Arrival

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're beginning our descent to Oregon International Airport as we speak. Please remain seated throughout the duration of the landing… the time is six thirty-five and it is a pleasant eighty-two degrees down below. Welcome to Oregon and enjoy your stay."

Within moments of this announcement, the plane began its near-smooth descent. Olivia was used to the monotony of air travel, and despite the rare bump here and there each flight was as immemorable as the last.

During this flight, on the other hand, she had almost constantly been on edge and it must have shown. Peter had asked her at least half a dozen times if she was alright and if she was completely honest with herself, she probably wasn't. At random moments of the flight, time appeared to stop and she kept experiencing this overwhelming sense of Déjà vu. But that wasn't possible right?

Everything and everyone seemed quite normal and unperturbed. Wondering if these odd sensations were related to their deployment, Olivia tried to focus on the matter at hand.

Odd atmospheric disturbances localized around the Arcadia Bay area combined with an odd missing person case that had gone cold several months ago had prompted an immediate investigation. Normally this wouldn't have been enough to mobilize the Fringe division of the FBI, but Olivia had had the most peculiar dream earlier that day.

Her vision, to be more precise, had been an all too real first-hand encounter with a massive tornado that devastated a small coastal town. To add to the strangeness of the event, she perceived all this from someone else's point of view. On top of that, there had been this distinct sensation of being watched during this strange occurrence. Luckily, during this vision, whomever she had been experiencing the events through had looked at a newspaper. Olivia's trained eye had noticed two very important details.

The first detail had been the date, which had been the upcoming Friday, four days from now. The second and most troubling detail had taken a small amount of research to discover that the newspaper had been a local publication in Arcadia Bay, Oregon. Not believing in coincidences, Broyles sent them on their way to investigate. Olivia had only recently grown accustomed to the seemingly insane idea of her strange dreams actually being useful leads for investigations. Nowhere else except for the Fringe Division would such things be taken seriously.

"You sure that you're doing okay?" Peter asked again, ducking his head to try to suss out her expression.

Olivia turned to her left to face Peter Bishop and gave him a reassuring smile that he more than likely saw right through. An experienced con-man, Peter was a valuable asset to the Fringe team. Being almost unnaturally intelligent, he also was extremely intuitive when it came to reading the reactions of others. Unfortunately for Olivia, this also meant he usually could see right through her, but he at least had the decency to be polite about it, most of the time.

"Yeah… I'm just wondering if Charlie is going to be happy to see us or not," she responded.

Peter smiled slyly, expertly hiding that he was worried about her. She liked Peter, the pair had become good friends despite the rocky start to their working relationship.

"Knowing Charlie, he'll be glad to see you, but I'm sure under the circumstances he won't be all too pleased that his vacation has been cut short."

Nodding she cast a glance at the oddly quiet Walter Bishop seated in the window seat on the other side of Peter, staring glumly out of the window as the plane steadily descended. Walter was Peter's father and calling him a 'mad scientist' was unfortunately fitting. Having been locked away in Saint Claire's mental hospital, for the right reasons or not, he lost parts of himself and was prone to outbursts. At times, he would lose his way if left alone, and at others, he seemed as if he possessed all of the answers.

Even living with inner demons that he would probably never exorcise, Walter's value to the team was irreplaceable. Olivia had, with Peter's help, rescued Walter from Saint Claire's and now the pair were official consultants for the F.B.I.'s very secretive Fringe Division. It all seemed so long ago, the trio had been on countless grizzly and logic defying cases since then. When Olivia leaned forward to get a better view of Walter, his gaze was lost in a daydream, clouded by his salt-and-pepper eyebrows pulled down into a glum frown.

"Still, it's quite a coincidence that he brought his niece to Oregon for a trip and in less than twenty-four hours, we come flying in to ruin it for them."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Peter? There are no such things as coincidences!" Walter grumbled this so suddenly and with such fierceness that he startled both Peter and Olivia. Despite the fierceness in his voice, he hadn't turned to face them nor had the look on his face changed.

"Walter?" Olivia asked worriedly. As if snapping out of a trance, Walter flinched and cast a furtive glance to his surroundings and straightened in his seat. His eyes focused on her and he managed one of his sad smiles.

