The first glow of morning diffused through the low-hanging fog blanketing Haven Springs. Alex hefted her duffel bag into the bed of Chloe's truck. She tried unsuccessfully to stuff the nervous butterflies fluttering about her stomach into a distant corner. It was more than just worry that the rusty pickup may disintegrate, or the idea of being trapped in a metal box with two people she barely knew for hours on end. Something about leaving in the pre-sunrise chill always left her with the feeling that she'd never return, or that if she did, the place she returned to would no longer recognize her.

Ryan, always the early bird – often to catch a glimpse of the literal early bird – had made sure the three women started their journey with a worthy meal. Maybe too worthy a meal, she thought, feeling a little bloated. Gastric distress or not, it was still sweet of him. Now he and an adorably groggy Steph stood nearby to see them off.

"Text me when you stop for the night, so I know you got there safe," said Steph, handing Alex her coffee.

Alex smiled as reassuringly as she could muster. "You bet."

"Don't worry," joked Chloe, "I'll make sure Max gets pictures of us all doing body shots off each other in Vegas." Max elbowed her in the ribs, just hard enough to make her jump. "Ow!"

Alex heard green, jealous thoughts coming from inside Steph's head.

"Yeah, that's me – the party animal. I'm totally not going to just take a nap as soon as we get there," Alex said sarcastically.

Steph's knee-jerk jealousy faded.

Chloe shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm thinking about bungie jumping."

"Absolutely not," Max said sternly with a purple burst of fear.

Chloe gave her a funny look. "Wow, someone's not a big fan of heights."

"No, someone's not a big fan of saving your unlucky ass when the bungie cord mysteriously breaks," clarified Max.

"Okay, fine, yeah, you've got a good point," Chloe begrudgingly agreed.

Max retrieved her polaroid camera from under the truck's seat. "So, um… can I get everyone together over here?"

They all jostled into each other, trying to fit within the frame of Max's selfie. Alex smiled at the lens as Max raised the camera up in front of them.

Snap!

Max inspected the picture as it was slowly dispensed by the camera. "Perfect."

Everyone said their goodbyes and hugged. Chloe got into the driver's seat and started up the truck with a rumble, adjusting the heater with one hand and fastening her seatbelt with the other. Max sat in the middle. Alex followed her in, fighting rusty hinges to close the passenger door with a loud slam.

Ryan knocked on the window. Alex cranked it down. "Steph and I will be ready to meet you wherever we need to. Let us know if the plan changes."

With a salute Chloe said, "Aye aye, cap'n." Likely seeing the concern on Steph's face she added, "Don't worry. We'll take care of her."

Steph nodded.

Ryan patted the door. "Good luck."

Haven Springs, the first place Alex had truly felt was her home, grew smaller behind them before eventually disappearing behind a bend in the road.

They were making good time when they crossed the border into Utah. If the battered GPS on Chloe's dashboard was correct, her lead foot had already shaved fifteen minutes off of their arrival time. The golden-tan desert stretched out in every direction around them, baked by the midmorning sun. Low scrub blanketed the parched earth like patchy fur.

Chloe hadn't said anything for the past while, and Max was fast asleep between them. Alex reached out a finger and lightly flicked the dusty Elvis bobblehead fastened next to the GPS.

"Careful there," Chloe warned casually. "The King's seen things us people wouldn't believe."

Alex smirked. "The aliens really did a number on him with the shrink ray, huh?"

"It was the only way to save their ship. His hips were just too powerful." They both cackled.

Max's head popped up in between them, and she looked around with bleary eyes. "Huh? What? Where are we?"

"Way to pass out on us, hippie." Chloe reached over to tousle Max's hair, eliciting a little growl from Max as she tried to fight off the grasping hand. Chloe laughed. "You're so cute when you're sleepy,"

"We thought it'd be best to just let you sleep," Alex said as Max successfully fended off her girlfriend's attack. "You seemed pretty tired."

"Thanks," Max said, readjusting on the bench seat. "I didn't exactly sleep the best last night."

"I don't blame you." The purple aura buzzing around Max on and off throughout the drive told her more than enough.

"I just hope this is all worth it," said Chloe.

"It will be," Max assured.

I-70 continued to race by outside the truck's windows.

