Ashley Kline Is A Snitch!

Prologue

Season one

Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers and The Werido on Maple Street

Chapter 2: Holly Jolly, The Body, The Flea and the Acrobat, The Monster

Chapter 3: The Bathtub and The Upside Down

Season Two

Chapter 4: MADMAX

Chapter 5: Trick or Treat

Chapter 6: The Pollywog and Dig Dug

Chapter 7: The Spy

Chapter 8: The Mind Flayer and The Gate

Season Three

Chapter 9: Suzie, Do you Copy? and Mall Rats

Chapter 10: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard and The Sauna Test

Chapter 11: The Flayed

Chapter 12: E Pluribus Unam and The Bite

Chapter 13: The Battle of Starcourt

Season Four

Chapter 14: The Hellfire Club

Chapter 15: Vecna's Curse

Chapter 16: The Monster and The Superhero

Chapter 17: Dear Billy and The Nina Project

Chapter 18: The Dive and The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

Chapter 19: Papa

Chapter 20: The Piggyback

Season 5

~Eighteen Months Later~

A lot’s changed in Hawkins in the past year and a half. The small and cozy, yet dangerous town that you once called home had morphed into an utter monster. 

When the military first arrived in order to provide relief for the “earthquake” now once in a lifetime natural phenomenon. You couldn’t help the subtle pit of suspicion that settled in your gut. When the Russians weasled their way in under Starcourt, they barely lingered then. They spent about a week in town keeping surveillance over the mall and combing through the underground base with fine-toothed combs, then they left. Not this time though. That subtle pit that sat in your stomach only grew as more soldiers funneled into the city with of course little to no aid in sight. Thanks Reagan. But the town was in too much distress to notice their home being invaded.

Once they did, it was too late. First came curfews, then mandatory check ups, then the surveillance cameras around every corner. Then the first big push happened. They took over downtown. A third of the town lost their jobs (including you, Robin, and Steve) and their businesses because of it. What made it worse was that downtown was finally bouncing back from the slight economic disaster caused by Starcourt stealing most of its customers during the summer of ‘86. 

So now, instead of a thriving hub where the town poured into itself financially, it was now the Mac-Z. The massive and secure military base with a task force that took it upon themselves to open an enormous gate to the upside down in the heart of the city. It frustrated you and the party to no end. They had no idea the door that they were opening, they’re just lucky enough that so far nothing had stepped through from the other side, yet.

The second big push was the massive metal wall they put up, separating Hawkins from the surrounding areas. A heavy weight sat in your chest knowing that everyday the kids rode their bikes to school, men in a crows nest stared down at them, rifles in hand as if a bunch of kids were the biggest threats in town.

The third push, and arguably the worst of all, was convincing the town that all of this was because of a quarantine due to the “ash” that began to rain from the sky for about a week after your showdown with Vecna. You knew that the town wasn’t as informed as the party and you understood the need for their brains to protect themselves from the horrors that had been occurring under their noses for so long now, but it was clear to anyone who had eyes and a brain that this wasn’t a quarantine. This was Martial Law. 

When Vecna said Hawkins was going to fall, you never thought it would be like this.

Through it all you had tried to find a sense of normality to things. After losing your jobs, you, Steve, and Robin applied to work at the local radio station. The gig seemed pretty sweet at first. You could be the ones to create the soundtrack of the town’s day. You could play the songs you wished were played instead whenever you were in the car going from place to place. Plus you and Robin could force the town to listen to you talk about whatever was on your mind between songs accented by Steve’s off the cuff sound effects. But of course there was a catch. You also had to be the friendly radio personalities that kept the town in check when they began to bend and break the rules the military had implemented. This unfortunately meant that either you or Robin would have to read off a long list of complaints at seven in the morning. A time that was way too early for either of you to even attempt to put your tongues anyway near the boots that had been trying to force their way into your mouths, despite the fact that you had a really good reason to “keep in line” without keeping in line.

“Good morning, Hawkins! I’m y/n…” You cheerfully announce, broadcasting to the town from your booth. You were quick to mute your microphone to take a much needed sip for your coffee as you fell into your usual ebb and flow.

“And I’m Robin! This is WSQK The Squawk!” Robin finished followed by Steve squeezing a screaming rubber chicken toy into his microphone. You turned in your chair to give him a quick smirk. He had brought up the idea of adding it to the introduction of the broadcast the night before, something to add a piece of himself into the greeting. You thought the idea was cute and the smile he gave you in return due to your support made it all the more special.

“It’s looking like a regular day in Hawkins, fifty-five degrees, low chance of rain, medium chance of arrest, and a high chance of helicopters, but general banality aside, it’s an exciting day for us isn’t it, Rockin’Robin?” You ask, calling her by her radio name.

“It very much is Singin’ Sinclair. And why is it a big day for us, you ask?” Robin jumps in as you mime to Steve to hit the applause button. “Well, It’s our five hundredth broadcast! Yup, you heard that right folks. Five-double-0!” She continues before you take back over.

“That also means it’s been even longer since you’ve heard the sultry voice of Jimmy “Fast Hands” Lee and trust me I know a thing or two about a guy with fast hands…” You once again turn in your seat to shoot Steve a quick wink, earning an uncontrollable smile in return. Robin rolled her eyes at both you and Steve in disgust as he pushed in the ‘woman screaming’ tape. The girl quickly decided to take over before both of you accidentally create radio porn.

“Well, while our old friend Jimmy was fleeing for his life, I, yours truly watched slack-jawed as the earth split open beneath her feet and coughed up that tsunami of mysterious dandruff. Now, I’m stuck here with you my fellow quarantine compatriots and if I can be brutally honest, I couldn’t be happier. Because when you really think about it, why would you want to live anywhere else?” Obviously both your words had been dripping in sarcasm, but when your eyes met hers, the cheerful lilt in her tone didn’t reach her eyes as the same images she was picturing flashes in front of your eyes as well. You were supposed to be in New York, living it up as young adults new to the city with the world as your oyster, but you were unfortunately still stuck here. Your dreams and goals put on the burner waiting to be ignited once you finally killed Vecna. Still, through all the grief of what could’ve been by now, she continues because at the moment what other choice do any of you have. “I mean what town on earth could match our very impressive military to civilian ratio?” Steve accented her statement with his slide whistle.

“You know, you are so right, Rob. I mean those free mandatory medical check ups? Very cool. Cause after we inhaled those springtime snowflakes I mean who knows what’s wrong with us.” You shrug as if the listeners could see you. “Maybe we’re fine, maybe we’re not.” Your statement was quickly followed by ‘man coughing’ queued by Steve. “After all, this was a “natural phenomenon never before seen by man.” ” You finished in a slightly robotic voice, handing the reins over to Robin.

