Mark Jefferson was a patient man. Patience came with the territory of being a photographer. An artist. Waiting for that perfect moment when inspiration struck...or, waiting for the perfect opportunity to act on that inspiration. In Mark Jefferson's own mind, he never did anything wrong. The collateral damage was a small price to pay for the perfect shot. Sure, there were unfortunate effects, but it was all in the name of art. Of capturing perfection. And Gail Roberts was the chance he'd been waiting for his entire career. Entire life. Pure, innocent, no ties to the ugly real world. Too innocent. Too perfect. He'd thought Kate was innocent, but Gail...Gail was too good to be true. His patience was wearing thin.

'Too good to be true' was what he was starting to think, with what had happened. He had no idea how a stupid, stoner, dropout, punk had figured out his methods. And at that, one tied to Rachel Amber, who he'd once thought would be his masterpiece. Not that he saw a problem with his methods, but the world wasn't ready for such...raw expression, true art.

After what he learned from his visit to Nathan, he was not at all surprised Gail wasn't at the party. He knew they were stupid enough to go right to the Dark Room when they thought they knew he wouldn't be there. He made his announcement early, giving Victoria Chase the prize because, though her photography was sub-par, she was his next masterpiece. After Gail, of course. And after the blue haired problem, her step-father and Rachel Amber were dealt with, he'd be back for her. Maybe. Gail was, as he thought, too perfect. What he didn't know was that he there was someone else who shared that thought. And that someone was arguably crazier, more driven, than him. This person was, of course, his blue haired problem, but he didn't know that. Not yet. Just that they were seen together on more than one occasion. He could never imagine the bond between his three...problems.

Jefferson was on his way back to the Dark Room. His Dark Room. He was listening to good jazz on his car stereo, he was calm. This was his game. Gail not showing up for the party most likely meant she was exactly where he wanted her. And he could take care of the punk at the same time. If Rachel was with them, well, maybe he had time for two photoshoots.

He smiled as he pulled up to the old barn, seeing Chloe's truck. She hadn't even bothered to park somewhere else, it was in plain view.

Too easy.

He'd already moved anything incriminating, anything that could tie him to the room. Even if one of them where to get out, there was nothing against him. Prescott would never talk. He parked in the barn, as he normally did, and got out of the car. He walked over to the hatch in the floor, finding the lock had been smashed off. He wondered briefly if it had been shot, but thought better of it. That only worked in movies. Besides, he had surprise on his side. He calmly descended the stairs, entered the code to unlock the door, and quietly entered, closing the door behind him. He needed Gail here, he was not going to shoot her. But if the punk bitch was here…

He heard nothing but silence, whatever they were looking for, they were being quiet, most likely to hear if he himself came through the door, he thought, anyway. He drew his handgun, stepped around the corner, into his beautiful studio and found Chloe Price and Rachel Amber with guns, aimed squarely at him.

Gail hadn't moved since Chloe and Rachel left. She laid in Chloe's bed, wrapped in a blanket in a fetal position, hugging one of Chloe's shirts. It smelled like cheap deodorant and cigarettes. Like Chloe. It smelled like home. Chloe was her home. She was coming to realize this. Even if Chloe was insane. And out chasing a murderer, who she intended to kill herself. Gail realized that, even though she wasn't well acquainted with emotions and human contact, before now, she was hopelessly and completely in love with the blue haired girl that three days ago, she was horrified at the thought of meeting in person.

Huh...guess i'm...gay….who'da thought...wowser

That last word in her head brought a strange feeling. Every so often she'd remember a word, a reference, something. This was the latest. She realized she had never used the word 'dork' before meeting Chloe, that she could remember. She pushed that aside for now. She just wanted Chloe to come back, safe and sound. Rachel too. She felt something like love for Rachel. She had done...things...with Rachel, but Rachel wasn't Chloe. She didn't think there was anything else in the universe quite like Chloe, and on that one, she was more right than she knew.

She rolled over and looked up at everything on the walls of the room that so well represented it's owner.

Just Gotta Let Go

She wondered why those words resonated with her. But she also couldn't stay focused. She was too worried about this entire mess they were in. How Chloe and Rachel would even be able to deal with what they had to do, even if the didn't get in trouble...or worse.

She dozed, in spite of the enormous tension on her mind. She still felt terrible from last night.

