Chapter 5: Science fiction, science reality.

Chloe is fifteen minutes late by the time she pulls up outside of Two Whales.

The sky is overcast; thick, dark clouds a reminder of what's to come. She shivers despite the warm October breeze, rubbing at her bare arm with the palm of her hand. Something in the air feels out of place - a buzzing, anxious, unsettling feeling - though she can't quite place it. Maybe it's me, she thinks, holding up the pale hand to her face for what feels like the one millionth time in the past couple of days.

Maybe I'm broken.

The diner is quiet when she finally steps through the familiar rusted doors. The quiet clinking of cutlery and the hum of the old jukebox settle her nerves a little, and she takes a deep breath. Guess we missed the morning rush, she thinks, relieved. No doubt punching Nathan Prescott of all people square in the face won't do her any favors with the local police. Though, it's not as if her existing standing with them isn't already strained.

Worth it, she thinks to herself with a satisfied smirk.

She scans the counter and the booths to her left, looking for signs of Max. A couple of greasy looking truckers are arguing over the salt shaker at the counter, which is keeping Joyce preoccupied, her hands on her hips and a tired frown drawing her brows together. Chloe feels the familiar pull of guilt on her heartstrings. Her mom works so hard, always has, and she's been so.. herself, recently.

The wave of guilt sinks to the back of her mind as she's distracted by a tuft of auburn hair poking up over the back of a booth to her right, and she waltzes over.

"Are you hiding from me, Max?" She grins, and Max jumps, straightening up.

"Jesus, Chloe. You can literally rewind time and you're still late." She glances over her shoulder, and relaxes a little. "No, uh. Some kids from Blackwell were in here, and" she nods to the pile of books and hastily scribbled notes on the table in front of her, "I don't want them to think I'm.."

"Weird? Probably too late for that, kid." She eyes the books, scanning the various titles. "Time travel, quantum mechanics.. Not exactly light reading."

"My brain hurts," Max groans, as Chloe slides into the booth seat opposite her. "I fell asleep at my desk last night, this stuff is way beyond my understanding of science." She pauses, biting her bottom lip. "Way beyond anyone's understanding, probably."

"I'm a scientific marvel," she laughs in response, shooting the other girl a wink for emphasis.

"This is serious, Chloe" Max whispers, her eyes wide. "This could be dangerous. Your blackouts, the nosebleeds-"

"I know, I know. I don't know how else to deal, okay?" A loud rumbling from her stomach reminds her that she hasn't eaten yet, and she's ravenous. "Chloe hungry."

"Chloe always hungry," Max chuckles fondly. "My pancakes were so good, I forgot how much I love your mom's cooking." Her smile is wistful as she reaches out and daintily presses a finger into a rogue pancake crumb, before lifting it gently to her lips. "We talked a little. She seems exactly the same as I remember."

"Uhuh. Except now we've both got dickwad breathing down our necks constantly. And she pretends like he's not completely fucked in the-"

"Two slices of bacon, one egg" Joyce's voice approaching stops her in her tracks. "Don't ask me for more. And I don't appreciate 'tell Joyce bacon', either."

Chloe frowns at Max, who is sinking back down into her seat. "Thanks a bunch."

"Don't you be mad at her," Joyce tuts gently, resting a hand on Max's shoulder. "It's so good to see you girls back together again. You were sorely missed, Max."

Chloe's frown deepens as she takes the plate off her mom. "She knows," she mutters, stabbing her fork down into the bacon with a little too much force. The clashing of silverware on ceramic causes the other diners to turn and look at the three of them over their shoulders, their voices low mutters of disapproval.

"Chloe." Joyce's tone is bordering on the point of no return, her cheeks heating up, and Chloe sighs and holds up her hand. "I'm getting just about sick and tir-"

The world blurs and her head spins and -

"-You were missed, Max."

This time, Chloe swallows the burst of anger and takes the plate with a little less force.

"Thankyou," Joyce sighs sarcastically, and shooting Max an exasperated smile, she heads back to the counter.

"Been talking about me?" Chloe mutters, tucking into her food for the second time, albeit a little gentler than the first. She's got enough on her plate, no pun intended, and there's no need to add yet another argument with her mom to that clusterfuck.

"A little," Max admits, taking a sip from her coffee. "She worries about you."

Chewing on her food, Chloe takes a moment to really look at Max for the first time since she arrived. She looks almost as tired as she feels herself, and apparently Chloe wasn't the only one who 'forgot' to brush her hair before heading out the door. "She should be worried about you, you look whacked."

"Thanks. Like I said," Max sighs, "fell asleep at my desk. So listen, I was thinking.." Max looks nervous as she trails off, fiddling with the used cutlery resting on the empty plate in front of her. "Maybe you could.. I don't know. Do something. With your powers.. Just so I know.."

Chloe thinks about making a wry remark about trust, but she can't exactly blame Max for being skeptical. She knows she would be, if their roles were reversed.

"Okay," she nods, swallowing her last mouthful of breakfast. Still hungry. "How about.. you send me a text. And I'll tell you what it's going to say before I read it. Good enough?"

"Good enough," Max nods, pulling her phone from her bag. "You know I believe you already, right? It's just-"

"Max, it's fine. Just make it something really good," Chloe grins, eager to show off her new ability anyway. "Something I would never be able to guess."

"Challenge accepted," Max chuckles, fingers furiously tapping on the keys of her phone. Chloe watches her work, warm brown eyes flicking back and forth as she clearly puts maximum energy into crafting the most creative text message she's ever sent. "Okay," she grins, placing the phone back down onto the table. "Done."

Chloe's own phone buzzes in her pocket, and she pulls it out before opening the text. "Oh come on, Max," she laughs, watching a blush creep over Max's freckled nose. "This is the best you could come up with?"

"Hey. Give me some credit, you didn't guess it!" She retorts, shaking her head.

Chloe simply grins, holding up her hand. "We'll see about that."

"Okay, done." Max's voice repeats, and Chloe makes the point of tapping her buzzing phone in her pocket. "So what does it say?"

"Your totally predictable message says, 'with great power, comes great responsibility.'"

"It's totally not predictable," Max blushes for the second time, or at least the second time in Chloe's reality, and Chloe lets out a loud snort.

"Oh really? Because Max Caulfield lecturing me via text message while simultaneously being a huge, massive dork isn't predictable?"

Max glowers at her, taking another long sip from her coffee. "Alright, super Chloe, I double believe you now. But my point stands, you need to be careful with this."

"I get it, Max, jeez. But hey, doesn't mean we can't have some fun too."

"Uhuh. Safe fun."

"That should be your motto," Chloe rolls her eyes, though she notices the hurt in the other girls' gaze from behind her mug. "God, imagine the possibilities though. I mean, for all you know, I could have totally hit on you, been brutally rejected, and rewound as if it never happened."

"I wouldn't - You wouldn't do that," Max splutters, setting the mug down with a clunk. Chloe feels her own face heat up just a little, and shakes her head quickly.

"But my point is, you don't know."

"As long as you use your powers for good, then I'm your girl. Your sidekick," she corrects, brushing her bangs out of her face.

Chloe feels a rush of warmth, not for the first time since Max has been back, and she averts her gaze to look back out toward the gathering clouds.

"Right. I need you. What would a superhero be without her sidekick."