Work Text:
"Kate," Max says. "I don't--I need your help."
Kate smiles at her. "I'll try, Max, but there's not much I can do from here." She gestures to the hospital, seeming not to notice the way the outside simply isn't there.
Max is so grateful she took a photo with Kate in the hospital. She's also grateful she put it in her pocket so she had it when she and Chloe were by the lighthouse, because if not then her only option was to let Chloe--
But she can't think about that right now.
"Look, I'm gonna sound crazy."
Kate frowns and says, hesitantly, "Max, I trust you."
"Okay, um." Considering everything that's happening, this shouldn't bother her as much as it does. "I can rewind time."
"...that does sound crazy. Max, are you feeling alright?"
"I can prove it." She remembers the diner and Chloe's awestruck face when she predicted the future. Chloe. No one's going to take you away from me ever again.
"Then...prove it." Kate still just looks confused.
"Think of something. Something that I wouldn't just know but something you'd think of in any moment, not just random."
"Okay?"
"Tell me what it is."
"Cat detective. What does this prove, exactly?"
Max puts a hand up and goes back despite her pounding headache, just like she did when Kate was on the roof, because there's no other choice. She couldn't lose Kate. She can't lose Chloe.
"Think of something. Something that I wouldn't just know but something you'd think of in any moment, not just random."
"Okay?"
"Cat detective."
Kate freezes. "That's..."
"I can...maybe handle doing it again," Max says, and goddamn, does her nose have to start bleeding right now. "M-maybe not."
"How far back did you go? To talk to me?" Kate says. She's smart, smarter than anyone gives her credit for. Max included. She's got to be better at that.
"I...actually went into an alternate reality--" Max coughs into her elbow and Kate looks scared at the way it comes away stained with blood. "Huh. That's new. But...I can use photos to go back. Change things."
"What went wrong here?" Kate looks around, scared.
"Nothing! I just...I trust you, I need to talk things through, I need to find a way out of this."
"Out of what, Max?" Kate takes her hand. "You can tell me."
So Max tells her everything.
--
When she's done, Kate pulls her into a hug. "Okay. You need to find a way to go back to the beginning."
"Class?" Max shakes her head. "I've heard that lecture so many times. Too many times. Besides, I can barely handle being here."
"This creates an alternate reality, right?" Kate gestures to the nothing out the windows, which she could see once Max told her it was there.
"Yes," Max says.
"I'll ask Brooke to bring me some science textbooks so I can study and try and find an answer," Kate says confidently. "I'm not Warren, but I can help. I have a few days."
"The tornado," Max says anxiously.
"I'll write a note and ask one of my visitors to leave it in the Two Whales. On your way back, grab it, and read it when you get to the lighthouse. You should find a way to go back. Hopefully with Chloe."
"Kate, you're an angel," Max says breathlessly. "I...I'm gonna have to go soon, I won't remember that any of this happened--"
"You saved me, Max. I'm more than happy to save you too."
--
With that, reality snaps back into existence and the wind is whipping against her face and she can smell the sea and Chloe's hand is tight in hers.
"Max--"
"No. I'm not going to kill you," Max says. "I..."
"It's far from fixed, Max," Chloe says, staring at the tornado. Max reaches into her pocket and, mercifully, the note Kate promised is there.
There's something weird and scientific on it, but at the bottom Kate's written You don't need to use your hand to go back--just go back with your mind. Using your hand is directing temporal energy through you and exhausting you really early. That's also what's messing up the environment, I think? There's a little good luck!!! with a heart drawn next to it, and honestly, Max loves Kate.
She grabs Chloe's hand. "You ready, partner in time?"
Chloe nods.
Max closes her eyes and tries to go back without raising her hand, fully expecting nothing to work--
--
"Alfred Hitchcock famously called film 'little pieces of time' but he could be talking about photography, as he likely was."
Holy shit. Max looks over at Kate, to thank her, but she just looks like she did before. Come on, Max, she doesn't remember. You'll have to explain it again.
Max picks up her camera and looks defiantly at it, because this is the last time she's taking this fucking selfie.
"Shh, I believe Max has taken what you kids call a selfie." Max glares at him until he asks her, "Can you please tell us the name of the process--"
"The Daguerrian process," Max says with a bit more of a snarl in her voice than she intended to let in there, and Jefferson actually looks intimidated. Max wishes she'd taken a picture of when David shot him.
