Arcadia Bay, OR, November 5, 2013

Max had thought about getting a tattoo when she'd get to Arcadia Bay but this wasn't exactly what she had had in mind. She was sitting on an operating table at a tattoo parlor, bare legged with only her panties covering her modesty. A fresh scarification that resembled the surgical wound from removing the bullet, now adorned her left thigh. The fresh wound stung like hell as Randall Myles, the owner of the tattoo parlor applied disinfecting lotion on it and wrapped it up.

"Change the bandage and apply this lotion daily until the wound is properly scabbed," Randall instructed the brunette. "You can get dressed."

Max pulled her pants on carefully and cast a glance at her fiancée who was sitting on a chair by the wall. When she had restored her leg, the scarring wound from the gunshot and the operation had ceased to exist. Having an immaculate thigh after such an operation would've raised too many questions, so the brunette had really no choice than to recreate the scar.

When Chloe had first told Max that an acquaintance of hers had a tattoo parlor, she had thought that the scar would simply be tattooed on her thigh. She had almost called the whole thing off, when Randall had explained that it would be an actual scar that would be branded on the skin. After a lot of persuasion from Chloe and a promise that a local anesthetic would make the operation almost painless, the brunette had grudgingly agreed to have the branding done.

The actual operation had not taken too long as a scar resembling a surgical wound was pretty easy to make and true to the word, it had been almost painless. It didn't hurt either that Chloe had held Max's hand through the whole ordeal.

Max stood up and cringed from the pain as she put weight on the legs. Chloe stood up immediately to assist her. "I've got you, babe," the punk said assuredly.

"Walking might be a bit hard for a few days," Randall noted. "You might want to get a pair of crutches to help you get around."

"Crutches, check," Max smiled shortly. "How much do I owe you?"

"It's on the house," Randall said smiling. "You're my first scarification. I've been itching to get to try the equipment since I got 'em. Besides, I owe a favor to Chloe."

"You can call it even," Chloe said. "I'd appreciate if this would stay between us."

"Naturally," the tattoo artist assured. "Call me, if you need any ink done."

"Sure thing," the punk said as she escorted her fiancée out of the parlor.

"It's a good thing I still have the prescription pain killers left from the surgery," Max grunted as Chloe helped her on the driver's seat of the Ranchero.

"My brave girl," the punk cheered her up. "I've been thinking about getting a scar every now and then but having seen it done I'm not so sure anymore."

"It's definitely not something I'd recommend getting on a whim," the brunette said and grunted again, when she took a better position behind the wheel. "I'm going to need a hella lot of pampering and cuddling tonight."

"Oh, I think we can arrange that," Chloe grinned.

Arcadia Bay, OR, November 6, 2013

Victoria Chase has changed her display name from 'QnB' to 'Victoria'.

Arcadia Bay, OR, November 8, 2013

Dear Ms. Caulfield,

Words are not enough to express our gratitude towards you for saving the life of our daughter, Victoria.

Our daughter means everything to us and not all the money in the world would be enough to repay you for knowing that our daughter is safe. Victoria has told us that you are a talented photographer and, as a small token of our appreciation, we would like to exhibit your work at the Chase Space on at a time of your convenience. Please be in contact with us so we can work on the details.

Thank you!

Yours sincerely,

Annabeth and Derek Chase

Seattle, WA, November 8, 2013

John Korhonen closed the Janice Smith case file and put it in a drawer. He'd just finished doing the paperwork for the case. Ms. Smith had been here first thing on Monday, after she had returned from Arcadia Bay to give her statement. It didn't differ much from the one that she had already given to the ABPD, of which Korhonen and Kowalski had got a copy.

Julia Bennett was still on the run. The Sheridan PD had not got much out of the kid who had been caught driving Bennett's Tesla and who had claimed to be Bennett's pre-transition ego. Apparently the kid bore some likeness to Joseph Adams but obviously couldn't be him as he was over ten years younger and all the man parts intact.

Finn looked at his partner, who was still piqued that some hillbilly security guard had managed to figure out the connection between Julia Bennett and Mark Jefferson before her. Finn smiled to himself. She's young. She still has a thing or two to learn about police work.

"Hey, Kowalski, wanna go grab a bite?" Finn asked his partner.

"Yeah, why not," Stacy Kowalski logged out of her workstation and stood up.

Vancouver, Canada, November 24, 2013

"Stop fidgeting!" Victoria Chase commanded the slightly taller bluenette, who stood next to her in a black tuxedo, quite obviously out of her comfort zone wearing the attire.

"I'm really beginning to have second thoughts about asking you to be my best man," Chloe scowled back to the blonde who was dressed in a matching tuxedo. "The starch in this shirt is making me itch."

