Fracture

Thick dark clouds of smoke billowed towards the sky. Even at this distance, the heat from the flames could be felt as the low white domed buildings burned fiercely. A low wind fed the flames and twisted and bent the plume of thick, pitch-black smoke to its will. Unmoving in the light breeze, two skeletal bodies were visible just outside one of the buildings.

Kevin looked upon the corpses without emotion because their deaths didn't matter at all. The only life that mattered to him lay motionless in his arms. Barely able to recognize the corpse he held tightly to his chest, he paced the desert aimlessly, ignoring the nearby inferno. Eventually his grief overtook him and he collapsed on the desert sand beneath him, regarding the mauled corpse that, despite its grotesqueness, he couldn't bring himself to let go.

The form was frail and petite. The skin had been seared off in most places and the body was covered in small lacerations and deeper gashes. The hair had been mostly burned off. Several fingers and toes were missing, and the right arm hung loosely from an obviously dislocated or broken shoulder. As horrifying as the sight was, nothing compared to the thing's eyes. They were pale and wide with fear and had lost most of their previously enchanting color. He tried to close them but his efforts were futile. Its eyelids had been cut or ripped clean off. The corpse's once youthful and beautiful face was covered in sticky gore and dried blood.

Having no memory of how long he had been holding the grotesque corpse to his chest, he defiantly refused to let go. His mind was plagued with grief as it fumbled to comprehend the savagery that had been unleashed upon someone who had been so precious to him. His heart collapsed in on itself in anguish as it pleaded that what he was seeing wasn't happening, wasn't real, wasn't true.

But it had happened. It was real. It was true. And slowly, his grief turned to anger. His sorrow turned to rage. His despair turned to hatred. He would kill those responsible for this. He would hunt them down one by one and make them suffer as they had made him. His loss would become theirs and he wouldn't stop until every single one of them was dead.

With agonizing slowness, he reverently placed the body on the ground. It had gone mostly stiff and seemed even more lifeless than it had before. It took time, but his dark emotions fueled his determination and he dug a shallow grave in the shifting sands with his bare hands. It took time, but he had all the time in the world. He held the unrecognizable form in his arms one last time as he placed it in the shallow grave. Unable to look at the ghastly sight anymore, he hastily covered it as painful hot tears streamed down his face.

The wind picked up as he stood and he did his best to shield his face from the sand and dust that assaulted his face. Wiping the tears from his cheeks, he stared off into the endless desert and swore to himself and to the corpse now buried in the sand that he would not rest until he had slaughtered everyone responsible. No one would escape his wrath, he would have his revenge… and so would—

"Kate!" Kevin awoke with a start as Max called out, struggling in his arms. She regained her composure and relaxed, leaning back into his arms. It didn't take long though for her to become uneasy with their closeness and the pair separated but neither made a move to get out of bed. Max was clearly lost in her own thoughts and Kevin's own thoughts swirled around him.

That thing from my dream, was that... Kate? He shuddered as images of the nightmare came back to him with merciless clarity. He did his best to cast them out of his mind. It could have been… it could have been anyone. Despite his lack of certainty, his mind superimposed Kate's likeness on the ghastly images causing waves of nausea to spread throughout his body. It all felt so real. Like I had actually been there. What the hell is going on with my dreams? Why can't I just dream of fucking tornadoes like Max? Or normal shit at least.

Max seemed to sense that he was thinking about her. She regarded him for a moment, but whatever she was about to say was left unsaid. Her phone buzzed from her pocket and as she retrieved it she gasped in shock.

"It's past ten… are you cereal?" Kevin cast her an incredulous look for her butchering of the English language but said nothing as she smiled shyly at him. "We should probably get back to school. Thanks for you know…" Her words trailed off as she searched for the right words but he saw that she was having difficulty so he politely interjected.

"It's fine, Max. Don't worry about it. I'm just glad that you're okay. How was it?" Visibly relieved, Max sat up hesitantly as if testing herself.

"It was… weird." She kicked her feet over the edge of the bed and replaced her shoes and socks. "But I'd rather not go through it again."

"That bad, eh?" he asked as he hopped to his feet. Max shivered as she looked around the room, rubbing her bare arms with her hands.

