April 2013
"I imagine you're all suitably impressed with the firearms certification results..."
Nicole listened impassively as Davies once again enthused about Max, the Golden Child. She was leading herself, Rodriguez, Albertson and a few others on a tour, as the kid was put through her paces in the lead up to an expected approval for full field agent status once Max legally turned eighteen in September
It was difficult to put a name to the feeling, why Nicole didn't like, or more importantly trust Max. Her standard go-to answer - other than 'pure instinct' - for past few years was that it was too much power for someone that young to have. She shuddered to think of what could have happened had Max slipped through the radar - which was known to happen in the past - and managed to make a mess of things. Maybe she would have died along with half of Arcadia Bay in the maw of some killer tornado. And maybe that's how Nature resolved this kind of thing, like a wild mutation that wasn't meant to be self-sustaining.
It's not that Nicole was all that religious; she might call the girl a freak, but not any sort of an abomination against God. And she could see how being able to rewind time could be incredibly useful, at least how it might seem that way on the surface. At the same time, she knew history; when people successfully built atom bombs, they couldn't wait to try them out for all sorts of things: mining and excavation, launching rockets, a replacement for mortars. But it didn't take long for folks to realize what a massive mistake that ended up being. Even nuclear power, which on paper was a fantastic idea, was - at least in her opinion - more trouble than it was worth.
Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should be...
"That was absolutely amazing, jefa! I haven't seen range scores that high since..." Rodriguez tilted her head and smirked, "...well, since mine. I'm even willing to say she beat me out in a couple of categories."
Ugh! Of course Rodriguez would be singing her praises. Max was her Special Little Snowflake. The baby sister she always wanted. The two of them had been buddy-buddy since day one. Nicole often found the Latina woman's personality grating, but she respected the way Alanna was all business when they were out in the field.
But the way she doted on Max...
You think she's going to spare you a kind thought on the day she flips out and turns against everyone? Or worse yet, if she makes a mistake, wipes you or someone you love out of history?
That was the thing that stuck in Nicole's craw the most: that she alone saw how truly dangerous this entire situation was. She wasn't cold blooded. Despite what people thought, she'd never relished the prospect of putting a bullet in a little girl's brain and walking away, when they first discovered her. But actually encouraging, developing her power? That was the biggest problem with Martinet; he understood the kid was a risk, but he thought he could leash her down, turn her into an obedient little robot. Like that had a prayer in hell of ever working. All he was doing was making her a bigger and badder threat over these past four and a half years.
Then there was Davies.
Hmph. Scientists. You'd think she'd be smart enough to get it. But she sees Max as a way to understand how the entire universe ticks. Between that, and playing surrogate Mama, she's too close. Lacks perspective.
The crushing weight of it, the feeling that she was the lone sane person in the room, pressed down constantly upon her shoulders. Day in and day out, she couldn't escape the feeling that she was trapped in the middle, between two opposing and equally insane forces: one side trying its damned fool best to turn Max into the monster they'd always feared she'd be, the other blinded with emotion, unable to see that the girl was too damn dangerous now to simply treat with kid gloves.
No wonder Reese snapped! Day Max ever goes crazy, he's a dead man for what he did to her parents. Yeah, maybe it was a shitty thing that he protested every step of the way, but is she gonna remember that? Or even care?
Nicole came back to the present moment and interjected, "Right, so that was some fancy shooting. But I have to ask: how much of that was skill, and how much of that was cheating?"
Davies narrowed her eyes, a questioning look on her face. "And by cheating, you mean...?"
"Just using her powers."
"I don't see why you'd call that 'cheating', Nicole." Davies retorted. "It's true that Max can rewind back from her mistakes, but she's also reports having developed a way of affecting her own personal perception, slowing down to better aim her shots."
"She's got bullet time now!" Rodriguez laughed.
Davies continued, unperturbed. "Those are all advantages, of which there are no fair or unfair kinds out in the field. You of all people should appreciate that."
Nicole crossed her arms, "Yeah, but we also train for the possibility of getting Nulled out in the field. I just wanna make sure the kid isn't going to fall apart on me if that happens...that she's gonna be worse than useless and put the entire team at risk."
Davies gave a soft sigh. "I'm very aware of the training protocols; I did design most of them myself. That said, while I appreciate you playing devil's advocate, when you see her tabulated results at the end of the testing, you'll no doubt note the sections in which she's operating with and without powers. Yes, there's a noticeable drop in her combat effectiveness, but it's well within our standards."