"Uh, okay," Jefferson says. "Would you like to elaborate?"
"I answered your question. Ask someone else." The bell rings, but Jeffereson ignores it.
"Max, don't give me an attitude," Jefferson says disapprovingly, and now that she's got unlimited rewind ability--God bless Kate--she stands up and punches him directly in the face.
"What the fuck, Caulfield?" Victoria yells, looking angry and also a little impressed.
Max sits back down and rewinds.
"Uh, okay," Jefferson says. "Would you like to elaborate?"
"Class is almost over."
The bell rings, mercifully, and Jefferson shrugs and just talks about the Everyday Heroes contest.
Max walks over to Kate immediately and says, "Kate, I care about you. More than you know. And it's not just me. Please remember that." Kate looks up at her, surprised. "I have to go right now but soon, later today even, we need to spend some time together. Okay?"
Kate nods. "I...I needed to hear that right now, Max. Thank you."
Max gives her a hug, because they both need it, and walks over to talk to Victoria.
"Victoria, you need to stop giving people shit. You're an amazing photographer, and you don't need to bribe or manipulate people to get ahead. They deserve better and you deserve better." Max doesn't regret warning Victoria because it was the right thing to do, but she wishes she'd known who it actually was. I came back for Chloe, but I came back for her, too.
Victoria looks shocked (though not as shocked as when she punched Jefferson, and she's going to hold onto that memory for the rest of her life). "I--"
Turning to Jefferson, she says, "I'm going to submit my photo later today. Just wait."
She doesn't give him a chance to reply before she leaves the room.
Chloe is waiting for her by the girls' bathroom. "Max." She pulls her into a hug. "You fucking did it."
"I know, right?" Max says.
"Max," Chloe says intently, looking into her eyes. "You just went back days into the past. You brought me with you! That's--"
"While I know I'm amazing," Max says with more confidence than she can normally muster, "let's focus on getting through this next encounter without either of us getting shot."
"Anything else you wanna share before we do?" Chloe asks.
"I punched Jefferson in the face."
"Max, I fucking love you," Chloe says, and it could just be praise but there's a note of hesitation in Chloe's voice that makes her think otherwise. Max remembers the kiss in Chloe's room, and--
There's still a messed-up Prescott with a gun on the other side of this door. This isn't the time.
Max says, "I love you too," and Chloe frowns, like Max misunderstood what she was saying. "Are you ready?"
"At least we know you can rewind if I get shot," Chloe jokes, and Max winces. "Sorry." She pushes the door open and steps in first.
Max can't hear what they're saying without pressing her ear to the door, and she'd definitely get in trouble if anyone saw her doing that. It's only a moment before Chloe pushes the door open so Max can walk in.
Nathan looks fucked up. Knowing what she knows now, Max really can't blame him.
"Why the fuck do you need a partner with you for this?" Nathan snaps at Chloe. "Especially this fuckin' photo groupie--"
"I'm not one of Jefferson's groupies, thanks," Max says, cutting Nathan off. He looks at her like he's going to kill her (and since he has a gun, he very well could, and rewind powers can only do so much) until she continues, "I know what he's been doing."
Nathan freezes. "Bullshit."
"The dark room," Max says.
"No fucking way," Nathan says quietly. "No fucking way! How do you know? Did Kate remember?"
"If I tell you, you won't believe me."
Nathan takes out his gun and points it at her. "Fucking try me."
Chloe's already started to step in front of Max but Max puts up an arm to stop her. "I'll tell you the full version someday. Short version, I was there."
"Jefferson would have told me," Nathan says, but he looks more confused than angry now. "You wouldn't remember if you were there."
Chloe says, "Look, it doesn't matter how we fucking know! We do!"
Nathan points his gun at Chloe instead, and Max says, "He's going to frame you for it. We saw the evidence. It all points to you."
His shoulders slump, and Max feels bad for him, though her pity is limited by the memory of him shooting Chloe. "So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying I'm going to do whatever the hell it takes to get Jefferson behind bars," Max says. "And you...you're hardly guilt-free in this. You killed Rachel." Chloe's grip tightens on Max's arm. "Didn't you?"
Nathan shrugs. "I don't fucking remember. Jefferson said I did."
"Right, 'cause he's so trustworthy," Max says, and Nathan actually smiles at her for a second. "You'll have to turn yourself in."
"So I can take the fall? Fuck you!"