"No, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. Where's my hoodie? It's freezing in here," said Max. Responding that it was probably still in the basement where she took it off, Kevin shook his head because to him the room was actually quite warm but followed her downstairs regardless.

While Max descended into the basement, Kevin paced around the empty kitchen and poked his head into the family room to discover Olivia sitting alone in the room working on her laptop.

"Can't sleep?" Kevin asked politely as he moved into the room and sat down in one of the reclining chairs.

"No, but it seems neither can either of you. How is she?" she nodded towards the basement door as she asked this even though it was obvious that she was speaking about Max.

"She seems fine." He responded, shrugging. Olivia nodded as she focused her gaze on him for a moment.

"But you don't." Her pointed and exacting remark caught him off balance for a moment. He shifted uncomfortably under her penetrating gaze. Kevin didn't really want to explain that he was still a little shaken because he had a 'bad dream' but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was important, somehow. He began, slowly at first, Olivia listened intently, hanging on the edge of her seat.

"I had a pretty crazy dream, still trying to shake it off. Don't worry, it was normal crazy, not end of the world crazy like you and Max. At least… I think." Olivia's expression made no signs of changing and for a moment he expected her to call him a liar or ask him to go into further detail, which he really didn't want to do. Thankfully, she broke eye contact and turned her piercing gaze on Max, who had just emerged from the basement.

"Ready to go?" Olivia asked. Max nodded eagerly and Olivia returned the girl's smile with one of her own as she got up from the couch and snatched up her car keys. "Let's go then."

The drive back was quiet and uneventful. All three of them were lost in their own respective thoughts and no one seemed eager to break the heavy silence. He almost wished that someone would because his own thoughts were as dark and gloomy as the night outside the vehicle. But not a word was spoken until Olivia pulled into the Blackwell parking lot that had fewer vehicles than it usually did. Looks like a few other people are out late tonight.

"Now, you two had better stay out of trouble this time. And I mean it. No more freezing time Max or else Walter is going to have a fit," Olivia's voice was stern yet held no harshness but Max flinched at her words all the same. Seeing this, the woman softened her tone, "You did a brave thing today, Max. That girl is alive because of you. No one can ever take that away from you. You should be proud."

Nodding, Max relaxed and shortly after another awkward silence they said their goodbyes to Olivia and promised not to get into any more trouble. As she drove off, Kevin and Max, side by side, walked across the eerily calm campus to their respective dorms. They wordlessly parted ways outside the dorms entrance. Once Kevin was inside his own room, he quickly became disturbed by how quiet the dorms were.

Usually at this time of the night, the boys' dormitory was full of noise from loud movies, video games or just good old boisterous roughhousing. It was his tradition to turn on his own music to drown out the nonsense, but now he hurriedly moved towards his laptop and put on some music because of the intense lack of noise. Deciding he needed something heavy, he turned on his Sabaton playlist and dialed up the volume.

Almost immediately, the piercing silence that had filled his room was thrown out as one of his favorite bands sang about the brave last stand of the one hundred and eighty-nine swiss guardsman who gave their lives defending Pope Clement during the sack of Rome in 1527. Most people, even metal enthusiasts, would scoff at the ridiculousness of Sabaton's epic ballads, but Kevin ate their music right up. What was better than combining history with Swedish metal?

As he listened to the song that was fittingly titled 'The Last Stand,' the chorus erupted: 'For the grace, for the might of our lord…' and he ceased his slight head banging as a thought crossed his mind. Kate might like this song… even if she isn't into metal… but that would be awesome if she is… he reflexively pulled out his phone from his pocket to check the time.

Seeing that it was almost eleven at night, he grimaced and did his best to resist the urge to text her. He failed. Pulling up Kate's number that he had appropriated from Warren, he typed out a quick and lame text that he felt belonged better on a discount hallmark card instead of a text to someone who almost killed themselves. Scoffing at what he had written, he moved to delete the embarrassing message, but, as he did so, his worst nightmares became realized. His thumb accidentally pressed 'send'. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

As Kevin tossed his phone onto his bed in frustration, the song's lyrics shouted: 'Thy will be done!' Fuck you, song! He smashed the button on his mouse to skip to the next song. It was a new song by another of his favorite bands, titled 'Maximize' by Within Temptation, and he stared at his computer screen dumbfounded.