"We're almost on the ground, Walter. Look, I know you don't like flying but it's almost over." Peter said soothingly. Walter turned to his son for a moment and looked warmly on him as he always did. There was almost always only one certainty with Walter, he loved his son. Through the good days and the bad, his son was his rock and was perhaps the only thing in the world that kept Walter functioning 'normally'.

"It's not that, Peter… I just don't understand why we couldn't bring Jean," moaned Walter. Olivia couldn't help but smile. Despite his fears on flying and his many other worries, Walter's biggest concern right now was for his pet cow. "What if she misses me?"

"Walter…" Peter had probably been about to say 'Jean is just a cow' as he usually did but he checked himself as he noticed his father's worried look. "Jean is going to be fine, Astrid is looking after her, and we'll be back before you know it." Nodding absentmindedly at Peter's words, Walter turned back to the window.

The trio sat in silence as the plane continued its smooth descent towards the runway. Returning to her thoughts, Olivia wondered what surprises were in store for them in Arcadia Bay. It, of course, could be nothing out of the ordinary at all. However, their cases, no matter how mundane or ordinary they seemed to be, rarely turned out that way. Wondering if the missing person case of Rachel Amber was related to her visions, she turned to Peter to discuss it when at that moment the plane touched down. Jerking in her seat, her thoughts were disrupted as the wheels made contact with the runway.

Walter moaned, the sound barely perceptible over the noise of the plane's engines winding down. As they taxied to their gate, Olivia collected herself and began to mentally prepare for the usual moment of contained madness that was an airport. The engines spooled down to a dull whine and just as it seemed that Walter had nothing more to fear from air travel he gasped loudly. Turning to see what had agitated him this time, Olivia froze before she could open her mouth. Stunned, she looked on as a light snowfall could be seen through the small window.

"A pleasant eighty-two degrees, huh?" Peter grumbled in disbelief.

"Peter, remind me again what I took before we got on this plane." Walter asked his son absentmindedly as he peered with wonder through the plane's window.

"Walter… if you can't remember everything you threw into that elixir, how the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Because right now I am looking at what appears to be snow! And if I need to remind you, this sort of weather is atypical for this area during this time of year. And if it is indeed eighty-two degrees out there, then this should not be happening, so if you would please…"

"Relax, Walter, I can see it too… and from the look on Olivia's face so can she."

"Oh… right…"

"How is this possible?" Olivia asked hastily as she looked from an exasperated Peter to a very glum and yet agitated Walter.

"It's possible because something has disrupted the balance between universes here!" Walter spoke loudly and his commanding voice carried itself easily throughout the cabin. Try as he might, Peter had difficulty calming his father. Walter ranted about the disruption concerning barriers between universes and the consequences being of unprecedented scale. The passengers around them were all too eager to get away from the apparent ranting lunatic. Unfortunately for them, the plane was still Taxiing and everyone was expected to remain seated until the plan came to a halt.

Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia noticed a man, who should have still been seated, approaching them from the head of the plane. He was dressed plainly but professionally. Everything about his posture, how he carried himself, and the way he walked screamed military to her. As the all too obvious air marshal approached, she slowly removed her badge from her belt and readied herself for the confrontation.

"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" The man asked, taking on a somewhat hostile tone. Before Walter could answer in the brusque way that he did to people he knew were inferior to him, Olivia revealed her badge. Visibly stunned, the unfortunate air marshal took an uncertain step backwards, as if to ward off the foreboding evil of being outclassed.

"He's with me." She asserted flatly. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd performed this routine with varying levels of security, medical, and police personnel. There were even times when members of the F.B.I made her commit to the overplayed song and dance. The outmaneuvered air marshal nodded and slowly turned to go as Peter chimed in, as he usually did.

"Sorry about this everyone, but my father seems to have forgotten to take his meds today…"

"That's right, Peter! Once we get off this deathtrap, we will have to find a source for my… medications..." Groaning, Peter let his forehead fall into his awaiting hands. Walter had gone from extremely agitated about quite possibly the end of the world, to being overly excited about the prospect of finding the drugs that he surely didn't need. Certainly not for any experiments he may have to perform. Especially do the fact that he had only managed to bring a limited amount of equipment from his lab back at Harvard.

