Surface Tension
So, this is Chloe's idea of a secret hideaway? A junkyard? I'm not sure if I'm impressed or worried. Located on the outskirts of the town, far away from pretty much everything, it seemed to be a fairly solid hiding place. Unfortunately, the 'road' that they were on was little more than a dirt path and his sporty low riding Mazda was not enjoying the experience one bit.
Despite the bumpy and less than enjoyable ride, they arrived at the entrance only after a few moments and Chloe simply stopped her truck at the entrance and jumped out. To the girls' amusement, Kevin took the time to painstakingly turn his car around before parking it adjacent to Chloe's truck. Due to the limited space, his maneuvers were comical at best, but after a few minutes he finally had his vehicle turned around the other way and set for an easy exit.
"Everything okay, speed racer?" Chloe was free to taunt him until the end of time, he was nonetheless proud of his time-consuming parking job. She led the way into the depths of the junkyard and it became obvious that she was quite familiar with the location. The area was littered with rusted out hulks of cars, plenty of abandoned home appliances, a few wrecked fishing boats and even an abandoned school bus. The scene had an almost majestic feel to it.
The forest surrounded the area on all sides and the only reminder of humanity was waste and rust. The air felt heavier here, even the songs of the birds felt muted and dulled. Feeling a deep chill creep down the back of his neck, Kevin felt as if he was being watched and decided that he would never come back to this place after dark.
"Welcome to American rust. My home away from hell. Alright… what's the deal? Why did I have to jet out of there before I finished my grub?" Chloe demanded.
Kevin glanced at Max before he responded, noticing how worried she looked. Chloe didn't seem to be overly concerned, but she seemed tense regardless. Not knowing any good way to break the news, he sighed heavily and decided to just say it.
"At the diner there was an FBI agent that noticed Max rewinding time." Chloe's jaw dropped. Hadn't been expecting that, eh? Max paled and Kevin's gut twisted as her fearful eyes widened and started scanning the junkyard for threats.
"For reals?" Chloe cast a worried look at her friend, but after a few moments he saw something change in Chloe's posture and her face took on a very hostile expression. "Fuck that dude, you are hella' paranoid! Why the fuck would you even cook that shit up?"
"Are you serious right now? I saw her badge! I saw her face! She looked just like I do when Max uses her powers. She was in pain and then she looked right at you guys! She knows!" he replied, anger rising.
"Bullshit! What are the chances that someone else would have the exact same crazy powers that you do? Just admit it… you freaked!" Chloe responded fiercely, pointing a finger at him.
"I know what I'm talking about, Chloe…" Clearly seeing that he wasn't getting through to Chloe, Kevin changed tactics. "What if I'm right?"
"If you're right, and you're not, it's a good thing I swiped this from my step-douche." As she said this, Chloe reached behind her back and revealed a revolver that she must have had stuffed down the back of her jeans. Kevin's stomach tightened even more, making the waffles he'd just eaten a leaden lump. The only thing that could make this situation even worse is more guns.
"So, you did take David's gun…" Max had finally found her voice. She still seemed a little shaken up, but Chloe's arguments must have struck home because she no longer looked terrified. She seems a little uncomfortable about the gun so that can't be what is comforting her.
"Is everybody armed in Arcadia Bay now?" Max asked, hesitantly.
"Only the ones that shouldn't be. Like step-dildo. Until now..." Chloe brandished the weapon and peered down the sights as she aimed it at nothing in particular.
"I'm not in the revolution yet, Che." Max was almost back to normal, it was obvious to Kevin that he had lost the argument. The bond between the two girls was strong. Max would take Chloe's side no matter what he said or did.
"You are the revolution, Max. Don't listen to Kevin's paranoid shit. Right now, we should figure out the best way to use and abuse your power... with a test." Despite his earlier realizations and wanting to avoid unnecessary pain, Kevin decided to reach out to Max's sensibilities one last time.
"No. We shouldn't be screwing around What if—"
Chloe cut him off and his frustration simmered. "Dude, if you're so worried why don't you 'secure the perimeter' or whatever while we do our thing?" Kevin looked to Max for support, but she avoided his gaze. The line had been drawn. Fine… fuck it. Furious, he turned and walked off deeper into the junkyard without casting either of his companions a second glance. Neither girl called after him, they just let him go.
Kevin fumed as he increased the distance between himself and the girls. His hands balled into fists and he shook with rage. I know what I saw! Why wouldn't they just listen?
He felt betrayed by his new 'friends' and his feelings only grew worse when he heard the echo of a gunshot as the sound reverberated through the junkyard. Seconds later his fury reached a breaking point when he felt the effects of Max rewinding time for just a moment. Fuck it! I'm out of here!
Turning around, his rage subsided slightly as he noticed for the first time just how much distance he had marched. A second gunshot sounded and was followed up by another momentary rewind. Well I can't go back to my car with that bullshit going on… the closer I get to them the more pain I'll be in.
Grumbling to himself, he navigated his way through the junkyard, searching for a roundabout route back to his car. As he did so, he grew used to the gunshots and the momentary time shifts. Due to his distance, they were only mildly unpleasant and slowly his anger subsided. Unfortunately, feelings of doubt and emptiness moved in as his fury faded.
It seemed the shooting and time shifts had ceased for now but he still didn't want to go back and face his 'friends.' But as he walked, he began to feel more alone and isolated than he had ever felt in his life. To make matters worse the aura of the environment was getting to him again as well.
The sensation of being watched gnawed at the back of his mind, and no matter how many times he stopped and scanned his surroundings, he discovered nothing that he should be concerned about. Without the sporadic gunfire echoing through the wrecks, the junkyard settled into an eerie quiet. Every so often, he would stop and close his eyes and stretch his hearing to its limits, and still he would hear nothing.
As he cast yet another careful look at his surroundings, his stomach tightened as he felt a growing sense of danger creep into his mind. Not really sure why he felt the way he did, Kevin plotted the most direct route he could manage back towards Max and Chloe. Quickening his pace, he felt a growing certainty that something was wrong. He cursed himself for getting so far away.
He was about to break out into a full sprint when he heard raised voices that he didn't recognize coming from the direction of his friends. He came to a dead stop and did his best to control his breathing as he strained to listen. But before he could make any sense of the nearby voices, something much closer caught his attention. Someone was close by, he could hear their muffled footsteps. He wasn't sure how he knew or why he knew, but all he knew was that Chloe and Max were in trouble. Picking up a nearby metal pipe he hefted his weapon and steeled himself for what was to come.
"FBI, nobody move!" Olivia shouted as Peter lined up his target. They had just surprised the two girls, who she recognized from the diner, and a man who had to be the driver of the Winnebago that they had followed. She and Peter had their guns drawn and it seemed that they had arrived just in time to disrupt a confrontation between the man and the two girls. As she and Peter moved closer, she noticed that the smaller of the two girls was armed with a revolver and the disheveled looking man was holding a small but deadly looking knife. "Drop your weapons now!"
