way with her was all you; I just joined in for the ride. There was no way I was going to miss my first time with her."
She stares at her counterpart sternly. She doesn't like the idea of having been manipulated. On the other hand, she is the intruder here, and to be honest, she can't deny her own feelings for Victoria. "Why didn't you just take over altogether?" she asks.
"It wasn't that I didn't try," the other Max admits. "But just hanging on there with you, much less trying to influence you, is extremely exhausting. It feels like my whole existence is being ripped apart. I could only stay with you for so long, before having to return here to literally pull myself back together. Most of the time I've been simply 'observing' things remotely by tapping into your thoughts; how your mind processes the input from your senses. It isn't as informative as actually 'being there', but it has been enough to keep me on the map with far less effort."
She listens to her counterpart's account with conflicted thoughts. On one hand, she feels anger about her privacy having been violated, but on the other hand, she realizes that she can only blame herself for the state of things.
"Look, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pissed about having found out that for the last months I've been living on borrowed time; about being just a placeholder for someone who is completely oblivious about the life I've been living," her counterpart says, a hint of bitterness in her voice, before she looks down and sighs. "I, and you too, have to be able put that thing aside, however, since, as you may have noticed, there are bigger things in play at the moment."
"You mean the earthquake?"
"That, and the tornado too," the other girl says. "Besides your current thoughts, I've been able to tap into your memories as well, so I know what has happened in your timeline. And, let's just say I've had a lot of time to think things over."
"So, have you come up with some theory about all this?"
"I think so. Remember how in your time Chloe talked about chaos theory? How a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world can cause a tornado on the other side?"
"Um, yeah?" she asks, even though she has a hunch where her counterpart is going with her question.
"I'm pretty certain that by using your rewind powers, you set in motion a similar chain of events."
"You mean that by saving Chloe and Rachel's lives I caused the freaky weather phenomena and the earthquake?"
The other Max nods.
"But the tornado never happened," she objects.
"True. You changed that by going further back and preventing Rachel's death."
"Why didn't it work on the first time, when I saved William's life? All the freaky things had still happened."
"Yes, I was wondering that too at first, but then it occurred to me. It's just not about time, it's also about space."
"What do you mean?"
"By affecting Chloe, Rachel and William's fates, you, well, we formed a special connection with them. Think about the triangle of fire, how you need the three elements, fuel, oxygen and heat, for the fire to ignite."
"Okay…"
"So let's say the altered timeline is the heat element, and the person affected by the alteration is the oxygen. With just these two together, the ignition isn't possible, but when you add the fuel element, us…"
"…the fire will ignite."
"Exactly!" the other Max says. "When you first saved Chloe's life, and then William's life, all the elements were together, and that set the chain reaction in motion. Then, when you saved Rachel's life, it caused us to stay back in Seattle, and Chloe and Rachel move to LA, effectively causing that all the elements weren't in close proximity. Everything was fine, until you returned from your photo hop and set out on your quest to find them."
"So when we found Rachel….."
"…the chain reaction started again," the other girl concludes. "I bet you've wondered why your powers haven't been working for the most of the time. It was my doing."
"You prevented me from using my powers?"
"I did. At first it was just about self-preservation. When you took over, I got your memories and became aware of your abilities. I didn't want you to do anything that might erase me from existence." Max pauses for a moment to take a look at the chaos outside, before she continues. "Later on, as my knowledge increased, it became more about not trying to disturb the timeline even more."
"But you let me save Rachel," she points out to her counterpart.
"I couldn't let her die," the other brunette says. "We're not that different, you know. Besides, as it later turned out, it wouldn't have made any difference. The damage had already been done with you and Vic arriving to LA. The triangle had been completed."
"Are you saying that the only way to prevent any catastrophes from happening would've been to avoid Chloe and Rachel for the rest of my life?"
"Probably. There's no telling if the effects in the timeline would've smoothened over time, but I wouldn't count on it."