As the song played the music shifted from a very electronica sounding opening but almost immediately heavy guitars kicked in. Sighing in frustration, he allowed himself a moment to relax when the guitars suddenly quieted as the lead singer sang the first line: 'Hello, is there someone out there who can hear me scream?' For Fuck's sake… he nearly slammed his laptop shut but, as he did so, he made a mental note to share the song with Max, just because of its title. Heh, Maximise.

His room was bathed in a silence that no longer felt oppressive, broken only by his phone buzzing on his bed. He dared not think that Kate was calling him back at this hour, so soon after his discount hallmark message, but, as he inspected his phone, a smile creep across his face.

I guess it's time to start writing sappy gift cards then. Answering his phone, his smile widened as he sat down on his bed. Kate's voice sang through his phone into his ear as she expressed her concerns about him and that she was glad to hear that he was okay. It touched him deeply that she was so worried about him when she was the one in the hospital. Kevin kicked off his shoes and settled down into his bed as he responded and did his best to cast away any more concerns that she had.

Kevin awoke with a start as something bounced on his chest. He gasped in surprise but relaxed as he identified his phone as the culprit for the disturbance. It lay motionless on his chest but it must have vibrated from the receipt of a text message or a missed call. After inspecting it, he discovered a text message from a number he didn't recognize. Sitting up, he blinked away the remaining disorientation that haunted him from being awoken so suddenly.

Warm sunlight flooded into his room. He could hear the happy songs of the birds outside. That could only mean one thing; it was well into morning. Shaking his head, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. As his eyes refocused, he inspected the message that had disturbed him. Get in line, because Max is mine! You are hella' out of the loop. We still cool? – Chloe.

Smiling, he tapped out a confused response. He knew exactly what she meant, but there was no harm in toying with Chloe. Especially since he would have preferred to sleep in longer. As he waited for her to respond, he stifled a yawn and tried to remember when he had fallen asleep last night. He found it refreshing that he hadn't been tormented by his strange dreams last night. Far from being comforted, he wondered if it really was a good thing or if it meant more trouble.

As he ransacked his foggy mind for memories, he came to a sudden and terrifying realization. I fell asleep talking to Kate. Fuck! What the hell kind of look does that send? Way to go, moron. Sighing loudly, he suppressed another yawn and his phone vibrated chaotically in his hands as it was bombarded with a barrage of messages.

Max totally made out with me.

I win.

You lose.

All mine.

Not yours. You dig?

He suspected that Chloe was exaggerating whatever had happened, but he was happy for them anyway. The pair were pretty much polar opposites, but their attraction to each other was undeniable. They were certainly adorable together, probably more so when they became more comfortable with each other. His smile slowly broadening, he typed out his response: Congrats! I dig, we cool. See you guys later. Sighing happily for once, he tossed his phone away and got ready for the day.

Sipping her morning coffee, Olivia did her best to clear the gruesome images of Walter's latest interest out of her mind. She had foolishly gone downstairs to see what had agitated him so early in the morning, before the thought of breakfast crossed her mind. She had interrupted Walter while he was in the middle of what appeared to be his third consecutive dissection of a dead bird. A quick inventory of his makeshift lab confirmed he'd collected about a dozen dead birds of varying species. It was evident that he planned on dissecting each one. Walter sullenly looked up from his work, his lips quivering as he spoke.

"Agent Dunham. These birds, they're all dead. Agent Francis and his niece found them on their morning walk. They say that there are countless more." He trailed off as he returned to his work. Even though she had quickly averted her gaze, Olivia was still having trouble getting the image of scrambled bird brains out of her head, despite having seen far worse in the past.

She asked Walter what had caused so many birds to die within the same period of time and Walter mumbled something to himself and ceased paying any attention to her. She had left him to his work. Upon returning to the kitchen, Peter offered her a delicious smelling cup of coffee and she sat down at the table, lamenting her former appetite for breakfast.

She and Peter sat there in silence as they nursed their coffee for a while, both of them lost in thought. Could the sudden deaths of the birds have to do with Max's powers? The dreams or visions that she and Max shared concerning the massive tornado could also be related. Was it really true that they were really seeing the future and that a massive cyclone was going to ravage the area in a few days? Her thoughts were interrupted as Charlie noisily entered through the front door.