Once she had recovered from her traumatic experience at the diner, which she still couldn't quite put into words, Peter spotted the two girls leave the diner accompanied by a young man. Almost immediately after the trio had pulled out of the parking lot in two separate vehicles, a dirty and ancient looking Winnebago lumbered after them.
Even though it had taken some time for them to join the pursuit, it hadn't been difficult to follow the aging vehicle. Upon arriving at what seemed to be a local junkyard, they quickly spotted all three of the vehicles that they had been pursuing, but had drawn their weapons once they had heard a single report of gunfire. Olivia set out with Peter and Charlie, leaving Kimberly in Walter's care with the cars with strict instructions to stay put. However, Olivia felt that it was more likely that they were leaving Walter in Charlie's niece's care.
As they had maneuvered their way into the junkyard, Charlie peeled off into the forest so he could come in from a separate angle of attack. Unfortunately, at the moment Charlie was nowhere to be found so it was up to her and Peter to handle the current situation.
"I said drop the weapons! Now!" Olivia called out again and the disheveled looking man immediately let his knife fall from his hand and the brown-haired girl with the gun shakily dropped her weapon as well.
"On the ground, all of you!" Peter added as he approached. All three complied slowly but just as everything seemed to be deescalating something sharp and painful hit her. Staggering in surprise, she gripped her gun tighter as her arms buckled, her aim faltering. The terrifying sensation passed, but just as it did the brown-haired girl who had been holding the gun suddenly collapsed.
"Max!" cried the blue-haired girl. Peter intercepted the blue haired girl as she scrambled towards her now unmoving friend. "Get off of me! Let me go! Max!" Despite her protests and her struggles, Peter managed to handcuff her and did his best to pin her on the ground. Clearly out of breath, he turned towards Olivia. He froze.
"Olivia?" He called out to her as he his captive continued to struggle, his voice full of unmasked concern. Snapping out of her daze, she moved quickly towards the disheveled and foul-smelling man. Within a few moments, he too was handcuffed, and she led him over to join the protesting blue haired girl.
Her captive's dirty-blonde hair was as disheveled as the rest of him, and she wouldn't be surprised if he cut it himself, his bangs hung down his forehead in an uneven line. A full-beard and goatee added to the man's roguish demeanor while his black leather jacket with a high collar almost successfully hid a score of tattoos along his neck and upper chest. A red V-neck shirt was barely exposed from underneath his slightly unzipped jacket.
The man dressed and looked like a thug, but Olivia's instincts told her that this was just an outward projection, he more than likely wasn't all that dangerous. Even so, she kept a close eye on him, just in case. He seemed oddly calm, despite his current predicament.
"No! I won't calm down! Something's wrong with Max! Can't you see? Let me go!" Something was indeed noticeably wrong with her friend. As Olivia drew closer, she noticed streaks of blood slowly oozing out of the young girls' nose. She felt her heart grow cold as she looked down at the unmoving girl and turned to Peter.
"Go get Walter." Nodding quickly, Peter took off without hesitation. He had been troubled by the girl's state as much as she had. The blue haired girl ceased protesting but she kept her teary-eyed gaze on her friend and Olivia pitied her. "Hey, what's your name?" The girl hesitated before answering as a few tears that she hadn't been able to hold back trickled down her face.
"Chloe…"
"Now listen, Chloe. We've got a doctor with us and he's going to help your friend." The girl nodded slowly but Olivia could tell that she was unconvinced. "Chloe… I'm going to help you up so you can be with your friend but you have to promise me that you will cooperate with us, understood?" The girl nodded enthusiastically as a few more tears streamed down her face.
"I promise." Her response was feeble but resolute. Olivia moved quickly and helped Chloe to her feet and steadied her. Holstering her sidearm, she looked the girl straight in the eyes for a moment. Sensing no threat, she moved behind her and slowly uncuffed the blue-haired girl. Chloe took a step toward her friend but Olivia stayed her movement by gripping her tightly on the shoulder.
"Hold out your hands, please," requested Olivia. Chloe hesitated for a moment, but after one quick glance at her friend she offered up her hands to be handcuffed again, without a fuss. Olivia helped Chloe kneel down next to Max, who worryingly still hadn't moved. Chloe reached out and grabbed one of Max's hands and held it tightly.
"Oh, Max… please be okay…"
"Hey, what about me?"
Olivia turned towards the man that she handcuffed, who, to his credit, hadn't put up any resistance. Before she could respond, a sudden movement to her right caught her attention. Charlie had finally arrived and he was pretty much dragging a semi-conscious boy whom she recognized immediately. He was a little dirty and his shirt was torn slightly while his white undershirt had fresh blood stains. Olivia was shocked to realize that the blood could have come from him or Charlie, probably both.
"Charlie, what the hell happened?" she found herself asking in confusion. Had Charlie really let some kid get the better of him?
Noticing the incredulous look on her face, Charlie did his best to downplay his state. Streaks of blood came from wound somewhere under his hair and ran down the side of his face and neck. His suit was just as dirty and torn as the boy's clothing, but whatever confrontation that happened between the two, she was glad that Charlie had come out on top.
"The kid's got spirit, I'll give him that. I'm fine, Livvy. He got me good though. Little bastard..." As Charlie approached, he grunted with effort as the semi-conscious boy stumbled over some debris, but he managed to keep the boy on his feet. As Olivia inspected the boy's face, she noticed too late that even though he appeared to be barely able to stand, his eyes were alert and ready and had gone wide at the sight of the still unconscious and bloodied Max.
"Charlie!" Her warning had come too late.
Standing as quickly as she could, she watched in horror as the boy sprang into action. The boy pivoted in place and threw himself at Charlie. Caught off balance, the pair crashed into the side of one of the rusted-out vehicles with Charlie taking the brunt of the blow. Trying to regain control of the boy, Charlie received a vicious headbutt to the face. As he staggered from the blow, the boy kicked Charlie's feet out. Falling to the ground with a surprised grunt, Charlie fumbled for his weapon only to have it kicked away.
"Stop!" Olivia was shocked at how fast everything had happened. In the seconds that it took for her to redraw her sidearm, this kid had incapacitated Charlie and he now turned to face her. Even though his hands were still securely cuffed behind his back, and even though she had her sidearm steadily trained on him, he regarded her with a look of contempt.
"What the hell? I leave you alone for a few seconds and look what happens!" Peter shouted. He arrived with Walter in tow. He immediately moved to help the now groaning Charlie to his feet.
"On your knees, now!" Olivia called out. Thankful that no one else had taken advantage of the chaos, Olivia decided she wasn't going to take any chances with the defiant looking boy.
"Calm down, Agent Dunham! I need to concentrate!" Walter growled in annoyance as he knelt down next to Max, opening his portable first aid kit with one hand, checking her pulse at the neck with the other. "Pulse is unusually rapid… hmmm."
Once Charlie was on his feet again, but still supporting himself against one of the wrecks, Peter warily approached the boy. Before Peter reached him, however, the boy collapsed to his knees, his face shadowed with defeat. Sidearm still in hand, Olivia followed the boy's miserable gaze to where Walter was now forcing Max's eyelids open as he shined a small flashlight in them to test her pupil's responses.