As the plane made its final approach to the gate, she wondered one more time on what was awaiting them and how aggravated Charlie was going to be on having his first vacation in years cut short.

"Of all the places Broyles could send you? And he sends you here? Now?" Charlie's voice escalated with each question, his mounting frustration apparent.

They had found Charlie and his niece by two unremarkable black Ford sedans. The vehicles weren't much to look at, but knowing agency vehicles, they had it where it counted. Charlie leaned against one of the vehicles with his arms crossed, his face pinched with annoyance.

Despite his grumpy state, Charlie nonetheless assisted the trio in loading their baggage into the trunks of the awaiting vehicles. The task now complete, he turned to face Olivia, his hands resting on his hips. "If it had been anyone else I would have told Broyles to go to hell." Smiling, she looked at her friend and former partner, watching the tension flood out of him.

"I hope Kimberly isn't too upset about all this?" Olivia asked hopefully. Looking back at the passenger seat of the second vehicle, Charlie located his niece who was glaring right at him. Withering under her glare, Charlie quickly turned away. As his niece met Olivia's eyes, however, her face quickly transformed into a friendly smile and she waved enthusiastically.

"Nah, she's fine… she's always happy to see you, Liv," Charlie responded as if the encounter with his niece had not taken place.

Once everything had been loaded, Olivia climbed into the driver's seat of the lead vehicle as Peter and Walter climbed into the front and rear passenger seats respectively. Charlie and his niece brought up the rear in the second vehicle and they settled themselves into the three-and-a-half-hour drive to Arcadia Bay as the snow fell around them, highlighted by the golden glow of the rapidly setting sun.

Kevin awoke with a start, his heart racing and pounding in his ears. Gasping for air, he used his blanket to wipe the sweat from his forehead. A dream… it was just a dream. And what a dream it had been. Usually his dreams were cohesive and small amounts of sense could be made of them. This dream had been an incomprehensible mess of a nightmare. He had been a prominent figure in his dreams but most of them hadn't made sense. Worse, he hadn't felt like himself. The experience had been so disjointed and scattered, but it had felt so real.

Never being one to put much stock in dreams, and what they were allegedly supposed to mean, he did his best to forget the surreal experience. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't rid himself of the lurking feelings that his dream meant something. Great, Max has dreams about tornadoes destroying the town and it starts bloody snowing… and now I am having the weirdest dreams of my life… I hope this isn't all related and I'm just freaking out for no reason.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his phone vibrate loudly as it bounced around on his nightstand. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the text was from Max. Apparently, she and Chloe were inviting him out to breakfast at the Two Whales diner in town. His stomach grumbled greedily at the thought, breakfast was its favorite meal of the day. He tapped out a quick reply and offered to drive, which was rewarded with Max's appreciation and an adorable emoji.

Smiling, he groaned as he dragged himself hurriedly out of bed and hoped that the bathroom was empty. He wasn't the biggest fan of sharing a bathroom with a bunch of other guys. Mentally steeling himself for whatever lay ahead of him, he grabbed a fresh pair of jeans, a clean white shirt, and another one of his endless supply of plaid collared shirts. Even though red was his favorite color, he was in more of a green mood today… it will match my eyes… blargh.

Mentally disgusted with himself for overthinking his outfit, Kevin froze as he reached for his door.

I'm going out to breakfast with two cute girls… not just one but two… should I wear something better than my usual?

It's just breakfast you moron stop overthinking it.

As Kevin's thoughts went to war with each other, he made his way down to the bathroom and was relieved to find it empty. Sighing in relief, he quickly made his way to one of the corner showers and did his best to finish before anyone else came in.

Kevin exited the dormitories through the main entrance and took in the serenity of the morning. The temperature was cool and refreshing after his scalding hot shower. The slight breeze tickled his head, his hair still slightly damp. Song-birds were chirping, and as usual, the squirrels and a few hungry pigeons flocked to Samuel, one of the school's janitors, for their breakfast. Samuel was certainly a strange character, but he seemed to love animals. So, no matter how awkward he was, Kevin liked him all the same.