"You could have...rewound...we could have made him tell us where the binders went, we could of-"

"No. I don't even want to know if I can do it again. Not after what happened last time."

"Chloe...it could still happen. We don't know. What if it was my time?"

"Did you let him kill you?"

"What does that-"

"Did you let him kill you, Rachel?"

"I…."

"You did."

"Chloe...I thought-"

"I know what you thought, but obviously it didn't work. We can't just change things. We've fucked that up way too many fucking times already."

"So what the fuck are we going to do now?"

"Well first of all, we're getting rid of these guns."

Chloe had driven in silence after what they'd done, until this exchange. Rachel couldn't fathom why, if Chloe could somehow rewind time now, she hadn't used it to get what they needed, get them out of this mess. For good. But now...she knew Chloe was right. It wasn't snowing. There weren't two moons. There was no dead sealife washing up on the beach. Chloe didn't say where they were going, but Rachel knew.

They parked at the beach again, Chloe grabbed a duffle bag she had shoved the guns and her bloody clothing in. She was out of the truck before Rachel had a chance to say anything, heading for the trail up to the lighthouse.

Rachel followed in silence. As sick as Jefferson was, as horrible as he was, nothing about this felt right. Rachel wondered if Chloe really hadn't attempted to use the ability for the reason she said, or if she had just blown Jefferson's head off for herself, after everything. Chloe wouldn't talk about it, either way. Rachel followed, stumbling a few times in the dark. The trek up to the cliff seemed to take forever, in the cold moonlight. Chloe was way ahead. Rachel found herself wishing Chloe had just let her go. She was cold, she was mortified by what they'd just done, be it for the greater good or not, she knew that Chloe was never going to love her the way she loved Chloe. Rachel had the thought that maybe Chloe had never been the lost one. Maybe it was herself. She shivered and picked up the pace, catching up to Chloe at the lighthouse.

"You know, if you throw it off the cliff, it's just going to wash back up."

"Maybe...", Chloe said, quietly, she was leaning down and filling the bag with rocks.

"You don't seem concerned."

Chloe's lack of concern was scaring Rachel. Her stoic expression and dead seriousness were a complete one eighty from when they'd been gearing up to do what they had done. Discussing where they were going to run away to. Together. The three of them. Rachel was scared that what Chloe had just done may have broken her in a different way. A new way.

"Nathan might know where he would have taken his precious red folders, and with him out of the way, there's nothing to stop Nathan from spilling. We've got David too. We just need to buy some time. Maybe."

"The Prescotts…"

"Rachel...Nathan would do what I just did to Jefferson to his own father if he could. And I don't know if i'd blame him. I mean...look at Nathan. But yeah, they could be a problem. They know me, i'm sure, since Nathan fucked up with me, if Nathan talked to Jefferson, i'm sure my name worked it's way up. Still, I don't blame Nathan, explicitly."

"You actually feel bad for him."

"Maybe. I know what it's like to be used", Chloe said flatly. It was clearly a stab at her. If Rachel was concerned about Chloe's mental health before, now she was terrified.

"...i'm...sorry, Chloe."

Chloe said nothing, she kicked the bag over the cliff. She watched it go, though the impact with the water lost lost to the shadow of the cliff, in the darkness. Chloe looked out towards the horizon. She didn't know how to handle what she'd just done, even if it was necessary. She remembered a time she had planned on killing Nathan. Now she knew she would have never been able to do it. She felt her left arm, where she was bleeding through a bandanna she had tied around her now ripped sleeve. Jefferson had gotten a shot off, it just grazed her. It would leave a scar exactly where her old one, the one received running up this very trail in a panic, had been. This led to Chloe pulling the trigger on instinct….the first time. Rachel choked, lost her nerve. She didn't blame her. She knew she could have tried to rewind...but.

She took her jacket off and threw it over the cliff too.

"There it goes. The last of our innocence", Rachel said, from beside her. Chloe hadn't even noticed she was now standing beside her.

"We were never innocent, Rachel."

"Weren't we? Once? A long time ago?"

"You never knew the innocent me."

"I suppose not."

"Nobody did, now."

"Joyce…"

"Joyce is forgiving, but she's not as forgiving as-"

"Max. By nobody, you mean Max."

"Maybe."

"Gail could still remember, Chloe. And then when this is sorted out, you can ride off into the sunset together, like you always wanted. No destruction, no-"

"Is that what you want, Rachel?", Chloe asked, lighting a cigarette.