"Dilation normal…Peter, come and help me!" Impatient as ever, Walter's voice demanded an immediate response. Peter was at his side in seconds.
Slowly, Olivia re-holstered her sidearm as she exhaled the breath that she hadn't known she was holding. Keeping one eye on the boy, she moved over to where Charlie was recovering.
"What the hell happened, Charlie?" Shaking his head slowly, Charlie winced in pain as he tentatively touched the small wound on his head.
"Damned kid came out of nowhere. Almost got my gun away from me. I'd check his background if I were you, Livvy, he's been trained or something." If Olivia hadn't witnessed what had just happened, she might have laughed at Charlie and told him that he was losing his edge. But she had seen the kid in action. She could only slowly nod as she regarded him one more time.
The now defeated looking boy couldn't have been any older than nineteen. His dark brown hair was thick but short. He had the faint beginnings of a goatee on his chin that added a certain amount of maturity to his complexion. He was tall and skinny, almost lanky. His face clouded in misery, green eyes gazing fixedly at Walter and Peter as they tried to resuscitate Max.
Olivia's attention turned to Chloe, who was crouched next to her fallen friend, using a piece of gauze to dab the blood from Max's face.
"What do you think is going through his mind right now? Just look at him, he seems like a completely different person," Olivia asked Charlie in a hushed tone.
"Well, the way I see it right now… he was probably just trying to do what he thought was right to protect his friends." Olivia turned to look at the now smiling Charlie as he did his best to stand upright again. "Hey, don't look at me like that, Livvy. I'm not saying I forgive him for doing what he did. In fact, I'm still pretty pissed about it. I'm just saying I can understand why he fought so hard."
Nodding absentmindedly, Olivia moved over to the first aid kit and grabbed a few items for Charlie and tossed them to him. He caught the gauze and bandages one after the other, snatching them out of the air easily in spite of his state.
As Charlie began to patch himself up, she cautiously approached the defeated boy. As she knelt down beside him, he barely noticed her. He didn't resist at all when she helped him to his feet. He remained eerily passive as she led him a short distance to a lone plastic chair. Allowing himself to be lowered in the chair, the boy refused to take his eyes off of his friends. Olivia was about to begin to ask him a few questions, but before she could open her mouth there was a moment of commotion around Max that was quickly interrupted as the girl gasped for air.
"Max!" Chloe cried out in relief. Olivia noticed that the boy momentarily tensed, but the tension fled his body when it became apparent that his friend regained consciousness.
"Chloe…" Max gasped feebly as she tried to get up. Walter and Peter carefully held her down but her eyes went wide with panic nonetheless.
"It's okay, Max. These people are helping… I think, right?" Chloe went from reassuring Max one moment to skeptically eyeing Olivia and her team the next.
"Yes, of course, my dear! Don't be silly. Now, Max, is it? Short for Maxine, no doubt? Please lie still." Walter was full of smiles and entirely pleasant, a starkly different man than he had been moments ago. Max coughed lightly but remained where she was.
"Where's Kevin?" Max asked hesitantly.
"Right here, Max."
Olivia jumped at the sudden sound of the boy's voice. Her movement caught his attention. He regarded her for a moment with his dull green eyes, then he quickly dismissed her and turned his attention back to Max.
"What happened?" Max's words trailed off as she looked back and forth between her two handcuffed friends. An awkward silence hung in the air for several moments as everyone looked at one another as if they secretly hoped that someone else would try to explain. Eventually the situation finally become so unbearable that someone finally broke, but it wasn't who Olivia had expected.
"Well first, girlie, you fuckin' pulled a gun on me," the disheveled man that had been completely forgotten about emphasized the word 'me' heavily before continuing. "Then, these FBI agents came out of nowhere yelling and shouting up a storm. Then you scared the shit out of everyone when you passed out and started bleeding all over the place. Next that guy over there, Charlie, I think, came out of the junk dragging your friend Kevin around like a ragdoll. But your friend went all kung-fu crazy and opened a can of whoop-ass on Charlie. Agent Dunham then waved her gun at him and he calmed the fuck down and throughout all that, Chloe's been whining like a little bitch while… Peter… yeah, Peter and this doctor guy have been fussing over you… Did I miss anything?"
"Fuck you, Frank!" Chloe growled at him as she scrubbed the lingering tears from her face with the back of her fist.
"Meh… You're not my type," Frank returned quickly as he chuckled to himself.
"Agent Dunham, we should get this girl, Maxine, back to my… well, back to our house so I can examine her further. If we're careful with moving her, she should be fine to travel." Before she could respond to Walter, a chorus of other responses interrupted her.
"You're not taking her anywhere without me," Chloe stated firmly.
"I'm coming as well." Kevin declared plainly but forcibly as if to ward off any possible argument.
"Oh, you think you've got a choice, do you? That's cute," Charlie growled back at Kevin and the two glared at one another for a moment.
"I don't need to go. Can you guys just let me go, please?" Frank called out from where he was sitting off to the side, forgotten once again.
"Don't let him go! He's a lame-ass drug dealer!" Chloe shot Frank a vengeful look. For the first time throughout the encounter, he lost his temper.
"Shut the fuck up, bitch!"
"A drug dealer, you say? My good sir, do you have mescaline? Or how about some LSD? Surely you have some good marijuana, don't you? Speak up!"
"Walter…" Peter groaned as he called after his father, his patient forgotten as he approached Frank with a newfound interest.
"Uncle Charlie?"
Olivia froze and wondered how long Kimberly had been watching. The teenager quickly approached her equally shocked uncle.
"Kimberly, I thought I told you to stay in the car!" Charlie yelled in exasperation.
"And I thought I told you to not call me that! What happened to you?" She shot back, unfazed and defiant to the last.
"Your uncle and I had a minor disagreement," Kevin called out sheepishly, seemingly recognizing the girl. He did his best to look dashing, despite the fact that he was still in handcuffs. Olivia felt the beginnings of smile forming on her lips.
"A minor—" Charlie started, but was cut off by his niece.
"A disagreement about what?" At this, Kevin flashed a sly smile as he responded.
"I thought he was an asshole out to hurt my friends and he thought I was some punk kid up to no good."
Chloe and Peter chuckled and even Frank laughed despite his earlier irritation. Olivia's smile was now realized. But despite the smiles that were creeping up, Olivia noticed that Charlie's niece was still deadly serious.
"And?" she asked impatiently, eyeing Kevin with distrust.
"Well, it seems that I was wrong," Kevin began and Olivia watched as his dashing smile spread across Kevin's face. "But your Uncle, he might be onto something."
"Livvy, smack him for me please." Charlie grumbled as he realized that the boy's attempts at being charming and alluring might actually be working on his niece as a slow smile crept across her face.