Taking a deep refreshing breath of the sweet crisp air, he cleansed himself of all of the troublesome thoughts that were lurking deep within his mind. Unfortunately, the moment was brief and fleeting. A sudden headache, accompanied by the usual ringing in his ears and staggering pain, entirely ruined the moment. The punishing experience was mercifully brief.

While he recovered, he noticed Max off to his left side by one of the trees that dotted the open area in front of the dorms. She was talking to Taylor, of all people, in a seemingly civil manner. Good for Max for becoming a social butterfly… I just wish that she didn't have to use her damned powers all the time for simple conversations… What a pain…

Shaking off the experience, he approached the two girls just as they were saying their goodbyes. As Max turned to face him, her face became awash with guilt.

"Sorry…" Putting up a hand to wave off Max's concerns, he put on his best 'I wasn't just about to pass out from all that pain' face.

"Relax, Max, it's fine… don't worry yourself too much." His deception worked surprisingly well because she relaxed tremendously. The pair fell into stride with one-another as they began their journey to the parking lot. But with each step, Kevin noticed his companion's mood deteriorate as her posture slackened, her face becoming shadowed with gloom. "Something on your mind, Max?"

She opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it as they approached the front of the main campus. Following her gaze, he noticed Nathan and the head of security by the front steps adjacent to the road. The pair seemed to be having a heated discussion but were too far off for him to catch what about. Keeping their distance, Max and Kevin quickened their pace towards the parking lot, both eager not to catch attention from either of the arguing pair.

As they reached his car in the parking lot, Kevin bolted ahead of Max so he would reach the passenger side door before her. Hastily unlocking the door, he opened it, holding it before the slightly bewildered, blushing Max. She meekly thanked him, unable to meet his eyes and slowly stepped into the vehicle. Once he had closed her door, he made his way over to the driver's side feeling equally awkward and foolish about his chivalric display.

Once inside his vehicle, he quickly inserted his key into the ignition, shifted the transmission into first gear and depressed the clutch in a series of rapid movements. Somewhere in this flurry of movement he must have habitually and absentmindedly turned on his stereo because as he maneuvered his vehicle out of the parking lot the soothing melodies of Porcupine Tree played in the background. Even though it seemed that Max was enjoying the music that she had probably never heard before, Kevin turned the volume down slightly as he negotiated with the light, early-morning traffic.

"So, Max, what's on your mind? Hit me."

Hesitating again, she seemed to be struggling against her own thoughts, as if they made her entirely too uncomfortable. But as she leaned back into her seat, her body language seemingly relaxed as she made up her mind.

"I… spoke with Kate today when I returned a book she had loaned me. I'm worried about her." Max spoke softly and hesitantly, but as he lowered the volume of the music even more, he noticed her voice harden and grow steadier. "I know I can help her… I just wish I knew how."

"The video?" It hadn't really been necessary to bring it up but the words escaped his mouth before his brain had had a chance to process and filter a better response.

"The way you say it… it sounds like you've watched it?" She had taken an almost accusing tone, and he could feel the tension inside the vehicle grow.

"Yeah, I watched it." Feeling that the tension was reaching a breaking point he quickly countered before she could assault him with accusations. "How am I supposed to assess and analyze a problem without a familiarity of the facts? I didn't want to watch it, and I certainly didn't enjoy it but it was a necessary evil that had to be undertaken." Without even looking at Max, he sensed her relax, but her voice still held a certain amount of iciness.

"And?"

"She was drugged. No doubt in my mind. Somebody drugged her with roofies or ketamine… you know that stuff they give to cats at vets to calm them down? It could have also been GHB I suppose but knowing which doesn't really matter. What I am more concerned about, is what was done to her after that video… People don't just dose you with that type of shit for fun… There's usually a reason."

As he spoke, Kevin felt a darkness brew inside of him. He knew with a cold and calculated certainty that if he had witnessed the events of the video first hand, he would have hurt people, a lot of people. Being the type of person who preferred to fight with words and wits rather than fists, the thoughts startled him. But before he could process the mixture of feelings roiling inside of him, Max brought his attention outward again.

Max looked at him askance with her eyebrow raised. "You certainly know a lot about this kind of stuff… But, yeah, Kate and I both think she was drugged too." Since his knowledge on the subject matter had set her off balance, he felt compelled to explain himself.