“Yeah, a phenomenon now covered up by a giant metal Band-Aid. Quite the eyesore, but great for sledding. Though seriously, kids, stop sledding on the giant steel Band-Aid. You are going to kill yourselves. Also, the men with guns don’t like it. Not one bit.” Robin shook her head.

“Which reminds me, while we’re on the topic of things not to do, please steer clear of the Military Access Control Zone, aka the MAC-Z or as we like to call it the Big Mac. I have no idea what’s going on in there, but I have a gut feeling there’s a pretty good reason to stay away. But there’s still so much of Hawkins left to enjoy.” Your words are capped off by Steve dinging his bell.

“Yeah, and someday soon, they’re gonna let us out of here, so in the meantime, be thankful this is your home. SO, study for that test, enjoy that TV dinner, and go on that date.”

“Ooo, speaking of, don't you have a date tonight, Rockin' Robin?” You ask. You couldn’t help but feel warm inside at the fact Robin had gotten comfortable enough to say that she was dating someone on the air, even if she couldn’t say Vickie’s name. It honestly shocked you and Steve the first time it happened.

“That’s right, Rockin’ Robin has a date ladies and gentlemen.” She beamed before shooting quick daggers at Steve when he honked the rubber chicken instead of playing the ‘applause’ like she expected. “And who you may ask? Well, don’t be so nosy kids…” You and Steve looked at the sunshine radiating off of her like proud parents. “They know who they are, that is if you’re listening, which I hope you are because this next one is for you babe.” She finished off her sultry sentence by pressing play on Pretty in Pink by the Psychedelic Furs.

The song barely made it through the opening notes when the media board in front of you began to glitch and the song whirred to a stop.

“Whoa. What’s going on?” Robin asked, looking over at you with panicked eyes. 

“What the hell?” You speak with furrowed brows as the two of you began to flip every switch and turned every dial in front of you, but nothing worked. “What the hell?” You repeated again.

“Woah.” Steve let out, causing you and Robin to snap your heads his way. His wide eyes told you that it wasn’t just your board, it was the whole system.

“We told you guys to stop thumbing your nose at the military.” Steve chided both of you as you rushed to the frequency controls outside of the booth.

“We were just reiterating their goddamn rules, encouraging compliance.” You defended as you and Robin messed with the dials, trying to switch everything back on.

“Without a hint of sarcasm, right, honey?” He gave you a tightlipped smile.

“Said the dingus with the rubber chicken.” Robin jumped in.

“These are very serious people, guys and Stinson is gonna be pissed.”

“I’ll talk to her ok, and I’ll apologize for the both of us. I mean I started it anyway, but first we need to get back on the air, ok love?” You assured Steve, before groaning in frustration when the new set of dials you turned, still did nothing.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” You and Robin began to pace. None of you weren’t sure what to do at this point. Of course you and Robin had gotten warnings before to rein it in on the air by all parties involved, but you couldn’t help it. It was disgustingly hard to be a friendly mouthpiece for the military.

“Henderson, you copy? Henderson?” Steve radioed Dustin.

“Yeah, I copy. God you sound swell. Let me take a wild guess. You’re not calling to wish me a good morning.” You didn’t even need to be facing him to know that his eyes rolled and his jaw clenched in frustration. He had been trying so hard with Dustin, but he couldn’t even have a simple conversation with the boy before he came out swinging.

“Well, it’s not exactly a good morning. We’ve got a situation at the Squawk. The signal, it’s gone all wonky. I think the girls finally pissed ‘em off.” He informed the boy as he ran his fingers through hair.

“Doubtful. They were encouraging compliance.” Dustin countered dismissively. 

“Told you!” Robin shouted in vindication as the two of you continued to mess around with the system.

“The remote radio head’s the more likely culprit.” Dustin further explained.

“The remote what?” Your boyfriend’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Just read the manual, Steve.” Dustin sighed.

“Come on man. That thing might as well be in Greek.”

“Then learn Greek! I can’t always be there to solve your problems for you, Steve.” The bite in Dustin’s tone pulled your attention away. You could hear the slight tremble in Steve’s voice when he called for the boy again only to receive no response.

“God! “Learn Greek” You heard that tone, right honey?” Steve asked you.

“Yeah, I heard it, love.” You nod, giving him a slight frown. You hated to see the way his shoulder deflated, but the strong mask he wore on his face. He felt his relationship with Dustin crumbling and he felt powerless to stop it.

“Dingus, do you remember the last place you put the manual?” Robin asked.

“No, I think Nance had it last.” Steve answered

“Great.” She huffed, making her way to the hidden stairs to the basement.

“They should be here soon, right?” 

“Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt to start looking. Plus I have a very angry woman to apologize to.” You sigh as you make your way to the secret door to the basement the group had created.

Steve and Robin split to divide and conquer while you went straight for the blanket covered and locked trunk hidden under an unused desk in the corner.

You dug in your pocket for the spare station key ring Nancy had bestowed upon you. Out of the three options, she easily trusted you with them the most.

Once unlocked you pulled out the heavy radio stored inside, flicking it on.

“This is AC, over.” You spoke your codename into the small wire connected microphone, waiting for a response.

“I read you Antique Chariot, boss wants to speak with you.” The man on the other line responds.

“Of course she does.” You mutter under your breath as you wait for Agent Stinson to pick up.

When the boys and El made it back town, you all met up to debrief each other on how absolutely fucked up everything was, they filled you in on the sect of government that understood the real threat in Hawkins due to their close work and belief in Doctor Owens and Brenner. Despite the destruction of the bunker housing The Nina Project and the death of Brenner, the sect was able to rebuild and come back stronger.

Luckily the boys kept tight hold of the pen given to them by their security detail Stinson assigned to them when El volunteered for the Project. After being able to make contact, you were able to plan your defense against the military presence when the time came for you to say the word and they could move in.

“AC.” Stinson’s voice broke through in a parental tone.

“Hey…” You draw out. “And before you start, we’re sorry, ok?” You begin to defend yourself and Robin.

“Really, because when I told you to ‘stop’ before you said it was “the last time”, yet here we are.”

“Can you blame us? This shitty apartment sucks and we’re sick of it.” You complain, switching into coded wording. It was something you had all taken to once you started communications with Owens and Stinson’s team. They were sure that the frequency was secure, but just to be sure, you implemented coded speech.

“I know, but if we are going to help you move then we need to keep it quiet. We don’t need anyone knowing that we’re helping. I don’t want to become a moving service. And look, I know you hate me asking, but do you have any idea how close you guys are to finding an apartment?” She asks.

“I wish I could tell you, but we might be babysitting soon so maybe we’ll find something while the kid naps.” You sigh.

“Ok, keep me posted and until then keep the snark to a minimum, I’m sure you don’t want to risk losing your help.”