"It's all my fault, the destruction of LA." The realization hits her hard. She's responsible of the deaths of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of lives. She stares at her hands. "I got these powers, and all I caused was just death and destruction."
"Hey, you couldn't have known that." Her counterpart takes her hands into her own. "I'd probably done the same thing had I been in your shoes."
"But what are we going to do?" she asks the other Max frantically. "We can't just let all those people die!"
The other girl looks her straight in the eyes. "I think you already know what needs to be done, Max."
"I…" She thinks about her desperate attempt that had set this all in motion. She knows what the price of undoing it will be. A single tear runs down her cheek as she realizes there really is only one choice to be taken. "I do."
"Then you must do it," her counterpart says, smiling consensually.
"But what about you and Victoria, and Rachel and Chloe?"
"Ceasing to exist is obviously not a pleasant thought, but I don't think any of us would want to live with the lives of the people of LA on our conscience. Trust me, it's better this way."
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. You gave me the best months of my life. The time I got to spend with Victoria was to die for."
"I wonder if the other girls will take this as well as you do?"
"Well, you can tell them the truth, or you can just go and undo everything. The choice is yours."
I could simply focus on the photo while no-one is looking, she ponders her options. This timeline would simply cease to exist, along with Chloe, Rachel and Victoria. They wouldn't suffer, would they? She entertains that option for a few seconds, before she shakes her head determinedly. "No, I have to tell them the truth! They deserve to know."
"In that case, I wish you good luck, Max."
"Thanks, I'm gonna need it."
"Would you do me a favor?"
"Anything."
"Tell Vic that I love her."
"Of course."
-ooo-
"I think she's coming to!"
"Yo, Max! Are you OK?"
"Max! What happened?"
Max opened her eyes to see three very concerned faces staring at her.
"Max, you're awake!" Chloe, Rachel and Victoria exclaimed in unison.
"How… how long was I out?" the brunette asked slowly as she rose to a half-sitting position.
"Ten minutes maybe," Victoria answered. "You passed out mid-sentence."
The hipster looked past them down into the valley. The burning ruins confirmed that all the latest events hadn't been dream. She let out a despondent sigh as she stood up and turned to face the others. "Girls, I need to tell you something…"
-ooo-
Rachel sat on a rock, her arms hugging her knees and staring into the distance. She'd just been told that for the last six months she'd been living on borrowed time, and now fate was going to claim it back. What Max had just told them about her powers and the recent events had sounded incredible to say the least. Yet, as she looked at the charred remains of Los Angeles, she couldn't really question the hipster's words.
Rachel really didn't know what to think of Max right now. Part of her held still some reservation towards the brunette, not to mention that she wasn't too happy about Max's way to set things right. For the others, things would return back to whatever way they were, but for her, it would mean the end. Max had told them that the decision should be unanimous, otherwise, she wouldn't go back. She could simply say no, and all of them would just carry on with their lives. LA would be of course out of the question, but she could rebuild her life together with Chloe somewhere else in California, or in the rest of USA.
Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? Rachel knew that neither she nor Chloe could simply just return to their normal lives with the lives of the people of Los Angeles on their conscience. It would slowly eat them from the inside.
Yes, Rachel held some reservation towards Max, but she had reasons to be grateful to the brunette too. Apparently, Max had saved her from being hit by a car. Also if it hadn't been for the hipster girl, Rachel would be just another binder in Jefferson's collection, and lying in a shallow grave at the American Rust. Now she'd gotten six more months with Chloe, and they'd made it to California. It had not been all rainbows and unicorns, but at least they'd gotten a chance to come clean with each other and reconcile. Nothing would take that away from them.
"Rachel?" Max's voice pulled the hazel-eyed girl out of her thoughts.
"Max," she acknowledged the brunette's presence.
"Listen…" the hipster began. "…I never meant to come between you and Chloe. I'm sorry if I complicated things between you two."