"Yeah! She goes from being a superhuman badass to being just a regular sharpshooter with years of intense training under her belt." Rodriguez followed her statement up with a soft elbow jab into Nicole's ribs.
"Don't poke me, damnit." she muttered. Looking back to Davies, she added, "Just making sure everyone's keeping some perspective here. That's all. We are talking about sending a teenager out into the field."
One we've been messing up for years.
Nicole was painfully aware of her own role in all of that. She'd be the first to cop to her own anger issues and shit. She was flawed and human, as much as anyone else.
But what happens if I ever went rogue? I don't fuck up reality. If I'm a gun, that kid is a nuclear fucking warhead.
"And I'm more than happy to have the proper, in-depth conversation to address your concerns...later on." Davies glanced over the group. "And I mean that for anyone else here in this group who has issues."
Nicole stewed in silence over the next ten minutes, while they all waited behind a one way mirror, observing the hand to hand combat portion of the testing exercises.
Davies struck her as joyous, even gleeful as she enthused, "Now, I believe you're in for a treat. Max has already passed her one-on-one and two-on-one certifications. What you're about to see is just for show."
Oh...hell no. I seriously don't like the sound of this!
Max walked out to the center of the room, dressed in a loose gi; she was smirking confidently, bouncing back and forth a bit between her feet, raring to go. After another minute, four security personnel, three men and one woman, walked out. They formed an equidistant circle around her. She turned in a circle and bowed before them, they returned the gesture. Then all assumed a fighting stance.
Nicole hated to admit it, but the kid was pretty damn good; four-to-one odds, real four-to-one odds when it's not some staged TV fight, usually ends quick and badly for the lone combatant. But Max obviously learned a lot in over the years, shifting her opponent's momentum against them, tossing one, then fighting against the next. All the while, she displayed an uncanny ability to dodge and parry, obviously fueled by her ability to see the future, rewind to the past, and then act upon what was coming.
The fight continued on for a good couples of minutes, a deadly eternity in any real street brawl. Max managed to keep the inevitable at bay, but it was just a matter of time before the other four - whom Nicole knew had trained together in the past, and were good at coordinating their movements - pinned her down. They'd already started to flank her, ready to close the jaws of the trap they were laying down.
Almost done but the crying. Still, the kid held out. Better than most of us...
Suddenly, Max disappeared, a hairsbreadth before she two of her opponents could get a grip on her.
"..the fuck!? Where did she go?" Nicole called out in alarm. She glanced over at the others, and then glared. Davies clearly knew the answer, and Rodriguez was smirking in a way that telegraphed the message loud and clear.
She'd been left out of the loop on what the girl could do. Again.
Fuck!
Max reappeared three seconds later, delivering a sharp kick to the back of the thigh to one of her opponents. She'd not only disappeared, but managed to shift her position in space.
"She teleports now?!" Nicole asked, with strained credulity.
"No, although it looks that way, doesn't it?" Davies leaned in close to the one way window, a smug grin on her lips. "Near the start of the year, she finally figured out how to take herself out of the flow of time, and jump forward. Not by much, but a useful amount. She's got another trick up her sleeve as well, so don't be alarmed by what comes next."
"Don't be alarmed? Oh shit, what..."
That was when the girl jumped onto the other woman's back - Cassandra Clark was the name, right? - and both of them disappeared.
Nicole felt an itch on the back of her neck, an instinctive need to stop to this, to shut Max down before things got out of hand. She'd have to time it right, no knowing what would happen if she nulled her mid-jump. But the kid was getting way out of control. Just like she always feared she would!
Another four seconds, and both reappeared. Clark immediately passed out, though Max took the time to catch her, soften her fall as she laid her out on the mat.
Nicole saw Davies hold out a hand in her direction, already anticipating her concern.
"What are you letting her do?!" Nicole demanded.
"It's perfectly safe." Davies answered. "Cassie and Max have practiced this trick several times over the past month. As far as Dr. Lawson and I have been able to determine, jumping another person forward in time doesn't cause any lasting damage; clearly it's far less of a strain to go down the stream than up it.
Mollified for the moment, if just barely, Nicole watched. Grumbled darkly as she saw the girl bounce on her feet triumphantly, making movie-style come-hither motions with her fingertips.
She was even better holding her own against three than she was against four. Another minute later, and she 'jumped' Jameson, the same way she'd done with Clark.