“Of course not. I’ll let you know tomorrow if we find a place.” You reply with a tightlipped smile as if she could see you. “AC, over and out.” You finish, putting down the mic. You let out a deep sigh before locking the radio away again.

“Any luck?” You ask, leaning against the wall closest to Steve as he’s closed a small cabinet he’d been rifling through.

“No.” He huffed, running stressed fingers through his hair once again.

“Ugh! I swear this thing doesn’t exist.” Robin sighed, leaning next to you once she came up empty-handed. “What about Stinny? Was she pissed at us?” She asked lolling her head to the side to look at you.

“Honestly not as much as I thought, but we have been instructed to “keep the snark to a minimum.” ” You quoted the agent.

“Guys!” Nancy’s muffled, but still clearly frustrated voice called.

“Maybe we should’ve been more worried about Nance.” Robin slightly grimaced before the three of you raced up the stairs. 

“What did you guys do?” She asked with folded arms when you found her and Jonathon standing in the abandoned booth.

“Chill out. It wasn’t us this time, just dumb luck.” Steve was quick to defend the three of you. “Henderson said something about the remote radio head on the fritz or something. Told us to check the manual, but we can’t find it. You had it last, right?” He asked. “Yeah, I think so. Just give me a second to check.” She replied, her eyebrows slightly knitting as she combed through her memories to figure out where she left it last.

“You good over there, Jonathan?” You ask the boy when you notice his earlier calm demeanor shift into one that seemed more on guard.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine…I just got lost in thought I guess.” He tried to explain away, shoving his hands deep into his front pockets.

“Ok…” You slowly nod before flopping onto the couch, despite not being fully convinced by his performance.

“I just don’t get it you know?” Steve sighed.

“What’d I miss?”  You ask Robin and Steve who had been in the middle of a conversation when you dropped your head on his shoulder.

“Dustin. You heard his tone earlier. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?” He asked.

“I don’t know, love.” You slightly frown, bringing a hand up to rub gentle circles on his upper back, knowing how the tension between he and Dustin had been weighing heavy on his shoulders.

“I mean, it was not this hard with Max.” He shook his head. “I know it took a couple months but she came around.”

“That’s the thing, Steve. Max and Dustin are two different people so they grieve differently. What worked with Max is clearly not working on Dustin.” You explain.

“I know, but how am I going to figure it out if he won’t even talk to me and when he does he has a crazy attitude problem.” He counters. “It’s like he hates me all of a sudden and all I want to do is fix it.”

“Maybe this is the issue. The more you try to pull him in the harder he’ll push you away. Maybe you should ease up a bit.” You suggest.

“I can’t honey. He’s becoming completely reckless. What if he does something to hims-”

“I found it!” Nancy scrambled into the room, beaming as she held up the large operating manual. Her announcement stopping Steve from finishing his bone chilling sentence.

The four of you were quick to gather around the girl as she flipped through the pages.

“Wait, wait, wait. There it is.” Steve interrupted Nancy’s flipping, his chest almost flush with her back as he leaned closer to get a better look.

“Remote radio head.” He read off, tracing his finger over the diagram. 

 Steve meant nothing by the action. He didn’t even realize he did it really, but Jonathan did. His eyes hardened and narrowed in on Steve who had been too busy focused on the manual to even notice it. Jonathon then flicked his eyes over to you, assuming that you would wear the same expression as him, but he was in utter shock when he saw nothing on your face had changed. Your eyes were dead set on the manual, sparing glances at whoever was speaking at the moment. You looked unphased and he couldn’t help the frustration building up inside of himself at the fact Steve was “flirting” with Nancy right in front of you.

“And where exactly are we gonna find this remote thingimajig?” Robin asked.

“Probably about a mile up in the air.” You pipe up with a slight grimace.

The radio tower loomed like Godzilla as the five of you stared up at it from the ground.“Wait, I don’t see it.” Robin commented, squinting her eyes for a better look. It put a pit in all your stomachs when you realized the tower went up for so long it’s tip faded into the atmosphere.

“It’s up there somewhere. It’s gotta be.” Nancy replied, none of you taking your eyes away from the structure.

“So, I guess somebody’s gotta climb to the tippy top of this bad boy and…” She began to make maintenance sounds with her mouth. 

“Yep, and without a harness or anything. It seems kind of dangerous.” Nancy stated the unfortunate truth.

“AKA a job for good ol’ Steve Harrington.” His ears perked up at the word ‘dangerous’ immediately stepping forward to volunteer himself.

“Hey, no third person please.” Robin immediately chastised. She was never too fond of the behavior before, but hearing Steve call himself ‘daddy’ was the nail in the coffin.

“Are you out of your fucking mind, Steve?” You were quick to ask as he spoke with no regard for his safety.

“Actually…” Jonathan rushed forward to catch up with him. “I,uh, actually think this might be a better job for Jonathon Byers.” He continued, immediately shrugging off his jacket.

You, Robin, and Nancy immediately locked eyes before rolling them. This was becoming yet another pissing contest between the boys. It was clear that it was to impress you and Nancy, but your patience for it wore incredibly thin. Every task began to take longer as the boys bickered about who could do it better and it put Steve in increasingly more dangerous situations, which you hated to no end.

“I’m like one quarter monkey, dude.” Steve shot back, beginning to shrug off his jacket as well. “I got this, Byers. Don’t sweat it. Take care of this for me, love.” He handed his jacket off to you, sending a wink your way before making sauntering to the shed doors that housed the voltage panel.

“Woah, dude? What are you doing?” Steve asked, scrambling out the shed at the sound of slight grunts and creaking metal.

“I got this, dude. Don’t sweat it.” Jonathan replied, nonchalant hanging one-handed from the tower’s service ladder.

“Son a…” Steve mumbled under his breath. He couldn’t believe this asshole was trying to steal his thunder. “Watch this.” He pointed at you before rushing to the second service ladder, but of course Jonathon didn’t see it that way.

“If you die, I’ll kill you!” You shout at your boyfriend as he steps up on the ladder.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, honey!” He shouts back before beginning his ascent as fast he could so that he could catch up to Jonathon.

“What is it about your presence that brings out their inner Neanderthal?” Robin asks, her eyes flicking between both of you.

“Questions, questions.” You sigh, watching as Steve and Jonathon become smaller and smaller as they race up the structure.

“Oh, shit.” Robin mutters, causing you to snap your head around.

“Woah, I thought grocery delivery wasn't till tomorrow.” You say, confusion laced in your tone as you watched a big rig pull up the long stretch of dirt road that ran by the field.

“Me too.” Nancy huffs, worried about what Murray’s early arrival could mean.

You turned back around whispering “Please don’t die.” To Steve under your breath one more time before the three of you ran off to meet up with Murray.