"Look, Max, I research random stuff all the time. I could tell you everything you would ever want to know about neutron stars, how caffeine works or was discovered, how alcohol affects the body on a biological level, how—"

"Neutron stars?" Max asked in obvious confusion, her earlier discomfort forgotten. But before he could dive into a topic he found insanely interesting, she stopped him. "Forget about it. Let's focus on Kate. You can tell me all about neutron stars later… much later."

"Indeed." But as he said this he was forced to check his vehicle's momentum as he realized that he was about to miss the entrance to the Two Whales diner. Leaning into the turn with his body, he braked hard and swung his nimble Mazda into the parking lot. The vehicle's tires complained slightly and Max was unexpectedly tossed around in her seat. As he reversed into a spot to the rear of the parking lot, she shook her head, smiling ever so slightly as she failed to suppress a laugh. "Looks like we're here."

As he engaged the hand-brake and shut off his car, Kevin noticed Max reaching for her door and before he could think better of it, he cleared his throat loudly, halting her movements. Well I already started… might as well follow through…

"Allow me, my lady." As he hastily exited the vehicle and made his way around, he wondered to himself why he was making such a fuss about the whole ordeal. As he opened her door, he noticed how red Max's face was and the enchanted look in her eyes. He had his answer. Smiling to himself, he followed Max into the diner and as she looked around with uncertainty He motioned to a booth off to their right in the far corner of the diner.

Nodding, she led the way over. As he fell in behind her, he noticed that one of the booths he was about to walk by was occupied by Trevor and Justin from school. The pair nodded to him as he passed and he returned the greeting as an oddly pleasing aroma that was a mixture of coffee and weed tickled his nostrils. Shaking his head, he pondered why marijuana and skateboarding almost always seemed to be mutually exclusive recreations. Max had already taken the seat in the corner and he cursed himself for being so slow. He hated not having his back against a wall. Doing his best to hide his disappointment, he took one last surveying glance at the diner before he sat down.

All of the booths were along the same wall as the entrance and about half of them were occupied. Justin and Trevor were the only people that he recognized from school and the rest of the booths seemed to be occupied by the locals from Arcadia Bay. The occupants of the bar stools at the counter seemed to be mostly truckers, save for a lone police officer, who appeared to be the only one among them enthusiastically enjoying his breakfast. He's probably trying to eat as quickly as possible, no telling when he could be called away… those truckers probably have all the time in the world.

His thoughts were interrupted as five more people slowly made their way into the diner. Three of them made their way towards the bar stools and the other two veered off towards a booth on the opposite end of the diner. The pair that was heading towards the booth seemed to be a father taking his daughter out to breakfast because when he focused his attention on the rather attractive girl, who seemed to be his age, he caught a threatening glare from the fit and tough looking man that she accompanied.

Quickly averting his gaze, he inspected the group who had headed for the bar stools and immediately felt a chill go down his spine. There was an older gentleman who didn't seem quite right, he was jittery and on edge, almost irritable. A far younger man strode in behind him with a cocksure swagger, but his confident appearance faltered as he was drawn into some kind of argument with the older man. Finally, a woman with a severe blonde ponytail walked in and joined her companions. The very sight of her put Kevin on edge.

He studied them as they took their seats. All three were wearing formal business attire. The woman's slacks were pressed into knife-sharp creases and when she reached into her jacket, it was pulled away from her body far enough for Kevin to catch sight of a holstered pistol at her hip.

She must have felt him watching her, because she froze mid-motion and turned to look in his direction. As she turned, he tore his gaze away from her armed hip, quickly turning to face Max. Sitting down across from her, he was suddenly grateful that she had taken his preferred seating. Despite his discomfort, he was all too happy to have his back to the rest of the diner.

"Something wrong?" Max had noticed the speed in which he had sat down and cast a worrying look at him. Not wishing to worry her about what was probably nothing, he forced himself to remain calm and reassured her that he was just excited for breakfast. Nodding in agreement, she proceeded to describe nearly everything on the menu with an air of familiarity.

"Come here a lot, eh?" At this she smiled and cast an affectionate glance around the quaint establishment.

"Chloe's mom, Joyce, runs the diner here. I seriously love her cooking."