"Boohoo! Don't be such a crybaby," Victoria said sternly. "Just suck it up! This'll be over soon."

The two girls were standing at the altar of a small chapel at the outskirts of Vancouver. They were accompanied by a female minister and a cantor was sitting at the organs. Janice Smith was the only one sitting on the benches. She was wearing a simple aubergine dress.

"You have the ring?" Chloe asked her best man.

"Of course I have the ring!" Victoria said hurtfully. "Do you really think I would…" she stopped at mid-sentence, when she felt her pocket and her eyes opened wide, causing the punk's eyes open even wider.

"You forgot the ring! I can't believe-" Chloe stopped, when she saw the blonde grin and dig the ring out of her pocket. "Why you little…" the punk growled and punched the blonde's arm lightly.

"Oh, the look on your face was so totally worth it," Victoria chuckled.

"*Ahem*," Kate Marsh peeked crossly behind the opened door at the end of the aisle. "If you two are quite finished with whatever it is, we're ready here."

"Um, yes," Chloe said shyly. "Ok, fire it up!" she instructed the cantor.

The first notes of the Star Wars Theme by John Williams started playing as Kate pushed both doors open and walked slowly down the aisle, dressed in a peach colored dressed and holding a small bouquet of flowers. She walked to the altar and took her place opposite Chloe and Victoria.

As soon as the small blonde had taken her place, Chloe turned her look at the door and her eyes grew even wider at the sight in the doorway. Max stood there in a simple, strapless pearl white dress. Her hair was combed nicely back on a single chignon, leaving her bangs to cover her forehead. A choker necklace with a doe pendant adorned her neck and she was holding a bouquet of blue orchids. An overwhelming joy filled Chloe as she watched her bride walk down the aisle. She stepped down from the altar to meet Max halfway. The punk stopped at one third of the aisle and their eyes met.

"You look amazing, babe," Chloe said as she extended her arm.

"You're not so bad either," Max smiled as she took slipped her own arm into the pit of her fiancée's elbow.

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

The two walked slowly towards the altar, where the minister was waiting for them with Kate and Victoria. They stopped in front of them and shared a final smile as an unmarried couple.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here…"

"Okay, say 'just married'!" Victoria said as she aimed her camera towards the newlyweds. They were standing at a vantage point outside of Vancouver, where the skyline of the city gave a picturesque background. The late November weather in Vancouver wasn't exactly warm at low forties, so everyone was wearing outdoor clothing. Max had a white cashmere wool coat and Chloe had her navy style dark grey wool coat that she had bought from the drift store. A matching color beanie covered the blue hair.

"Can you take one more with my phone?" Max asked. "I probably need to let the cat out of the bag to my folks."

"No need," Victoria said. "I'll just transfer one from my camera with Bluetooth..." She tapped the camera screen a few times. "...aaand done!" Max's phone buzzed as a sign of received file.

"Show-off!" Max snorted.

"Oh, surely your parents deserve a coming out picture taken with a quality DSLR rather than one taken with a crappy Android phone," the blonde grinned.

"Um, it's not an Android phone," the brunette pointed out. "I'm using a Nokia 808 PureView. It's a Symbian phone."

"You're so stuck in the retro zone. Sadface."

"Oh, kiss my belfie!" Max shot back, chuckling.

"Will you two cut it out?" Chloe cut in. "Kate and Janice are waiting us at the restaurant."

"To Max and Chloe!" Kate marsh raised her glass of sparkling wine.

"To Max and Chloe!" Victoria and Janice joined the toast.

Everyone at the table took a sip of the alcohol free sparkling wine. The choice of beverage was partly a practical solution as they were all under 21 but also a consideration towards Max's decision to stay sober until she had finished her therapy.

"Before we start to eat I thought it would be appropriate to give our wedding presents to you," Kate said. "We couldn't come up with a shared present, so we decided to give each of you your own. I give the floor to Victoria, who did the hard work of hunting and acquiring them."

"Thank you, Kate." Victoria stood up. "Max, since you are so hell bent for going analogue in your photography, you might as well do it with proper equipment," she said, putting a camera bag on the table and passing it to the brunette.

Max opened the bag and gasped in awe, when she saw the contents. Inside, there was an Asahi Pentax K1000 SLR camera body, accompanied by a selection of different lenses and a separate flash unit. The camera was in immaculate condition.

"It's one of the early ones, manufactured in Japan," Victoria explained. "I found it from an online vintage camera shop."