Kevin had never been in handcuffs before, it hadn't taken long for him to loath the experience with every fiber of his being. The agent named Charlie had made sure that his were extra tight, but this was to be expected. Not only had he caused a great deal of trouble for the FBI agents, he had also shown them that he was unpredictable… even dangerous. How did I do that?
He had moved without thinking and reacted purely on instinct. No hesitation. No fear. It was as if he had watched someone else do those incredible feats, like watching a movie and he was simply a character. The experience had been so surreal and if he wasn't faced with the stark reality of the situation at the moment, he wouldn't have believed that it happened.
The metal cuffs dug into his wrists as the vehicle he was in maneuvered through the twisty back roads of Arcadia Bay. Determined not to show any discomfort, he suppressed a groan as he bit down on his tongue. Chloe was to his right on the opposite side of the rear passenger seat and Max was snugly wedged between them. They were both still in handcuffs but, Kevin assumed, since they had been compliant, their hands weren't behind their backs. Theirs are probably not as tight either…
The agent, Olivia, was driving the vehicle and the doctor, Walter, rode shotgun and peered back to see how Max was faring every so often. Walter would also glance over at Kevin with mild curiosity from time to time, but for the most part, his attention was focused on Max. This wasn't true for the other occupants of the vehicle. Max and Chloe couldn't keep their eyes off of Kevin. Max kept casting worried glances his way despite his stoic resilience to the situation and Chloe's expression was a mixture of awe and guilt.
He hated being the center of attention and even though he hadn't noticed anything concrete, he was almost positive that Olivia had her eyes on him too, even though she was driving. But despite all of the attention and his constant physical discomfort, nothing compared to dreadful torment of the knowledge that someone else was driving his car right behind them.
What if they scratch it? What if they do something to it? What if that bastard is driving it? He hadn't seen who had been tasked with driving his vehicle but he hoped and pleaded it hadn't been the agent named Charlie. He felt a certainty deep down in his chest that if it was indeed his new nemesis that he would mistreat it in any way that he could. He had seen the man's niece get into the driver's seat of the other FBI vehicle that was identical to the one that he was in so he knew that it wasn't her. Shame really, I wouldn't mind it if she drove my car… well, not that much anyway.
His expression must have changed, because at that moment, Max scooched closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder as if to comfort him. He sensed Chloe tense slightly and she must have too because she awkwardly abandoned the maneuver. Her face flushed with color, which despite the awkward moment, sent waves of relief through his body.
Despite her recovery, Max's face remained several shades paler than usual. Kevin's face reddened as anger clouded his thoughts. I should have been there to protect them. If I hadn't stormed off, I could have kept us out of this mess. This is my fault. If I had just been there… I could have—
You could have what? They have guns you fool! You couldn't even manage to take out one of them when you had the upper hand! What were you going to do against three of them at once? Idiot…
As Olivia maneuvered her vehicle into the large driveway, another pang of guilt flooded through her. Not only had their case ruined Charlie's vacation, but while assisting them, he was injured and now they invaded his vacation home. But Charlie had insisted, and he was certainly right about the fact that at this present moment, they had nowhere else better to go.
The two-story house was quite large and tucked away in the woods of Arcadia bay. It had obviously been designed as a private vacation home because of the lack of nearby neighbors. There wasn't much of a yard around the property but the forest had been cut back just enough so that none of the large trees would damage the house if they collapsed. There were only two bedrooms but according to Charlie there were plenty of couches for everyone and he certainly didn't want anyone sleeping at the 'local' hotels. He also claimed that the finished and barely furnished basement would be a perfect set-up for Walter's equipment.
Charlie drove the white Mazda from the junkyard and he groaned as he struggled to climb out of the low vehicle. Peter, on the other-hand, happily leapt out of the rusted brown pickup truck and gave the old beast an approving nod as he closed the door. Kimberly arrived behind the wheel of the second FBI vehicle. She was incredibly enthusiastic to lend her assistance but Olivia had misgivings about allowing a teenager to be involved in the investigation, especially Charlie's teenager.
Kimberly put up a fuss when Frank, a confirmed drug dealer, had been let go. Even though Olivia agreed with Charlies niece's protests, Walter insisted in case they needed to conduct repeat business with him in the future. Charlie ushered his niece inside in order to make a few last-minute preparations for their sudden swarm of unexpected guests. Olivia assisted Peter with moving their handcuffed guests inside. Meanwhile, Walter fussed over Max despite her insistence that she was feeling much better. He kept very close to the nervous girl.
"Nonsense, young lady! You must be careful. Take your time… and I want you sitting down as soon as we get inside!" Walter fretted over Max as he chatted away enthusiastically. "Oh, Agent Dunham, since Astrix isn't here... Can you and Peter please bring my equipment inside? I wish to start my examinations at once!"
"Astrid, Walter. Her name is Astrid." Peter called back from inside the house as he escorted the boy named Kevin inside. The boy had taken on a drastically different temperament now, almost submissive, but Olivia watched him carefully and it seemed that Peter wasn't taking any chances either.
"That's what I said! Isn't it, Agent Dunham?" Walter responded confidently, entirely unaware that he never seemed to get Agent Astrid's name correct.
Smiling as she shook her head, Olivia directed Chloe through the front door of the house and helped her down the stairs to the basement. Downstairs, Peter had already directed Kevin to a large blue couch at the far end of the first room. The room was large and sparsely furnished. The couch accompanied a matching chair and loveseat. A large oak table dominated the other end of the room.
The room had a single door that led to the rest of the basement and, upon inspection, Olivia discovered a second room that seemed to be storage for a few more pieces of furniture and some other odds and ends. Closing the door, she turned back to watch as both Chloe and Max sat down next to Kevin. Both Chloe and Kevin intentionally maneuvered so that Max would be between them. She observed the trio for a moment longer and turned to Peter as he approached.
"Peter… Walter would like your help bringing in his equipment." Peter rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.
"And by help I assume that means I will be dragging everything down here while he grumbles about how long I am taking?"
"I would help but..." She nodded towards the three teenagers on the couch and Peter smiled and motioned with his hand to show that he understood.
As Peter ascended the stairs, she regarded their captive teenagers once more. Max seemed to be doing much better but she was obviously worried and even though Chloe was doing her best to seem indifferent, Olivia could tell that she was tense and nervous as well. Kevin, on the other hand, expertly covered his emotions with an impassive stare as he took in his surroundings but his body language told a completely different story.
She could tell from the way he sat that he was in pain and that he was tense and perhaps even a little angry. His shoulders were rigid and his jaw was clenched tightly. It was then that she realized that he still had his hands behind his back and felt a rare moment of irritation with Charlie. Shaking her head, she approached the three teenagers and smiled awkwardly and did her best to seem nonthreatening.
"As you probably already know… my name is Olivia Dunham and I'm with the FBI—" Chloe cut her off mid-sentence and quickly became agitated.
"What the shit do you want with us? We didn't do anything!"
"I'm sorry, but I wouldn't call illegal possession of a firearm, consorting with a drug dealer, and assaulting an agent 'not doing anything.'" Olivia's response was quick and to the point, and it drove itself home with spectacular effect.
