Chapter Text
"You start a conversation, you can"t even finish it
You"re talking a lot, but you"re not saying anything
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed
Say something once, why say it again?" - "Psycho Killer" by The Talking Heads
Having slipped from Max"s arms without waking him, Emily pulled her comfortable clothes back on and shut the tv off. The sun had gone down while they rested on the couch so she turned a lamp on in the front room before going to the door. Unlocking it, she leaned out the doorway enough to reach into the mailbox then went back inside fully and locked the door again. Walking to the kitchen while moving the junk mail to one hand, she then dumped those envelopes in the garbage, setting anything else that looked important onto the counter.
Leaning against the counter, her gaze lifted to look over at the man on her couch. Enjoying the view of the dim light bathing him from the lamp, the blanket at his waist, hairy torso exposed as his chest rose and fell with steady breaths. That rational concern broke through and tried to remind her how dangerous this was, no matter how she felt about him, leading her to lightly clear her throat and focus on the mail. Setting aside a bill, a credit card statement, then picking up the strange envelope with no return address.
Pulling it open, she grabbed what appeared to be photos and a piece of paper, her stomach dropping the instant she realized what the photos were. Her and Max, from earlier. Sat on the couch mostly innocently watching tv and then everything far from innocent that followed. Just enough of the photos had their faces clearly to the point that it couldn"t be disputed.
Lost in the initial shock and her mind veering towards panic, she didn"t realize Max had woken up and left the couch, fixing his boxers as he did so. In approaching her, he had stopped in his tracks from the look on her face. Lifting a hand to rub some sleep from his eyes, he waited a moment for her to say something and then lightly cleared his throat before speaking when she didn"t seem to notice him.
"Emily? What"s wrong?" asked Max, his voice still groggy from sleep as he took another step towards her. Blinking a few times, finally registering that he was up and had spoken to her, she cleared her own throat once.
"We... um... we"re being blackmailed. Max, I"m being blackmailed. I..." replied Emily, trying to explain yet still reeling about it.
"Let me see." he answered, stepping right up to her and reaching out, gently taking the pictures and note from her hands.
"They want us to meet with them but I don"t... who would do something like this to me?" she rambled, struggling to wrap her mind around it as Max stared at the note among the pictures. He knew exactly who had done it but kept that to himself, reaching out to set the items onto the counter while placing his other hand on her back.
"Listen, it"s gonna be okay-" he started, only for her to interrupt him.
"I will lose my job, my license could be put into question -" she began, him stopping her by turning her to him fully and moving his hands to cup her face.
"Stop. It"s gonna be okay. One step at a time. Let"s get dressed, go meet, we"ll figure this out. I won"t let any of that happen to you." said Max, his deep voice as calming as he could make it. Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, moving one of her hands atop one of his on the side of her face.
"Max, how? How are things gonna be okay?" she replied, keeping her hand over his on the side of her face. Her tone had calmed some panic still had its claws in her, ready to tug her into it full blown at any second. Max saw it and felt it, her panic pawing at his own which he knew would put him into a rage in response to it. Gritting his teeth for a moment to keep that at bay, he cleared his throat lightly.
"I don"t know but they will be. I"ll make sure of it." he replied, glad his tone remained soft with her. Emily leaned her head into one of his hands and closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath to try and calm herself then looking at him again.
"What if we just don"t go? Maybe they"re just bluffing?" asked Emily, eyes widening slightly with hope.
"That depends on what you want to risk. No. No, we go. We meet, we figure out what they want and we go from there." he said, leaning in and resting his forehead against hers. Tilting his head after a moment, he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
------
An hour later, both Emily and Max were dressed and in her car. Driving through the dark to the place named for the meeting. Max sat stock still in the passenger seat, an old ball head hammer tucked into the inside pocket of his coat. Pulling into the nearly empty area around an abandoned building, one that was likely a warehouse or factory of some sort by the river, she parked the car. There was one other vehicle parked out there, one she didn"t recognize but Max did, although he said nothing about it.
"I don"t want to go in there." whispered Emily, looking out the window at the building. Max, lost in thought for a moment, blinked and turned to her as she spoke. Reaching over, he gently grabbed her hand with his own.
"I won"t let anything happen to you." replied Max, his own voice hushed some before he let go of her hand and slipped out of the car. Emily heaved a sigh and then got out of the car as well, pocketing her keys and walking around to him as the headlights shut themselves off. Reaching out, she slipped her hand into his this time and linked their fingers, squeezing lightly.