Max took the camera in her hands. She was no stranger to the simple but sturdy workhorse of photography that had stayed in production over twenty years from mid-70's to late 90's. It was completely mechanical, save for the light meter that was operated by one LR44 button cell.

"Thank you, guys!" Max said humbly. "I am so overwhelmed by this."

"You deserve the best, even though it's completely outdated," Victoria said with a warm smile.

The brunette stood up and gave all the three girls a hug.

"Chloe," Victoria continued, when Max had returned to her seat. "For you we had bit of a hard time figuring out what would be the perfect present. Luckily, Max gave a hint that you were a big fan of the Transformers Unicron Trilogy as a kid and apparently had a respectable collection of figures back then." The blonde could see the punk blushing slightly and casting a semi-serious scowl towards her wife.

"This took some effort to find but we were lucky enough to find one in good condition." Victoria lifted a large cardboard box on the table. It was a Transformers figure but not any of the Armada, Energon or Cybertron series. It was a Generation One Fortress Maximus. With its 22 inches, it was the largest Transformers toy built to date. It wasn't the Japanese re-release from this year but an original, American release from 1987, even though you couldn't tell that based on the condition of the box, as it looked like it had just been picked off the shelf of a toy store.

"We thought that Maximus might keep you company, in case Max isn't around," Kate said with an impish grin.

"Very pun-ny," Chloe snorted and looked at the Majestic figure in its box. "You know, I've read about Fortress Maximus but this is actually the first time I see one live, and I could've never dreamed that I'd actually own one. Makes me wish I still had my old collection left but I sold the whole lot on eBay a few years back and used the money on self-medication." The punk closed her eyes and let out a sigh before opening them again. "Thank you, I really appreciate this." She stood up and shared a hug with the three girls. "And you, wife dearest," she cast a mischievous glance at Max. "One day, when you least expect it, I'm gonna disclose some embarrassing secret about your past to the company present."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, honey," Max grinned back.

"With that out of the way, let's eat," Kate announced.

Max and Chloe were standing in front of the honeymoon suite door. After dinner, the cutting of the cake, the dance and the throwing of the bouquet, which Kate by the way had caught, they had wished good night to Kate, Victoria and Janice and excused themselves. Chloe swiped the keycard on the lock and pushed the door open. She took the petite brunette on her arms and smiled to her.

"Are you ready, Mrs. Price?"

"I most certainly am, Mrs. Price."

Chloe carried Max over the threshold and straight into the master bedroom, where she carefully laid her on the bed and immediately climbed on top of her to give her a kiss.

"I love you, Max," Chloe said, once their lips parted.

"I love you too, Chloe," Max replied. "Have you got something planned?"

"Oh yes," Chloe grinned mischievously. "Get you and myself out of these clothes and not get out of this bed until very late tomorrow."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Max extended her stocking shrouded leg.

Kent, WA, August 16, 2014

Kent, a city located in King County, 19 miles south of Seattle, once a thriving agricultural area, was now a home to hundreds of companies. Kent, especially the North Kent industrial area was also known for the illegal street races in spring, summer and fall weekend nights. Despite the efforts by the local law enforcement to weed it out, the racers kept returning.

The streets were filled with tuned import cars and good old American muscle. Music played loud on the extravagant audio systems built into some of these cars and people roamed around the parked cars in the parking lot.

Damien Evans, an African-American in his early thirties was standing next to his black Chrysler 300C and watching all that was happening around him. In five years, he had managed to become the sole organizer of illegal street races in Kent. Not a single start occurred without him being aware of it and getting his cut out of the pot. With the help of his assistants, Damien made sure that all the racers were well-matched. Damien was also the one who decided whether someone was eligible to enter or not. Usually being eligible meant an established reputation or a reference from a well-established racer.

Damien was counting the entry fees for tonight's races, when Jerome Clark, his right-hand man came to him.

"Yo, Damien, there's some chick, who wants to race in one of tonight's starts," Jerome said. "She says BD can vouch for her."

"BD?" Damien repeated. "Haven't seen BD for a while." Even before Damien had begun to take over the illegal racing in Kent, BD had been somewhat of a legend among the racers. He'd practically dominated the races until a couple of years back, when he had unexpectedly retired.

"She's driving one of BD's old cars," Jerome added.

"Take me to her," Damien said.

Damien followed Jerome to the other end of the parking lot. There was a white Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R parked under a streetlight. The Skyline seemed pretty stock from the outside but that could simply mean that the car was a sleeper. A tall but slim woman dressed in leather jacket, jeans and boots was leaning against the side of the car with her arms crossed. Wisps of blue hair were peeking out under a dark blue beanie. When they got closer to her, she straightened up and stuck her index finger between her upper lip and gum to remove a small white pouch, which she discarded into a small compartment on a lid of a small tin. Damien recognized it to be Swedish snus, which some of the racers seemed to use.