Kevin nodded with understanding. Since Chloe was her childhood best friend, Max must have eaten countless meals with her family over the years. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the aforementioned Joyce approaching them with a warm smile and a steaming pot of coffee in hand.

Not really knowing what he had expected, Kevin was surprised to see that Chloe's mother seemed like any other normal woman. Her youthful blonde hair was done up in a high-riding pony tail that swayed from side to side as she approached them. Her dark-blue eyes were alive with life as she quickly surveyed her establishment, no doubt keeping tabs on her customers.

At first Joyce seemed incredibly young, but as she drew closer the lines of age on her face became all too apparent. Nothing could hide it, not her expertly applied makeup, not even her golden hoop earrings that bounced in time with her playful hair. Chloe's mom wore the stereotypical diner waitress uniform: a blue short-sleeved polo-shirt, an apron marred by only a few coffee stains at the early hour, and, oddly enough, a pair of blue high heels. As she drew closer, her steps echoed noisily against the ceramic floor. Kevin balked at the absurdity of the scene, I guess you can wear whatever you want when you own the place. What ever happened to slip resistant footwear?

"And there she is – a lovely young woman. How are you doing, Max?" Surprising Kevin once again, Chloe's mother's words charmed him with their slow southern drawl.

As Max exchanged small talk with Joyce, Kevin felt awkwardly out of place and took the time to unnecessarily inspect the menu. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat as the two talked, he noticed sadly that French toast was absent from the menu. He had been craving it for breakfast, but now it seemed he would have to settle for something else.

"And where are my manners? Who's this fine young gentleman you've brought with you? Oh, sit down sweetheart no need to stand! He's a good pick, Max. Such a model gentleman!" Blushing, Max tried in vain to tell Joyce that she and Kevin were just friends, but Chloe's mother was having none of it.

"Don't you even try, Max Caulfield; your face is bright red!" At this Joyce's friendliness and warmth vanished in a heartbeat and she turned to face him. "Now look here mister, Max is like a daughter to me so you mind your manners around her, understand?" Too terrified to argue, Kevin nodded uneasily.

"Yes, ma'am." No specific threat had been mentioned, but the implication was far more terrifying. For a moment his mind wandered through an endless list of punishments, each more terrifying than its predecessor. Joyce poured the pair some coffee. Kevin remained silent even though he had never grown a taste for it.

"So... let's get down to the nitty gritty. What do you two want to eat?" Max ordered a bacon-omelet and he ordered a plate of the Belgian waffles even though his stomach still begged him for some French toast. "Now finish your coffee." And with that, Joyce was gone but not before she could cast one more threatening look his way. Max's face was slowly returning to its normal color as she focused on drinking her coffee, avoiding meeting his gaze.

Wondering when Chloe would arrive, Kevin kept the urge to look behind him in check by taking a sip of his own coffee. Doing his best not to show his distaste in case Joyce was watching him, he regarded Max for a moment as a creeping suspicion wormed its way into his head. What if Chloe isn't coming at all and Max just told me that she was coming to increase my chances of joining her? No… that doesn't fit her profile… and besides… Chloe seems like the type of person that does everything on their own time anyway.

Satisfied with his conclusion, he braved a second sip of his coffee as one of the truckers made his way over to the nearby jukebox, quickly making a selection. Wincing as the twang of upbeat country music began to assault his ears, he did his best to tune out the noise. Max hadn't seemed to have noticed at all as she stared wistfully out of the diner's massive windows that spanned the entire length of the seating area. Turning to see what she was looking at, Kevin noticed the lighthouse standing proudly atop the cliff off in the distance. Shrugging to himself, he wondered what she was thinking about for a moment until he returned to his own thoughts.

"I can hear your stomachs' rumbling from here you two. Here, you guys will love this." Joyce returned out of nowhere, and before he could wonder how long he and Max had been lost in their own respective thoughts, he had a plate of waffles in front of him. Despite his stomach's earlier determination, it now abandoned its French Toast crusade and rejoiced at the delicious aroma of the food that was before him.

"I'm drooling like a baby." Max rubbed her hands together excitedly as she eyed her own dish.