"So what's it like?" Alex asked, finally mustering up the courage to dig more into Max's power. "Being able to change time is so much crazier than what I can do."

Max swallowed nervously. "It was cool at first. I felt like I could get away with anything. If I pissed someone off, or got caught somewhere I wasn't supposed to, I could just rewind and it was like nothing happened. I could see every immediate outcome of a situation, trying as many options as I wanted."

"What changed?"

It took Max a moment to answer. "No one else remembers what happened in other timelines, but I still do. Every time I thought I'd fixed something, it seemed like I'd just made it worse. People died, frequently. Chloe died the most." Alex saw Chloe's jaw clench and unclench as she took a hand off of the steering wheel to wrap it around Max's shoulders. "I still remember each mistake that hurt someone else. They're burned into my brain like an image onto film. I'm terrified of using it anymore." Max bit her lip and stared at the camera bag between her feet. Fear wasn't what Alex felt radiating off of her anymore, but sorrow. It still lingered around Max as she asked, "How about you? What's it like knowing what we're all thinking?"

"I used to think I was some sort of freak," Alex admitted. "When people's emotions get intense around me, I start to feel it too. The worst was anger – someone would get really mad, and I'd lose control. Suddenly I was breaking things or starting a fight. One of those incidents, right after I got to Haven Springs, was how my brother found out."

"I didn't know about that side of it. How'd your brother handle knowing?"

Alex smiled, but her misty eyes gave away the bittersweet nature of the memory. "He called me a superhero. That was the first time anyone thought I had a gift instead of a curse. It took me until we solved his death to truly internalize that he was right."

Chloe glanced over at the mention of Gabe's death. "Sorry if this is too personal, but… how'd your brother die?"

"Short version? This past April, a mining company was trying to cover up the site of an accident by collapsing the site with explosives. The explosion started a rockslide, which killed Gabe and almost killed Ryan and I. We managed to expose what happened. But, that doesn't bring my brother back."

"Shit." Chloe looked over at her again. "I'm sorry – that really sucks."

Max shook her head. "That's terrible. And only a few months ago, too."

If Alex was being honest, it still hurt a lot. More, possibly, than the death of her and Gabe's mother, or their father leaving when they were still kids. "It's been hard. But Steph, Ryan, Charlotte, and Ethan – among others – have made it a lot easier. I hope I've been able to make it easier for them, too."

"I'm sure you have," said Chloe. "I know Steph really appreciates you."

"She appreciates you, too. I think seeing you after all this time is helping her finally process what happened with the storm. It's one thing to talk about it with Ryan and I – another entirely to talk with someone else who used to live there, knew the same faces and places."

"Definitely," said Max. "If it weren't for Chloe, I'd have gone totally batty by now. Even the other survivors I know will probably never hear the full story of that week."

Chloe shrugged. "Eh, don't give me too much credit. I wouldn't even be here if you hadn't been around to save my life."

It was half past noon when they stopped for lunch at the junction of Interstates 70 and 15. After filling up on tacos and fuel, they veered southwest toward Las Vegas.

"Hey, you kids ever been to Zion National Park?" Chloe said excitedly a couple hours later, pointing out a sign warning of the turnoff.

"Can't say I have," replied Alex.

Max said, "Nope. Only in the Fallout universe."

"Wait, really?" asked Alex. "When?"

"New Vegas – it's in one of the DLC's."

Alex shook her head. "I only played a little bit on a borrowed console."

"Hey nerds," Chloe interrupted, "we're gonna miss the exit if you don't decide quick. We going or not? You could get some sick pictures, Max."

"That's true," Max agreed.

Chloe raised an impatient eyebrow. "Alex?"

It would be nice to stretch my legs a bit. "Yeah, why not – it's my first real road trip. I'm in."

"No shit? And you really let us of all people punch your road warrior V-card?"

Max's whole body seemed to cringe at once. "Ugh. Thanks, I hate it."

"Consider that revenge for calling me 'gangly' yesterday."

Giggling at their bickering, Alex responded to the original question. "I suppose so, yeah. You two are the ultimate nomads after all."

"Well, in that case, welcome aboard!" Chloe said excitedly.

"Be warned – it's addicting," cautioned Max with a little smirk.

"I can see why. There's a certain, I don't know, freedom to it?"

