As much as Kate desperately wanted to get out to the lighthouse immediately to find Max, Victoria quickly vetoed that decision in favor of food and sleep. "You're still a teenage girl, and you've passed out two times, and nearly passed out twice as much! There's no way in hell I'm letting you march out in the middle of a freak October snow-whatever just so you can hunt down Maxine Caulfield and this mystery, not-dead dead-girl..."

The blonde sighed as she got up from the bed and peeled Kate away from the window, dragging her back towards the bed and effectively coiling around her so she would stop fidgeting and freaking out. "Baby? Baby." She grabbed Kate's face and forced the witch to look at her. "Even if you found her now, what would you do? You have no plan, no answers. So you might as well build your own strength back up before trying to make any further progress, okay?"

Victoria watched as all the fight finally drained out of the exhausted brunette and she nestled against her with a sigh. "I thought I was just being a good teenager... rebelling against mommy's oppressive religion or whatever... I-I didn't think... I mean, I do believe it! But..." She nodded and pet her hair and let Kate finally get it all out, now that she was done being sarcastic and snarky about everything, and the weight of it truly settled on her shoulders. "This stuff is real, a-and it's going to get worse. Tori, I'm scared."

"Me too, Katie." She kissed her forehead lovingly and resumed petting her. "Me too..."

…

Homework was declared a secondary necessity at that point. Dr. Chase prescribed medicine and bedrest (which is to say she ordered Chinese delivery and spooned the tiny witch all night). All was quiet in the dorm for the rest of the night, and Victoria awoke the next morning to find her girlfriend up, chipper, and ready to go. "No visions, no headache, no exhaustion. I feel amazing!" An embarrassed kiss was delivered to her lips, and it felt nice to see Kate returning to her old calm demeanor. "Thank you. For taking charge and forcing me to settle down."

The blonde beamed and took her hand, trying to make the action as symbolic as possible. "Hey, you saw my aura. I love you, and I'm not going to let you hurt yourself just because you're trying to save everyone. Speaking of which, you're not going anywhere today without me, is that understood? Victoria Chase, your faithful si-"

"You are more than just a sidekick! You're my spunky ally. And..." Kate giggled and stole another kiss, "my sexy love interest. Now get ready while I give Max a call and we figure out where to start."

Victoria hurried to gather some things from her own room and get a shower in. Normally she preferred to take her time, but it seemed as though they were officially on the case and she needed to hurry. Even Kate looked surprised when she finally turned up a bit later, wearing only a touch of makeup, sporting boots, jeans, a worn-in jacket, and a top that would generously be classified as 'last season'. "Don't give me that look, you mentioned blood yesterday. If there's blood today, I'm not letting it get on my nice new clothes."

"It sounded like there was... a lot going on when I called Max, and I think she was getting cussed out by some friend of hers or something? Anyway, she finally relented when I mentioned the bathroom, and we're going to meet her and this other girl at..." Kate paused a moment, still unsure if she even had the right place in mind. "American Rust?"

"Oh, yeah! I went to a few parties out there. Well, I say parties, they were more just places we got drunk when we couldn't do our usual party spots. Considering it's a junkyard, it's not bad. I know the way, so let's do this I guess!" As if the damn thing were sentient, the butterfly descended from it's place on the bookshelf and hovered around Kate, who seemed to have already adjusted to its presence. Victoria felt bothered by it, almost as if they had suddenly been joined by a fairy and no one found it strange. It wasn't natural, but... Well, Kate trusted it, and Victoria trusted Kate, if nothing else.

As promised, the drive to American Rust wasn't long, and Victoria pulled up to a stop in her fancy car behind a thing that might be roughly described as a truck. "This must be them. What the hell kind of degenerate did Max come here with anyway?" The pair climbed out and walked through the gate, where Victoria immediately came to a dead stop and stared at the blue-haired girl enjoying an early-morning beer. "Price?"

"The fuck...? Chase?" Chloe looked in the general direction of the rest of the junkyard. "Max! Max! I thought you said there was just one Blackwell nerd coming here!"

