Chapter 4: Fringe Science

Max was quickly cleared for air travel and in no time at all Olivia, Max, Chloe, and the three now conscious men were on their way back to Massachusetts. The three men she had instantly recognized as Hans, Gerrard, and Canderous, Kevin's men. The wounded Agent Bauer protested at first but one quick conversation with Broyles over Olivia's phone made him significantly more agreeable. Kevin's men, especially Canderous, seemed quite upset about their capture but their spirits improved as they took in the sight of the fallen Treize Faction operatives.

During the flight Max lapsed in and out of consciousness. Sometimes as she struggled to regain consciousness she would recognize Olivia, sometimes she recognized only Chloe. Once or twice she seemed almost normal again. However, after she had awoken screaming at the top of her lungs Walter, who was constantly requesting updates, decided that it was best to sedate her for the rest of the flight.

"Your initial analysis of Max's condition was quite right Agent Dunham, quite right indeed! Somehow Max's abilities were once again brought to the surface, I imagine by the recent trauma she has gone through, but this time they have been projected inwards. Instead of manipulating the world around her, it is her own mind that is bouncing through time and perhaps multiple realities… we have no way of knowing. Unfortunately, I theorize that this process, as I'm sure you can guess, is causing massive damage inside her conscious, subconscious and physical mind. If we do not repair the damage that was done to her by firmly implanting Max's mind back into our reality she will quite literally drive herself insane, quite possible to death." Walter's words hadn't been very encouraging but as the uncomfortable silence grew Walter added a few uncharacteristically optimistic words. "Don't worry Agent Dunham, we will think of something before you arrive. Peter and I already have a few ideas… don't we Peter?" Peter's grim response, confirmed her suspicions that Walter hadn't a clue what to do at the moment.

Turning towards Chloe, Olivia saw how the young-woman clung to Max's heavily sedated form and recognized the desperate look in her eyes and hoped that Walter would at least have something to offer them when they arrived at his Harvard laboratory.

"And people said I would never make it to Harvard… well… here I am… assholes." Chloe grumbled as they rushed through the hallways. Hoping that Walter was ready for them Olivia and Chloe burst into Walter's lab and in a rush Gerrard and Hans hurriedly maneuvered Max's gurney inside. Canderous glared menacingly at a few students who had cast confused glances in their direction but soon entered into the lab, casting a scrutinizing gaze at his surroundings. She soon realized that her fears had been unwarranted about Walter's readiness. Walter was in high spirits and Astrid and Kimmy quickly accepted Max's gurney and began to prep her. Peter was busily hooking up equipment, his eyes furrowed in concentration.

"Ah Agent Dunham, Ms. Price!" Walter's gaze fell on the three rough looking men for a moment and not recognizing them dismissed their presence entirely. "What excellent timing, we are ready for you!" He must have something quite extraordinary planned for Max, she hadn't seen him in such a good mood in quite some time.

"So… Walter, what's the plan?"

"Oh, it's quite simple Agent Dunham, first we will load our wonderful Ms. Price up with a variety of drugs-."

"Drugs? What drugs Walter? What will drugging Chloe do to help with Max?" Olivia bombarded him with questions but he casually waved them off as if they had been entirely unnecessary.

"LSD mostly… and I am trying to explain… if you would be so kind and cease interrupting me you would see that your needless questions are as infuriating as they are wasteful!" Walter's excited tone vanished as he tore into her. "Now may I continue uninterrupted?" Olivia, still recovering from his verbal assault simply nodded and his cheerful tone immediately returned. "Now… where was I… oh yes! Once we are done loading Ms. Price full of wonderful elixer we are going to create a link between her brain and Ms. Caulfield's brain with our equipment here. Then, once Ms. Price has disrobed and entered into the deprivation tank Peter and I will bring their brain waves into synch and Ms. Price will enter into Ms. Caulfield's damaged mind, with my help of course, and bring her back to us, simple isn't it?"

"Except for the part where Chloe does all that without the help of Cortexiphan." As far as she understood it, Olivia had only been able to do something similar to what was about to happen because of the Cortexiphan that had been pumped into her blood as a child. Chloe, thankfully, hadn't had the same experience she did growing up so this experiment seemed to be doomed from the start.

"Not at all Agent Dunham, you see that is one of the drugs that I will be giving her." Olivia was shocked at how casually he had said this.

"Walter, you can't do that!"