Chloe slowed to take the turn, and they crossed under the freeway before starting the gradual descent toward Zion. "Freedom, here we come."

The road wound like a snake through the landscape. They passed through a couple of towns, the leafy trees and green lawns a stark contrast to the barren wilderness only staved off by deliberate irrigation. As they reemerged into the desert and continued to descend, the hills and rocky plateaus on either side of the road got taller. Tan gave way to shades of red and orange stone. Nearly an hour after leaving the freeway, the truck ground to a halt in the visitor center parking lot.

"Let's find a short hike, we don't want to wear ourselves out too much for the rest of our drive," said Max.

Alex checked her phone. "That might be tricky – I've got no service."

Chloe laughed. "This your first time at a national park?" It was, but she didn't give Alex a chance to say so before practically prancing off. "C'mon!"

Alex followed them into the visitor center, feeling a bit dumb as Max picked up a map from a wire rack on the counter. I should've thought of that. The trio then headed back out to catch one of the buses into the canyon. They had just sat down when the bus lurched forward onto its predesignated path.

Staring at the labyrinth of rust-orange sandstone outcroppings jutting into the sky around them, Alex couldn't help but feel a growing sense of awe. On a very basic level, the canyon resembled some of the sights she'd seen on her way to Colorado. But that was really like comparing apples and bananas.

She glanced over at Chloe and Max, leaning against each other, cross-referencing what they saw outside with their map and visitor's guide. "Well that's not an ominous name," joked Max.

"What's that?" Alex asked.

Pointing out at a pair of peaks with a jagged wall of rock stretched between them, Max said, "That's the Towers of the Virgin – the peak on the right is the Alter of Sacrifice."

"The West Temple on the other side is so tall you can see it leaving Vegas," added Chloe.

"Woah. That's a big rock."

"Understatement, much?" Chloe said with a giggle.

They crossed a river and turned left, beginning to climb. Partway through a flat-floored valley speckled with gnarled trees, the bus exited onto a turnoff, stopping to let out its passengers. Across from the turnoff were three massive sandstone teeth jutting from the edge of the valley.

Max's face lit up as they stood and shuffled to the door. "Now this is going to be a cool shot."

After kissing Max on the cheek, Chloe playfully muttered, "Photo-geek."

These two are nauseatingly adorable. Alex couldn't help but to think of Steph, wondering if she would ever make a move. It felt too much like taking advantage for Alex to use the knowledge she had from her power to kick off a romance. Or maybe you're just overthinking it like you always do… like you already know Steph is.

The three women started up a steep trail toward what Max identified as The Court of the Patriarchs. Alex's legs burned with each forced step. In the early fall heat, it didn't seem like the other two were having any easier a time. I should've taken up Ryan on hiking more often, she lamented. The view at the top, though, was undeniably worth it though. Alex and Chloe caught their breaths as Max was already shooting away with her camera, too excited by the vista to be hampered by fatigue.

Chloe watched her girlfriend work with a relaxed smile. Doing her best Attenborough impression, she narrated, "And now we come across a rare sight – a hipster has emerged from her coffee-shop-thrift-store habitat to take pictures of…" Breaking character, she asked, "What did you call it, Alex?"

Pointing a finger at the sky like she was having a eureka moment and joining in the impression, Alex said, "Big rocks!"

That got her a high-five. "Big rocks, indeed!"

Max shook her head and shifted to another angle, trying not to give them the satisfaction of getting her to laugh. "Ha-ha. This is only what – the hundredth time you've made that joke?"

"Hundred and seventh, but who's counting?" Chloe said, pulling out her phone to snap a picture of Max doing her thing. "Besides, we both know you still secretly find it funny."

"Yeah… fine, you win that one," agreed Max absently, scrolling through the shots she'd taken to make sure there were enough to work with. Satisfied, she put the camera back in her bag and extracted her polaroid. "You knew this was coming," she said. "Let's get the 'big rocks' in the background."

Alex chuckled as the polaroid printed out. "I don't know that I've ever been part of this many selfies before. You've really gotten it down to an… art." She trailed off, seeing the hazy, purple tendrils began to envelope Max. The aura was so strong that it distorted the light around Max's body, so thick that the darkening purple almost looked inky black. It was some of the worst fear Alex had encountered, and she involuntarily took a step back. She tried to focus on Max's thoughts. All she could hear was a distant roaring. She felt dizzy as the fear started to spread to her, too.