Shit! She's just playing with them. Kid could end this fight almost immediately with her powers, and she's showing off! Okay, Max. Let's see how you like it if I take you down a fucking peg.
Max's stride was immediately thrown off, no longer able to zig nor zag through the timestream. The shock of her powers abandoning her was all the opening Kowalski needed to grab her arms and pin her from behind. Gifford followed up, delivering a few punishing blows. Both of them quickly stopped when they realized that something wasn't going affording to plan.
Max roared out, "Let me go! Let me fucking go! She's cheating! Damnit!"
Kowalski let Max slip out of his grip, as she ran out the door.
Nicole couldn't help herself. She really didn't mean to have such a shit eating grin on her face, would realize much later that it was just rubbing salt into the wound, but the girl saw it as soon as she was out in the hallway. Starring daggers at her, and Nicole was more than happy to engage in a staredown.
"Wright! What the hell are you playing at?" Davies demanded.
"Just shaking things up. Because clearly she needs the lesson." she said, keeping her gaze steady on Max. "Girl, you need to realize that this isn't a fucking game. There's no room for error, and if you get yourself or someone else on the team killed because..."
Max crossed the distance between them in a flash. Nicole's own stupid fault, dropping her quantum stasis field like she did. Had to give her credit, girly had herself a mean right hook. She screamed out at her, her voice ragged with barely contained fury.
"You had no right! You had no fucking right, this was my test, and you ruined it! I'm tired of you making my life hell, bitch. I'm going to make you so sorry!"
Nicole instinctively raised her stasis field anew and grabbed Max by the front of her top. "I am gonna knock the motherfucking taste out of your mouth, little girl!" Later, much later, she'd regret saying it, regret being the one to escalate the bad situation she created. Especially when she knew better.
Damnit! You know she's dangerous, but you keep egging her on. The fuck's wrong with you?!
Surprisingly strong hands reached in, gripping both their shoulders, followed by a booming voice.
"That's bloody damn well enough, from both of you!"
It was a mind-blankingly scary thing, seeing the carefully crafted mask of control fall away from Camilla Davies' face, and witnessing the barely contained fury contorting her features; more than enough to bring whatever fight was brewing to an immediate halt.
Her head turned to the girl. "Max, why don't you walk over to Dr. Lawson's office and have her look you over. Ask Clark and Jameson to go with you as well, please. It looks like they're coming around."
"But...but she fucking wrecked...!" Max started to stammer out, with impotent rage.
"Max! That wasn't a polite suggestion. It was a direct order."
Nicole watched as Max sulked off, sufficiently cowed. The girl looked over her shoulder and hissed out, "This isn't over..."
"Max!" Davies barked out, achieving the desired effect of causing her to run back into the room, before walking with the others towards the med bay a minute later.
Well Nikki, you really stepped in it this time.
"Alright," Nicole began. "Maybe I was..."
Davies frowned, holding up a warning finger. "You shut your damn gob, and you open your bloody ears. My office, right now."
Nicole knew she'd crossed the line this time,and badly; she'd only seen Davies this pissed twice before. Her accent always shifted, became a little more 'lower class' when she was this kind of furious. It gave her time to ruminate on how she was going to defend herself, as the pair walked along in silence the three minutes it took to get to the office.
As soon as the door closed, Davies was on her. "Agent Wright, I am only going to say this once: you never, not ever, interfere with one of my training exercises like that again or there will be hell to pay. Do you understand me?"
Nicole held up her hands defensively, "Look, Cammie, I was just..."
"A simple yes or no is all I require from you!"
She knew when she was beat.
"Yes, Ma'am."
Davies seemed to finally calm at last, offhandedly waving her over to the seat in front of the desk, before collapsing into the oversized chair on the other size.
"Nikki, this needs to end. Today. This situation between you and Max. Like it or not, she's going to be deployed as a field agent, barring some sort of extraordinary circumstance, and that means the two of you are going to have to work together. More importantly, you're going to need to trust each other. I will not be put into the position where I can't deploy you both on the same mission. Max obviously needs to grow into her new role, but you...are an adult with years of experience under your belt; it's time you started to fucking act like it."
Nicole brushed her fingers back over her tight-knit cornrows. "...I just thought she needed to know, needed to understand, that this isn't a game. She started this too young, got her head all filled with notions of playing Wonder Girl. I mean, hell, you saw her out there. She was enjoying herself, playing at it. She needs to know this is serious business."