"Guys, it's not just the birds…" Charlie quickly made his way into his home with his niece close behind. The pair wore equally grave looks. Olivia tensed as she stood from the table. "The beach is covered with dead whales! A whole pod washed ashore this morning according to the locals." Peter put down his coffee and rushed downstairs to inform his father of the development.

"What the hell is going on here?" Olivia asked no one in particular, as a creeping sense of dread snuck its way into her stomach to replace her still lingering appetite.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Livvy. What the hell is going to happen next?" asked Charlie. A worried expression plastered onto his face.

Peter and Walter rushed upstairs, both of them carrying portable equipment. Walter intended to see the dead whales for himself and, within a few moments, he and Peter headed outside with Olivia close behind. Charlie and his niece claimed that they had seen enough dead animals for the day, and she really couldn't blame them. As Peter got behind the wheel of their vehicle, she hoped that the scene wouldn't be too gruesome because the thought of a warm meal at the town's diner excited her still empty stomach.

All too easy… Kevin smiled with satisfaction as his forces moved into position and began to capture the central objective. Flanked his friend Jamie's forces, his forces quickly moved past the flaming wrecks of what had once been their opponent's futile attempt at stopping them from gaining the upper hand. The match was far from over though, but due to the fact that his team now controlled a slight majority of the objectives, all they had to do now was dig in and resist until the game inevitably ended.

Kevin and his friend Jamie were still getting used to coordinating assaults but they were masters of defense. He was confident that no matter what their opponents threw at them, they would hold the line. The thought of continuing with their offensive had crossed his mind, but their forces had suffered somewhat from their last assault and it was certainly much safer to dig in and await reinforcements than to push on and risk everything. Besides, he and Jamie had all the time in the world.

Kevin's phone buzzed next to him as it skipped across his desk. Sighing in annoyance from the disruption, he checked to make sure his forces were all doing what they were supposed to be doing and informed his teammate that he was reading a text.

"Whatever. I doubt they will try anything for a while. We just stomped them. This game is pretty much over anyway. All we have to do is wait for them to come at us again and then we can counter-attack when they fail, because they suck." But as Kevin read his text message, he suddenly became conflicted by two powerful and entirely incompatible desires.

"Dude, I have to go…" He started to say slowly, but Jamie quickly cut him off.

"The fuck? Bullshit you do! We have this game in the bag and if you back out—" Kevin already knew the grave consequences for quitting a game early and interrupted Jamie.

"Dude, that girl I told you about wants to see me. Like now." He had told Jamie about Kate, because of course he had, but he hadn't mentioned everything. He really hadn't felt like going into how she was in the hospital after trying to throw herself off the roof of a building, that just didn't sound like a promising start to a romance, so he had left that detail out.

"Fuck." Jamie let the word stretch out for several seconds as he groaned, knowing full well that girls came before games, even in situations such as this. "Do you have to leave now?"

"No, but I certainly don't have the time to sit here and play this whole thing out." And just as he said this an idea formed in his head. Jamie clearly had the same thought.

"Fuck it, dude. Let's just rush em!"

Kevin agreed and quickly formed a plan. The battlefield was separated by a small yet impassable river. There were two bridges that connected the opposing sides, one short but narrow and the other long and wide. Their forces had succeeded in battering their way across the larger bridge but the enemy still held a firm grip on the smaller bridge, and seemed to be reinforcing it, as if they already expected an attack.

"Alright, I'm going to form up my guys for an attack on the small bridge over here—"

"I thought you said that it would be a waste of time pushing across that thing? Why don't we just go around and encircle them?" challenged Jamie.

"We are going to do that. I want them to think that we're pushing across it though. I need your artillery to drop as many smoke rounds as possible on their positions while I make it look like I am pushing across. I want them looking right there and only right there, while the rest of our forces push right past them and trap the majority of their units. Once we have them encircled, we will wipe them out and capture the other two objectives, and, hopefully, they will rage-quit. That's the only way I can think of ending this as quickly as I need to."

"Fuck it! Just say when."

After a few moments of preparation, and a quick look at the time, Kevin gave the order and their artillery pounded the enemies' position on the opposite side of the small bridge with a massive amount of smoke shells. Just before these rounds landed, Kevin made sure their enemies could see his forces rushing forwards.