"You sure stirred things up down here when you arrived," Rachel said, before she smiled. "Don't worry about it, Max. Chloe and I were way past due our serious conversation. We both kept secrets from each other. Your appearance, and all that went down finally made us to have that conversation, and things are better between us."
"I understand now why Chloe thought of you as her angel," Max said.
"How did she cope with my… disappearance?"
"Not well," the hipster admitted. "She was completely lost without you." She turned to look at the desolate view down at the valley. "I'm sorry for having to ask you to throw away your chance at happiness."
"Yeah, well," Rachel sighed. "I suppose we could never be truly happy knowing the cost."
"So you're okay with me undoing everything?"
"Yeah, I guess so. I'm not too excited about the thought of dying, but it is the right thing to do."
"I wish there was another way…"
"You do what needs to be done," Rachel said, giving Max an encouraging smile.
"Shame we didn't meet under different circumstances," Max said wistfully. "Chloe, my Chloe, said that we two would've hit it off from the get go. I think she's right."
"Yeah, I think so too," the hazel-eyed girl confirmed.
"It was a pleasure knowing you, Rachel Amber." The hipster opened her arms for an embrace.
"Likewise, Max Caulfield." Rachel stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the other girl.
-ooo-
Chloe was leaning against the railing and smoking her third cigarette in a row. The nicotine helped to calm her nerves somewhat, but she was wishing that she'd had some weed on her. She took another deep drag as her brain worked overtime, trying to process what Max had told them. On any other day Chloe would've called bullshit on the hipster's story, but the devastated sight before her was more than enough to convince her otherwise.
Chloe cast a glance at Max, who was still talking to Rachel. The brunette had told them that in her own timeline, Rachel had disappeared and most probably died almost six months ago, and that had taken a huge toll on that timeline's Chloe, even more than her father's death had done. As a result, her counterpart in that time had been angry, desperate and reckless, getting herself in situations that she couldn't handle. The Chloe of that time would've died on at least three occasions, if Max had not used her powers to restore the situation. The most frightening thing, however, had been the alternate universe where Chloe had been paralyzed and was facing a slow and painful death, not to mention the horrible situation she'd put Max into, by requesting the brunette to end her life.
Chloe closed her eyes as she exhaled a trail of smoke into the air. She could easily imagine herself to be that selfish, that she'd place such a burden on her best friend's shoulders. At least her younger self would have. Before she met Rachel, Chloe had not given a fuck about other people's feelings, or how her needs might affect other people's lives. Rachel had changed all that. She was more responsible, considerate and empathetic.
And maybe because of that, the decision between their lives and the lives of the people of Los Angeles was so easy to take.
"Hey, Chloe," Max said, leaning against the railing.
"Hey, Max," the punk responded with a weary voice, out of witty remarks.
"How are you doing?"
"Okay… Well, as okay as one can expect in a situation like this. Thinking how this would look on your résumé." Okay, maybe she wasn't completely out of witty remarks.
"Max Caulfield, harbinger of death and destruction," the brunette sighed.
"Hey, you didn't ask for these powers!" Chloe grabbed Max by the shoulders. "You just did what you thought was right."
"Did I?" Max asked. "Was anything I did out of a purely selfless motive?"
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to save someone's life," the punk assured. "Have you thought that maybe you got these powers for a reason?"
"Well, if I did, I'm really having a hard time seeing it."
"Maybe you were never meant to save Rachel's life," Chloe suggested. "Maybe you were just supposed to find out what happened to her and bring her justice."
"Yeah, maybe," Max admitted. "So, I take that you're suggesting I should go back too?"
"I am," Chloe said. "I don't know how my life would've turned out, but I'm sure it's not worth this." She pointed at the devastated city.
"If I go back, there's still the tornado to deal with," Max remarked. "By this time it has already happened."
"I'm sure you'll figure out a way to save Arcadia Bay," the punk said, smiling reassuringly. "I have faith in you, Max."