Chloe looked rapidly between them, realizing something was wrong and beginning to panic. "Max? Alex? Talk to me, what's going on?"

The world faded as Alex felt her knees give out.

Alex felt heavy droplets of rain pelting her back and arms as she woke up facedown in sticky sand. What happened? She got her arms beneath her and tried to get up, but a sharp pain lanced through her head. Letting out a gasp of pain, she collapsed. You've been shot in the head once already – this isn't that bad. Get up. Again she tried, managing to stagger to her feet. The wind rumbled and howled like nothing she'd ever heard before. Flying sand prickled like a mild burn at her exposed calves. The rain hit the side of her face. Trash skittered past like manmade tumbleweeds. Alex looked up, finding the source of the gale.

"… Holy shit."

A column of mist and cloud rose from the ocean's surface, at least a mile wide, rotating like a enormous top in slow motion.

"Alex!" shouted a terrified voice from behind her, barely audible over the storm. "You're here too?"

She turned around to see Max struggling toward her. "Where am I!? Is this one of your visions?"

With a nod, Max said, "It's always been just me. Quick – it might not last long! We need to see if we can find any useful information before it kicks us back out!" They helped each other away from the water and toward the road, finding shelter behind a new looking red-brick office building. "None of this looks like when I lived here! It's all been rebuilt!"

"And you've never been back since the storm?" asked Alex. Max shook her head. Okay, definitely more than just a dream.

A particularly strong gust hit, threatening to suck them out from behind the building. There was a series of crashes as a sedan was tossed down the road past them. They locked eyes. Max's were wild with fear, but somehow still determined. "I see a news stand over there. A newspaper was how I found out the date of the storm last time. Wait for a lull in the wind, then we'll sprint to the other side of the road together. Don't let go of my hand, okay?"

Alex really didn't want to leave shelter, but they couldn't waste any more time. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK. She quickly nodded. "Okay."

Max grabbed her hand and waited. Unsure which one of their hands was shaking worse, Alex gripped tighter.

The howling quieted.

"Go!"

Alex didn't know if she'd ever run that fast in her life. Even then, Max was practically dragging her along in tow.

The wind picked back up right as they reached the newspaper stand, and they wrapped themselves around a light pole like it was a branch in a raging river. They couldn't let go lest they would be swept away. Luckily, the newspaper stand started scraping down the sidewalk toward them.

Shit, maybe not so luckily! Alex rethought as the heavy, steel box began to pick up speed. "Look out!"

They swung around to the other side as the stand clanged into the pole. Alex reached out, forcing the front of the box open, trying to keep the storm from snatching the newspaper from her hand. It flapped madly like a caught bird struggling to break free. Still, she managed to get a glimpse of the date.

October 11, 2019. Three days.

"NO!"

Alex looked up to see a massive sheet of corrugated roofing pinwheeling toward them. Max raised a hand, palm out, and suddenly everything went white.

A park ranger drove the trio back to Chloe's truck, not calling an ambulance under the promise that they would go straight to the nearest ER and get checked out. Chloe told him they would. It was a lie, of course, but one that would save them an excessive medical bill and a lot of wasted time. As they backed out of the parking spot, Alex noticed red emanating from Chloe. That's not what I expected. Alex decided to try and read her thoughts.

This is fucking bullshit. Max doesn't deserve to keep having this happen to her. I should've been the one pulled into her vision so I could protect her, at least. If there's some god, or thunderbird, or what-the-fuck-ever else behind this… fuck you. I'm sick of you hurting her. I don't know how yet, but I'm gonna kill your sadistic ass. I'll burn the whole fucking world if I have to.

Alex stopped before the anger started creeping into her own psyche.

Wiping the last bit of blood from her nose with a napkin from the glovebox, Max said, "I need a cigarette. Please."

Chloe silently obliged. Max took the cigarette with two fingers and placed it between her lips. It took a few attempts to get it lit, but soon the pungent odor of burning tobacco made it to Alex's nostrils. It was less off-putting than even when they had started the trip earlier that day. Am I actually getting used to the smell that quickly, or am I just getting secondhand nicotine addiction?