If the enemy hadn't panicked and sent over two groups of helicopter gunships towards the fight, Kevin wouldn't have had any idea whether their bold plan was working or not. Before the enemy helicopters could gain a new line of sight on his forces he quickly hid his infantry inside the spreading cloud of smoke, and hurriedly brought forward his own gunships to put pressure on the fast approaching enemy helicopters.

Jamie's forces lunged deep into enemy territory and Kevin's forces that were alongside followed suit. To keep their enemies' focus on the small bridge, Kevin sent a few sacrificial units plunging through the ever-expanding cloud of smoke. Involuntarily wincing, he watched as a unit of his tanks drew fire from multiple directions and he targeted the now revealed enemies with his artillery and called for Jamie to assist.

Smiling grimly, Kevin saw even more enemy units reveal themselves. The new arrivals added their fire to his doomed tanks and as they exploded one by one the, incoming artillery tore retribution to exposed infantry and vehicle alike. But the true stroke of vengeance was yet to come. His smile grew wider as he counted up the enemy units. Kevin was now certain that they had committed a vast majority of their remaining forces to this action, and he watched with glee as their own forces closed in from all sides.

Completely caught off-guard, their enemies noticed at the last moment what was happening, but it was too late. Several groups of tanks and armored personnel carriers burst onto the scene in an uncoordinated mass and all at once everyone started shooting. Kevin recommitted the rest of his forces into the fight. His infantry came charging out of the smoke and quickly secured the buildings that had once held enemy ground troops. His infantry, now in commanding positions, added their fire into the melee, and his gunships swooped in as Jamie's own newly arrived gunships roared into the fight.

Their forces took what normally would have been unacceptable casualties, but their enemies were slaughtered entirely. As the last tank exploded and the last helicopter came plummeting to the ground, Jamie's other forces made it to the final two objectives and began to secure them. Defeat would seem certain to his adversaries, but it was an illusion. Kevin and Jamie's forces were now in a terrible state, even the slightest resistance from their enemy could be their downfall.

Their two adversaries fell for the illusion, prematurely quitting the game one after the other, probably in frustration. Breathing a sigh of relief, Kevin cast his gaze on his remaining forces and winced again. A terrible price in simulated lives had just been paid.

"Fuck yeah! I can't believe that worked! Fucking morons, I had like… five dudes left and most of them were at half-health!" Jamie's words were drowned out by his own laughter as he luxuriated in their moment of victory. Kevin, however, looked hastily at the time once more and realized in horror that the maneuver had taken a few minutes longer than he would have liked. He quickly said his goodbyes and snatched up his phone.

Frantically searching around his room for his wallet and his keys, he texted Kate that he was on his way, and that he would be there soon. Her response was immediate. She teased him saying that he had better not keep her waiting too long since he had 'so adorably' fallen asleep on her the previous night. Cursing at himself once more, he located his effects and tore out of his room, nearly running straight into one or two of his peers as he dashed down the hallway.

In a sudden flash, everything changed before him and he found himself no longer tearing his way through the hallways of his dormitory, but outside. His head buzzed slightly and he felt momentarily overwhelmed but he soon came to his senses. Not a moment ago, he had been running at full tilt towards the dormitories' exit but now he was outside, in the front yard of Blackwell Academy, seated on the grass with several other students. Awareness crept through him and the warmth of someone snuggled up next to him. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders. Kate?

"Hello? Are you even listening Maxine?"

Maxine? What the… Kevin slowly turned away from Victoria, who had directed her question towards the girl who was snuggled up next to him. Somehow, he managed to keep his surprise to a minimum as he regarded a very different looking Max Caulfield. Gone was her dorky T-shirt, faded jeans, and drab hoodie, replaced with expensive khakis, a white shirt with black stripes, and a burgundy, button-up sweater. Her camera bag had changed too. It was no longer quirky and expressionistic but functional and probably cost a quite a few pennies.

"Max, never Maxine." She slowly and hesitantly corrected Victoria, and cast a sidelong glance at Kevin while doing so. At first, she had reflexively struggled against his arm but now she relaxed slightly. He inspected her face he noticed that she was even wearing makeup. Certain that he would have noticed a detail like that before, he caught a whiff of delightful perfume from Max as a light breeze brought the tempting smell to his awaiting nostrils. Wow, quite the bold choice, Max. Kevin shook his head as he tried to clear his thoughts and his movements drew Victoria's eye for a moment, but she ignored him and instead focused on Max.