"I just hate that I'll have to trade you in order to make things right again."
"Well, as they say in the Three Musketeers…" Chloe looked Max into the eyes. "One for all…"
"…and all for one," Max completed.
"C'mere!" Chloe pulled the smaller girl into a tight embrace. As she held the brunette, she couldn't help thinking how her life would have turned out, if she and Max could've stayed together. Life had torn them apart, but they had find their way back to each other. She'd been lying if she had said that the thought of being erased out of existence didn't freak her out a least bit, but on top of that, she was feeling peace and content.
"Thank you, Max," Chloe said, still holding the brunette tight. "For coming back to me."
"Anytime, Chloe."
"Now go and save the day," the punk said, letting the hipster out of her embrace, but still holding her hands. "And make those fuckers pay for what they did to Rachel."
"I will."
Chloe let go of Max's hands. A single tear ran down her cheek as she watched the brunette turn her back to her and walk away. "Max?"
"Yes, Chloe?" Max turned again to face Chloe.
"Don't forget about me."
"Never."
-ooo-
Max looked at Victoria, who was standing by herself, a little further from the others. The blonde was gazing into the distance with her arms crossed, a burning cigarette in her hand. Hesitantly, Max began to walk towards the other girl, knowing that this wouldn't be an easy conversation. Victoria had been the one of the three who had taken Max's confession the worst. Max had seen the shock on Victoria's face already when she had been telling her story, and as soon as Max had finished, the pixie-haired girl had walked furiously away.
Max couldn't really blame Victoria. Finding out that her lover wasn't who she thought she was, was hardly a pleasant surprise. Of course, Max was still Max, she just wasn't the Max that Victoria had fallen in love with. In retrospective, Max regretted that she hadn't come clean to Victoria to begin with. Without her powers, though, Max had thought it was easier to just play along for the time being. Things hadn't gotten any easier when the hipster had found that she herself was becoming emotionally invested with the blonde.
Well, here goes… Max thought as she took the final steps towards the pixie-haired girl who was still facing away from her. "Victoria?"
The taller girl didn't turn right away. Instead, she took a final drag from her cigarette before dropping it on the ground and stubbing it with her foot. After exhaling the smoke out of her lungs, she finally turned to face the brunette, a stern look on her face.
"Max," the blonde said coolly, crossing her arms.
"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you straight away that I'm not your Max," the hipster said bashfully.
"Damn right you should be!" Victoria huffed angrily. "You played with my emotions! I can't believe I even had sex with you, for Christ's sake!"
Max stood there quietly, staring at her toes, as she let the other girl vent her feelings.
"That night was supposed to be special for Max and me, and now it turns out that she wasn't even there!"
"That's where you're wrong," Max interrupted her. "Your Max was there with us. She didn't miss anything."
"She was? How?" the blonde asked bemusedly.
"Somehow, your Max has been tagging along for the most of our time together," the brunette explained. "She actually pushed me towards you."
"She did?"
"She did. Apparently she wanted it as much as you did," Max confirmed. "And, to be honest, I wanted it too." She smiled at the taller girl. "What I've told you about my feelings towards you is genuine. I- We both love you very much!"
"You do?" The anger had completely faded away from the blonde's face, and she was just staring at Max, baffled.
"Yes, you dork!" Max said, grinning, before she took the final steps that separated them and placed her lips on Victoria's. For the briefest of moments, the taller girl stood there, her eyes wide open, before she closed them and separated her lips, inviting the brunette's tongue that was already feeling its way in. Victoria wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, and Max followed suit. Max didn't know how long they stood there, their tongues twirling around each other. When Max had set out on this journey, the last thing she'd imagined might happen, was to fall in love with her toughest rival. Yet, here she was in Victoria's embrace, and she couldn't think of any place where she'd rather be at this moment. Maybe because of that, tears welled up in her eyes, as she knew that this wasn't meant to last.