On cue, she showed up, emerging from behind a pile of cars, her arms filled with bottles. "I'm hella sorry, Chloe, I... I should have checked if she'd be bringing her girlfriend..." she fumbled apologetically while trying to get the bottles set up in a row on a plank of wood. "This is... kinda sensitive stuff, Kate. Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

Victoria was trying very, very hard not to be pissed at the welcome they were receiving. They'd come here on good faith, and now Max was insinuating she couldn't handle a little weirdness! Kate held up hands in surrender and reached for her bag. It was something everyone had seen her toting around, little more than a pouch on a heavy cord. She explained to Victoria one day that she kept a small notebook inside, as well as a few tiny trinkets and a charm or two. An emergency kit, for lack of any better description. She retrieved her notebook and scanned it for just a moment.

Victoria honestly had no clue what was happening here, but Kate had that amazing look of tired assurance, and it was just so... Ooof, now is not the time, Victoria. Later.

"Let's see... Panda keychain, 7 cigarettes, 86 cents, 10:34... Broken mug, lonely cop, fighting bros and... a cockroach in a jukebox? Oh, and there's a spectral deer over there that's been watching you this entire time." Despite the laundry list of things Kate had just rattled off that had absolutely no meaning to Victoria – though Max and Chloe both looked blown out of the water – Kate seemed to remember one more thing. "Oh, and this little guy, I think you all know each other?" Both girls seemed especially phased to see the blue butterfly, and Victoria felt all the more out of the loop, but proud of her girlfriend regardless.

Chloe sputtered, unable to believe just how much courage the witch had after all. "Okay, shit, yeah. You're um... You're good..." Chloe and Max shared a look, and Max responded by shrugging in confusion. "So you're, what, psychic?"

Kate shrugged as well and strolled over, watching idly as Chloe began to take aim at the bottles. "Mmm, I wish it were that simple. Frankly, I don't know what exactly is going on. But whatever Max can do, I... see afterimages and hear reverberations and... I-It's weird. I don't actually know what any of that stuff means, but I heard it in my head all morning while I was getting ready, so I figured it might come in handy to write some of it down."

Slowly something seemed to dawn on Max and she looked embarrassed enough to die right then and there. "Oh, Kate! Yesterday, I... Oh no... I must have talked to you four or five different times trying to hurry and get that flash drive to Warren and... but you heard it all?"

Victoria could see the strain on Kate's face already. She wanted to be more calming, to have more answers for them. But only about 48 hours before, this stuff was apparently little more than a fairy tale to her too. "Um... ehhh? It was like deja vu, and then a bunch of sounds all layered together. I might have lost it if..." Victoria was at her side in a flash, holding her hand tightly. "Well, you know. So then you... rewind time?"

"I guess so. That's how I saved Chloe yesterday. And why the bathroom looked... um... Do you want some kind of demonstration or...?"

Kate's reaction was lightning fast, and even Victoria was a little alarmed by it. "No! Please, it's- I don't want to tell you not to do it ever. But it really messes with me." As if to punctuate her point, she would continuously cast a glance at Chloe again, who was still standing there eagerly with her shiny gun in hand. Something about the blue-haired one put her girlfriend ill at ease, and Victoria had to guess it had something to do with her status as both living and dead.

"Maybe you two should go wander a bit while Chloe plays with her new big girl toy, and then we can talk some more?" That idea seemed to appeal to the witch, and she quickly tugged at Victoria's hand. They were a good distance away from the others when the first gunshot went off. Both jumped slightly, but Kate once again looked worse for the wear about the whole thing. They could hear Max directing Chloe where to shoot followed by a shatter.

"It's weird right? Like, she just wakes up and suddenly has this power or whatever? Not even an origin story or anything. Go figure it's way less exciting in the real world..." Victoria was really just trying to talk for the sake of talking, fill the space that otherwise would have Kate's head ringing from all the time nonsense.

There were four gun shots in total, followed by a rather loud crash and Chloe and Max's cheering. Victoria began to giggle, but as she looked toward Kate her face dropped and her heart stopped. The witch was staring straight ahead where the blue butterfly had landed on a slightly discolored patch of ground ground. Her eyes had gone slightly glassy. "Rachel Amber..." was all she said in a hushed voice before collapsing straight into her arms, yet again.

"Shit, Kate!" Back toward the front of the junkyard, Victoria heard Chloe shouting Max's name before calling for help. "Well, fuck..."