"I still can't believe you are a woman. When I look at pictures of Chloe-" Joyce's words were cut short as her attention was drawn to the front door. The urge to turn around for a quick peek became overwhelming, but his curiosity was soon satisfied as he noticed Joyce's face take on that look that parents did when they regarded their own child. "Speak of the devil..." Chloe had finally arrived.

"Mom and Max, together again!" Chloe regarded him for a moment and motioned with her head towards Max's side of the table. The message was all too clear, he had to move.

Max giggled at her friend's display of dominance, shaking her head as she prepared to attack her food. Max scooted towards the corner to make room for him all the same. Shrugging as if he didn't care either way, he secretly thanked and cursed her at the same moment. I can finally have my back to a wall again but what if that blonde lady looks my way again… and worse… now I'm sitting next to Max right in front of Joyce… but I think she's worried about her own daughter at the moment.

"And Chloe, looking for a free meal. You've put your whole damned college fund on your tab."

"I'm treating Chloe to breakfast." Max announced as she wolfed down some of her food, seemingly unbothered as Kevin sat down beside her.

"No, you're not," Joyce said chuckling, "This is my treat to you for coming back to rescue my daughter."

"Nobody needs to rescue me," Chloe stated flatly, still standing. Oh really? So, I guess Max didn't need to stop you from getting shot by Nathan?

"Unless you set your room on fire smoking out…" Joyce retorted quickly. Chloe groaned and put her hands up behind her head as she shifted her stance in annoyance, jutting her hip out.

"Oh God, here it comes. Didn't you and Sergeant Pepper read me the Riot Act last night?"

Kevin did his best to suppress a chuckle but failed. Chloe nodded in appreciation while Joyce cast him a look of warning and he felt his pulse skip a beat as the smile perished.

"Call him David if you don't want to be lectured." Joyce's cold and threatening look was back as she regarded her daughter. "You only get one damned slice of bacon today."

"You guys are still the same," Max commented, giggling softly as Joyce stalked away.

"Another reason to blow this town..." Letting out a frustrated sigh, Chloe regarded him one last time and then turned towards the jukebox. "What is this shit on the jukebox?" Stalking towards the offending machine, she quickly changed the music to a heavy and very punk song that he didn't recognize.

"Now that that's out of the way—" Diving into the now empty booth, Chloe turned to face Max with childlike glee just as her friend was finishing off the last remnants of her food. "—Let's talk about your superpower!"

"I don't have any explanations… and I can't explain why I saw that crazy tornado—"

"C'mon, that's just a daydream. I want proof that you can rewind time." Kevin didn't like where the conversation was going. Fearing the worst, he quickly finished the rest of his waffles and despite his lack of table manners, he went completely unnoticed by his companions.

"This is all happening so fast…" Max said, almost breathlessly. Feeling like he was going to choke on the sheer volume of food he had just consumed, he hastily drained a significant portion of his remaining coffee. Grimacing with distaste as he swallowed, he gasped for air, half expecting to be the center of attention. Luckily, to his surprise, his near-death experience hadn't been of any concern.

"We'll start slow. Right here. Now," Chloe stated firmly, there would be no argument. Noooope.

"Excuse me ladies, but I'll be back." He caught a knowing look from Max as he excused himself, but Chloe simply waved him off. Scanning the diner again as he stood, he located the entrance to the bathrooms on the opposite end. Unfortunately, in order to reach the relative safety of the bathroom, he had to pass behind the woman with blonde hair and then walk right by the man who had caught him checking out his daughter.

"I can tell you everything that you have in your pockets." As Max said this, Chloe became more excited. Kevin made up his mind and quickly started putting distance between himself and Max. If Max really was going to use her powers, he certainly didn't want to be next to her in a crowded diner, his reaction would most certainly cause a scene.

He made it to the bathroom in such a flash that no one seemed to pay him any special attention on the way. After a quick inspection of the small bathroom, which consisted of two sinks and two mostly clean stalls, he was relieved to find it empty. Not really in the mood for hiding in one of the stalls, he put his hands on either side of the left-most sink.

Leaning forward over his perch, he braced himself for the worst. It took longer than he had expected but just when he was about to move it hit him. Despite the fact that he wasn't right next to Max, the pain was always far worse than he remembered.