"Jerome here says you wanna race," Damien said to the woman.

"Let's talk bidness," Chloe Price smirked.

Seattle, WA, August 20, 2014

Max sat on a sofa in a small lobby at the end of a corridor. It was spartanly but stylishly furnished. A print of a Degas painting was hanging on the wall. Max was going into her first therapy session. The psychiatrist was one of the most respected in Seattle and he had been recommended to her by Victoria's parents, when she had held her exhibition at the Space Chase earlier during the summer. Apparently he was a close friend to the Chase family. His brother had hosted a radio show at the local radio station but that was before the Caulfield's had moved to Seattle.

Max could hear how the psychiatrist was having a conversation on the phone through the door.

"…Yes, I remember your mother is coming over for dinner on Sunday… …She's bringing your brother with her? …Make sure that there's enough beer in the refrigerator for him. I don't want him pillaging my collection of vintage sherry… …Tell our son daddy says hi for me, will you? …Bye bye, honeybun!"

The call ended and Max could hear steps coming towards the door. It opened and a man in his late fifties stood in the doorway. He was only slightly taller than the brunette and his hair had thinned from the top.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said in a slightly high-pitched voice. "You must be Ms. Caulfield." He gave his hand. "I'm a great admirer of your work."

"Actually, it's Mrs. Price," Max said, shaking the offered hand. "Max Caulfield is more of a professional name nowadays. Maxine Price is what I use as a private person." She was slowly getting accustomed to using her actual first name on daily basis after adopting it on her wedding day. 'Max Price' would've just sounded like a cheap slogan from a game show. Her family and friends still called her Max, of course.

"Annabeth and Derek told me, last time we saw, that you might make an appointment," the psychiatrist said. "Since I understood that you're a student and the Chases are close friends of mine, I won't charge my usual fee. I used to be a student once, so I know that money can be tight."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," the brunette said as she followed him into his office.

The Spartan but stylish furnishing continued in the office. There was a desk, a bookshelf plus a file cabinet at one side of the room and a small table with two armchairs at the other side. The wall in the office was adorned by a real Degas painting and several university diplomas. The psychiatrist showed her the other chair while he sat on the other. A small digital recorder was on the table.

"Is it all right that I record our conversations?" he asked. "Everything we discuss here, will remain confidential, of course."

"It's all right," Max said as she sat down.

"So, what would you like talk about?"

Max closed her eyes momentarily and smiled shortly. "Do you believe in the butterfly effect…?"

THE END

A/N: Here were are. This was a hella ride, if I say so myself. My first story, 'Obscura' was roughly 30 000 words and it took me three weeks to write. 'Once Upon...' is little below 70 000 words but it took me 5 months to write. When I started writing the sequel, I had the initial setting and a rough outline with a few key scenes in my head. Originally, this was going to be a 'powerless' story, concentrating on the suspense and angst but after having finished the first chapter, I decided to give some new abilities to Max to make things more interesting and it opened a whole lot of new possibilities. It also helped to tie the story more firmly to the previous one.

The overall tone of the story turned out to be quite dark. I actually ended up dropping lines and complete pages because of that. For example, in the nightmare scene, where Max first watches Chloe and Victoria make out, I was first going to have an epic verbal and physical catfight between Max's subconscious projected Victoria and the younger Victoria in the nightmare. It was fun but it didn't fit the overall mood of the scene, so the one published came out a bit darker. In chapter 9, where Max an Chloe have the talk, I had Chloe make a remark of Victoria's boobs being perky and wonder if they were real and had the imaginary Victoria be resentful about it. That I also left out as it was too lighthearted to be used in that scene.

In this epilogue, I try to tie a few loose ends and open up a couple of new ones, which means this thing might grow up to be a trilogy. I also couldn't resist using a cameo in the scene with Max and the pshrink. We are in Seattle after all. ;) Also, BD is a cameo of sorts, although not directly. I'll leave it up to you to figure it out.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to my beta readers, TheLooneyBin and Asona35. Without you, this story wouldn't be what it is now. Thank you!

I also want to thank all my readers, followers, favourers and reviewers for reading and providing support and feedback! Without you, this story would've probably never gotten finished.

I'm not sure, when I'll start writing the third part. It may take some time, as I really want to make the story solid. I have a few things figured out for it but there's a lot of work to be done, before I'm going to write a single word. I also want to concentrate on my other stories 'Ships in the Night' and 'Executive Rewind' at this point.

Thank you so much and have a nice summer!