"So, there's no other way to fix this?" Victoria asked, as she let go of the smaller girl. It was as if she knew what Max was thinking.
"I don't think so," the hipster answered dejectedly.
"Do you know what will happen to this timeline, when you go back?"
"I honestly don't know."
"I'm scared, Max," the taller girl confessed. "I don't want to die."
"I don't want any of you to die either," Max said sympathetically. "That's why I want this decision to be unanimous."
"What did Chloe and Rachel say?"
"They think I should go back."
Victoria looked away momentarily. Max could see that she was straining to maintain a stoic expression. "I… I think you should go back too," the blonde finally said, still not facing the brunette.
"You sure?"
"No, but it's the right thing to do," Victoria said, as she turned to face Max again.
"Very well, then," Max concluded. "I'll go back and undo what I did to save Rachel's life. Hopefully, that'll prevent the earthquake from happening. I wish there was another way."
"Life is full of disappointments," Victoria said nonchalantly. "Trust me, I know."
"I'm glad I got to know you, though." The hipster took the other girl's hands into hers.
"How was I towards you in your own timeline?" the blonde asked.
"Well, you know…"
"A total bitch, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'm not surprised," Victoria said, sighing. "The atmosphere at Blackwell Academy always brought out the worst in me. Going back to Seattle was the best thing that could've happened to me, in more ways than one." She accompanied her words with a smile.
"Likewise," the brunette concurred.
"I love you, Max Caulfield. Both of you."
"We love you too, Victoria Chase." Max closed in for another kiss.
"Now, go and save the day!"
"I will." Max let go of Victoria's hand and began walking away from her.
"Max?" she heard Victoria calling her.
"Yes, Victoria?" Max turned to look at the blonde.
"Don't give up on me."
"I won't." Having said that, Max walked away from the three girls.
Max found a sheltered spot, and dug out the picture taken of her in the hockey game. She cast a final, wistful glance at Chloe, Rachel and Victoria, before focusing on the image. This reality had been perfect in many ways, but the price of it had just been too big. With that, she turned her attention on the picture, and a few moments later, everything around her disappeared into brightness.
-ooo-
"There!" Ryan Caulfield said as he lowered his pocket-sized digital camera. "You wanna take a look, Max?"
"What? No," the brunette answered bluntly. "I need to go to the restroom."
"Now? But the game's about to start," Ryan said, bemused at his daughter's reaction.
"Yes, now!" Max said impatiently. "PMS."
"Uh, okay, kiddo," Ryan said, blushing. "You'll know where to find me."
"Sure, dad," Max said, and walked swiftly down to the platform leading out from the stand.
As soon as she was out of sight, she dug out her phone. OK, maybe I won't be able to save Rachel, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let us walk straight into Jefferson's hands. She stared at the phone screen, considering her options. Messaging Chloe was out of the question, and Max couldn't leave a note to herself either, as she might find it too early. How could I warn myself at the right moment…? She frantically scrolled the apps on the phone, until one app suddenly caught her attention. Of course! Max opened the calendar app. She'd send herself a reminder, right after the moment she and Chloe would have found Rachel's body. By then, she would know what the message means, and the risk that she found the reminder before that would be relatively small.
Max created a new reminder, set to alert on the afternoon of October 10th. On the reminder notes she wrote: 'The dark room is Jefferson's! He's using Nathan. Jefferson knows you've been into the dark room, so stay clear of him at all cost! Take your evidence to David instead. Don't try to save Rachel! The side effects of that are horrifying. Also, the tornado will happen! Do what you can to save the people of Arcadia Bay. -Max'.
Satisfied with the contents, Max saved the reminder and put her phone away. Now, it's up to other me and Chloe… the brunette thought, as everything began to disappear into the haze.
-ooo-
The first thing Max registered was the light whiff of an autumn wind on her skin. Her brain registered trees swaying in the wind against the sky. She looked down and found herself standing on a path going between lines of gravestones. She was standing in a graveyard.