Silently answering her by squeezing back, they began walking towards the building. Max"s senses were all on alert, waiting for anything to happen, keeping his eyes open for any extra people. Anyone who could be helping Andrews or anyone who could simply become a witness. Seeing no one didn"t manage to settle his nerves at all, heading up the stairs with her to the second story. There were signs here and there that some homeless people had been sheltering in the building off and on but didn"t seem like any had been there in a while.
"Nearly late. That wouldn"t have gone well for you." said Officer Andrews, greeting them once they reached the second floor, dressed in civilian clothes. Emily stopped in place, Max doing the same, and stared at the other man. Max showed no sign of surprise but she was too shocked to notice.
"Robbie?... what... why?" blurt out Emily, watching Andrews take a few steps towards them.
"I hope neither of you are recording this. Or armed. That won"t go well for you, either." said Andrews, pulling part of his jacket open to show his pistol holstered on his hip.
"What do you want?" asked Max, outright glaring at the younger man. Andrews paused for a moment and rested his hands on his hips as he looked at them both, amusement on his face.
"Ideally, you back in prison where you belong. But I"ll settle for you not getting to have her and knowing there"s nothing you can do about it."
"What the fuck are you talking about? Robbie, why are you doing this?!" snapped Emily, letting go of Max"s hand and taking a step towards the other man. The amusement left him and he heaved a sigh.
"Because you don"t know what"s good for you. I"m doing this for you. You can"t see it, and I don"t know why you can"t, but he will ruin your life one way or another." explained Andrews, his shoulders tensed.
"YOU are the one threatening to ruin my life! How do you not see that?! I thought you were my friend and now you"re blackmailing me like some spoiled brat that didn"t get his way!" retorted Emily, rage overcoming the panic that she"d felt earlier. Rage fueled by the gut sinking feeling of betrayal that had smacked into her the second she saw him.
"Just because you can"t see it right now doesn"t mean that you won"t see it. You"ll understand one day. When he"s out of your life and there"s no more complications and you finally let me take care of you." replied Andrews, his voice shaking some, as though struggling to keep himself calm. Max stayed where he was but one of his hands, the one that had been holding Emily"s, had balled into a tight fist.
"Holy shit... you"re completely fucking delusional. You know what? Go ahead. Try and ruin my life. Really, have fun, and go fuck yourself while you"re at it." replied Emily, her voice quieter, giving him a look of pure disgust. While staring back at her, something shifted in Andrews" eyes, perhaps him finally snapping or realizing that he wasn"t going to get what he wanted, at least not how he"d planned.
"Okay." answered Andrews, tone calm as his body language relaxed. He then casually pulled his gun from the holster, took aim, and fired at Max. The loud bang almost deafening in the enclosed area of the second floor. Max moved at the last second, enough for the bullet to graze his arm rather than embed in him, and Emily screamed. Briefly stumbling from the quick movement, Max put his hand on the side of his arm, the sleeve of the winter coat torn and blood soaking it.
"The next one will hit him in the chest. Do you understand? Now, come here!" snapped Andrews, reaching out his free hand to grab Emily by the arm and yank her to him.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!? Do you really-" she started, trying to tug away from him, the motion forcing him to turn some to keep hold of her.
"What"s wrong with ME!? What the fuck is wrong with YOU?! How could-" began Andrews, his temper fully snapping. He wasn"t able to continue, a flurry of motion and a sickening crack filling the air. In having to turn to keep hold of her, his gun was no longer aimed at Max, who wasted no time. Max had pulled the hammer from inside his coat and charged forward, bringing it down on the side of his head with all his strength.
Andrews let go of Emily instantly as his body went limp, gun clattering to the ground just before his own body crumbled to the ground as well. Skull fractured, he began seizing. Max leaned down over him and continued to swing the hammer. Bone crunching, blood splattering. One, two, three, four, five... swinging until he lost count and the head didn"t look real anymore. Face unrecognizable by the time that Max finally stopped, breathing heavily as he stood up straight again, blood dripping from the hammer in his hand as he looked at Emily.
"Don"t touch anything." said Max, leaning down again to find the shell casing from the round that hit him, putting it in his coat pocket. Doing the same with Andrews" keys that were clipped on his belt.
"Max..." muttered Emily, staring at him, fully aware of being in shell shock and not sure how to react. He put the hammer inside his coat pocket as he stepped over to her.
"Come on, we gotta go." he stated softly, refraining from putting his hand on her, not wanting to get blood on her at all. Pulling work gloves from one of his coat pockets, he slid them on then put his hand on her back. Leading her down the stairs and out of the building wasn"t difficult, she was in a daze but trusted him and just moved.