Chloe stiffened at this rebuke and Kevin shifted slightly in discomfort. Realizing that she had responded harshly, she forced herself to relax and softened her tone.
"Look, we would just like to talk to the three of you and ask you a few questions. If you assist us in our investigation and remain compliant we may forgive and forget so to speak, how does that sound?" Chloe was about to respond when Kevin cleared his throat and interrupted her. She cast him a sidelong glance and simply shrugged as if she wasn't interested in the conversation anymore.
"What investigation is that, Agent Dunham?" Kevin's formal tone threw her off slightly but she didn't let it show. Adopting an equally formal tone, she felt as if she were discussing the case with another agent. Olivia pondered her next words carefully and scrutinized the three teenagers as she spoke.
"What do you three know about Rachel Amber?" Kevin's face didn't change at all at the mention of the name but Max's shone with recognition, but the real prize was Chloe's reaction. Chloe's face lit up in surprise as her mouth hung open, her eyes widened but shone with hopefulness. It immediately became apparent that this was someone who had been close to her even if she hadn't spoken.
"How is this about Rachel? What do you know about her? Have you found her?" Chloe would probably have continued rapidly asking questions if Olivia hadn't held up her hand to suppress them. As she did this, she detected a slight reaction from Kevin as his eyes went to Chloe and then back to Olivia. Ignoring Chloe's questions, she moved on to her next question while the trio was still unbalanced.
"Did any of you happen to catch the snow yesterday?" asked Olivia. The trio nodded but Chloe was undeterred.
"What does that have to do with Rachel?" Chloe retorted. Olivia was equally undeterred and ignored her question.
"What were the three of you doing when it started snowing? Were you together?" Her question was rewarded with a nervous glance from Chloe as she looked at Max who was doing her best not to make eye contact with Olivia. Kevin, again, had complete control of his reaction but she noticed him tense briefly. Before anyone could answer her new question, she moved on as if the answer was unimportant.
"How about at the diner? The Two Wales was it? Why were the three of you in such a hurry to leave?" Kevin's solid composure finally broke as his pupils dilated slightly and his nostrils flared. Max's face paled and Chloe visibly swallowed as she cast another worried look at Kevin and then to Max. Smiling warmly, Olivia did her best not to seem triumphant as she asked her next question.
"What is it you were trying to do in the diner, Max?" Max's face paled further and her entire body tensed. Chloe's light blue eyes widened and her jaw tightened as her body went rigid but it was Kevin's reaction that she found most interesting. His face hardened and his eyes went cold and he looked straight and defiantly back into her eyes.
"Why did you bring us here? If you really are FBI agents, shouldn't you have taken us to a police station? What's really going on here?" Before anything more could be said, Peter noisily made his way down the stairs as he struggled with two heavy metal cases that contained some of Walter's equipment. All eyes turned towards him as he set the cases down beside the oak table and turned to make his way back up the stairs.
"Peter, could you watch them for a moment? I'll get the next load. It looks like you could use a break." Nodding in thanks, Peter made his way towards the chair to the left of the couch and fell into it. At the mixture of grave expressions that covered the faces of their guests, he immediately collected himself and straightened in his seat. As Olivia climbed the stairs, she formed a plan in her head as she sought out Charlie.
Charlie and his niece hustled back and forth in the kitchen as they prepared lunch for many more people than were currently present. Charlie sported a fresh set of almost identical clothes and moved around better than he had been. He just finished washing his hands when he noticed Olivia enter the room. She motioned for him to join her and he nodded. After having a quick word with his niece, he made his way over to her.
"What's up, Livvy?"
"Has Astrid gotten back to us with those background checks yet?"
"No, not yet. Why, are they giving you trouble?"
"Did anything stand out to you about Kevin when you ran into him in the bathroom at the diner? Anything at all?" Charlie crossed his arms and stared back at her for a moment as he replayed the moment in his head.
"He was hunched over one of the sinks. He didn't look too good either. When I asked him if he was okay he told me he had a headache… what is it?" The frown creasing her brow must have drawn his attention.
"A headache." Olivia repeated slowly. Before she thought Kevin might have been the most important of the trio. He almost managed to overpower Charlie twice and moved with such calculated precision and speed that he had seemed the most likely subject for Walter. His interest in them at the diner had also been unnerving but now she had a different idea.
"Talk to me, Livvy. Remember my brain doesn't work like yours. What's going on in there?"
"Charlie, back at the diner—"
"When you looked like you saw a ghost?"
"Yeah, it was this overwhelming sensation of vertigo and I had this sudden pain in my head. It came back again just as suddenly, but just for a moment… it was almost as if everything went backwards for a second or two."
"You said this already. What does that all have to…" Charlie stopped as he put the pieces together in his mind. "Do you think that kid had the same experience?"
"Or something quite similar, yes. And I think that girl, Max, is responsible for whatever happened." Charlie pondered this for a moment and then slowly nodded.
"Do you think he knows?"
"I do… he must have gone into the bathroom when Max was… doing whatever it is that she does so no one would notice him react like I did." Nodding again, Charlie glanced down the stairs to the basement and grimaced as another thought crossed his mind.
"Do you think she knows?"
Olivia paused for a moment before answering. It was possible that Max had no idea how her abilities, or whatever they were, affected others. Olivia was nearly certain that she was able to detect whatever was going on because of the cortexiphan in her bloodstream thanks to Walter's experiments on her when she was a child… does that kid have the drug in him too? That would certainly explain a few things but he's far too young to be one of Walter's former subjects. But in the Fringe division's countless investigations, they had time and time again come across copycats to Walter's past experiments so it was certainly possible that someone had restarted the cortexiphan trials.
"Let's go ask her." She said as she playfully prodded Charlie's shoulder. Nodding again, he cast one last look at his niece who had at this point taken total control of the food preparations and was doing her best not to look like she was eavesdropping. "But first, we better go grab the rest of Walter's equipment."
It took a few trips but several minutes later all of Walter's equipment was inside and ready to be unpacked. Glancing at the three teenagers on the couch, she noticed how apprehensive they all still were but she could see how the three took comfort in each other's closeness. It was time to amend her plan.
"We should separate them for a bit. I'll take Max upstairs and talk to her alone and see what I can get from her." Charlie nodded and then glanced over towards Kevin. A slow smile appeared on his face.
"While you're doing that, I'll play some hardball with the kid." Charlie, of course, meant Kevin. He seemed all too eager and even though she couldn't blame him, she wondered for a moment if leaving the two alone was a good idea or not.
"Not too hard, Charlie." She warned him.
"Relax, Livvy. I got this." Nodding, she turned to Peter, who had walked over to join them.
"Peter, can you talk to Chloe while we are gone?" Peter took a moment before answering as he rubbed the stubble that had formed on his chin.
"Sure thing, about what?" He responded.
"Just talk to her. It doesn't matter about what. Once we get Max and Kevin out of the room, I think she will open up pretty quickly." Peter simply shrugged and set to work unpacking some of Walter's equipment.