Max turned around and recognized the iron gate of Arcadia Bay's cemetery. This is the cemetery! She cast a glance at the seaside, and was relieved to see the lighthouse standing steadfastly at the edge of the cliff, casting a beam of light into the slowly dawning sky. The lighthouse is intact! The tornado never came!
Why am I here, and where is Chloe? Max asked herself. She turned around, and realized that she was standing next to a pair of recently filled graves. The gravestones that adorned the fresh graves were shining brand-new. Oh my god! Max's knees went weak as she read the names carved on the stones.
RACHEL DAWN AMBER
July 22, 1994 – April 22, 2013
CHLOE ELIZABETH PRICE
March 11, 1994 – October 7, 2013
They are both dead! Max thought as she read the two names over and over again incredulously. She looked at Chloe's date of death and realized that the punk had already died on the first day of their reunion. But that can't be! Chloe was still with me on Thursday! she thought frantically. What day is it? Max dug out her phone and saw it was the early morning of the fifteenth.
No! There must be another way! I have to fix this! Max thought as she began rummaging through her satchel. Where's that photo of the morpho? She found her diary, and pulled that out. She was about to open it to search for the photo, when she saw a post-it note attached on the cover. The note said: 'READ ME!' Max opened the diary from the page that had been bookmarked with another post-it note. There was a long entry in her own handwriting, addressed to herself.
Dear Max,
If you are reading these words, you must've learned that Chloe is dead. You are probably anxious to use the photo you took of the morpho, and save her, but don't bother. I've burned the photo as a pre-caution, although I doubt your powers would work anyway, now that everything has been restored. In case you're wondering why I was willing to sacrifice Chloe, it really was the only way to save all the people. I'll come to the details later, but I want you to know it was Chloe's choice and suggestion. I wouldn't have wanted to go through with it, but you know how persuasive she can be.
By now, you must be wondering what has happened during your absence. I have to admit that even after what I had already experienced, I was surprised to find your calendar entry in my phone. I was, however, able to deduct that you had already given a shot at trying to save Rachel, and while I didn't know how horrible the outcome of that would've been, we gave up on that idea.
I don't know how you figured out that Jefferson was the real culprit, but that turned out to be crucial for Nathan's well-being. We went to David with our findings, as you suggested, and while he initially was suspicious of us, the evidence we presented was enough to convince him. David contacted Officer Berry, who was quick enough to obtain a warrant to search the barn. The police raided the dark room with assistance from David. They did so at the eleventh hour, as Jefferson had Nathan captive there, and he was just about to kill him. According to David, a firefight had ensued, with Jefferson ending up dead, and Nathan mildly wounded.
With that out of the way, Chloe and I could focus on the tornado. The thing was, that there was little we could do about it. The forecast was fair weather for Friday, so we had zilch to back up our cause. Warren and Kate were pretty much the only ones that believed us, and we were running out of time. We tried to devise a plan to get at least some of the people to safety when the storm would start, but we would soon find out that our preparations were totally inadequate for what was about to come.
Even if we knew that the storm was coming, it managed to take us by surprise. It came upon us so quickly that it was almost unimaginable. Like at one moment everything was fine, and the next the storm was all over us at full force. The whole town just went into panic and chaos, and with that, everything we had planned just went down the drain.
As we watched the storm devour Arcadia Bay, we considered our options, and finally it was Chloe who suggested that I go back to the moment when Nathan shot her, and let her die. I refused at first, saying that I wasn't ready to trade her for the town. Not after all we've been through. Chloe then said that our reunion was the best thing that had happened to her since the day she met Rachel. She said that she has laughed and smiled during these last few days like she hasn't in years. The time we'd spent together had been the happiest of her life, and no matter what would happen to us, we'd always have those moments.