"Oh, believe you me, she bloody well knows. I think we've done a fine and fancy job of disabusing her of those old romantic notions, and crushing most of her childhood into a compact cube of angst, thank you so much." Davies groaned, rising up from her chair, walking over to her shelves. She poured herself a shot of something, and Nicole couldn't help but notice that she pointedly refused to offer her one.
Continuing to slowly calm down, Davies continued, "Believe it or not, part of me actually approves, in a limited but perverse sense, of what you did. Max does, on occasion, need to be reminded that her ability to rewind will only save her from disaster up to a point. One drugged or poisoned dart, a sniper's bullet, and that's the end. Still..." Nicole watched as the other woman walked back, leaned over the desk, and looked down at her. "You went off half-cocked on your own, kicking the hornet's nest, then you made the situation worse. This was more than you just trying to teach her a valuable lesson; this was you being cruel. So I need an answer from you now, Nicole. Something real, something better than 'instinct', like you told me last time. It's time for you to explain why you hate Max Caulfield so bloody much, so I can figure out how I can fix this. If it's even fixable."
Nicole slumped her head down, massaged at her temples with one hand, as she racked her brain.
Ah. God. Nikki...the fuck, girl? It's not like what she's saying's unfair. You just have to make her understand...but you have to understand it first. C'mon. Dig in there. Reach! You're so close to this, so close. So focus. You didn't like her from the first day...no. Not dislike. Worried. Scared even. Of what all that power in the hands of a thirteen year old girl could do. How teaching her how to fight, turning her into a weapon was gonna turn her strange. What happens if she does go rogue someday, and who has to be the one to...
...shit. SHIT! That's it!
She looked up at last, fixed a hard stare up at Davies. "An answer. A real answer? Yeah. I think I finally put my finger on it. Just now. You and Reese and Rodriguez, even Chen and Villanova, you're all her friends. Hell, probably been keeping her fucking sane this whole time, don't think I don't notice or appreciate that. But can you stop her, if she suddenly went nuts, turned all dark side, bad seed? I'll save you the trouble of answering, because you know it's 'no'. Not if she struck hard and fast enough. And at the risk of sounding like an arrogant bitch, I'd appreciate a drink, Ma'am, before I finish where I'm going with this."
Davies nodded once, eyes narrowed, but clearly intrigued. She poured a shot of whiskey and passed it over. Nicole just about slammed it back as soon as the glass touched her fingertips.
She winced softly. "Smooth...shit. This that fancy Suntory stuff your girlfriend in Japan sends you?"
Davies shifted, crossing her arms. "Shimiko is not...and...ahem! We're not talking about me, we're focusing on you."
Nicole nodded. "So we are. My bad. Okay, long story short? If shit turns bad, who do you think's the one that has to stop her? The only one who can stop her?" She thumped her chest, then leaned in close, and continued her voice rising up, "Me. 'Cause unlike the rest of you all, I don't have the luxury of letting myself like her! I can't hesitate, not for one second, to put a bullet between her eyes if it comes to it!" She gesticulated, pointing at the center of her forehead with her middle and index finger "Not with a girl who can go back in time, and fuck up God knows what. It's...ah. Yeah. Shit. Simple as that, I guess."
Davies nodded, and seemed mollified for the moment with her response, even reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder. "Right. Well, I'm glad you've finally had the appropriate epiphany. But that still leaves the question of how we're going to handle this. It's a proper cock-up we've got here, to put it lightly. One we'll need to work through."
Nicole sighed heavily, and slumped down further in her chair, her righteous anger draining from her, now that it had been given a name and form.
She looked away from Davies, speaking in a soft voice. "Yeah. I suppose it is."
May 2013
Chloe trudged through the puddles left by the passing of a late spring squall. It was cold for this time of year, the chill sinking down and biting into her bones. A sole, lonesome figure, she'd spent the better part of her Saturday stapling up handmade 'Missing Person' posters, across the Blackwell campus and downtown areas.
Reaching out towards the picture of Rachel she'd just attached to yet another bulletin board, Chloe stroked it tenderly. Bit down hard on her lip, and closed her eyes. Tears rolled off her cheeks, mingling with the droplets on her poncho.
Rachel was her best friend...hell, more than just friends. She'd been her angel, who found her when she hit rock bottom and lifted her up. With her smile, humor, heart, and warmth. She was absolutely amazing.
And now? Just gone. Vanished, as if into thin air. No one had any idea where she went. And no one seemed to care.
No one, save her.