"I know, sorry, Mad Max. You're not pissed at me, right? Right?"

Kevin tried to focus on the chatter of the nearby students but the buzzing in his head refused to abate. The immediate area around him was filled with several of the illustrious Vortex Club members. Courtney and Taylor were present, of course, and as he turned his attention towards them he caught a morsel of their conversation.

"… should never have let them into the Vortex Club…"

Are they talking about us? Are we part of the cool kids' club all of the sudden…? What the fuck is going on? Kevin focused on himself and noted that everything about him seemed to be in order. The only thing that seemed slightly off was that he was wearing his one pair of khaki pants at the moment, instead of his usual pair of jeans. Did I wear these to try and… fit in with the crowd…? What the hell I'm sitting on the grass in my nicest pair of pants?

As he worried about grass stains on his pants, Max had apparently had enough of her conversation with Victoria. She shrugged off his arm and got to her feet. Victoria stared at Kevin in surprise, her gaze shifting to Max's retreating figure every few seconds. He shrugged and rose to his feet as carefully as he could to avoid getting any grass stains on his pants and went after Max. As he did so, he removed his cell phone from his pocket, checked his messages and was surprised by what he found.

He read through his messages, keeping a close eye on Max as she wandered aimlessly, the expression of confusion growing on her freckled face. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he slowly exhaled as he approached Max from behind and gingerly tapped her shoulder. She spun around in a panicked flurry of movement and he reflexively reached out to steady her, placing his hands on either side of her shoulders.

"Max, relax… calm down." Struggling against him for a moment, she relaxed and allowed herself to be brought in closer. It must have looked like they were hugging from far away, because a chorus of sympathetic noises erupted from the group that they had left.

"Oh my God, they are so fucking adorable… it makes me sick!" one of the girls called out.

"Stop being such a jealous bitch." Kevin recognized Victoria's voice and the fact that she was rising to Max's defense, in her own way, confused him even more than he already was. Time to get some answers… He looked fixedly into Max's eyes and she held his gaze for a moment before looking down guiltily.

"Max, what did you do?"

Max stammered for a bit as she tried to form the right words with her mouth. The panic in her eyes hadn't relented—her body was tense—the poor girl seemed terrified. What has she done? Max struggled with forming words for a few more moments until the sound of the approaching school bus interrupted her thoughts, and he felt her go stiff in his arms.

"Chloe." The name passed through Max's lips as a ghostly whisper, but with a groaning sense of urgency all the same. She attempted to bolt from his arms in the direction of the school-bus, but he had anticipated her movements and held her firmly in place. She struggled for a moment, then fixed him with the coldest and hardest stare that he had ever seen cross her face. A slight chill ran down his spine as they stared at one another, but, despite the threatening appearance of his friend, he made no move to release her.

"Max… look—I will drive you to Chloe's house, but, on the way, you need to tell me what the fuck is going on."

Max's fierce expression relented and she nodded. As soon as he relaxed his grip on her, she shot off towards the parking lot. Dashing to catch up to her, he thrust his hand into his pocket to remove his keys, and he noticed something different about his key-chain. He skidded to a halt at the entrance to the parking lot and inspected his car key. It was larger than it had been before, and, instead of possessing a Mazda symbol, there was a Toyota symbol in its place.

"Kevin… I don't see your car." Max called out in a alarm. "Are you sure that you still have one?" What the fuck do you mean by that?

"Do you see any Toyotas?" Kevin called ahead to her as he made his way over to where she stood. She shook her head. After a moment of inaction, the two split up and searched through the parking lot. It didn't take long for something to catch his eye. Parked off to the side in the same fashion that he would usually park his Mazda, there was a dark blue, sporty looking Toyota. With a creeping sense of excitement, he approached the vehicle and slowly inserted his key. He turned it and was gratified with the pop of the lock inside releasing.

"Max! Over here!"

"What is it?" she called and he heard her approach from behind. Turning to face her, he smiled roguishly.