As I said, Chloe can be persuasive, so I finally gave in and agreed to go back and undo everything. We said our goodbyes, and I jumped back. My heart crushing, I watched how Chloe again ended up in a quarrel with Nathan, and finally getting shot by him. I couldn't bear the thought of her dying alone, so, disregarding my own safety, I ran to her and took her onto my lap. Luckily, Nathan was in some kind of shock, so he didn't seem to notice my presence.
As I held Chloe on my lap and watched her slowly wither away, she smiled at me. She was too weak to say anything, but she smiled at me in contentment. It might have just been that she was glad to see me, and not having to die alone, but I'd like to think that at least on some level she knew. After she took her last breath, I kissed her goodbye, and then I just wept, holding her in my embrace for I don't know how long. I can't remember David coming in and apprehending Nathan, or the paramedics arriving at the scene, and taking Chloe away. The next thing I remember is that I woke up in the hospital, with Joyce and Kate next to my bed.
I was released from the hospital the next day. The doctor said I was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and he prescribed me some pills to help me sleep. I honestly don't know how I was able to function in the following days, but somehow, I found it in me to be able to be there for Joyce and David, and help them with the funeral arrangements.
After Nathan was arrested, it didn't take him too long to spill the beans about the dark room, Rachel and Jefferson. From what I heard, Jefferson was arrested on the same afternoon, and Rachel's body was found on the next day. Jefferson's case will go to court next week. It well be handled as a federal case, and looks like that Jefferson will most probably be facing 25 to life in prison. Nathan, on the other hand, was already committed into a mental institute for an undetermined amount of time. Sean Prescott was able to use his influence, even though Rachel's father would've wanted him to face justice too. I'm not sure how I personally feel about it. In many ways, Nathan is one of Jefferson's victims like the others, but on the other hand, he is responsible for both Chloe and Rachel's deaths.
Rachel's father, being the DA, was able to expedite Rachel's autopsy, so that her funeral could be held on the same day as Chloe's. A joint service was held for them on Friday, and they were buried in adjacent graves. It was a beautiful service, and the weather was just perfect on that day. I've been spending most of my time here since the funeral, so that you'd know what has happened.
I don't know how much time I have left before you come and take over. I figured it was bound to happen sooner or later. I am scared, but at the same time I feel serenity. We found out what happened to Rachel, and we saved Arcadia Bay. I am grief-stricken about the loss of Chloe, but the few days I got to spend with her do offer some consolation. I think I was falling in love with her, but I guess you already knew that. I suppose we'll never find out whether we would've ended up being together with Chloe, will we? Anyway, we got to share those moments with her, and now I'll be passing on the burden of grief to you.
I hope you'll cherish the memory of our lost friend, but I also hope you'll carry on with your life and will not linger in sadness for very long. I know Chloe would've wanted it that way.
This is what I have to say. I hope my words helped you to get up to speed. You have probably a gazillion questions, but I am sure you'll figure things out. Maybe we'll get to meet someday, but until then, I wish you all the best!
Your counterpart in time,
Max
The brunette closed the diary, and dried her teary cheeks. She had been aware that things might come to this, but still, she'd never given up hope on a chance that the other Max and Chloe would come up with a solution that would save everyone. Apparently, that wasn't meant to be, and she was left to grief over the loss of her best friend.
Max felt really lethargic all of a sudden. Realizing how big a toll, both emotionally and physically, the last week had taken on her, she slumped down on the ground. She just sat there quietly, staring at the two graves, as the first rays of the morning sun reflected upon the onyx stones.
"Thought I might find you here, Caulfield," Max heard an all too familiar voice saying behind her back.
"What do you want, Victoria?" Max asked nonchalantly, not bothering to turn her head.
"Oh, for goodness' sake! Would you at least give me the courtesy of looking at me when I'm trying to apologize you?" the blonde huffed.
"Wait, what?" the hipster blurted. She stood up and turned to look at the taller girl who was standing a few steps away from her. The indignation on the blonde's face received a touch of humbleness, as Max made eye contact with her.