Even hours later, as the sky began to dim and Las Vegas came into sight, Alex still felt tense from Max's vision. Max, however, just seemed tired. Her eyelids drooped as she rest her head on Chloe's shoulder. "Are we there yet?" she mumbled, loosely wrapping her arms around Chloe's bicep.

Chloe laughed quietly. "Don't you dare start that with me." Some of the red around her, already fading as the road went on, burned off a little faster. "Go to sleep. We've still got a while left."

Sin City appeared slowly then all at once. The strip sprung from the patchwork suburbs of North Las Vegas, its monuments to excess towering high over all else in sight like manmade mockeries of the landscape they had just left in Zion. From I-15, it all seemed comparatively short and disappointing. Alex imagined it might appear more magnificent on foot. Chloe raised a middle finger in the direction of a sixty-something story slab of gold, glass, and ivory with the word TRUMP emblazoned at the top.

Soon they were back in the desert again, headed for the California border.

Primm was little more than three large resort-casinos, a mall, and a roller coaster. Alex had been surprised at how cheap rooms were when she made their reservation on her phone. I guess they make up the difference with how much their clientele loses to their slot machines.

They set their bags and anything else that couldn't be secured to the truck bed in the small but swanky hotel room. Alex texted her group chat with Steph and Ryan that they'd arrived.

"I don't know about you two, but I need to get my drink on," said Chloe.

Max placed her camera bag on the little table in the room's corner. "Yes please. Alex?"

Alex held up her hands and smiled sheepishly. "I actually don't drink much anymore, especially around crowds. Lowered inhibitions aren't exactly good if I start absorbing other people's emotions." Seeing Chloe's disappointment, she added, "I'll happily come with, though. Keep you two from getting in too much trouble."

"That's wise – this one's a crazy drunk," Max said with a wink, pointing back at Chloe with one thumb. "As long as you're sure you won't feel left out."

Chloe wrapped an arm around Max. "We can always just run to a liquor store and drink up here, if that'd be better."

"That's true."

"Seriously, I'll be fine," Alex assured cheerily. "Let's get down there – I'm starving."

It was only two hours later when Alex and Max helped a very drunk Chloe stumble back into their room. They were all sweaty from dancing and, between that and the hike, all three were ready to call it a night. Max ducked into the bathroom for a shower. Chloe headed out to the balcony for the last smoke of the night, foregoing the chairs to sit on the concrete. Alex sat with her. The tip of Chloe's cigarette sizzled lightly as she pulled in a long drag.

"Y'know… I was a little worried bringing you along, at first," Chloe admitted with a slight slur to her speech.

Alex stared out over the railing, taking in the night sky. "I was nervous going with you. Being the outsider is always a little scary."

"Yeah. But, you've managed to fit right in." Chloe clumsily tried to pat her on the back. "I see why Steph likes you so much. She's always had an eye… for the good ones." Alex saw a tinge of blue around Chloe as she frowned. She lifted the cigarette to her mouth again. The smoke drifted into the vast openness beyond the balcony, disappearing into the darkness. The blue started growing, and Alex saw the sparkle of moisture around Chloe's eyelashes. The words were muddled by the alcohol, almost like trying to read text through rippling water, but Alex managed to hear her think, Steph had an eye for Rachel, too.

Pursing her lips, Alex debated on asking such a personal question of Chloe in her current state. After a moment, though, she gave in. "What was Rachel like?"

Chloe stayed silent so long, the only motion the slow rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed, that Alex thought she may have fallen asleep. Alex was about to wake her to get her inside when Chloe finally spoke. "Rachel… she was something indescribable. Larger than life I guess. Every time you thought she was being a… a bitch, she'd turn it around and have you laughing… or kissing, or…" Chloe blinked slowly, trying to regain her bearings. "… Or dancing through the street, always just before you lost your shit. Did you know she got pissed at her dad once and started a forest fire?"

Alex didn't. "Seriously? Like an actual forest fire?"