Olivia approached the couch and put on her best warm smile as she reached down and motioned for Max to hold out her hands. The girl hesitantly complied and Olivia unlocked her cuffs and gently removed them.
"Come on, Max. Walter wants to check up on you to see how you are doing. Let's go upstairs."
Max turned back to look at her friends as she allowed herself to be led away. Chloe's anxiety was clearly visible and she seemed on the verge of intervening when her eyes fell on Kevin. The boy shook his head slowly and spoke to her so calmly and softly that Olivia couldn't make it out but whatever he had said seemed to calm Chloe down, if only slightly.
Once upstairs, Olivia directed Max towards the family room. Walter was already there, set up watching one of his favorite cartoons. In between soft chuckles, Walter, without breaking his attention away from his show, snacked on some of his endless supply of candy.
Noticing them approach, Walter was startled for a moment and as she sat Max down on the large brown leather couch he offered her some of his chocolates. Declining, Max shook her head and the gesture seemed to wound him intimately. Walter had made himself quite comfortable in one of the two lazy-boy style reclining leather chairs as he munched away. Smiling to herself, Olivia made her way around the central glass coffee table and sat down on the matching love-seat directly to the left and perpendicular to the couch.
"Are you sure that you don't want any, young lady? If not, then you should at least have some food or something to drink! Are you sure you are feeling alright?" As Walter spoke he got up from his seat and moved closer to examine Max and she shied away as he approached. Looking crestfallen and wounded, Walter glanced sadly at Olivia and then back to Max. "You have nothing to fear from us young lady, we merely wish to help you." This wasn't exactly what Olivia had in mind when she had brought Max upstairs with her but she let it play out anyway.
"Help with what?" Max asked shakily as she eyed Walter and his box of chocolates suspiciously. Her question startled him and he seemed momentarily confused and taken aback.
"Why with your strange mysterious abilities of course!" Olivia felt her mouth drop open as she watched Max's do the same. Max recovered just enough to stammer out that she didn't know what Walter was talking about but he persisted. "Nonsense! Now, if you could please be so kind as to tell us about your abilities and when they manifested themselves, we will certainly do our best to assist you in every way possible. We do this sort of thing all the time! Isn't that right, Agent Dunham?"
As Max turned slowly towards Olivia, Olivia realized that Charlie's niece had stopped everything that she was doing and was listening intently to their conversation from the next room. A low half-wall separated the kitchen from the family room and there was zero chance of her having missed any word. She could only nod reassuringly at Max who, to her surprise, looked like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. And to her further surprise, Max began to tell them everything.
She started slowly at first as if unsure of herself but as Walter asked questions and sought confirmation his interest seemed to boost her confidence. As Max continued, Walter's questions became less and less frequent and his face grew more and more serious. Seeing this, Olivia felt a knot begin to form in the depths of her stomach. She knew from experience that the grave look on Walter's face meant trouble. The situation here in Arcadia Bay was certainly more ominous than they had suspected earlier. Once Max was finished, she nervously cast a sidelong glance at Olivia and then looked back at Walter who seemed lost in thought. Suddenly, after a few moments of awkward silence Walter stirred and made his way down to the basement with surprising haste.
As Olivia led Max back downstairs, the pair stopped when they heard loud and angry voices coming from the next room. Sighing, Olivia smiled reassuringly to Max as she made her way to the adjacent room where Charlie and Kevin were clearly ready to tear each other's heads off. Her sudden entrance caused the pair to immediately go quiet and freeze in place. Kevin was still handcuffed and sitting in a wooden chair in the center of the room while Charlie stood directly in front, looming menacingly over the boy. It quickly became apparent that Charlie's intimidation tactics hadn't worked in the slightest, it seemed that Charlie had finally met his match.
"That's enough you two." The atmosphere in the room changed dramatically as Charlie put on a wounded look to insinuate that he had done nothing wrong and Kevin's face looked equally innocent.
"Nothing going on here, Livvy," Charlie stated nonchalantly.
"Agent Francis and I are just having a 'friendly' chat," Kevin confirmed. Hearing this, Charlie shot Kevin an incredulous look, which the handcuffed teenager responded to with genuine laughter. While Kevin chuckled to himself, Olivia leaned in close to her former partner and asked him what had happened. Charlie responded in a low voice and his words were full of admiration.
"This kid is either the perfect mix of sarcasm and disrespect for authority or he's been trained to resist interrogation… I've never seen anything like it, Livvy… I can't wait to see what comes up in this kid's background check. Should be a good read." Nodding absentmindedly, Olivia pondered what, if any, connections this had to Max's abilities.
"Get his cuffs off and bring him back to the others. Max needs to talk to her friends." Nodding, Charlie set to work uncuffing the still amused Kevin, who had for the first time adopted a friendly tone. An all too and slightly forced Canadian accent fluttered around his words.
"So, I guess we're all friends now, eh?" chuckled Kevin. Charlie scoffed as Kevin stood and massaged his raw wrists. She motioned for Kevin to follow her back to the other room and he complied peacefully as if Charlie wasn't standing right behind him, ready in case he tried anything.
"I told them everything…" Max spoke softly and nervously as she braced herself for her friends' responses. Chloe, who was sitting to Max's left on the couch, looked at her friend in surprise for a moment but quickly recovered and put her arm around Max, embracing her encouragingly.
Kevin, who had decided to remain aloof, stood with his back against the far wall massaging his wrists and wore an impassive look as if he wasn't concerned. "I… told them about you too, Kevin." At this, he met Max's eyes and his movements halted for a moment. He was certainly doing his best at suppressing an emotional response but his body went rigid for a moment.
As if to draw attention away from this, he shrugged nonchalantly, as if what his friend had said hadn't mattered to him either way. But Max was smarter than Olivia gave her credit for. Olivia's trained eye had picked up on Kevin's response and she hadn't expected Max to notice. But it was evident that she had from the hurt look that crept onto the girl's face. Olivia watched in fascination as Kevin's relaxed posture disappeared at the sight of his friend's emotive response. Slipping out of Chloe's embrace, Max, conscious that all eyes were on her, slowly made her way over to where Kevin stood. With a suddenness that even surprised Kevin, she fiercely embraced her friend and seemed on the verge of tears as she spoke to him, her voice shaky and wavering.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry about everything. I've made things so terrible for you and Chloe and put you guys through all this." He embraced her comfortingly as she spoke and Olivia noticed Chloe stir from the other side of the room.
"Max, it's fine. Really, it's fine. Worse things could have happened," Kevin stated confidently.
"Like what?" Max groaned, no doubt her imagination running wild.
"Well… Charlie could have won our fight."
Scoffing at this, Charlie glared back at Kevin. "Says the guy who ended up in handcuffs."
Kevin smiled slyly as he expertly antagonized Charlie further. "How's your head, Agent Francis?"
His face reddening, Charlie's posture stiffened.