"Look, Max," Victoria began. "Since the shooting, I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I've come to realize what kind of bitch I have been towards you and Kate and everyone else."
"You don't say?" the brunette remarked sardonically.
"Well, yes," the blonde stammered bashfully. "I've been doing a lot of apologizing in the past few days. I realize I need to do more than that to redeem myself, but I have to start from somewhere."
"Yeah, that's always a good way to start," Max admitted.
"Anyhow, you're the last one on my list," Victoria concluded. "I'm sorry for taking my own insecurities out on you. You have a great talent, and you deserve better." She offered her hand.
Max looked at the taller girl contemplatively. Victoria's apology seemed sincere. Remembering her promise to the other Victoria, Max smiled and took the offered hand. "I accept your apology."
"Excellent!" the blonde said, smiling. "As a token of goodwill, I'd like to invite you over for breakfast at the Hip Bean, and discuss photography with you."
"I'd love that, Vic."
"Only my friends get to call me Vic," the pixie-haired girl said coolly, before softening her expression to a smile. "But I just might be willing to make an exception with you, Maxine."
"Max, never Maxine, I make no exceptions," the brunette said, as they began walking towards the gate.
"I know."
The End
A/N:
Well, that was it. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Can't believe it's been over one and a half years since I typed the first words of this story. I certainly was a lot more optimistic about the schedule than it turned out to be. With my initial pace I figured I'd be done with it within six months. After releasing chapter 7, I hit the writer's block, and the next few chapters turned out to be an intensely tough process. Nevertheless, I managed to overcome that, and now I'm writing the notes for the final chapter.
I realize that the ending I chose probably doesn't please the wast majority of the readers. It essentially is a variation of the bay ending. There is one significant difference, though. In the end, Max says her goodbyes to Chloe, and the dying Chloe acknowledges Max's presence. I guess what I tried to say with my ending, is that whatever we do, the future isn't always in our hands.
I have to admit that this story has changed tremendously during the writing process. Initially, I had only the premise, and a few key scenes in mind. Pretty much the only thing that was clear from the get go, was that Max wasn't meant to save Rachel's life. The story initially started as an eventual Pricefield, but as it progressed, and Victoria's role grew more significant, I began to incline towards Chasefield. That in mind, the ending I eventually chose, began to make more and more sense. Other things changed too. I initially planned the relationship part to be more complex, with also Rachel becoming romantically interested in Max, and Max trying to balance between all three girls, with catastrophic results. Anyhow, as I wrote, I realized I wanted to emphasize Vicky's role more and it to be more invested. As a result, I ended up antagonizing Rachel more than I intended. I just hope the last chapter explained her motives a bit. I also planned a sacrifice Max ending, with the intention to integrate it to the ending of my other story, Ships in the Night. That would've probably been too outlandish, though.
As always, some acknowledgements are in order. Firstly, I'd like to thank my beta reader, Crowthorne, who did a great job ironing out the grammatical and idiomatic quirks that my brain farted out. Your effort really made a big difference! Thank you! Secondly, I'd like to thank the great Lyta Halifax for her insightful feedback, and for her time to bounce some ideas around. You are and always will be a great inspiration to me. Thank you! Last but not least, I'd like to thank every one of you who read and reviewed/commented. Your feedback was the best creative fuel I could ask for. Thank you!
This story will, for the time being, be my last LiS fanfic. I will still be writing and updating my other ongoing story, Bound by Trust irregularly, but it will definitely be a backburner. LiS 2 is roughly a month away, and that might inspire new stories, but you never know. I take this moment to thank all of you who have read my stories during these years. For me, it has been a period of growth as writer, and a lot of fun too. I hope you've enjoyed as well. I'd also like to thank Dontnod, Deck Nine and Square Enix for bringing us the LiS universe with its wonderful characters! Max, Chloe and the others have been a great source of inspiration. Thank you so much!
Be excellent to each other!