"The whole area north of Arcadia Bay," Chloe said with awe and a nod that seemed almost proud. "It went out the same day she made up with him, too, just like that." She slowly raised a hand and snapped her fingers before letting her arm flop back down to her side. Then with a chuckle, "Not her most shining moment. But that's just who she was… y'know? She was electricity, and… and impulse and excitement. There was no stopping her, consequences be damned. If she wanted something… she was going to find a way to get it." Chloe's voice dropped, getting so soft it was almost hard to hear. "She wanted out of Arcadia, and I… I wasn't able to do that for her. I chickened out. So she started to look to other people to find her fucking… golden ticket. I think that's what pulled us apart in the last months she was alive, and…" She bit her lip and started to sway a little as she drew up the strength to say the next words. "I think that's what got her killed."

Alex set a comforting hand on Chloe's shoulder. "What happened to Rachel wasn't her fault, or yours. Only the people that killed her."

"If that's true, then why do I still feel so guilty?"

Alex thought, trying to come up with the right words to help Chloe. Ultimately, though, there weren't any – at least not that she could say. "I'm assuming you've talked to Max about all of this?"

Chloe sighed. "Kinda… a little bit… no. Not really."

"Not even after six years?"

"I dunno, Alex. I feel bad talking to her about Rachel, like it's going to make her think I love her less. Something like that. But how much I loved… love Rachel, it doesn't take away from the fact that I love Max just as much if not more."

"It doesn't," Alex agreed, "and I think Max understands that. I also think even if it isn't an easy conversation, she'd prefer you to let her help you with this instead of struggling through on your own."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Chloe said, "Maybe you're right."

The door slid open and Max poked her head out. Her hair was still damp from the shower. "You two alright out here?" She looked worriedly at Chloe.

Chloe laughed sadly. "Yeah, 's good. Y'know how weepy I can get when I drink."

Max didn't look convinced but tried to brush it off. "Yeah, that's my Chloe. Let's get you to bed. I don't think you're going to be feeling very good in the morning." She stepped outside, helping Alex and then Chloe back to their feet.

Chloe flung her arms around Max, causing her to stumble at the sudden, additional weight. "Y'know I love you, right?"

Max's look of surprise melted into one of relief. "Not a doubt in my mind. I love you too."

Chloe, as predicted, did not feel good in the morning.

"Please tell me we aren't going to have to pull a 'Weekend at Bernie's,'" Alex jokingly groaned.

The lump of blankets on Max and Chloe's bed incoherently grumbled something about not being dead yet.

Max held a hand over her mouth to try and stifle her giggling. "Chloe, come on. There's coffee and bacon waiting for us downstairs."

The next grumbling was at least intelligible. "Mmmmm… bacon." The blankets shifted and rustled. A single foot appeared, sticking straight out like the plank on a pirate ship from the edge of the bed. Then nothing.

Max and Alex exchanged a mischievous look.

On tiptoes, Max snuck over to the bed. She smirked back at Alex. After a pause for dramatic effect, Max began aggressively tickling the sole of Chloe's foot.

The blankets appeared to have become possessed. Chloe yelped and cackled from underneath them, eventually throwing them completely to the side so she could try to fend off the attack. "No! Stop it, you dork!" she managed to gasp as she pinned Max's arms to her sides.

Max leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Food. Now."

Chloe let her go and held a hand to her forehead. "Ugh. Yeah, fine. Give me a moment."

They wolfed down breakfast quickly, getting back on the road for the last seven-hour leg of their trip to US Penitentiary Atwater, 130 miles east of San Francisco. Unless they hit serious traffic, they would have more than enough time to get cleaned up and settled into their motel room before going to pay Max's former teacher a visit. Chloe downed a couple ibuprofen with the first swig of her energy drink. "I think I'm getting too old to drink like that anymore."

Max laughed. "Ah, getting frail at the ripe old age of twenty-five, are we?"

"Shush," Chloe said, pushing her shoulder playfully. "You're only a year younger than me, you know."

Alex acted shocked. "Wow, twenty-four and twenty-five? I didn't realize I was riding around this whole time with a pair of senior citizens."

Chloe wagged a finger. "You shush, too. How old are you, anyway?"

Puffing her chest out in an exaggerated show of pride, Alex happily announced, "Twenty-one."

The other two looked at each other, mortified. "Chloe," said Max quietly, "I think we stole an infant."

They all cracked up.

Alex had to admit she was glad when they finally saw natural green again. She never would've expected to consider the high eighties as comfortable but, after spending all of the last day in the desert, she'd happily take it. They only hit a bit of traffic headed north on 99. According to Alex's traveling companions, they'd lucked out.