"Thanks for the new car... I guess. Hop in!" He opened the driver's side door and his smile widened. Full black interior and the leather seats greeted him. Kevin's pleasure only grew as he inventoried the specs of the car—six-speed standard transmission, and judging from the speedometer and tachometer, it possessed much more horsepower than his previous vehicle. Max jumped in and glared at him impatiently as he inspected his new vehicle. Kevin dragged his eyes away from the slick paint job and slid into the driver's seat. Exquisite comfort greeted him as he settled onto the plush leather seat. Max cleared her throat pointedly and he jumped. Muttering a quick apology, he slid the key into the ignition and the car started with a low growl. Hopefully he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of Max and stall out or grind a gear.

Luckily, the gears shifted smoothly under his hand and he maneuvered out of the parking lot with his usual proficiency. He glanced at Max—the fact that they were moving hadn't done anything to ease her apprehension.

"What did you do?" His question sounded more like an accusation, and, in a sense, it was. He'd tried to soften his tone as much as possible. Max flinched all the same as if his question stabbed her in the gut. Sighing loudly, Kevin did his best to calm himself and maneuvered through the town's light traffic. Max shifted in discomfort in her seat and turned away from him to gaze out the window. For a while, neither spoke and they drove on in an uncomfortable silence that irritated Kevin immensely.

Kevin wished that he could break the suffocating silence that had settled between the two of them, but he was so frustrated that he knew that anything he said would only make matters worse. Suppressing a second sigh, he moved to turn on some music, resigning himself to the current state of affairs. If she doesn't want to talk about it then we won't fucking talk about it…

"I saved William." Max spoke so softly that he almost didn't hear her, and he slowly withdrew his hand from the vehicle's stereo as he waited for her to continue. After a few more moments of intolerable silence, he pressed her for more information.

"William? Who's William?"

It took some time and additional prodding but Max explained everything. William was Chloe's father who had died in a tragic car crash several years ago, and Chloe's life had seemingly gone wrong ever since.

During breakfast, an argument broke out at the Price household, and Max had gotten right into the middle of it. The altercation ended with Joyce demanding that Chloe's stepfather leave the house, permanently. She and a very elated Chloe left the house shortly after to do some snooping around Frank's van. Kevin remembered the alleged drug dealer from the junkyard and had wondered what he had to do with anything but hadn't wanted to interrupt Max. The altercation with Frank had seemed like a deal gone bad, but, perhaps there had been something else afoot?

Chloe and Max uncovered a hidden truth concerning Frank and Chloe's former paramour. Rachel Amber and Frank had been more than just friends. Max found irrefutable evidence that the two had been lovers. This revelation infuriated Chloe, and Kevin detected a hint of jealousy in Max's voice as she spoke of Chloe's lost friend. Perhaps this was more than a friend to Chloe… that would make sense. Chloe seems to be obsessed with finding her.

Even though Max didn't go into detail or give specifics, it certainly seemed that she and Chloe had some sort of fight or confrontation. During this fight, Chloe had apparently blamed her long dead father for everything wrong in her life. Max had gone to her dorm room afterwards, and, while she had been looking at a picture of her and Chloe when they were kids, something weird had happened.

While she had been looking at the picture, she felt something that she couldn't explain and, when she focused on the photograph, she heard voices—almost as if the picture had been speaking to her. But when she concentrated on the voices, she had found herself thrown back in time to her thirteen-year-old body. The picture was taken by Chloe's deceased father while the three of them had been making breakfast the morning of his tragic car accident.

Realizing this, Max decided to save Williams life. She was going to give Chloe her father back. She hid his car keys, and, after a small amount of convincing, he took the bus to pick up Joyce from the grocery store, instead of driving. It was shortly after William left the house that Max had slipped out of the past and back into the present, where she had found herself sitting next to him in the middle of a conversation with Victoria.

Kevin told Max of his own experiences, and how, at one moment, he had been on his way to see Kate and at the very next moment he had been outside with his arm around her. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, he smiled as he recalled the text messages that he inspected minutes ago. Speaking of awkward...

"Oh, and Max—I think you should check your phone."

Max blinked at him. "Why?" she asked, but still pulled her phone of out her pocket. "What am I supposed to be looking for?"

"Just look at our text message history," said Kevin, suppressing a grin. He had time to review the messages on his phone in this altered reality and Max had no idea. No idea. "It's...um...it's something."