“Santa’s brought a full sack today!” Murray announced as he slid open the truck’s cabin door. Your faces immediately cringed as his phrasing.

“Please don’t say it like that.” You mumble under your breath as he climbed inside his truck.

“Ok…” He began to dig through his bag after jumping back out the cabin. “A fresh telemetry tag…” He pulled out, passing it over to Robin. “Scarcer than hen’s teeth, these things. Enough bullets and shells for Hop to start a small war if he should so choose…” He passed the heavy ammunition filled cases to Nancy. “Anyone order a salad? Grenade salad?” He asked with a giddy smile before replacing the large head of lettuce he held up first with a real grenade. “I, uh, hid the grenades under the salad.” He tried to explain his joke when he didn’t receive the laughter he expected. “Gatorade for you and El’s battery.” Murray presented to you. Right as he was about to toss the bottle your way, an out of breath Steve and Jonathon came jogging up.

“Did someone say Gatorade? Let me get one of those.” Steve held a waiting hand out at the man.

“No problem.” Murray was quick to redirect his throw, seeing as the boy clearly needed it. “But I don’t think it’s gonna go too well with…peanut butter.” 

“Boppers!” Steve’s face lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of the treats he asked for. 

“Oh no, do you think he’s gonna do it?” Robin leaned over to whisper to you.

“He always does.” You barely got your sentence out before Steve’s little performance started.

“Bop, bop, peanut butter, butter bops, pop, pop, pop ‘em in your mouth, Pop!” Steve sang the product's jingle while doing a little dance. “Thanks man.” You did little work to contain the smile on your face as you watched the excitement from the snack that was radiating off of his body. 

“And for the lady…” You turn your attention back to Murray. “I have the latest issues of Vogue and Harper’s BAZAAR.” He held the magazines out to you.

“Murray, you son of a bitch!” You squealed, snatching the fashion magazines from his hands.

Your eyes were wide in utter excitement as they traced over Cindy Crawford on the cover of Harper’s and Louise Vyent on Vogue which Robin’s eyes especially kept lingered on. Her gaze only being forced to break when you clutched the magazine’s to your chest like you were scared they would disappear if you didn’t.

Steve’s face began to mirror the excitement yours had for him. Seeing the way your face brightened and your smile became uncontrollable made him feel warm inside. He knew how much you’ve missed seeing the latest in fashion and all the inspiration you could take from them. You had read and reread all the issues from both publications you had saved over the years so having new issues felt like an immense wave of fresh air.

“I also got you a new sketch book. Steve said you filled up your last one.” He passed over the book in your favorite color which Steve specifically requested for. When you looked over at Steve, he was already staring with brown puppy-dog eyes.

A soft “Steve.” Was all you could manage to get out. Your heart felt like it skipped a beat when he sent you back a blown kiss and a wink.

 “Don’t worry,  Mr. Byers. I got you a present too. I know you’re allergic to jazz, but just giving it a whirl. I think you’ll find it quite engaging.” Murray not so subtly winked at the boy. The only saving grace was the rest of you fawning over your gifts.

Your focus was only stolen by Jonathon’s abrupt movement to swipe the cassette tape from Murray’s theatrical hands.

John Coltrane…huh. You think reading off the name. You couldn’t help but wonder if for some reason Jonathon had been hanging out with your father.

“And for the station manager…” Your eyebrows scrunched together and your face slightly dropped when Murray smacked Nancy on the top of the head with the large folder he was holding.

“Dude?” You sigh, shaking your head, but Murray continues on as if what he did was normal.

“This is the reason for my premature delivery.” Nancy snatched the folder from his hands, both in worry for its contents and in frustration at his gross action.

The four of you quickly gather around the girl, eyes skimming over the page.

“A burn? Tonight? But that’s-” She read off the small blue texts before being cut off by Murray.

“Too soon, I know.” He nodded. “Whatever they’re doing in the upside down evidently needs a serious injection of resources.”

“That’s a lot of cargo.” Robin commented as she read line after line of items ordered in the dozens.

“I know. I figured a supply drop this big takes two hours, minimum.”

“That would give Hop plenty of time for a crawl, right?” You pointed out.

“Maybe tonight’s the night we finally end this.” He asserted.

“At least I’ll have something to report back to Stinson. She’s been breathing down our necks a bit.”

“Oh! Speaking of which… I can’t believe I almost forgot…Reports from our favorite agent. She said they’re for you.” Murray passed the heavy envelope to you after he dug it out from the depths of one of the produce boxes. The reports had been part of the new system of communication between your two parties. Instead of hours long debriefs spoken entirely in code, you sent more in depth and less time sensitive reports back and forth with Murray as your little courier pigeon.

“Great. Homework.” You sigh, taking the envelope from his hands, slotting it behind your magazines. “Save me Louise Vyent! Save me!” You theatrically plead before releasing a deep sigh.

“Well, let’s go inform the masses.” 

On the way back to the station, you were prepared to walk with Steve and Robin. You assumed that Jonathon would join Nancy and Murray who continued to go over the cargo delivery’s logistics. You were shocked however when he asked if the two of you could chat for a minute. 

“Sure, I’ll catch up in a sec.” You inform Steve and Robin, deciding to slow your pace to talk to Jonathon. 

“Is everything ok?” You ask, taking in his slightly shifty demeanor. Sure the two of you weren’t brother and sister, but you still considered yourselves friends, so it gave you slight pause at how unsettled he seemed to talk to you.

“Yeah, it’s just that I was wondering if what happened earlier bothered you.” He questioned.

“Did what bother me?” You counter with knitted brows.

“You know the weird macho shit Steve was doing at the radio tower.”

“Oh yeah. It’s very annoying.” You nod in agreement.

“See, I knew I wasn't going crazy. He’s always showing off whenever Nance is around.” Jonathan said, throwing his hands up in vindication.

“Is he?” You ask dismissively.

“Don’t tell you don’t notice it.”

“I don’t. I mean he’s been very energetic lately and jumping at the opportunity to do the dumbest shit. That’s what bothers me. Where’s the rest of this coming from?” You ask with winding hands. “ I hate to accuse, but are you jealous or something cause I’m not getting the point of this otherwise.”

“I just… look.” Jonathan slowly pulls the John Coltrane tape that he had just been gifted from his pocket.

“Jesus Christ!” You let out in shock when he opens it to reveal the ring stored inside. 

“Shh!” he shushed, looking around to see if you drew any attention, which you luckily hadn’t.

“I know. And I want to make sure that things are good between us before I pop the question. I mean she told me about spring break and how confused she felt. I thought I was getting over it, but now seeing how Steve is acting I just can’t help but think…”

“Well, Nance and I spoke too and we worked it out. Everything is water under the bridge between us and last time we had a little heart to heart she only had eyes for you.” You try to assure him.