Max had been getting quieter and more nervous the closer they got to Atwater. By the time they pulled into the motel, it had been over an hour since she'd spoken more than a word or two at a time. Now she sat on the bed, staring blankly at the wall.

"Hey," said Chloe, joining Max and draping an arm over her shoulders, squinting where she was looking. "Whatcha looking at over there?"

"This was a mistake. I don't think I can do this, Chloe."

Chloe squeezed her shoulders. "Listen, there's still time to back out. I'm not going to force you to do anything. We can find another way if we have to."

A few different expressions tugged at parts of Max's face, her body tensing. "No… we came this far, and we're running out of time." She turned her head and muttered, "Shit."

"He'll be behind glass, and Alex will be there with you." Chloe looked up at Alex. "You'll get her out of there if it's too much, right?"

Alex nodded earnestly, getting nervous herself. "Yeah, of course."

Max scoffed. "I should've just let David shoot him."

Chloe rubbed Max's back. "That was another timeline, okay? A timeline where I… wasn't around anymore."

Looking embarrassed, Max said, "Right, sorry. It's all getting a little mixed up in my head right now."

"It's okay." Chloe kissed her forehead.

"Not to put too much pressure on, but we're going to have to go soon if we want to make our appointment," Alex reminded.

Max stood. "Let's get this over with."

The watchtowers around USP Atwater looked more like the control towers at an airport than the steel girders and exposed stairs Max had expected. There was no front gate with stone-faced armed guards, no security checkpoint, no conspicuously roving trucks patrolling the flat tract of land surrounding the facility. There was chain link and razor wire around the main prison facilities behind the prison office, but even the front of the office looked like any average, small town government building. As Chloe pulled the truck into the mostly empty parking lot, Max thought it all felt too… normal. She'd expected some clear divide between here and the outside world, but there was none. Maybe I'll feel different when I'm actually inside.

Chloe shut the truck off and turned to Max and Alex. "I'll be right here. Remember – you have the upper hand," she said. "Between Jefferson not knowing all the things he told you in other timelines and Alex's power, that motherfucker doesn't stand a chance."

Alex got out. Max took a couple deep breaths before joining her.

Before she closed the door, Chloe added, "You're strong, you've got this. I love you."

"I love you too, Chloe."

Each step toward the office felt heavier and heavier as fragments of memories tried to push their way into Max's thoughts. She could feel the pain in her eyes from the brightness of his camera flash, the duct tape holding her to the cold chair, the damp concrete smell…

"Jefferson really got to you, didn't he?" Alex asked.

Max hadn't even realized she'd stopped two steps before the doors. She nodded.

"Well," said Alex slyly, "it's time to give him some of his own medicine. It's our turn to get in his head, now."

Another deep breath did little to calm her nerves. "You really think you can do this?"

"I think we can do this." Alex paused. "Like Chloe said, though, if you need out, say the word."

"Okay."

They walked through the doors together. Despite the armed federal officers scattered throughout the plain, white space, it still felt too normal – almost like a hospital waiting room. They went to the counter and handed the bored-looking guard their paperwork.

"Mark Jefferson, huh? You two aren't groupies, are you?" he asked disdainfully, tapping at his keyboard in sporadic bursts.

"Far from it," said Max quietly, her hands knotting nervously in front of her. "More like looking for closure… I was friends with some of his victims."

The guard looked up. "You're from Arcadia Bay."

"Originally, yes. I left after… well…"

With a sympathetic nod, the guard's expression softened. He handed them passes and their papers. "I hope you find what you need."

"Thank you."

He pointed at a row of chairs. "Wait over there – they'll call you when it's time."

As they sat, Max kept noticing Alex glancing at her uncomfortably. She guessed Alex could see her fear. "It's not, like… rubbing off on you, is it?"

"What?"

"How terrified I am?"

"No," Alex assured. "It's strong, but I've gotten pretty good at walling it off. You don't need to worry about me."

They heard a distant buzzer and a young guard walked into the waiting area. "Maxine Caulfield? Alexandra Chen?"

"That's us," Alex responded.

"This way."

They followed him back to booths with telephones on either side of the glass, much like Max had seen on any number of crime dramas. The guard offered to bring over a second chair for Alex, but she turned it down.