"Do you want me to save this young woman's life Agent Dunham or do you want to watch her die as her mind slowly but inevitably turns on itself?" Walter's harsh tone was back, he was so vehement that Olivia found herself taking an unconscious step away from him. Realizing what he had just done Walter's face immediately saddened and he apologized. "I'm sorry Agent Dunham, but this is the only way, there simply is no alternative…" Turning to Chloe Olivia fixed her gaze on her and made sure that the woman knew what she was doing.

"This is going to be really dangerous. There is a lot at stake here… are you sure that you want to go through with this?"

"I don't care how dangerous this is, if there's a chance to save Max then I'm doing it!" Chloe seemed almost belligerent with her response but Olivia persisted regardless.

"There is a chance but it's probably not as high as-." Chloe cut her off before she could finish her sentence, she was having none of it.

"Look lady if there's even a one percent chance that this will work, I'm doing it." Chloe cast a questioning gaze at Walter who quickly nodded.

"Definitely higher than one percent, most certainly!" Yeah but how much higher Walter? Olivia sighed heavily and Chloe could tell that she still wasn't about to give in so she tried a different approach.

"Look, you seem nice and all but clearly you don't understand what love is. That woman over there, that woman who is dying right now, I love her. That means I'm willing to do anything, no matter how risky or insane or dangerous it is to save her."

"Fine, but before you do this there are a few things that you should know…" Olivia paused and turned to Walter who nodded slightly, acknowledging the necessity of informing Chloe the truth about her friend. "Chloe, this is going to sound insane but five years ago Max was able to control time." Olivia let her words sink in and she saw how Chloe's face changed and the young woman hurriedly looked at her friend.

"What… what are you talking about?"

"It all started when, and this is going to sound really strange, when Nathan Prescott shot you in the girl's bathroom back at Blackwell Academy. Somehow, we still don't really understand, she was able to manipulate time and save you and to make an incredibly long story short… her powers caused some terrible things to happen." Chloe stared back at her in total disbelief but when she cast her worried gaze back to her partner she seemed to start to process some of the information that Olivia had thrown at her.

"So… why don't I remember anything about this… and how do you? What about you three… do you guys have any idea what she is talking about?" This is going to get really interesting really fast.

Kevin's men exchanged veiled glances at one another. Hans adjusted his sunglasses while Gerrard shrugged and scratched his beard. Canderous stretched and crossed his massive arms across his equally massive chest and grumbled.

"Man… the boss ain't paying us enough for this mess." When it became clear that the three men would be offering nothing substantial to the conversation Olivia and Chloe turned away from them.

"Let's just say that I am unique, I was able to retain my memories of everything that happened just as Max was able to… Kevin as well… I take it that they never mentioned any of this to you?"

"No… not a word… this all sounds hella' insane… I probably wouldn't have believed her anyway… I'm not even sure that I believe you but she did recognize those guys that tried to rescue us and I certainly have never seen them before so I guess that makes sense… and she seemed to recognize you once or twice… did she lose her powers or something?"

"We believe so… but our theory is that during this recent series of traumatic events something may have triggered her powers again… but for some reason instead of projecting them on the world she internalized them…"

"So… she's like what… jumping through her memories or something?" Olivia nodded, she wondered how much more she should tell Chloe but there was no telling what she may face inside Max's fractured mind so it might help her to know more.

"She may even be jumping through different versions of herself, from alternate realities, if that makes any sense. When you go inside Max's mind you may run into a number of versions of herself, some may know you, some may not… they may react positively or negatively to you, there is no telling what you might encounter in there but you have to do your best to remain calm…"

"You already lectured me about how dangerous this is, we don't need to go through that again… let's just do this thing and save Max."

And that seemed to settled it she turned to Walter and began to strip off her clothes. "Juice me up, Doctor Frankenstein." Walter, excited once more, hurried around as Chloe tore off most of her clothing and only stopped at her underwear when Peter hastily motioned that she had done enough. Canderous, clearly dismayed that Peter had intervened grumbled some more but his devouring gaze seemingly had no effect on Chloe.

Gerrard, on the other hand, had become extremely interested in something behind him all of the sudden while it was impossible to tell exactly what Hans was looking at thanks to his sunglasses. Whether or not he was interested in the events unfolding before him, he gave no indication either way. Chloe stood impatiently in front of the sensory deprivation chamber as an IV and several leads and monitoring devices were hooked up to her. Once everything had been prepared she fearlessly plunged into the massive chamber. As Olivia watched it slam shut behind her she thought back to her own experiences inside and wished that she had been half as brave as Chloe.