“Does Steve know that?”

“Know what? That you and Nance are dating. That’s pretty common knowledge, man. Besides that, what else is there for Steve to know? I think the bases are pretty covered.”

“It’s just that-”

“Ok, before you have a Buckley level spiral, let me stop you right there. Steve and I are doing great, right now. I’m not worried about him having a wandering eye or whatever your concern is, so I hate to say this but I think this might be a ‘you’ problem, Byers. I mean if my boyfriend showing off in front of his own girlfriend while Nancy happens to be in the vicinity, makes you worry that she won’t accept your proposal, then maybe you should reevaluate things.” You suggest.

“Reevaluate? What? No, I love Nance.” He was quick to defend himself.

“I’m not saying you don't.  I'm just saying that maybe the love you have for her might not be secure enough to get married at the moment. And that's not even considering the circumstances. Everything is fucked up right now and I think we can agree that Nancy Wheeler deserves a bit more than Martial Law: Hawkins Edition as part of her proposal story.”

“So if Steve proposed you would say ‘no’?” He became accusatory.

“No, I would say ‘yes’ in a heartbeat because I know that when this is all over, things will be even better between us without the looming presence of Vecna and the military over us. Plus we talked about our future. Where we want to live, our careers, how many kids we want to have. Have you done the same with Nance?” 

“We just…haven’t gotten around to it.” He replied sheepishly.

“Haven’t gotten around to it?! And you want to get married?”

“I figured we would figure it out. We always do.”

“Sure, but I feel like marriage and shit is something you should be on the same page about before the proposal.”

“Well I didn’t know you were a marriage expert.”

“I never said I was and I’m not trying to talk you out of anything. I’m just saying that before you take this enormous leap, you should think about what Nancy wants too.” You give him a tightlipped smile and a shrug before breaking into a jog to catch up with the others.

“What did Byers want?” Steve asked, his hand immediately finding yours once it was in reach.

“Uh, he wanted my thoughts on an idea he had.”

“And?”

“I don’t know if he liked my input very much.”

“Well, if he had half a brain he would listen to you.” He grinned, pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.

“Hey there, friends, this is Rockin’ Robin!” She announced herself back on air.

“And this is Singin’ Sinclair! Sorry about the abrupt departure. I hope you survived without us. We had some annoying technical difficulties.” You continue, followed by Steve pressing ‘power drain’ and ‘crying baby’.

“But to make it up to you, we have a very special treat for you guys, because we’re about to take a little trip with my Aunt Diana…” You trail off, pressing play on the queued track of Upside Down by Diana Ross. The song, how subtle, had become the secret code for the others to know when a crawl was coming, you just hoped that everyone was prepared for the onslaught of “random” facts that were about to spew from Robin’s mouth. “But, before you start bumping, here’s a few fun facts about the Boss. Take it away, Rockin Robin!” You handed her the reins.

“Well, for starters, she was born Diane in the North End of Detroit. Berry Gordy, that’s Gordy with a ‘G’ signed her to Motown in 1961…”

Once the message was out, all of you gathered in the basement. You sat with Steve at the end of the table housing the projector. Both of you had your feet kicked up as Nancy began to go through a quick run down of all the information she and Murray had gone over.

“So if Murray’s intel is correct, the supply convoy is set to hit Hawkins at ten sharp.” Nancy began to present. You couldn’t help but feel like you were back in school as she pointed at the scaled up map of Hawkins being projected on the wall. “Meaning, I want Hopper in the tunnels and en route to the MAC-Z no later than nine. Barring unusual traffic, I expect the convoy to reach the MAC-Z at ten-fifteen. Once the burn starts and we have sufficient cover we’ll signal Hopper and the Crawl will begin. I expect the convoy to take the same route as last month. Main to Cornwallis, one turn, but if you guys hit any red lights-”

“I’ll blow right through ‘em.” Steve was quick to hand wave away her concerns.

“Only if there’s no MPs around.” Nancy replied sharply. “Remember, if you guys get pulled over, we lose Hop. Then we’re toast.”

“I got it.” Steve held his hands up in lazy surrender. 

“You’re gonna travel up Cornwallis for about six miles and once the convoy reaches this Shell station here, we’ll radio Hop to disembark. It’ll drop him off at the border of G1. This will give him two whole hours to search for Vecna, which is ample time. He’s cleared zones much faster, so all in all, signs point to a successful Crawl.” Nancy sighed as she made her way to the lightswitch.

“Is there a problem?” She interrogates when she received a less than enthusiastic response from the four of you.

“Um…no. No, I mean, I think it’s good.” Jonathan waffled for an answer.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s really good.” Steve jumped in when Nancy’s face scrunched in skepticism at her boyfriend’s words. 

“It’s just that Zone G1 is not that exciting or Vecna-y.” You decide to say what you were all thinking.

“Exactly, what does it have? A Circuit City, a couple of houses, and a Big Buy? What are the chances Vecna’s shopping for Lucky Charms?” Robin asked with a slight shrug.

“We have to stick with what we know works. We go in under the guise of a controlled burn. You guys know this.”

“I know, and your plan is great, but Stinson has been riding me for new information. She is writing page after page of questions and information requests in the reports. I think if she got  yet another report about zone G1 she would blow her brains out.” You reply. You hated to tear down Nancy’s plan, but all of you knew at some point something’s gotta give.

“Yeah, Nance. This is crawl what? Are we in the 30s now and not a single baddie in sight. We all know when the time comes Vecna is going to hit us with a heavy punch and I’m not sure if hitting the same spot again is worth it. I mean you heard what Vecna said. He wants to destroy the world and force y/n to do it with him. We have to figure out something else or this whole place will burn before Owens and Stinson’s team even makes it to the gate.” 

“So then do you have another plan, Steve?!” Nancy snapped.

“No, I-”

“Then end of discussion. We do as many crawls as it takes until we find and kill this bastard.”

The group had been in a slight panic as the meeting time for the crawl approached. Dustin Henderson was late. Sure late was concerning, but he also wasn’t answering his walkie no matter who called and that caused panic. All of you knew that Dustin was flying off the handle recently and it worried all of you to your cores, but now you were in a rough position. This Crawl had to happen tonight. So, without Dustin, who’s going to monitor the signal while Steve drives the news van?

“I can do it. I can monitor.” Will was quick to volunteer himself, wanting to finally be able to join the action. Joyce had been smothering him for years now and he was getting to his wits end. He of course understood why, but he just wanted to stop being seen as a fragile little boy. A sentiment that you were all too familiar with.

“No, you're staying here.” Joyce was quick to shoot the idea down.

“Mom, I helped Dustin set up the antenna. I know how to work it.”