Max followed his instructions and his smiled widened in conjunction with the deepening crimson of her cheeks. She scrolled through the rest of their message history and an embarrassed smile crept onto her face.

"Honey-bunny? For reals?" she asked, groaning. Kevin chuckled at the pet name he'd given her in this timeline. "Oh my god, we are so freaking lame."

"Lame?!" Kevin recoiled at Max's choice of words. And even though it hadn't really been him who sent Max those messages, her words stung him all the same. "We're fucking adorable. Don't you dare call us lame! You take that back!"

"Are you cereal?" Max must have noticed exactly how much damage her words had done, because she shifted her tone and her face took on an entirely new shade of embarrassment. "I mean… we are pretty cute, I guess. But come on, you have to admit that some of this stuff is pretty gag worthy." Feeling even more defensive than he had before, Kevin turned to look at his apparent girlfriend. Sunlight glinted off of something unfamiliar around her neck. "Well 'gag' apparently works on Maxine Caulfield." His deliberate use of the name 'Maxine' struck home, and he received a venomous glare as a reward for his taunt.

"Oh, does it?" Her strong retort made him smile in victory. "What makes you say that, eh?" Unfazed by her attempts to mock him, Kevin nodded towards her neckline.

"That shiny thing around your neck seems like something that I would buy. So yeah, 'gag' apparently worked, honey-bunny."

Max dropped her phone in her lap as both of her hands shot towards her neck. Her hands discovered the object that had caught his eye. A silver chain hung loosely around her neck that was decorated by a small, yet eye catching, silver charm that enshrined a deep blue sapphire. She examined the charm for several moments before turning to look at him, her expression softening a great deal.

"I guess you figured out my birthstone at some point. It's really pretty—thanks." They remained silent for several moments as their tempers simmered, and the awkwardness of their new reality sunk in once again. "No offense… but Chloe should be the one buying me pretty things and—"

"I should be getting pretty things for Kate." Kevin finished her sentence and she nodded slowly in agreement. "Max, what have you done." He muttered, shaking his head as his thoughts turned to Kate. He hadn't seen her outside and hadn't noticed anything about a suicide attempt in his messages, so there was a chance that she was okay in this new reality. He hoped so—he really hoped so.

Max directed him the rest of the way to Chloe's house, and, when they slowly pulled up outside, she stared at the house in wonder.

"It looks totally different. The paint, the yard, it's all well taken care of now." Before he could comment, his phone began to buzz in his hand and he noticed with relief that the caller was 'FBI Lady'.

"Well, it looks like we still ran into Olivia and her friends in this new timeline that you have created. Not sure if that's good or not. Walter is going to be pissed…" He trailed off at the sight of Max's guilt-ridden face, and quickly waved her off. "Go. Go check up on Chloe. I'll deal with the FBI people. Go on—I'll handle them."

Max exited the vehicle without hesitation and raced to the front door of Chloe's house as he answered his phone. Olivia was less than happy, and he could hear Walter in the background. He sounded even worse. He watched a man he didn't recognize answer the door and welcome Max with a friendly face and a warm smile. Kevin relaxed even though his conversation with Olivia was turning quite sour.

She demanded to speak with Max and wanted to know exactly where they were. Hesitating for a moment, he watched as the man, who he assumed was Chloe's real father, step aside and invite Max inside. Max hesitated and her entire body stiffened. She brought her right hand upwards to cover her mouth. Straining to see around Max, Kevin nearly dropped his phone in shock as a new figure came into view.

He barely recognized her at first. She lacked the blue hair and her usual punk-rock attire, but the girl that had come to greet Max at the front door of Chloe's house had to be Chloe. Olivia was desperately trying to get his attention, but Kevin was in such a state of shock that he numbly ignored her. His heart broke for Max and broke again for Chloe as he looked on in horror at what had become of Max's best friend.

Tragedy had deprived Chloe of her father several years ago. Max had undone this using her strange powers; however, it seemed that tragedy would not be outmaneuvered. Fate was a cruel mistress that would not be cheated. Max saved William, but she had doomed her best friend. Chloe had clearly suffered from a devastating accident, and, from the look of the massive chair that she was rolling around in, she had been almost completely paralyzed.

"Olivia, I'm going to have to call you back." And despite her protests, he hung up his phone. Max turned around to face him, her eyes moist with tears.