"No. So you can get leniency and so Jefferson can't deny his role in all this. And you can't tell anyone I told you any of this." Nathan looks at her incredulously. "I'll explain everything when I can, but right now I want to make sure no one else gets hurt."
Nathan doesn't say anything for a second, then he nods, puts his gun away, says, "You fucking owe me," and walks out.
"I didn't even have to rewind!" Max says cheerfully.
"Really? That's a first for us," Chloe says.
"So," Max says, putting her hand in Chloe's. "You love me, huh?"
Chloe looks at her for a second, then laughs and says, "Caulfield, you really wanna have this conversation in a high school bathroom?"
"Fair," Max says with a shrug. "We could always break into the pool again--"
Chloe grins at her. "Yes! We'll make a delinquent out of you yet."
"Chloe, the amount of times I've broken the rules this week is already astronomical--" Max is laughing too hard to finish her sentence, and Chloe's tugging her towards the pool anyway.
--
Max and Chloe float side-by-side in the middle of the pool for a few minutes before Chloe breaks the silence with a "Max, what has been up with this fucking week."
"I don't know," Max says. "Ready to do it again?"
Chloe groans. "Not even slightly." After a beat, she says, "Anything for you, though."
Max doesn't respond right away, and when she does her voice is quiet. "Chloe, I love you."
"I know," Chloe says.
"No, Chloe, I love--"
"I know," Chloe says again, turning towards Max and kissing her. It's a pretty great second (first? time is weird) kiss, but it's supremely difficult to tread water and kiss at the same time, so it only lasts for a couple seconds before they break apart. Chloe's grinning and Max is sure her face is completely red, but she can't find it in her to care. "I love you, too."
The intercoms go off, and Principal Wells, sounding exhausted, says, Will all Blackwell students please return to your dorms immediately. Mr. Madsen and Mr. Jefferson please come to my office.
"Oh, fuck yeah, here we go," Chloe says, fist pumping. "Finally. It was a fucking process getting them here."
"Yeah," Max says, climbing out of the pool. "Let's get to the dorms, though."
"Max. You've created tornadoes, punched teachers, saved lives, and kissed cute punk girls, but you're still going to listen to the principal?"
"You can join me in my dorm, y'know."
Chloe climbs out of the pool and starts putting her clothes on. "The things I do for love."
They walk to the dorm holding hands.
--
"Oh my God, Max," Chloe says. "Your room is so hipster."
"What? No, it's not," Max says defensively. "Shut up."
"Max, you have fairy lights strung up."
"...I can't believe we finally have a break for the first time in a week, and you're focusing on my room decor."
Chloe grins at her. "C'mon, Caulfield, you know you love me."
"Do I know that? Yes, yes, I do."
"Did you just reference that furry movie?" Chloe says disbelievingly.
"Zootopia isn't a furry movie," Max says sadly. "Also, you recognized that reference immediately, so you can't tease me about it."
Chloe stares at her for a moment, then says, "Fine, guess you win," and then sprawls across Max's bed. After a second, she poses and says, "Photograph me like one of your French girls."
Max laughs and says, "You're a dork," but pulls out her camera and takes the picture anyway.
Chloe sits up to look at the picture after it develops, then says, "You should make a series. Things My Amazing Girlfriend Does."
"Girlfriend?"
"Um..." Chloe scoots back, away from Max a bit. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, more than okay," Max says. "That's...great. I am definitely in favor of--"
Chloe presses her lips to hers, then says, "You ramble when you get flustered, you know that."
Max kisses her instead of replying. After a few minutes, she pulls back and says, "Not that this isn't nice, but I have to talk to Kate."
"Can you bring her here?" Chloe asks. "I'd like to meet here."
"Right, you guys never got the chance," Max realizes. "Oh, man, you'll love Kate."
Chloe looks worried, and says, "Are you sure? We're pretty different people, Max."
"So are you and me," Max says, heading out the door and knocking on Kate's. "Kate? It's me."
Kate opens the door and smiles at her, but it's a small smile. "Hey, Max. Ready to talk?"
"Yeah," Max says. "And...uh, you're gonna think I'm crazy."
--
After Max tells Kate everything, and proves it, Kate says in a small voice, "I helped you save everyone?"
"Yeah, Kate." Max smiles at her. "I never could have done it without you."
Kate laughs and puts her face in her hands. "I feel like I'm dreaming. Where's Chloe? Does she remember?"