As Chloe floated inside the pitch-black chamber her thoughts swam around inside of her as she became increasingly aware that she was alone. This is a piece of cake I've been on my own before… so what if it's hella' dark in here… I lived in the dark for months… it was just me and my shitty thoughts all to ourselves, I don't see what the big deal is. Immediately after she processed that thought the drugs kicked in, hard, and everything changed. All at once everything became nothing and nothing became everything. She felt herself gasping in pleasure and moaning in distress all at once as she was consumed by the intensity of the moment.

Walter's tranquil voice spoke to her, guided her, calmed her. Chloe felt more than heard Walter's distinct and steady voice fade away into the back of her mind. Slowly it became a forgotten whisper as if carried off by a drifting wind, open your eyes. She obeyed and immediately recognized her surroundings.

She found herself in Max's room in Detroit, well her old room at any rate. She recognized it from the many trips that they had taken to Max's parents' house, it was oddly furnished though, as if for a young girl. It struck her then, this is Max's room when she was just a kid… this is her room after she left me…

Soft muffled crying suddenly sounded from behind her and she spun around and nearly tripped over a very young-looking Max who was sitting on the floor tightly hugging a teddy bear. All around her were strewn photographs and drawings and upon closer inspection she immediately recognized them. The photographs were pictures of them when they were kids and the drawings were the 'artwork' that they had created together. As if noticing Chloe for the first time the young Max looked up at her and chocked back her tears.

"I'm sorry Chloe… I'm sorry…" Her voice cracked and broke as she fought back her sadness and Chloe found herself crouching down and cradling the distressed youth.

"Hey it's okay Max… don't worry, what are you sorry about?" The young Max clung to her but she cried harder, somehow managing to form words between her sobbing.

"I left you all alone… I didn't mean it… I wanted to talk… I missed you… I'm sorry Chloe… I'm so sorry… You probably hated me… you probably hate me… don't be mad Chloe… I tried… I really did try…" Max went on like this for some time until her words were drowned out by more cries and even though Chloe had indeed been mad at her for abandoning her when she had needed her most she couldn't help but feel bad for the scared little girl.

"It's okay Max, I'm not mad… I don't hate you…I… I missed you too…" Chloe's words stuck in her throat as she became overwhelmed with conflicting emotions. On one hand she wanted to tell this little Max exactly how she had felt as a child. Her father had died and then her best friend had simply vanished and seemingly stopped caring about her. She had been left all alone wondering what she had done to scare away her best friend.

She had blamed herself at first, but eventually her anger found new targets. Max, David, her mother, and eventually the rest of the shitty world. But on the other hand, she knew Max, she knew that she had tried and done her best and that her past insecurities had prevented her from reaching out to her. She knew that Max had wanted nothing more than to be with her once again, she knew this.

"You promise?" The little Max had stopped crying and was looking up at Chloe hopefully.

"I promise, you little goofball." Little Max smiled and began to wipe away her tears and Chloe's heart warmed as she smiled back. Suddenly the door to Max's room flung open and Max's mom stormed in, consumed with rage.

"Get away from her!" Just as suddenly, Chloe realized that little Max had disappeared so she sprung to her feet to deal with Max's infuriated mom but as she turned to face the woman she realized that she wasn't looking at Max's mom, she was looking at a much older Max.

"Max?" She asked in confusion and the woman's rage subsided, but only for a moment.

"Chloe Price, I'm honestly surprised that you managed to recognize someone else other than yourself for once in your life!" The harsh words stung Chloe but she repeated to herself over and over again in her head, this isn't your Max…

"Chill dude… relax… I'm just looking for my Max..."

"Your Max? You're so selfish! Can't you think about anyone but yourself? Everything is always about you! Max doesn't need you! Go back to wherever you came from and leave her alone!"

"I'm not leaving here without her!" Chloe yelled back, taking a step towards the furious woman. "You hear me Max? I'm not leaving here without you!" Just as suddenly as the woman had appeared she vanished, as did her surroundings.

Annoyingly, Chloe found herself in one of Blackwell's many classrooms, but it was empty. She took a moment to calm herself and steady her shaking hands. Reminding herself again that that woman hadn't been her Max, never would be, ever. Exiting the classroom, she found herself in the empty halls of Blackwell, wondering in despair which direction she should head. A loud crack echoed through the halls and she heard Max call out in despair.

Almost certain that the commotion had come from down the hall to her right she took off. However, she stopped abruptly when she realized where she was headed as she rounded a corner. Just in front of her was the door to the girls' bathroom where Nathan had almost shot her and nearly killed Kevin and Max. The door was ajar and even though her mind reeled at the prospect of continuing any further she pushed herself onwards. Willing her trembling hands to be steady she slowly pulled the door open.