"Enough!" Walter's harsh words startled everyone in the room. Max and Kevin separated from their embrace and Olivia couldn't help smiling. It would have been a cute moment if the pair hadn't seemed so awkward afterwards. Max smiled despite her earlier composure and made her way back to the couch where Chloe welcomed her back. As her arm wrapped protectively around her friend, Chloe shot a challenging look back at Kevin who seemed to not notice. Despite his indifference, Olivia noticed Kevin's face flush slightly and he carefully shifted his balance from one foot to the other.
Peter had obviously been busy unpacking Walter's equipment while he had spoken with Chloe. Almost everything had been unpacked and Chloe must have leant a helping hand because several new desks, tables and wooden chairs littered the now clustered room. Walter's equipment was mostly set up but despite this Walter seemed distressed and upset by the state of the room.
"This will not do! I need to be back in my lab!" Despite his angry protests, he set to work gathering supplies and it quickly became evident that he intended to draw a few blood samples. Kevin must have noticed this as well because his face paled and his eyes quickly shifted away from the array of needles that Walter was preparing.
"I'm going to need blood samples from all three of you, just in case. Peter, if you could start with the young man. I'm going to need three samples, quickly now!" Peter accepted the task and turned to Kevin and a sly, cunning smile spread across his face.
"Well, I guess we found your kryptonite. Not afraid of needles, are we?" Kevin paled even further and shifted uncomfortably as he stared fixedly at the syringe in Peter's hand.
"Needles don't scare me," Kevin managed bravely, "They fucking terrify me."
Kevin's knees trembled for a moment as his eyes darted towards the stairs as he nervously plotted his escape. Olivia moved to block him but the maneuver had been unnecessary.
"I need to sit down…" The boy groaned. Seemingly on the verge of collapse, Olivia grabbed the boy by the shoulders and steadied him. She assisted him to the nearest chair and he collapsed gracelessly into it.
"Just try and think of something else?" Peter offered and his patient scoffed fiercely. Peter set to work and sterilized an area on Kevin's left arm and as the moment drew near, Olivia could see the boy grow increasingly fearful. Charlie grinned from ear to ear as he watched the boy suffer but Olivia paid him no attention as she did her best to distract Kevin from what seemed like impending doom.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" she asked, not having to fake interest in his answer.
"Uh, movies I guess… I dunno." He shifted uncomfortably but he looked up and met her eyes and she felt as if he was telling the truth so she continued to do her best to distract him as Peter skillfully inserted the needle into his arm.
"I see. Why did you attack Agent Francis?"
His eyes narrowed as he regarded her for a moment before answering. "He looked shady and had a gun… and it sounded like Max and Chloe were in trouble so-."
"So, you mistook my head for a piñata?" Grumbling, Charlie gingerly probed the side of his head and did his best to resist wincing as he touched the slowly healing wound.
"Exactly," Kevin responded with a content nod. The beginnings of a faint smile were detectable on his face and only grew more prominent when he noticed Charlie glaring at him.
"All done," Peter declared as he removed the needle from Kevin's arm. He gave the boy a reassuring nod and he withdrew to hand Walter the three vials of blood.
"Fucking vampire," Kevin groaned as he grimly inspected his arm.
Peter returned and applied a small bandage to the boy's arm before setting off to draw blood from Chloe and Max. The two girls managed the experience with more fortitude than their male companion.
Charlie's niece called down that lunch was ready and despite his state, Kevin dashed upstairs with Charlie hot on his heels. Max and Chloe followed once Peter was finished with them. Soft and peaceful conversation could be heard upstairs. Olivia's nose caught the delightful aroma of the food and her stomach grumbled in anticipation.
"Is there anything else you need from them, Walter?" she inquired, causing Walter to turn away from his work. He stared moodily at her for a moment before responding.
"At present no, but if we were back at my lab I could do so much more!" Turning back to the blood samples, he continued to grumble about his lack of resources.
"If there's anything else you need, I'm sure Broyles would send it our way," she offered, trying to cheer him even though she knew that his mood swings carved their own path.
"Perhaps we could bring them all back to the lab! It would be so much easier and Jean would love the company!" said Walter excitedly. He took one blood sample from each of the teenagers and placed them in the centrifuge. Looking to Peter, who was still unpacking a few odds and ends, he met her eyes and simply shrugged and remained silent.
"Let's see what we can learn from these blood samples first, then we can think of what to do next. Is there anything you need from Broyles in the meantime?"
Walter grumbled something about making a list for her and when it seemed certain that he would add nothing more, she turned to go upstairs to join the others. As she ascended the stairs, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she quickly read the message from Astrid. The background checks had finally come through and she had forwarded them to Olivia's inbox. Her grumbling stomach would have to wait a few moments longer.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as they ate, all of their worries forgotten. Olivia moved quickly past the kitchen and made her way upstairs to where her laptop awaited her. She set it up on a small desk in the spare bedroom where the rest of her belongings also resided, still unpacked. She hadn't brought much so unpacking hadn't been necessary and as she brought her computer out of hibernation, she quickly accessed the files that Astrid sent to her.
It didn't take long to realize that Maxine Caulfield was unexceptional in almost every way. She had grown up in Arcadia Bay but had moved with her family to Seattle only to come back to Arcadia Bay several years later to attend Blackwell Academy for photography. Nothing in the files suggested she was anything other than a normal eighteen-year-old girl. Moving on, she found a starkly different story in Chloe Price's files.
Starting out as a normal girl, it seemed that after her father died in a tragic car accident, trouble started brewing. Olivia also noted that the week her father had died was the same week that Max had left for Seattle. After this, her file read just like most files she had grown used to reading. Chloe started pushing back against the world, getting into trouble with the local law enforcement and was expelled from Blackwell Academy for acting out and poor performance.
Olivia felt certain that Chloe's life would continue to spiral downward unless something significant happened to bring her out of it. For a brief moment, Olivia thought back to her own childhood and her step-father and as she cast the memory back from whence it came, she hoped that Chloe would never have to experience what she did when she was younger.
Sighing, she moved onto Kevin Anderson's file— the file she was most interested in. She wasn't at all surprised to discover that he was a Canadian national and other than one small note that hadn't been attached to his file, it was just as unexceptional as Max's. Astrid had done some digging and found something interesting about his birth and hospitalization at Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia, Ontario. Shortly following his birth, he'd had some health complications that required immediate intervention to save his life.
The hospital even spent some extra money on some special equipment and his birth made the local newspaper once his condition stabilized. Other than this, his file was frustratingly unhelpful and had no mention of hand to hand training, no mention of emotional conditioning and there were no odd holes or inconsistencies that would normally appear if something was being hidden or had been changed. Sighing in frustration at the waste of time, she closed her laptop and headed back downstairs to join the others to reward her still grumbling stomach for its patience.
After the grand meal, everyone settled into conversations that varied from polite small talk to enthusiastic discussions. Chloe and Peter had settled into a friendly conversation about her truck, picking up from where they had left off earlier. And despite Charlie's obvious discomfort, he nonetheless did nothing to discourage the quiet conversation that had begun between Kevin and his niece. Max, on the other hand, was mostly quiet. She spent most of her time observing everyone else and, to everyone's surprise, she even snapped a picture of Chloe while she was laughing at one of Peter's irresistible jokes.