“Out of the question. It’s just a wheel.”

“It’s not just a wheel.” The boy sighed, but his mother wouldn’t hear a word of it.

“Jonathn, you can work it, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think so.” He slowly nodded along with his words.

“You better not think. You better know.” Hopper piped up. “You lose me out there, I’m not coming home.” Hopper handed down the brutal truth. You knew that it would be a clusterfuck if Steve and Jonathon were alone right now, especially after the conversation you had with him and that was the last thing any of you needed at the moment.

“Ok, how bout this. I’ll babysit the dinguses. It doesn’t hurt having an extra person who knows how to do this shit in case Dustin goes radio silent again.” You suggest. “Trust me, Hop. I can handle it.”

“I trust you, kid. Don’t let these idiots get me killed.”

“Wouldn't dream of it.” You released a slight chuckle.

“Do you guys have a signal?” Joyce broke through the walkie as you and Jonathon  listened intently with your headphones. The three of you had been parked in an alley for almost fifteen minutes waiting for a ping off of Hopper’s tag. 

“Snagged it.” You inform her as you slowly turn the ceiling mounted crank.

“Should I move?” Steve asked, looking back at the two of you with a half full mouth of bopper.

“No.” You and Jonathon replied in unison as you watched the red numbers fluctuate in front of you.

“Hold. Hold, Hold.” You repeat watching as the number finally ticked up to 90db.

“Go!” You both shout to him when they reach the desired number.

“Hold onto something!” Steve quickly instructed before flooring the van out of the alleyway. “Jesus.” You grunt when you fall back on your ass from the sharp and high-speed turn he took.

“Sorry, love.” He was quick to apologize as he still maintained speed.

“Oh, shit!” Jonathon shouted.

“What?!What?!” Steve asked, sneaking peaks to the back through the rearview window.

“We’re losing him.” Jonathon explained.

“He’s right. Steve, stop! Stop!” You yelled at Steve, who finally brought the van to a screeching halt.

“Come on, come on, come on.” Jonathan muttered under his breath as he turned the wheel trying to relocate Hop.

“What’s the reading?” Steve asked from the front seat.

“Not great.” You reply watching the number in the low 20s slowly tick up.

“Wait…wait…we got him.” Jonathan informed Steve, the three of you releasing deep sighs of relief when the numbers finally corrected themselves.

“I’ll radio the squawk. I’m sure they’re worried out of their minds.”

“This is Ground Crew, Squawk, do you copy?” You ask into the walkie.

“We copy loud and clear, Ground Crew. Any idea of what happened. We lost contact with Hop.” Joyce said over the walkie, a slight tremble in her tone.

“We fixed the signal, we should be able to get through now. Try him.”

“Alright. We’ll radio you back in a few, just hang tight.” Joyce finished, shifting her focus back to Hopper. 

The three of you say with bated breath, waiting for an update on Hopper. You had this sinking feeling that something awful was happening. You began to wish you stayed behind so that you could help. You weren’t sure if you could stomach losing Hopper again. 

You were broken out of your thoughts when you heard the splitting and crinkling of a wrapper.

“Another one. Seriously?” You ask Steve, crawling to the front seat. 

“I can’t help it, they're delicious.” 

“I know, I’m just saying that you’re blowing through your stockpile and by the end of the week you're going to have bopper withdrawal symptoms.”

“You’re saying that like I have an addiction. I can’t quit anytime I want.” He defended himself  before taking a big bite into his treat.

“Then give me the bopper.” You smirk, holding your hand out to him.

“No, no way in hell. I can save you one though.” Steve bargained, placing a quick but sweet kiss to your cheek.

“See, you always say that, then you never do.” You remind him.

“Yes, I do save one for you, I just… lose count sometimes.”

“Because you have an addiction.”

“No I do-” Steve’s words died on his tongue when the radio as well as the interior and exterior lights turned on then back off.

“What the hell?!” You panic, scrambling back to Jonathon, who’d been staring wide eyed at the frequency device that was also fluctuating between on and off. 

“What’s going on back there?!” Steve turned to shout from the front seat.

“How the hell am I supposed to know?!” Jonathan yelled back. You knew that it would eventually devolve into this, you just hated the fact that it had to be right now.

“Come on, baby. Come one.” You whispered under your breath as you closed your eyes. You placed your hand over the device, trying to use your powers to keep it on.

“Ow!” Your eyes shoot open as you jump back when the electrical current running through the device surged before cutting out completely with the rest of the power.

Jumping back with a shock.

“Honey!” Steve was quick to crawl in the backseat to get to you.

“Are you ok?” He asked with concerned eyes.

“Yeah, this piece of shit just shocked me.” You grumbled, lightly smacking the device with the back of your hand. 

“Stupid hunk of junk.” Steve shook his head in agreement before pressing a quick kiss to your tingling hand as if his lips would ease the pain.

“Yo! Where the hell are you going, Byers?” Steve’s head shot out when he heard the back door creak open.

“What does it look like? To get this thing started. Without it we have no contact with Hop.”

“What do you know about starting cars, Byers?” Steve quickly scrambled out of the car behind him.

“My dad’s a mechanic. He didn’t teach me much, but at least the asshole taught me about cars.”

“That’s great and all, but I can get this thing started in like thirty seconds.” Steve argued as they raced to pop the head first.

“I see the problem.” Both boys said in unison as they stared down at the car’s inner workings.

They began to go through a list of possible culprits. Whenever one had an idea, the other would shoot it down to list their own idea.

“Or it could be solved with jumper cables.” You say now that you’ve gotten a better look under the hood, now that the boys were done fighting for dominance over the area.

“Since when do you know cars?” Jonathan asked with knitted brows.

“I don’t. I just know that my mom has a nasty habit of leaving the lights on in the car. Considering there's no smoking and shit, I figured it has to be the case.” You reason.

“Great, so where the hell are we supposed to find jumper cables.?” Jonathan huffed.

“I’ll try to flag down a car or something.” You shrug.

“I don’t think that’s safe, honey. I should come with you.”

“We are far from safe right now, Steve. Whatever happened is serious and we need to get back to the squawk. Plus I would love to take a break from the two of you arguing. Just think of it as me going on a walk with benefits. If a car comes before me and you can get the van up and running again just pick me up. I’m going this way, ok?” You point down the road.

“Just be careful, honey. You know how they get about curfew.

“I promise I will be as safe as possible. I love you.” You assure him blow a sweet kiss his way.

“I love you too.”

You had been walking for about fifteen minutes by the time the first car appeared. You were quick to tuck yourself behind a tree. You squinted your eyes trying to make out the size and the shape of the vehicle. 

Despite the shine of the headlights, you were able to make out enough detail to determine that the car was not military issued.