"No! Chloe! Please!" Max's cries went unanswered as she knelt over an eerily familiar corpse. A slowly expanding pool of blood surrounded the pair as Max desperately tried to wake her friend. Chloe gasped as she looked down upon her own still form, a bloody wound in her chest. Max, startled by the noise looked up at her in shock and for several moments the two stared at one another. This Max looked just as her own Max had the day that she had walked back into her life, except that she was covered in blood, her blood.

"Max?" Her voice trembled as she took a step towards the grizzly scene. She wanted to comfort Max, to say something but her words stuck uselessly in her throat. Unable to tear her gaze away from the lifeless corpse she found herself being drawn towards the grizzly scene. Nathan hadn't killed her that day, but he could have. The harrowing experience came back to her in a flash, her ears rang from the percussion of the gunshot while the taste of gunpowder dried her throat, choking her. Shaking her head, she thrust the memory away, but the horror of the event lingered deep within her heart.

"Chloe! I… I… I was scared… I didn't know what to do… I would have done something… I really would have… I didn't mean to let you die…" Max was becoming hysterical as she slowly began to realize just how much blood had soaked into her clothes. This was how it was supposed to have happened… If things hadn't been different… Max would have walked back into my life… but before I would have gotten a chance to even speak to her… I would have died… Chloe's thoughts gripped her heart with an overwhelming sense of futility and sadness. She looked on as Max began to frantically wipe her bloodied hands on her blood-soaked jeans, her face white with panic. Fuck this! This didn't happen! Kevin came bursting in and saved us! We're together now, this wasn't the end of our story! This is all bullshit!

Instilled by her newfound confidence she forced herself out of her dazed stupor and rushed over to where Max had backed herself against the bathroom wall, as far away from the corpse as she could. Chloe took Max in her arms and held her tightly against her chest even though the terrified girl struggled against her embrace.

"No! You're dead! Let me go!" But she refused to let go. She held onto Max tightly, speaking softly to her as the frightened girl tried to wriggle free.

"Max… it's okay. I know that you did everything that you could. I know that you were scared, I was scared too… I know that… had things been different… you would have done everything that you could to save me… even… even the impossible." Suddenly Max stopped struggling against her grasp and her struggles gave way to tears. They sat there, on the cold hard floor next to Chloe's unmoving corpse holding each other as Max cried fitfully into her shoulder. Chloe didn't know how long that painful moment lasted but when she opened her eyes she found herself somewhere else that she recognized.

"My home away from hell…" She whispered as she slowly stood, extremely glad that she didn't have to look upon her own bloodied corpse anymore. She tentatively made her way through the junkyard of Arcadia Bay, terrified at what she would encounter next. Once upon a time she had found comfort here, but that had all changed. Rachel's body had been found in a shallow grave here, the ground was now hallowed, poisoned.

There was no going back to that place. Rachel had been taken from her, murdered, her life cruelly extinguished. Rachel had been her star, her light in the darkness, but the darkness had swallowed her. Chloe had always wondered why it had always seemed as if Rachel had been close by ever since her disappearance, as if she had been just around every corner. She had spent many months clinging to the desperate hope that Rachel had made a better life for herself somewhere, even if it meant that this better life didn't involve her.

It had been easier than believing her dead. But the world was a cruel and unforgiving place. It had taken the greatest man she had ever known from her without warning, her father. That hadn't been enough though, it took Rachel just as suddenly. Struggling to keep her flimsy hopes alive she had no idea that Rachel had been so close by, her once angelic figure rotting beneath the soil. Steeling herself she did her best to prepare herself for the horrors that lay ahead, nothing good would be found in this cursed graveyard of humanity.

She discovered a very similar scene to the one that she had just left. She found Max leaning over another bloodied Chloe, this one still alive if just barely. Max had her hands pressed firmly against another ghastly bullet wound and as she watched herself take a few desperate gasps for air she found herself unable to look away as she watched herself die. Chloe had thought a lot about her death when she was younger, back then she had figured that she was doomed to die alone so why bother delaying it? But nothing could have prepared her for this. Seeing your own body surrounded by a pool of blood was one thing, watching the life disappear from your own eyes and your body go still was something different entirely.

The scene was almost poetic. Every part of her life ended here. It was here she had found her father's ruined car, it was here that Rachel's body had been found. Now, it seemed, it would be here that her last ragged breath would pass through her lips. It would be here, that the love of her life would watch her die. No, this isn't real, that's not me! That's not my Max!

Max slowly turned around and seemingly looked right through her, as if she was indeed already dead. The lost and hopeless expression on her face was more than she could take. Tears poured down her face and she shamefully choked back a desperate sob. Max needed her right now but she found herself unable to move, helpless against the weight of her own mortality.