"Max, the... blood, him..." she stammered out when at the car.
"It"s okay. I got it under control." he replied, stepping away from her and searching along the ground for a moment until he picked up a big, broken block of concrete. Unlocking and getting into Andrews" car, he put the key in the ignition, starting the engine then breaking the key off in the ignition. Pocketing the keys again, he scooted the seat back as far as it would go, putting the car in drive and keeping one foot on the brake. Carefully shifting mostly out of the car, he placed the concrete block onto the accelerator, quickly moving his foot from the brake and hopping out of the car as it floored it through a broken fence and into the river.
Stepping over to the ledge, he watched to make sure the car was sinking. Taking the keys from his pocket, he flung them as far as he could into the river, knowing the current should take those away. Turning back to Emily, he walked over to the car. His arm had bled enough at this point that he could feel it filling his left glove, not worried about it, better it be his blood in her car than Andrews".
"Hey, come on. Get in the car, I"ll drive." said Max, speaking softly and gently leading her around the car. Again, she moved at his urging, still struggling to process it all. Once she was settled in the car, he took her keys from her, leaving his gloves on to lessen any mess, and started the engine.
Casually pulling them out of the long forgotten parking lot, he tried to keep to the back roads and alleys until a decent ways away from the riverside. Emily sat in silence at his side, staring out the windshield but not seeing anything. At least not until she realized that they weren"t going back to her house, not recognizing the lower income neighborhood he was driving them through and then stopping outside of a small house that was two separate apartments.
"Where are we?" she asked, trying to pull herself back to reality but noticing her voice still seemed far away.
"My place. I need to grab some things. I want you to come in with me." he explained, parking the car and shutting it off before slipping out. He got around the car and opened the door for her before she got herself moving to do so herself. Getting out, she stayed close to his side as they went up to the door, Max opening it and heading in with her.
"You don"t.. keep that locked?"
"I don"t have anything worth stealing." he replied, leading her through the tiny apartment. Emily realized very quickly that he wasn"t kidding. There wasn"t any furniture, it looked like no one had lived there for months. Following him back to the bedroom, she stared at the mattress on the floor and garbage bag that he went to, pulling out what she assumed was clean clothes. She watched him slide the winter coat off along with the gloves. One hand stained but dry from Andrews" blood, the other still damp from his own coming down his arm.
Stepping over to him, she took the partly stained t-shirt from his hands when he pulled it off. Vaguely noticing that he"d paused and was watching her as she tugged and ripped a big part of the shirt that was clean, ripping it into a thick strip. One of her hands gently gripped his arm and pulled it out towards her some before wrapping the fabric around his upper arm, tying it tight across the graze on his arm to put enough pressure to stop the bleeding.
Gazing at her for a moment, a tightness briefly settling in his chest at realizing that despite what she"d just watched him do, she wasn"t afraid of him. Didn"t think him a psycho or a freak for it. Even was going so far as to make sure that he was okay. No thought going into it, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers softly. Emily immediately returned the kiss, hands clinging to him and deepening the kiss. A sudden need, maybe partly fueled by adrenaline, taking over.
Falling into her with no effort, he met her need with his own, his hands going to her coat and pushing it from her shoulders while her hands shot right to the front of his jeans, undoing the belt and opening them. Lips and teeth meeting in the hungry kissing, he opened the front of her pants and pushed them down, breaking the kiss for air and helping her keep her footing as she toed out of one shoe to get her pants and panties off at least one leg.
Max"s hands went right to her ass and lifted her up, taking a few steps and pinning her back against the nearest wall covered in peeling wallpaper, one of his hands shoving his boxers down out of the way where they clung to his thighs. Breathing heavily, their shared breath fogging his glasses, one of her hands pulled them from his face and tossed them so that they"d land on the mattress as he reached down and lined himself up. Glasses out of the way, he pressed his lips firmly to hers again while rolling his hips up at the same time as pulling her down on him. The kiss broke slightly, both moaning into each others" mouths.
One of her hands clutched at his back, nails slightly digging into the skin, her other hand in the hair at the back of his head, holding onto him as he wasted no time in starting to buck his hips up hard and fast. Both breathing heavily and groaning, he tilted his head and marked along her neck with his teeth and his beard. Turning her head towards him, she nipped at his earlobe and the side of his neck in return, breathing him in as he fucked her into the wall, nails leaving trails of red lines in his back. Moving his head back to meet her eyes, messily brushing his lips across hers, his hips never slowing or stilling.