Staggering from the shock of the experience, he turned on the sink and splashed some ice-cold water on his face. He hoped that had been enough proof for Chloe. Unfortunately for him, it hadn't. He was struck by a second jolt of agony, immediately followed by a third. Staggering, he cried out sharply through clenched teeth. As the sensation quickly passed, he hoped that the bathroom door had kept his suffering a secret. Gasping for air, he splashed more water on his face even though it had been of no help previously. No more Max… please…

Kevin nearly jumped when the door opened and the man who had caught him checking out his daughter walked in. Quickly shifting his glance from the mirror in front of him to the drain in the sink, he willed Max to be done with her demonstrations and did his best to look as if nothing was wrong. He was simply washing his hands.

"You okay?" Shit.

Kevin instantly recognized the man's New York accent. It wasn't the stereotypical accent that you heard in movies and on television all the time, but the resemblance was clear. Kevin hastily finished washing his hands and moved to dry them with the hand dryer on the wall immediately to his right. This, unfortunately, brought him closer to the well-dressed man with short black hair, who carried himself as if he could handle anything. Doing his best to look and sound as normal as possible, Kevin turned to meet the man's penetrating, suspicious gaze.

"Yeah, it's just a headache." Seemingly unconvinced, the man held his gaze for a moment and then moved towards one of the stalls.

"I'll give you another headache if you look at my niece like that again. Do we understand each other?"

Forgetting himself, Kevin felt the dark fire of defiance spread throughout his chest. He must have changed his stance or made some form of a physical indication, because the man changed his own stance as if expecting trouble. Forcing himself to be calm and not trusting himself to speak properly Kevin simply nodded, turned his back on the man and stepped out of the bathroom.

Wanting some form of vengeance, Kevin was about to try and catch the attention of the man's niece. But before he could wink at her or something equally foolish, he froze. Everyone in the diner was going about their business as if nothing exceptional had happened except for the blonde woman sitting at the bar. Her face shockingly mirrored his own from a few moments ago. She was pale and was hunched over slightly as she gripped the surface of the bar in front of her. Her entire body was rigid and her face was a mixture of confusion and pain.

Her companions had noticed as well, and seemed to be abuzz with concern but she paid them no attention at all. Instead, she slowly and deliberately turned to her right and Kevin had no doubt in his mind that she was staring right at Max. She knows! How the fuck does she know?! And as Kevin's stomach twisted in shock, he noticed something else about the woman. As she turned something flashed at her waist. He saw what it was as plain as day. She has an FBI badge…

The door to the bathroom opened behind him, and as Kevin turned to face the man from New York, it seemed like they were about to have another confrontation. But to Kevin's relief, the man's attention went to something else and he pushed past Kevin. His relief was short-lived when the man had gone straight towards the FBI lady.

"Livvy… what's wrong?" the man asked, his heavily accented words filled with concern. The woman turned in her seat and now that she was distracted Kevin did his best not to sprint across the diner. As he approached, Max looked up and the smile on her face vanished at the sight of his ghastly expression.

"We need to go, now!" he urged in quietly. His words were infused with so much urgency that not even Chloe questioned the reason. The trio dashed toward the exit and Kevin prepared himself for a confrontation. Chloe must have caught on because he sensed her tense up as well as she moved protectively closer to Max.

"Where are we going?" Max had the good sense to whisper just as they made it to the door. As the girls made their way out of the door he held for them, Kevin cast a sidelong glance at the FBI lady and her friend from New York. They talked quietly but passionately with their two other friends, not paying attention to the high schoolers making their hasty retreat. Thankful that they had made it this far, Kevin quickly made his way outside and caught up with Max and Chloe.

"Just jump in. Kevin, follow me!" Chloe called over her shoulder as she made her way over to her parked truck with Max in tow. She had a hint of amusement in her voice, but as Kevin unlocked his car-door and practically threw himself into his vehicle, he noted that her posture hadn't changed a bit. She was still ready for a fight.

With Max onboard, Chloe started her truck and launched away with more speed than Kevin would have ever expected. Luckily, he parked with a quick exit in mind, as he usually did, so he was out of the parking lot and right behind his friends in a matter of seconds.

Thanks for the tip, Dad.