Seemingly noticing her uselessness Max slowly turned away and Chloe followed her gaze until she caught sight of herself once again. Oh shit… holy shit I'm actually alive this time… This version of herself was alive and well but Chloe soon realized that she was seemingly terrified and had somehow gotten herself stuck on the train tracks. Wow… really? Stuck on the train tracks like some cartoon damsel, where's Snidely Whiplash and that damned dog of his, this must be their doing…

"Chloe!" Max called out and ran to help her friend, seemingly unaware that she left behind the lifeless corpse that had also once been her friend. Feeling somewhat revitalized from her earlier state, Chloe managed to cheer herself with her thoughts as she slowly followed Max. She watched as Max tried with increasing desperation to free her friend. Max and this other Chloe soon began to panic as a train could be heard off in the distance. Chloe begged Max to free her, her shrill voice close to panic as Max tore off in search of something that could aid her.

She watched aS Max trIED everything she could and exhausted option after option but soon her time ran out and she closed her eyes and looked away just before the train reached the struggling and terrified girl on the tracks. She had seen herself die enough times today, there was no reason to watch it happen again if she didn't have to. The sound of the passing train and Max's wails had died away but she adamantly refused to open her eyes. Her entire body had gone numb, how many more times do I have to watch myself die? How many times did Max…

"Chloe…" Max's sudden soft, slightly anxious voice made eyes snap open. All around her was blackness but despite the lack of light Max was easily visible as she slowly and nervously made her way towards her.

"Max is that you?" But it wasn't, as the girl drew closer she quickly realized that this Max was just another copy of the teenage Max, the one that kept watching her die. Feeling a sense of dread creep into her she did her best to brace herself for the worst once again. However, mercifully, nothing happened. The pair just stood there looking uncertainly at each other for several long moments. She was such a shy little dork… but she was my shy little dork, just look at her. Five years ago, that was my Max Caulfield! Chloe found herself smiling despite everything that she had just experienced and Max slowly flashed a nervous smile of her own. Tendrils of warmth crept into her chest, she felt her heart flutter momentarily as the young girl meekly approached.

"Chloe… I want to show you something." With agonizing slowness Max reached out to her and Chloe gradually took her hand and allowed herself to be led into the blackness. She had been about to ask where they were going when without warning a series of moments, frozen in time, appeared in front of them. Max slowly led her through this maze of images and Chloe felt her heart burst with emotion as they walked by each different moment. At first, she became confused, the first moment that they walked by was of the pair riding in her old truck, it could have been anything. But as they walked past Max broke the silence.

"This was when you first welcomed me back to Arcadia Bay… it was super awkward at first but it was still good seeing you again." As they slowly walked on Max continued to narrate the frozen moments as they appeared and disappeared. They passed by an image, that as Max explained, was when Chloe had given Max her father's old camera. Chloe remembered giving her father's camera to Max, but it hadn't been like that. She had brought it to Max while she was still recovering in the hospital. She kept her mouth shut though and allowed herself to be led along the path of memories.

The next memory was of Chloe smoking a cigarette as she danced on her bed while Max prepared to take her picture. Smiling to herself Chloe resisted the urge to ruffle this Max's hair as they walked on past. Of course, that's important to you… you're doing what you love most… with me… Chloe's thoughts trailed off as they approached the next memory of the two of them sitting on a bench that she recognized, they were at the lighthouse. As it was explained to her this was when Max had told Chloe about her powers and after only a small amount of convincing Chloe had believed her, it meant the world to her. Holy shit… that FBI lady… Olivia or whatever… she wasn't kidding… Max… my Max once had the ability to control time! Amazeballs!

They passed by several more memories that held significance to Max. One where they were seated together at her mom's diner, one where Max lay exhausted as she recovered from using her powers too much on Chloe's lap on the hood of a rusted-out car, and another where they walked hand in hand along the railroad tracks.

"I told you that my powers might not last at that moment… do you know what you said to me?" Max suddenly asked as they walked on by. A number of things popped into her head at that moment but she simply couldn't find her voice so she shook her head. "You told me… you told me that 'we would last… forever.'" Shit that does sound like me…

"I am totally the smoothest… also really, really cheesy…" She found herself relaxing as they strolled through memory lane, even though these were memories that she had never been a part of. Max smiled at her and squeezed her hand as they continued on. They passed a moment where the pair had been breaking into what looked like Principle Wells' office at Blackwell.