The food almost entirely gone, the conversation grew stale and both Kevin and Max seemed to come to the same simultaneous conclusion that it was time to seek their freedom. They both cited an upcoming class for the need to return to Blackwell, which made Chloe roll her eyes, but she backed Max's decision regardless of her own feelings.
Walter admitted that he didn't see any further need in keeping them around until his analysis of their blood work could be completed, but managed again to complain about his lack of proper facilities. Making sure she exchanged phone numbers with all three of their guests, both Olivia and Walter stressed that Max should use her abilities as little as possible until they understood them more. Max agreed enthusiastically and thanked them for their interest in assisting her and even Kevin seemed relieved, which wasn't surprising since her powers caused him a great deal of discomfort.
As the trio departed, Max and Chloe in the pickup truck and Kevin in his own vehicle, Olivia withdrew to her thoughts and tried to make sense of everything. The vision of the tornado that she had experienced had been the same vision or dream that Max had experienced. Olivia had witnessed it through the girl's eyes, that much was certain. It was shortly after this that Max realized that she had the ability to control time, or at least rewind it for short periods.
As far as they knew, only Kevin and Olivia were able to notice when Max manipulated time. It caused them both a great deal of discomfort, more so for Kevin, if Max was to be believed. That could have just been Max's guilt speaking, but until a real scientific analysis could be made there wasn't much necessity in debating the matter.
Olivia wasn't even sure that she would allow Walter to run any tests on Max anytime soon. However, due to the sensitivity of the matter, especially if nothing was learned from the bloodwork, then she might have to. Walter seemed to be under the impression that the strange atmospheric disturbances that had only manifested themselves as a strange snowfall so far were directly related to Max's powers, but when asked how he would always change the subject.
He didn't have any theories on how or why she and Max had shared a horrifyingly realistic vision or what it meant, but he had a theory that it had to do with Olivia's cortexiphan induced abilities. His only hypothesis on Kevin's resilience to Max's powers was that he might have been introduced to cortexiphan or a similar drug at some point in his life but he wouldn't know for sure until the bloodwork was done.
As Olivia had expected, Peter's conversation with Chloe unearthed a treasure-trove of new information. He presented it to everyone as the remnants of their feast were being cleaned up. It didn't take long for everyone to abandon their tasks to listen intently to his every word.
"Chloe didn't just know Rachel Amber, the two of them were really, really close." Peter let his words hang in the air as a sly grin spread across his face. His theatrics were unnecessary but their effect was not lost on his audience.
"Wait, Rachel Amber? You mean that missing girl? The one from all of those missing person posters?" Charlie asked in confusion. Receiving several nods of encouragement from his peers, he continued, "She's been missing for months now, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Chloe put up those posters. Apparently the two of them were supposed to run off into the sunset together and then poof, she just vanished one day." Peter's explanation did little to break Charlie's bewilderment, so Olivia tossed Charlie a thin manila folder, which he deftly snatched out of the air.
"My favorite, required reading. What the hell is this?" Charlie asked slowly as he flipped through the file. It was obvious what he held in his hands: Rachel Amber's file. As Charlie thumbed through the folder, Peter continued.
"Long story short, Chloe loses her dad years ago to a car crash, and then in the same week loses her childhood friend, her only friend, Max, when Max's family moves away to Seattle. It's sometime after this that our blue-haired rebel meets Rachel Amber and, just like in the movies, they fall madly in love with each other. But, one day Rachel simply vanishes, without a trace, if that police report is to be believed."
Charlie snorted, throwing down the folder onto the table, its contents of documents and photographs spilling out onto the table. "Bullshit. Look at all this! This girl was top of class in… well everything! Perfect grades, extra-curricular activities out the ass, her father is the District Attorney for the state for Christs' sake! And just look at her! There's no way that someone like Chloe would have ever had a chance with, or ever wanted to get involved with someone like this." To showcase his point, Charlie gestured to the largest photograph of Rachel Amber. It was stunning to say the least.
Crystal-blue eyes, straight blonde hair that cascaded around her flawless face, all brought together by a warm, inviting smile. Simply beautiful.
"I don't know, Uncle Charlie, Chloe's pretty rad." Kimberly, as usual, was close at hand. Olivia smiled towards her, Kimberly was relentless. Before Charlie could protest his niece's presence, Walter spoke, his voice barely audible and morose.
"It's sad really."
Peter cocked an eyebrow at his father, rubbing the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. Before he could ask, Olivia cut in. She knew where Walter was going.
"There's no way that Rachel is still alive. People like that don't just vanish without a trace. Before we deployed, Broyles and Nina Sharp cast a wide net to find this girl, just in case. They didn't find anything." Olivia's blunt words deflated everyone around the table. Everyone except for Walter.
"Which means that she must be dead, and we have a hunt on our hands, perhaps a poltergeist! Isn't this exciting, Peter? Do you think I'll get to perform an exorcism?" Consumed with childlike glee, Walter looked around the room excitedly.
"Hang on a second, a poltergeist, really? You're serious?" Peter stared incredulously at his father, who stared back, giving his son a hurt look.
"And why not?" Walter asked impatiently.
"Is this your only theory at the moment? This is pretty thin, even for you Walter." Sighing, Peter idly fingered the documents detailing Rachel Amber's life before him. "Look, it's not that hard to disappear without a trace, especially if this girl is as smart as she's supposed to be. Hell, I could manage it, no problem."
"I'd find you." Olivia surprised herself with her words. Dripping with intensity, they caught Peter off-balance as well.
"Oh yeah?" Peter asked slyly, recovering quickly as an amused smile crept onto his face.
"Yeah, no problem." Forcing herself to be nonchalant in her response, she immediately became interested in something behind her.
"It's one of many, my son," Walter thankfully interrupted, "but I can see that your mind is still far too closed to accept what else I have to offer. Remember, there are no such things as coincidences. This Rachel Amber goes missing months ago, the case goes cold but her file gets thrown at us because it might just mean something. We tuck it away, use it as a coaster, and yet, moments ago perhaps the last person who saw this young woman alive was right here, talking to you about her!"
It had been a long time since Walter was this excited about something, and he clearly had no intention of listening to anyone else's questions. He set off to the basement mumbling to himself. Peter let out a weary sigh.
"I think I liked it better when he was ranting about how the world was going to end because of a few snowflakes. What's next, zombies?"
"Whatever it is, let's hope that we've seen the last of that Kevin kid. Once was enough for me." Charlie groaned as he worried over his wound. Kimberly rolled her eyes, and having lost interest, stormed off in a similar manner to Walter. Charlie exhaled a louder sigh than Peter. Olivia smiled in spite of the mountain of uncertainties surrounding their case.
There were still too many unanswered questions and for some reason, Olivia had a strange feeling that they would find many more unanswerable questions before they found answers.