"What?"

"You want us to ride off into the sunset? What about you? I'm supposed to leave you behind?"

"I could...come with you-"

"And what, Rachel? You follow me everywhere, just to keep getting let down? What if that happened, are you going to follow and watch me and Gail? Stay lonely forever?"

"Chloe...you never let me down. I-"

"You're still in love with me, Rachel."

"No, I just-"

"No nothing. You are. And I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I'm not worth it, Rachel. So don't take it personally."

"And would you fucking say that to Gail?"

Chloe just took a drag and exhaled the smoke slowly, still gazing at the dark horizon.

"Well, Chloe?"

"I don't trust Nathan. I feel bad for him, but I don't trust him under pressure."

"So?"

"He'll sell me out to save himself, even if he knows what Jefferson did with his shit. He already did it once. Jefferson forced him to. Bring his father into it...and no. Hella bad. And you know i'm going to be first on the list of suspects. Arcadia Bay has wanted me gone for a long time. And if that happens, you play dumb. You weren't here tonight. Nobody saw you with me, save Frank, and Frank won't involve himself with anything involving police."

"Chloe...what are you saying?"

"Take care of Gail, Rachel", Chloe said, turning away from the cliff, starting to walk back towards the trail. Rachel was stunned, she had not expected this sudden introspection from Chloe...and was Chloe actually planning on...no way.

Rachel finally turned, all she saw in the dark was Chloe's cigarette burning, a few yards away.

"You didn't answer my question, Chloe."

Chloe stopped.

"Gail may be Max, but she doesn't have the history me and Max…."

"You think she's too good for you."

"I won't drag her into this, not any further. It's already too far."

"You could have tried to rewind, Chloe, you could have-"

"No. Because whether I got hit or not, I was going to pull that trigger. I guess I know who I am now. And it's not someone that deserves someone like Gail...or Max."

"Chloe-"

"I looked in his eyes and I pulled the trigger again, Rachel. I could have walked away. But I stood over him, looked him in the eye and did it again."

"Chloe...I understand."

"No, you don't, Rachel."

"You think I didn't hate him too? What he fucking-", Rachel's voice was raising, she was starting to have a hard time biting back on her anger.

"Oh, you hated him. But you didn't hate him like I hate him."

"Chloe-"

"Play dumb. Keep Gail out of this. Obviously the world isn't ending. Guess it wasn't your time after all."

"And what about Gail's world, Chloe? What about mine? You're just going to leave? Leave us? Run away? I thought you were done with that."

"I was."

"SO WHAT FUCKING CHANGED, CHLOE?", Rachel was screaming now.

"Everything", Chloe said under her breath, turning away, but Rachel still heard it, somehow.

Chloe stopped and turned one more time.

"You always knew there was only Max for me, Rachel. I'm sorry, I am. And I can't put Gail through what's about to go down if I stay here. I can't. The whole point of this was never putting her through anything terrible again. And we fucked up, and it's about to get a lot worse. I love you, Rachel. I hope you know that. It might not be the same as Max...Gail. But I do love you."

That was all she said, she flicked the cigarette away, and turned away, leaving Rachel alone on the cliff.

"ARE YOU LEAVING FOR US OR FOR YOU, CHLOE?", Rachel screamed after her, but she was already gone.

Gail didn't wake up until the next morning, though she never even realized she fell asleep. Rachel was asleep beside her, where Chloe should have been, in her bed, in her room, in her house.

"Rachel", Gail shook Rachel's shoulder.

"Huh...what…", Rachel murmured.

"WHERE IS CHLOE?", Gail panicked, not seeing Chloe here. A million bad thoughts went through her head at once.

"I don't know", Rachel said, flatly.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?"

Rachel rolled over, pulling the blanket over her head.

"She's fine. She's fine, Gail. I just don't know where she is", Rachel said, her voice muffled by the blanket.

"What are you talking about?"

"...ugh….."

"Rachel...please…", Gail's first tears of the day were starting to fall.

Rachel sat up, letting the blanket fall. She'd obviously been crying her eyes out the night before.

"She fucking took off, I don't know where she went. She didn't even take the truck, she fucking left the keys in it for me."

"What...happened?"

"We took care of Jefferson."

"...and?"