"Damn, that looks like fun!" She cried out as they passed and nudged Max playfully, "Let's do it again?" Max smiled and nudged her back but they continued on, leaving the memory behind like all the rest.

"This is where I told you that you couldn't take Wells' cozy chair…" Max said wistfully, smiling as if recalling the memory. The pair had obviously succeeded in their dastardly plan to infiltrate the principal's office and Chloe could certainly see why she wanted to take the tacky but definitely cozy looking chair.

"I totally took it anyway right?" She asked but received no answer in return. I guess that will just remain a mystery… or she convinced me not to and doesn't want to spoil my fun, that sounds like her. The next series of images brought an even wider smile to Chloe's face. The pair apparently had not been happy with simply breaking into the principal's office that night, they had broken into Blackwell's pool building and gone for a midnight swim. Max was smiling too as she basked in the memories as they silently passed them by. Chloe couldn't help but break the silence, as her mood improved she found herself talking more and more.

"Your hair looks cute soaked in chemicals." Her hand was given a tight squeeze after she had said this and Max leaned towards her and rested her head on her shoulder.

"That's exactly what you said that night Chloe… those exact words." Distressed at how her friend's voice had cracked while she spoke she did her best to play it off.

"Well duh, that's because it's totally obvious!" Continuing on through the memories they came to an image of the pair in bed together, obviously just waking up after their night of fun. Their hair was messy and probably reeked of chlorine and they had both striped down to their tiny t-shirts and even tinier shorts. How the hell was I not all over her that night… unless I was… no if I was we totally wouldn't be wearing that much clothing… I probably chickened out of it… Max was in the middle of snapping one of her morning selfies and Chloe, naturally, was photobombing her. Can't have a Priceless picture now can we… wow I can't believe I just thought that… super glad I kept that one to myself. Can I get any lamer?

The next image made Chloe stop in her tracks and Max, stopped beside clearly not minding the delay. A very nervous Max was laying the tiniest of kisses on a very surprised looking Chloe. Apparently, I can, I am barely even kissing her back!

"Damn girl, look at you go! You totally caught me off-guard with that one, well done sistah." Blushing next to her Max shyly hid her face as she explained what had happened.

"You… you dared me to kiss you, so I did… I didn't think you thought I would do it… I mean obviously you didn't…" Her voice trailed off as her shyness overtook her once more but Chloe had just the thing to bring her out of it. Without so much as second of warning she took Max in her arms and kissed her firmly on the lips. She poured every ounce of passion that she could muster in the kiss and at first, she realized that she had gone too far.

Poor Max was immediately overwhelmed and she struggled as if she didn't know what to do. But this only lasted for a few short seconds and soon Max was swept up in the moment and kissed her back just as fiercely. Chloe found herself lost in the moment as well and kissed Max again and again until Max broke away gasping for air. They remained like that, breathing heavily, noses almost touching for several moments as they gazed into each other's eyes.

Chloe could have remained lost in that moment forever but as she stared into Max's eyes she had to tell herself once more, this isn't my Max… and… I'm not her Chloe. The girl that stood before her must have realized this as well because she moved in and placed the sweetest, softest kiss on Chloe's cheek before breaking away. Taking her hand once more, she led on towards more memories.

Max almost dragged her past a few memories that Chloe wasn't able to understand but soon she forced Max to stop when a memory appeared before them that completely caught her off guard. So far, the memories had played out in a linear fashion, but before her stood the pair when they had been just kids. They proceeded on in silence as they moved past but once again she forced them to stop when the next memory appeared. They were walking along the beach it seemed, or at least Max was walking… Chloe was in a really decked out wheelchair complete with an oxygen tank, straps, and a mechanism that kept her sitting up straight. But the most peculiar thing that stood out to her was that not only was Max dressed like a totally different person, a very preppy person, but her own hair was its natural color. Clearly seeing that there was no pushing past these memories without an explanation Max slowly enlightened her.

"This is when I discovered that I could go back in time, no matter when, so long as I had a picture of me… that moment back there that I rushed past… it was really hard for you and it made us fight and I hated that… so when I got back to my dorm I went back to when your dad was killed… and… and I stopped it…"

"Wait… you stopped my dad from getting killed… you little… but how?" Chloe was completely floored, Max had gone back in time just for her and brought back her dad, her real dad. She tried to imagine what her life might have been like if he hadn't of been killed so many years ago but it made her head spin. Max, however, refused to answer her question and continued to explain.

"But when I came back to the present everything had changed! I had changed and you… you were paralyzed… instead of your dad being killed in a car accident… you ended up in one and you were paralyzed Chloe… and… it got worse…" With these words out of her mouth, and obviously with a heavy heart Max led her to the next memory.