"Um, she's in my room right now, actually," Max says. "We're...dating now?"
There's a beat of silence, and Max's heart is hammering in her chest, and Kate says, "I'm happy for you."
"Really?" Max asks. "I mean...I just--"
"You were worried that I'd judge you for being gay because I'm religious."
"...yeah," Max says. "Sorry."
"It's fine," Kate says. "A lot of people use their faith as an excuse. But that's...against everything I stand for." Kate looks determined. "Besides, it'd be pretty hypocritical of me to judge you for your sexuality."
Oh. Oh. "Kate, you're gay?"
Kate smiles at her. "You really didn't watch the video, did you? That's part of why I was so worried my church would find it." Kate frowns. "They still might."
"I have time powers," Max says. "If they do, I'll go back and fix it."
"Bring me with you?" Kate asks.
"Never without you, Kate," Max says, and Kate smiles at her.
"So...Chloe's in your room?" Kate asks.
"Yeah?"
"Can I meet her?"
Max nods and walks her to her room.
Chloe opens the door. "What's the password?"
"This is my room, Chloe," Max says exasperatedly.
"Then you should know the password," Chloe says.
Kate's doodling something on Max's whiteboard, but she still giggles at that.
"Okay. Password. I...honestly have no idea."
"I'll give you a hint," Chloe says. "It can be used to describe your girlfriend."
"Cute?" Max tries.
"You're not wrong, but it's not the password."
"Beautiful?"
"Now you're just using flattery."
"...priceless."
Chloe stares at her for a second, then says, "Max, that was an awful pun. I'm allowing it." She opens the door all the way and awkwardly waves at Kate. "So you're Kate?"
"Yes. You must be Chloe!" Kate smiles at her.
Max leads Kate in. "Oh, before I forget, The October Country." She picks it up and hands it to Kate.
Kate smiles. "How'd you know I--oh, yeah."
"Super Max strikes again!" Chloe says. "Even if it's just to return a book."
Max sticks her tongue out at her. There's a moment of awkward silence--what are they supposed to talk about--when Kate says, "Have either of you seen Zootopia?"
Chloe laughs, and Kate looks hurt for a second before Chloe says, "We were just talking about that, oh my God."
"Wanna watch it?" Max asks the pair.
"Yes," they say in unison.
--
When the movie's over, Kate's fast asleep despite it not even being four in the afternoon, but Max knows she's had it pretty bad for awhile so she just lets her nap. Chloe's absent-mindedly playing with Max's hair, and Max is almost ready to pass out too when Chloe says, "I'd do it all again for this."
Max looks up at her and kisses her, and pulls back only when Kate starts shifting. She turns to see Kate looking at the two of them with a small smile and saying, "You too really are cute."
Max isn't sure if she's imagining the way she looks a little bit jealous, but she definitely doesn't have the energy to engage with it right now, and besides, Kate's fallen back asleep already anyway.
--
They tell the students about Jefferson the next morning. Victoria's particularly shaken. She actually knocks on Max's door one night--unfortunately, a night when she and Chloe were making out. They were making up for lost time! Does it still count as lost time if you're the one who made it go back?
Max opens the door, clearly disheveled, and says, "Victoria? What are you doing here?"
"Oh." Victoria looks like a deer in the headlights. "I...can come back later."
"Yo, is this Victoria?" Chloe says, stepping behind Max and wrapping an arm around her. "You guys can talk, I'll go."
"Chloe--" But she's already shrugging her shirt back on.
"No, seriously. You two need to talk."
"Victoria, can you wait a second?" Max doesn't give her a chance to reply before closing the door on her. "Why?"
"Because last night you were talking in your sleep, and you kept talking about how much you wish you could have saved her," Chloe says patiently. "You did. Even if you don't tell her you did."
"Oh."
"Besides, my stepdad has been texting me. He wants me home."
"And you're going to listen?" Max says.
"He saved you. I'll listen. Once." Chloe shrugs. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Max says, kissing her one last time. Chloe opens the door and walks past a still-very-confused Victoria.
Max sighs and says, "Okay, come in."
Victoria walks in and sits on her bed (okay, not even gonna bother asking, I see) and says, "Did you have any idea about Mr. Jefferson?"
Max sighs. "I--"
"You did," Victoria says. "I can see it in your face. How?"