Chloe shouldn't have been alone in this! Victoria was supposed to Rachel's friend too! They were close. Closer than Chloe was comfortable with, but at the end of the day, Rachel always made sure to find time for her. She knew what to do or say, in order to make her feel...so special.
But no, a couple days after Rachel disappeared, Victoria and her family suddenly took off for some extended family vacation in Brazil. Even managed to work it out with the school so that she could defer her exams a couple months.
Fucking special treatment for the golden girl. Blackwell can die in a fire!
Still, Chloe couldn't help but wonder if the two events were connected. It seemed too coincidental. She collapsed onto one of the benches under a tree, as the same crazy conspiracy theory played out in her mind, just as it had for the past week.
Was Rachel involved with Victoria too? I mean...we were together but...but we kind of had like this unspoken agreement that we weren't exclusive. Just friends, but with benefits.
Chloe hugged herself, shivering in remembrance of some of those benefits.
So I guess she could have had some side action going on with Vic. Ugh! God, don't even want to think about it! How the hell could she? And...and then Victoria, like the controlling bitch she is, probably said something like "It's me and no one else!" and...and oh God! She killed Rachel or something, because she wouldn't be part of her sick, twisted little Vortex Club. That's gotta be it! It's the only thing that makes sense. She killed her, and now her parents are helping her run away and hide!
She pounded her fist repeatedly against the slats of the bench, ignoring the ache it produced in her fist, arm and shoulder.
Or maybe...she finally escaped Arcadia Bay. Ran off to LA or Seattle or San Francisco. Just like we always talked about. But I mean...like WE talked about. Her and me. We were going to go together. She wouldn't just leave like that without me. Would she?
Opening up her eyes, Chloe gazed out across her world: grey, dark and terrible. She thought she'd hit rock bottom on that Christmas night, a year and a half back. But that was nothing to how she felt now.
I've lost so many people. My Dad...
Years later, she'd still never forgiven Alyssa Anderson for what happened that day. What she'd done, intentionally or otherwise.
And never mind the betrayal Chloe experienced when Joyce remarried. No one was ever going to replace her father, but that David Madson dick was the absolute worst! She'd run into him a minute ago, and all he could do was give her shit about being on the campus...technically trespassing.
Worst fucking stepfather ever! My real Dad, he would...he'd never...he'd be helping me put up fliers, not treating me like a criminal and ignoring me! Joyce, how could you have married him! This douche, of all people!?
Chloe snarled softly, anger flaring up. It felt good to give in to it. It kept the pain at bay, as her thoughts continued to wander.
And then there's...there's Max.
Was her best friend since age five taken from her, or did she leave on her own? So many freaky, unanswered questions, especially given how fucked up her parents became afterwards. It was still a big mystery. Chloe still swore there was something she was missing. Something vital, critical, that she figured out once, then lost. Maybe it came to her in a dream?
But the sad truth was that it was easier to hate Max for simply leaving home and forgetting about her; the alternatives - the ones she let herself contemplate now and then, late at night - were far too painful for her heart to bear. Especially now.
Rachel was all I had left. Now she's gone...
She swiftly rose up, grabbed a nearby trash can, and flung it down to the ground in an all-consuming rage. She then kicked at it with her steel-toed boots, screaming out with hatred against a world she couldn't stand to look at any longer, let alone live in.
A minute later, temper appropriately spent, she picked up the stack of remaining fliers with trembling hands, and continued on with her task. One that seemed hopeless, but the brief, flickering ember of hope was all she had to keep her going now.
She wasn't beat yet...but God if her back didn't bow from the strain. She had to keep going, if only because not ending it all seemed like the best way to flip Life the middle finger.
A/N: What's this!? A Tuesday update? How wacky!
Truth be told, the latest chapter was turning into a real bear. It was already hovering around 11K, and I was becoming terribly obsessed with making things 'just perfect'. ESPECIALLY the scene with Wright, which as you can probably guess, I consider to be kind of critical to her character development. I have a newfound respect for the editorial discipline that Corentin IV displays. But I realized that if I didn't get the Wright scene out and published ASAP, it was going to drive me to distraction for the rest of the week. I'd keep tweaking and tweaking and tweaking...
So I says to myself, I says, "Lyta, this chapter has an obvious natural break in the middle. Publish what you have now, and do the second part on Saturday. Then you won't be driving yourself nuts anymore, or worrying about gilding the lily." And so I have. I hope you all enjoy it!