She was in a super crazy hospital bed now and it looked like she and Max were also taking a trip down memory lane as they flipped through a photo album. The Max standing next to her was obviously struggling to speak so she did what she could to comfort her and eventually the girl found her voice. Her words were uneven and soft, almost inaudible.

"You weren't just paralyzed Chloe… your respiratory system was failing and you… you asked me to help you die… you asked me to crank up your morphine since you were slowly dying anyway… you wanted to die on your terms, you wanted to drift away with the memories of that day that we had spent together… and I did… I did what you asked…" Her words broke off and Chloe found herself bringing Max towards her as the young girl cried. She held Max close to her and wrapped her arms protectively around her and let the girl cry, she needed it.

Chloe found herself speechless, the experience must have been so heart wrenching… did my Max go through this too? Did she… is this her from another time or was this actually her? Has she been carrying around all of these memories of us all these years… is this really my Maxine Caulfield? Or do I just want her to be? Max had only mostly recovered but she nonetheless somberly led them away from the memory, once again refusing to look back.

"I went back again… and I let your dad die… I needed to have you back… I'm sorry… I hope you can forgive me." Chloe had no idea what to say as they passed by a few more memories that showed them back to their normal selves. My dad was already dead Max… you don't have to be sorry… Once again, her thoughts trailed off as Max led her towards another memory. She found herself sitting on the ground, her head between her knees, clearly upset while Max was wrapping her arms around her from behind as if desperately trying to comfort her. Wondering what could have possibly upset her so much she analyzed the scene and she noticed that a small and shallow hole had been dug into the earth nearby where the pair sat. Slowly peering into the hole, she immediately wished that she hadn't as memories flooded back to her.

Not long after Max's and Kevin's hospitalization and during their recovery Nathan Prescott and Mark Jefferson were arrested. Mark Jefferson, with Nathan as his twisted protégé, had used his position and Nathan's drugs to lure and abduct young girls for his perverse photographs. Girls like Kate… girls like Rachel… her Rachel. This must have been the spot where Rachel's body had been found. But in this timeline… she and Max had discovered Rachel on their own.

"I'm sorry Chloe… I'm so sorry…" Max began but Chloe shrugged her off.

"Why are you showing me this… why would you make me relive something like… like this! If you are Max Caulfield then you know how much Rachel meant to me! Why would you make me relive this moment, why would you do that to me… what's the point of all this?" And suddenly Max and all of her memories were gone and Chloe was left wishing that she hadn't said a word.

She found herself in a cemetery. The sky was overcast and it looked as if it would rain at any second. Ahead of her she found another Max, or possibly the same one, looming over a gravestone. She was dressed in an almost cute black dress but Chloe immediately recognized it as funeral attire and approached the girl with a heavy heart. Without turning around Max began to speak.

"This is your grave Chloe." Her words were heavy and foreboding, she wasn't speaking like any Max that she knew. She was about to open her mouth and unleash her frustration upon her too but then the name on the gravestone caught her eye, it was indeed her grave.

"What happened to me this time?" She asked, almost casually. This Chloe dying trick is getting old real fast Max…

"Nathan shot you in the bathroom… and as you died I sat in the corner and did nothing." Her voice was flat, almost completely devoid of emotion, almost. There was a hint of sadness in her words that Chloe managed to detect and latch onto. Despite this she responded with as much snark and sarcasm as she could muster.

"Gee, thanks."

"You don't get it-." Max began but Chloe quickly cut her off.

"No, I do get it… if Kevin hadn't swept in and saved us I would have died, maybe even you too. I've thanked him like a million times already, big deal."

"That's not what happened here Chloe… I let you die…" Her words hung in the air like a slap in the face. She didn't say this as if she were begging for forgiveness, she had said this with a hint of pride.

"Oh yeah? Why the hell did you go and do that, finally get tired of saving my ass?" Max's blank expression finally broke and again her words were plagued by sadness.

"I let you die… because you asked me to." Chloe froze, seeing that she now had her full attention Max's expression softened some more and she smiled sadly before continuing. "It was the only way to save Arcadia Bay… you asked me… you begged me … to let Nathan kill you so that the storm wouldn't happen, so that the town wouldn't be destroyed, so that everyone wouldn't die. I showed you all of those things so that you would believe me when I told you this. I shared with you all of my memories so you would know that it was the hardest decision of my life."

"You don't seem too choked up about it." Chloe challenged even though she could tell exactly how much this decision weighed on Max.