Rachel sat and thought for a few moments. Gail watched her closely. She was gazing into space, biting at her lip.

"She's protecting us. Protecting you."

"Rachel...he was a murderer he-"

"He got rid of the evidence. So we have a dead, highly regarded teacher and artist...and a delinquent. Who was involved, no matter what he says now, in the assault of the most powerful family in Arcadia's son. They're going to pin it on her, Gail. As soon as Jefferson is found. No contact is made with Sean. Nathan will be forced to say he heard something from her, if he doesn't outright blame the entire fucking thing on her. Or Sean will just pay them to look in her direction...it wouldn't be hard anyway, they don't exactly like her. She's an easy scapegoat, the Prescotts will just pay them to look the other way on the Dark Room even existing, but they need a scapegoat for Jefferson's murder. I didn't want to do it this way...she could have fucking done this so differently...she could have used it. But she didn't she fucking didn't, she-", Rachel was crying now.

"Rachel….we have to find her...I...what about David?"

"It's pretty well known how much she hates him, even though she really doesn't. Not now anyway. But...wouldn't be hard to pin that on her too, especially since we were nowhere to be found when it happened."

"We can't just-"

"Holy shit", Rachel said suddenly, realizing something that Chloe probably already had a while ago.

"..what?"

"Jefferson got a shot off before Chloe could react, it grazed her arm, she was alright, but there was a lot of blood...her blood…"

"...crime scene."

"Yeah", Rachel sighed.

"Rachel...I can't...she can't leave...she…"

Rachel looked away.

"She left last night, Gail", she said quietly.

"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO WAKE ME UP AND TELL ME?"

"Tell you what? Gail. I don't know where she went. And last night, I was a mess. I wasn't going to put you through what I was going through last night. I couldn't."

"Thanks for the concern", Gail said flippantly.

"Gail…"

"Leave me alone. Go home", Gail said, laying down and rolling over, facing away from Rachel.

"And are you just going to lay here and hope she comes back?"

"Maybe. Just leave, Rachel."

"...I have nowhere to go, Gail."

"Go home."

"Heh….it's funny. Everyone always thought Chloe was the troubled one."

"...what are you talking about?"

"Whether or not you believe what we told you yesterday...I did leave Blackwell. Got myself kicked out, here. Because I knew about Jefferson. Last time I fell for it. Here I didn't. The drugs...the partying...and then that. My parents kind of disowned me. That's why i've been staying with Frank...but I broke it off with Frank. I can't go back there. I never imagined this was going to play out how it did. Neither of us did. I was going to leave. I have some money. Just get away from everything for a while. Because…"

"You love her too."

"Yeah...I do. And it's not fair to her. Or to you. And I know that's part of why she left. Chloe isn't afraid of police. Chloe isn't afraid of anything...except…"

"What, Rachel?"

"Max getting hurt. You getting hurt. She told me to look out for you, so here I am. I understand if you hate me, Gail. I do. I'll go. I'll leave, i'll find somewhere. I'd hate me too. Hell, I do hate me."

Gail rolled over again, and faced Rachel.

"I don't hate you, Rachel."

"Really? Well...whatever. I'll find somewhere to go, Gail."

"Stay."

"Are you sure? I'm serious Gail, I fucked up. Badly. This is all my fault."

"Rachel...right now I can't take anymore. Maybe it's your fault. Maybe it's not. But right now I can't take anymore. Just...stay. Okay? We're all we've got...until we find her."

Rachel sighed.

"Yeah."

"Any idea where she'd go?"

"Several. But finding her is another thing entirely. And we don't know if we're out of the woods yet. We need to check the local news and then get out of this house. If ANYONE asks, we haven't seen Chloe in at least a day. At least."

A tall girl in a hoodie, with the hood up, and sunglasses sat alone, smoking a cigarette, outside a bus terminal somewhere in California. She was waiting for the next one heading south. She had a destination in mind, but right now all she thought was; keep moving south. She eventually flicked the cigarette away and went to the ticket window.

"How may I help you?", a tired looking clerk asked.

"Next bus south", the girl said.

"Half an hour, stops in-"

"Doesn't matter."

"Alright then...that will be…", the rest didn't matter, "...name? For departure."

"Uh, Elizabeth...Caulfield. Elizabeth Caulfield."

"Alright, Miss Caulfield."

The girl took her ticket and went back to the bench, lighting another cigarette.