You cautiously stepped out from the dark shrubbery, now feeling slightly less tense. You rushed to the roadside, throwing out and waving a hand for its attention. You expected for the car to either slow at a normal rate or just blow past you. Instead, the vehicle came to a screeching halt beside you.

“Y/n?!” You heard El call as she picked her head out the window.

“El?! What the hell are you doing out here?” You ask, bending down to her eye level, spotting a tense Nancy in the driver’s seat.

“We’ll explain on the way, just get in!” She urged.

“Yes, ma’am.” You agreed, quickly climbing into the backseat. “Wait since you guys are here can we jump the van real quick, it died.”

“No, time. Just radio the boys and tell them we picked you up.” She passed the walkie back to you. You noticed the way her hands trembled when they grazed yours when you took the walkie from her grasp.

“Ok, but so they know, where the hell are we going?” You ask.

“My house.”

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The sun had set, casting Hawkins in a blanket of darkness when you arrived at Eddie’s trailer. The six of you stared up at the gate with weapons strapped to your back and bags of unlit molotovs slung across your shoulders. Your hearts pounding in your chests, knowing that  through that gate was the biggest battle you had yet to face and you knew that there was no turning back.

“Be careful.” Dustin begged Steve when he stepped on Eddie’s mattress to take hold of the sheet rope dangling between dimensions.

“Thanks, buddy.” Steve replied, placing a loving tap against the boy's chest. He tried to keep a strong front, but you could see the way his hands trembled when he reached for the rope. The images Vecna burned in his brain, flashing in front of his eyes and he knew he would never forget the feeling of falling through nothingness. “Here goes nothing.” Steve exhaled sharply.  

“What does he want us to do, applaud?” Robin asked as the two of you stared up at Steve who shrugged nonchalantly at his action hero entrance to the upside down. “Don’t encourage him.” She was quick to grab your hands when she noticed you raised your hands to jokingly clap for your boyfriend.

“Alright, let’s go.” Steve called up to the rest of you after he moved a mattress under the rope to create a new landing pad in the upside down. You went up first, boosting off of Eddie's interlocked hands.

“Fire in the hole.” You announce before flipping between dimensions. You let out a slight grunt when you hit the mattress below you. 

“I got you, honey.” Steve smiled down at you, holding his hand out to help you up.

“Thank you, love.” You smiled back, promptly accepting his help so that you could clear the space for the others to come through.

“Still pretty fun.” Robin chuckled as you helped her up so that the others could swiftly follow behind her.

Eddie was the last one through, sharing the same sentiment as your best friend when Steve and Dustin hauled him to his feet. 

When you stepped out of Eddie’s trailer, red lightning cracked in the sky followed by booming thunder. The intensity almost felt like a warning to turn back. Not from your gut, but from Vecna himself, but it was too late. You were in too deep. Too much was on line and running was no longer an option that you were willing to take.

“Listen to me…” Steve began before your group separated. “If things here start to go south and I mean at all, you abort, ok? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep them busy for a minute or two while we take care of Vecna. Don’t try to be cute or be a hero or something, ok? You guys are just-” 

“Decoys.” Dustin finishes, cutting off Steve. Despite the fact that you had all gone over the plan ten times over, Steve knew Dustin could be hard headed at the best of times, so he didn’t care how many times he had to say it for the boy to absorb the information. He can’t lose Dustin, especially with you and Max at the top two spots of Vecna’s incredibly long kill list. Losing his brother, his sister, and the love of his life all in the same day would break him to a level he didn’t think he could come back from. “Don’t worry. You guys can be the heroes, Steve.” Dustin tried to assure him with a joking lilt, but Steve’s words struck him deep when he saw the seriousness swimming in his eyes.

“Absolutely. I mean look at us. We are not heroes.” Eddie was quick to agree with a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders. Steve gave him a slight nod despite his fears not being fully quelled by their responses. You had to admit they didn’t make you feel too good either. You knew getting a lesson about ‘Not Playing the Hero’ from Steve Harrington was sort of like a vampire telling you to drink blood.

“Seriously though. Don’t. Do. Anything. Stupid.” You said, pointing between the two after every word. You also knew that you weren’t the best person to be giving this advice, but you just hoped that they listened. 

“Hey, Mage?”Eddie called out when your group was about to depart.

“Yeah?” You reply, meeting his nervous eyes, before the hardened in determination.

“Make him pay.”

Every vine covered tree seemed the same as the four of you walked through the dark woods. Aside from the darkness muddying the details, the leafless trees, and the fact that the scenery was frozen three years in the past, not being able to use a compass only made things worse. You knew that it would hurt more than it would help considering it would hone in on the closest gate and take you even further from where you needed to be.

“I don't mean to freak anyone out but I swear we’ve seen this tree before.” Robin piped up, shining her flashlight on a tree that was wrapped in way more vines than the rest.

“No, that's impossible.”  Nancy shook her head, walking up to the tree Robin was referring to in order to get a better look. The girl wanted to stay positive, but you could see it in the way her eyebrows slightly knitted together that she was beginning to think it too.

“It would totally suck if Vecna destroyed the world, cause we got lost in the woods.” Robin groaned as she turned in place trying to find anything that would signal that you didn’t just walk in a circle.

“We’re not lost, Rob. All this shit just looks the same.” You tried to reason but you weren’t completely confident in your assessment either, considering you had a sneaking suspicion that you had seen that tree before.

“How convincing.” She replied sarcastically before, breaking into a slight jog so that she could explore the space further.

“Robin, hey! Watch out for the vines! Hivemind, remember?” Nancy called, chasing after the girl who took off into the woods with seemingly little regard to the way she was stepping.

“We’re lost aren't we?” Steve looked over at you.

“Yeah, I think so.” You nervously chuckle.

“Great.” He sighed before reaching for your hand. “Is that me shaking or is it you?” He asked as he tightened his grip on your hand.

“I think it’s both of us.” You admit. “Are you ok? I mean none of this shit is ok, but, you know?”

“No.” He chuckled humorlessly before continuing. “I’ve been up for almost forty-eight hours and we have to kill a psychopath hellbent on destroying Hawkins. You?” He answered, squeezing your hand tighter.

“Do you want me to be honest?” You ask, too nervous to meet his eyes. Sensing your hesitancy, he began to glide his thumb gently against yours.

“Always, honey.” He softly replied.

“I know that this is the worst possible time to be doubting myself, but I’m scared to death that I can’t do this, Steve. What if I’m not strong enough. I mean I promised Max that I could save her life, but what if I can’t. What if he’s too powerful?” You finally voice the concerns that have been running circles in your head.

“You wanna know what I think?”

“Always.”

“I think he’s the scared one.”

“You don’t have to say that just because you're my boyfriend and you’re legally required to say that I’m amazing at everything I do.”