"Chloe… I suffered… I hid in the corner of the bathroom and cried as I listened to Nathan gun you down. I cried in my dorm as I went through all of our memories together, I cried with your mom when she gave me some things that she knew that you would have wanted me to have, I cried because all of the magical moments that we shared together you never got to experience… our adventures, our triumphs, our first kiss… you never even got to know how sorry I was for leaving you all alone when you needed me most…"

"That's sweet and all… but my Max would never have allowed that to happen… my Max would have found another way, she wouldn't have just given up because I asked her to." Max smiled sadly once again and her gaze bore into her as she spoke her next words.

"She would have and she tried to do just that… as you know Kevin saved the day. But Chloe… Max tried to kill you." Chloe had had enough, whoever this bitch is she isn't Max, not my Max.

"I see what you're doing! You're trying to tear us apart! Just because you killed your Chloe doesn't mean that my Max would do the same, you're wrong! She would never do that! Get out of here before you really piss me off!" Chloe in a fury turned around and shouted into the distance as hard as she could. "Max! Where are you! Max!"

Suddenly she found herself in a forest and not too far away from her she saw a black sedan and all around it armored men with guns were frozen in place. Max sat in the back seat of the car, her face buried into the lifeless form of another Chloe. But this Chloe was her, and this Max was hers. Chloe ran towards the vehicle and as she began to charge past one of the soldiers he sprung to life and made a move as if to grab her. He was too slow though, in an instant she had wrenched the man's weapon away from him and she shot him point blank in the chest. Not waiting to watch the man fall lifelessly to the earth she turned her weapon on the next man and the next and she continued firing until all of the men that were about to harm her Max had fallen and the weapon's magazine had run dry. Tossing aside the empty weapon she dashed towards Max and as she hastily approached Max looked up and her sad, morbid, hopeless expression stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Chloe… I lost you again… I can't fix it this time!" Max wailed and buried her face into the lifeless Chloe's chest once more.

"No Max… I'm right here, I'm fine… you didn't lose me! You have to come with me, you have to come back to me!" Max looked up at her once more and seemed confused for a moment but she gestured in frustration at the body that she held in her arms.

"Chloe… you're dead. They killed you! I watched you die, again… and I couldn't stop it… I tried… I think… but it didn't work… look!" Max gestured meaningfully at the body of her friend that she clutched to desperately.

"No Max… they hit me with some kind of crazy stun thingy or some shit… I didn't die. But you are dying! You have to come back with me! You can't stay here, please Max, please just come with me…" Suddenly the corpse that Max held tightly in her arms slowly opened its eyes and Max gasped in surprise. In a flash Chloe was no longer standing outside of the vehicle but had taken the place of the now stirring Chloe inside the vehicle.

"Chloe! Oh my lord… you're alive!" Max's voice came from far away however, as if the girl that was smiling down at her through a tear covered face hadn't spoken a word. Slowly, feelings of weightlessness returned to her body and she felt herself floating away as Walter's voice guided her back towards the sensory deprivation chamber that she had left so many lifetimes ago.

All of the sudden there was a flash of light and the world returned to her in an agonizing burst of sensation and she cried out in shock. Struggling to focus on something, anything, her eyes fought against the light as they slowly adjusted to the flood of stimuli. She immediately became overwhelmed as her senses were overloaded and she felt herself retching as she was dragged out of the water. Grasping numbly at her surroundings she felt herself collapsing on something cold and solid.

Incomprehensible voices assaulted her ears as something… soft… and dry… was cast upon her and she welcomed it as the dizziness and nausea slowly began to fade. The voices gradually began to form words that she could understand and the shapes of the world finally took form into images that she recognized. Walter was there with Peter… Olivia and Astrid… or was it Astrix… she saw Kimmy and she heard… she heard a cow.

"Was… was that a cow?" Chloe asked, stumbling clumsily through her words. Everyone around her laughed and the atmosphere turned jovial and for a moment Chloe struggled to remember what had happened to her. But then the laughter suddenly died down and a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Chloe!" Max! Max is awake!

"Max!" She tried to stand but her legs failed her and she would have collapsed if a number of arms hadn't caught her and slowly helped her up. Suddenly she was being carried through the air and after several moments of confusion she was laid down on something soft and warm. Several more soft, warm things were piled onto her and as her brain struggled and grasped for meaning she felt someone beside her as they desperately snuggled up beside her. Max! I did it, I brought Max back!

Chloe, with an amazing amount of effort managed to roll herself over so that she could look into the fuzzy blur that she knew was Max. She was awake, she was smiling, and even though she could barely see her, she knew that this was her Max.