Nothing happened for just long enough that when the buzzer finally went off, much louder and closer this time, it made Max jump a little. The door opened, and a third guard escorted in a man that was clearly much different than the one Max had known as her teacher. The thick-rimmed glasses and face shape were the same, but his stylishly messy hair had been buzzed nearly to the scalp, and his beard had grown longer and more gray. An orange inmate jumpsuit had taken the place of his trendy blazer and jeans. The misleadingly charming tiredness he'd always worn around his eyes had become just tired – until he saw Max.

He sat and picked up the phone as the guard walked to the other side of the corridor. "Max Caulfield!" It was still the same voice. A voice she at one time could've listened to for hours, but now filled her with dread. "Imagine my surprise. I never expected a visit from my favorite student. You've grown up since I saw you last. How have you been?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Max growled quietly into the phone.

Jefferson held up his hands in mock surrender. "Hey," he laughed, "you're the one who came to see me." Then he leaned forward, getting as close to the glass as he could without raising the guard's suspicion. His tone remained warm and cordial, but something in his eyes reminded her of a predatory animal toying with its prey. "Why is that? I maybe expected Victoria – she had such a silly little hard-on for me – but not you." He looked at Alex. "Who's your cute friend? Finally ditch that faux-punk bitch you were all over?"

Max's skin crawled as she tried not to remember the image of Jefferson's bullet sending blood and globules of brain matter spurting from Chloe's forehead. "Did Sean Prescott know what you were using his money for? What you were using Nathan for?"

Leaning back, Jefferson chuckled and pointed a finger. "Starting with the hard-hitting questions right off the bat. Don't you know you have to warm up your subject when you're interrogating them? With such amateurish detective work, it's no wonder I got the drop so easily on you and Chloe."

She shook her head in confusion. Got the drop on us? "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Max – think." He sounded like he had back in class, trying to get them to figure out the answer on their own. "Or did you have too much to drink that night at the End of the World party?"

That was another timeline. There's no way he could remember ambushing Chloe and I. "Sorry, I really don't know what you mean."

"You don't remember the junkyard?" Jefferson asked casually.

"The junkyard?" she said, trying to play dumb but feeling the color drain from her face. "I… I'm sorry, I don't know anything about a junkyard." How does he know?

Alex set a hand on Max's shoulder. "This is a bust. He's just toying with us. Let's go."

Again, Jefferson leaned in. This time he lowered his voice so only he and Max could hear. "You don't need to play coy with me, Max. I already know about your 'gift.'" His smile looked friendly, but felt to Max like a wolf baring its teeth mere inches from her face. "Yours… and Rachel's."

Max felt like the room was spinning. "Rachel's? What do you mean Rachel's?"

"Wait, really!?" he said with shocked excitement. "You can't tell me you and blue-haired Watson never figured that out." He studied Max, almost looking disgusted. "Wow. Your detective abilities are worse than I thought."

"You're telling me Rachel had powers?" Max said in disbelief, louder than she probably should have. She didn't care.

"Do I still have to spell everything out for you? Maybe you haven't grown up and you're still that pseudo-intellectual teenage girl who was either too spacy or too dumb to keep up with my classes." He sighed irritably. "Yes, Rachel had a gift – and a very destructive one. That's why she had to die. Little good that seemed to do, though – the storm still came."

Max felt her blood turn to ice. Rachel? Powers? The storm? What the hell is he talking about?

Jefferson's triumphant smile grew as he watched Max start to cave in on herself. "Oh no," he said sarcastically. "Looks like I've said too much. Guard!"

"Wait!" screamed Max, hitting the glass with her hand. "What did Rachel have to do with the storm? Why did she have to die!?"

The guard on their side of the glass was headed their way now too, to see what the commotion was. She didn't notice that she was starting to hyperventilate.

"Keep at it, Sherlock. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Sorry to cut our visit short," he said with a wink and hung up the phone. His guard helped him up from the chair and led him toward the door.

"Motherfucker!" Max yelled as she slammed the phone.

Alex put a hand on her shoulder. "Max, breathe."

"What's going on? Is everything okay over here?" the guard asked with a mix of suspicion and legitimate concern. His hand rest on his baton just in case.

"It's fine," Alex tried to brush off with an awkward smile. "It's just… she needs some air."