"Tell me you"re mine..." he ordered gruffly, nipping at her lower lip and then her chin as he felt her hand in his hair grip the still dark locks tightly. Another moan left her as she let her head drop back against the wall, lost in him and more than happy to be.
"I"m yours." she answered breathlessly, clinging to him tighter than before, moaning loudly as with her head back he was able to mark along the front of her neck. He sucked on the pulse point at her neck before trailing his tongue along it briefly, hips continuing to pound up into her. Her hand in his hair gave a brief tug, moving her head so that she could nip back at him now.
The wound on his arm was bleeding through the makeshift bandage, blood trailing down his left arm and partly onto her hip from how he was holding her up, neither of them registering it. Lost in each other, adrenaline fading into ecstasy, both panting and moaning loudly. Animal need taking over everything else, the need for each other, not just the need for sex. It didn"t take long for her to go over the edge, her nails actually drawing some blood on his back as his name left her lips like a prayer. Max had no chance of lasting much longer after she let go, soon following her with a guttural groan and one final rough buck of his hips as he filled her.
------
Having grabbed the only set of clean clothes he had, also the only other set of clothes he really had, as well as his sneakers from the hospital, they"d left the small apartment. Max got Emily into the house, where she"d pulled him aside and made him let her clean then properly bandage his arm. Something that he let her do without argument or question, just sitting still for her.
"What are we going to do?" she asked in nearly a whisper, smoothing the bandage to be sure the adhesive was fully stuck to his skin.
"I"m gonna clean any blood from your car and get rid of the clothes I was wearing. You don"t have to worry." he replied softly, standing upright again once she was done with the bandaging. He had already put on his only other clothes that he"d brought with him, everything he had on at the warehouse was in the garbage bag, now. Socks, boxers, his newer work boots, shirt, and newer winter coat, all tucked in the bag where he"d left it at the back door.
"I mean long term. What if they come after you for this?" she asked, moving her hands to his chest.
"They shouldn"t. I don"t see how they could prove anything. It"ll be okay." he answered, leaning in and pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead. Emily thought about it all for a moment, anxiety running wild but also desperately wanting to trust him that it"s all okay. Finally, she just gave him a nod after leaning into the tender kiss.
"I"m gonna get a shower." she replied, watching him nod back at her.
"Okay. I"ll be back in when I"m done." he said, hesitantly pulling from her and heading downstairs.
Stepping into the sneakers, he didn"t have another coat to use so he pulled his flannel over the clean t-shirt. Grabbing some spray and paper towels, he went out to the car first. It only took a few minutes to clean up the blood that he left in the car. Thankfully, it was only a few specks and he was done shortly. Next came the more important task. He put the spray bottle away, the paper towels in the garbage bin, then carried the garbage bag of his bloodstained clothes outside.
Emily had a fire pit in the middle of the backyard which he made his way directly to, stopping only to grab the lighter fluid bottle from near the grill. Dropping the bag on the ground, he went to the shed and grabbed some dry wood and dry cardboard. Placing it on the firepit, his skin already stinging with the cold some despite the flannel, he doused it all in lighter fluid then lit it.
After a few moments, when it was clear the fire was going well, he reached into the bag and decided to go with one item at a time. Tossing his torn and stained t-shirt on the fire first, watching it burn, then following suit with the socks, the boxers, the coat. He saved the boots for last and used more lighter fluid to be sure as much of them would burn as was possible, sighing softly as he watched it all, dropping the garbage bag itself on it last. It was a still night so he knew he didn"t need to keep an eye on it too long.
Not sure how much time had passed, once it was dying down some and the only thing even slightly recognizable was part of the toe of one boot, he realized his eyes were feeling tired. Letting out a yawn, he turned from the fire and headed up the back porch. Going back into the house and locking the door behind himself, he didn"t realize how cold he was until he got back into the house. Taking the flannel off and stepping out of his shoes, he made sure the front door was locked as well, then headed upstairs in the dark. The sky was just barely pale with the oncoming sunlight.
Entering the bedroom, the lamp was still on but Emily was already asleep, curled up under the covers in bed. Stepping out of his jeans, he then pulled off his t-shirt and stepped around to her side, turning off the lamp. Going back to the other side of the bed, he pulled back the covers and settled in, slipping his glasses off to set them on the bedside table before placing himself on his side facing her. She stirred some at the movement, letting out a soft sigh and barely opening her eyes just as he put his arms around her and pulled her close.
"It"s just me." whispered Max, heart swelling again when that knowledge comforted her and she closed her eyes once more while snuggling into him.