Max shouldn't be telling her this. But Victoria was a part of it, too, and it only seems right. "I was there."
"Where?"
"The dark room."
Victoria looks up at Max. "What? But...they didn't find your pictures--"
"Victoria, I'm going to need you to stop talking and listen for a second."
--
"Max, you're fucking insane," Victoria says.
"You don't believe me? After I told you everything that was in your purse?" Max says. That had taken a few tries. Victoria insisted on the strangest details.
"No, I believe you. But you went back and risked the whole town because of her?" Victoria says.
"Yes," Max says. "And for Kate. And for you, too, Victoria, if you can believe it."
Victoria stands up, picks up her purse and says, "Thanks," before leaving.
"You're welcome," Max mutters before collapsing onto her bed. She could really use some sleep.
--
Max dreams about sitting on the boardwalk with Kate. She's not quite sure what they're talking about, but they're drinking tea and laughing like they don't have any cares in the world.
Kate says, "Max."
"Yeah?" Max asks.
Kate presses her lips to Max's, and Max wakes up.
"Oh, fuck."
--
"Uh, Chloe," Max says when she sees her the next day.
"What's wrong?" Chloe says, immediately in full alert. "Jefferson? The tornado? Oh, fuck, we still need to warn people about that."
"No birds have been dying, so I think we're okay on that front, actually, and Jefferson's still in prison," Max says. "It's not that serious."
Chloe relaxes. "Then what's up?"
"We should be honest with each other, right?"
"Yeah?"
"I had a dream last night. Kate kissed me."
"Oh," Chloe says. "That's it?"
"That's it?" Max says. "Aren't you mad?"
"No," Chloe says. "It's just a dream, it's not like you went behind my back. Besides," Chloe says. "If you want to kiss Kate, I'm okay with it. It's not like you don't care about me."
"...really?" Max didn't know that was something she wanted, that that was even an option. She can't really say she objects to the idea, though.
"Yeah." Chloe smiles at Max.
Max kisses her. "You're amazing, you know that?"
"Yeah, yeah," Chloe says, waving her off. "Go tell her you like her. I'll be here if you end up needing a shoulder to cry on."
--
"Max, when you say tea date." Kate looks adorable with her hair down, but it's Max's fault for bugging her so late. "Do you mean a date-date?"
"Yeah," Max says.
"What about Chloe?"
"She said she's okay with it. I get it if you're not interested, though--"
Kate kisses her, and it's even better than it was in her dream. "I am. Definitely."
Max smiles at her. "Okay. Good."
"Does...that mean Chloe's interested too?" Kate looks hopeful at that.
"Uh. I don't know. But I can ask her. Are you...?"
"I'm a gay high schooler," Kate says with a shrug. "Of course I'm gonna be slightly interested in the blue-haired punk girl."
Max laughs. "Never change, Kate."
"Is she in your room right now?" Kate asks.
"Yeah," Max says. "Wanna go talk to her?"
Kate nods, then looks worried and says, "I look like a mess."
"Kate, you look like an angel," Max says sincerely.
Kate rolls her eyes and says, "Okay, let's go to your room, but if she judges me for how I look, you have to go back."
"Deal," Max says. Before they walk in, she notices the doodle. "I never did see what you drew on my board."
It's a few little animals--a wolf with familiar blue hair, a bunny with a bun, and a cat with a detective coat. "Cat detective!"
"Yeah. It's supposed to be you and me and Chloe? I thought you'd like it. Do you?" Kate asks hesitantly.
"I do," Max says sincerely. "Is that why you wanted us to watch Zootopia?"
"...maybe?" Kate smiles at her. "And it's a good movie."
"It is. We should probably stop just standing right outside the door."
"Yeah, you probably should," says Chloe from inside the room. "What's up?"
"You ready, Kate?" Max asks in a low voice.
Kate turns to her, smiles, and says, "Nope," but walks in anyway.
--
One long conversation later, they're all cuddling on Max's bed. It definitely wasn't meant for three people, and Chloe is almost getting pushed off. Max's music is the only noise in the room. Chloe's back to playing with Max's hair and Kate's face is tucked into Max's neck and Kate and Chloe are holding hands over Max and this is the most content Max has ever been.
Victoria walks in (without knocking), looks at the three, rolls her eyes, and says, "I'll come back later," before walking out.
"Max, she definitely has a crush on you," Chloe says.
"What? No, she--holy shit."