“I’m not just saying it, honey. I’m being serious. Just think about it, ok? Vecna’s been lurking in the shadows for years, because he’s scared of what you can do. I mean you’ve been destroying every monster he’s thrown at you. You were sending a message and you didn’t even know it. So don’t let this bastard get in your head. That’s what he wants. He wants you to be that scared little girl again and you’re not gonna give him that, honey. We are gonna kick the bastard's ass.” He asserted, with determination deep in his voice. He believed you could do anything, he just wished you could see it in you the way he did.

“Damn, love. When did you become such an incredible motivational speaker?” You ask, wiping your eyes with your sleeve.

“Well, it’s kind of a requirement when you’re team captain for two different sports.” He smirks proudly.

“Really? Is that why we didn’t win any championships?” You tease.

“You think you’re so funny, but you fail to realize that you were the one distracting my bench and distracting me from doing my job. My eyes were always on you Sinclair and my god, the problems you caused.” He shook head at you with a smile on his face, before pressing a soft kiss to the back of your hand.

“Hey guys!” Robin’s approaching voice called out through the trees. “Guys, I think we found the way out.”

The four of you stared up at the house that despite its run down appearance, still loomed heavily over you and struck fear in your hearts. You tried your best to stay as quiet as possible as you made your way up the porch’s noisy wooden steps.

All of you held your breath when the front door released an eerie creek when Robin slowly pushed it open. Your faces scrunch in a grimace, hoping that the noise didn’t alert Vecna.

Each of you slowly stepped over the threshold, contorting your bodies into uncomfortable positions to avoid stepping on the vines covering almost every inch of the walls and floors. It felt like you were playing the worst game of Twister with every step you took. Despite all the effort, the house began to rumble, throwing your bodies completely off balance.

Steve was quick to grab onto the back of your tactical vest to keep you upright while you kept a tight grip on Robin and she kept one on Nancy. The four of you forming a chain like a barrel of monkeys until the shaking stopped.

Once you were able to regain stable footing, you continued your careful ascent up the stairs until you finally made it to the attic.

Vecna was hovering above the ground, when you arrived. His body was supported by dozens of vines that held him up so that he could remain focused as he remote traveled. For a moment it was hard for you to believe that he was the orderly that made a shiver run down your spine every time his eyes were on you until you realized he now reflected the monster that always lived inside him.

“You got this.” Steve whispered his encouragement in your ear as quietly as he could manage before pressing a sweet kiss to your forehead.

“I got this.” You parrot, inhaling and exhaling deeply to calm your nerves.  Don’t let me die. Make him pay. Don't let me die. Make him pay. Max and Eddie’s words began to echo in your head. You couldn’t let them down. This needed to end today.

You took a confident step forward, stretching out your arms and hardened your eyes at the monster in front of you.

Blood dripped from your nose as your hands began to pull against his tough exterior. The skin of his chest began to fray and tear as you forced your powers to burrow further into him. He remained unmoved in his trance until you cut too deep, your powers breaking through the superficial barrier. His icy blue eyes snapped open and a pained groan ripped through his throat as he woke back up in reality.

“Nine!” Vecna’s voice boomed when he found your steeled face staring dagger into him. “I’ve been expecting you.” He continued, fighting through the pain you were inflicting upon him, trying to remain as the biggest threat in the room.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” You reply, stepping closer, refusing to let up on him.

“No, no. You’re just on time.” A devilish smirk crept across his face as he raised a hand to awaken his army of slithering vines. They swiftly followed his demands, wrapping themselves around you, forcing you down to your knees like you were about to have your head shoved into a guillotine.

Steve immediately sprung into action pulling the out axe strapped to his back as fast as he could to charge the man towering over you. He didn’t make it far before Vecna swiped a hand his way, throwing him into the closest vine covered wall. They immediately swarmed him at the contact, pinning him against the surface to immobilize him. On Vecna’s command, the surrounding vines gunned for Robin and Nancy, cutting any more attempts of your rescue off at the knees. Now the only thing the three could do as they struggled against the restrictive vines was watch in horror as Vecna loomed over you savoring the moment of your defeat.

“What are you waiting for you son of a bitch? This is your chance to kill me and have your revenge. This is what you wanted, right?” You seethed, looking up at him with gritted teeth.

“This is so much more than that. We need you for a bigger purpose.” 

“We? Who the fuck is ‘we’?” You ask the question that has been rattling around in your brain ever since Steve mentioned it when recounting his experience with Vecna.

“You will meet him soon and he will show you the way he showed me. We can bring order to a lawless world that favors the weak.” He mused.

“Is that why you watched me? Why you followed me around like a fucking creep. You wanted to recruit me into your psychotic, destroying the world bullshit?” 

“Do you think you living was a mistake? Did you ever stop to ask “Who left your door open?” ” He asked, kneeling down to your eye level to gently run the back of his disfigured and clawed finger down your cheek.

“I dont…i dont…” You tried to speak, but your brain felt like it was shutting down to save you from what it was piecing together.

“I did! I saw the potential. I could feel it from the moment we met that you are more important than you realize. You have a gift like me, that they sought to control, but we are different. WE can bring upon a new world that doesn’t seek to control us, but allows us the predators that we were born to be. Everyone in that lab held us back and they tried to keep us weak. They tried to keep you weak. That’s why I killed Five first. He was a distraction that tried to infect you with it. The worst part is that he didn’t see how weak he truly was even when he tried to save the others,”

“He wasn’t weak. He wasn’t a coward who hides in the fucking shadows and murders children and teenagers because his demonic overlord told him to. He was stronger than me and he was sure as hell stronger than you.” You spit as hot tears stung your eyes. Five was many things, but weak wasn’t one of them. He was brave and kind in an environment that punished those traits and you would not let this piece of shit tarnish the legacy of the boy who never got a true chance to live. 

“No. He was a scared little ant that I took pleasure in crushing under my boot! And in due time you will see that the power you hold runs deeper than you could ever imagine.You will understand your true purpose and you will understand what he seeks to achieve, but for now, you will be shown but a taste, because Hawkins is about to fall and the world soon after but that will be of your own doing. You will bring its destruction and its rebirth. Here, today is only the beginning of the end.” He seethed at your refusal to hear the truth.

“I’m not helping you create anything you fucking monster!” You bite, your resolve hardening as anger, sadness, and resentment coursed through your body, fueling your powers as you rip yourself free from the vines restraining you. You were quick to throw one hand out at Vecna, sending him careening into one of the structural wooden beams that made a harsh crack under the impact of his weight. You rushed over to Steve, Nancy, and Robin, using your powers to easily rip them free from the vines encasing them. As soon as she was free, Robin scrambled to pull a molotov from her bag, ready to move into the last phase of the plan.

“Phase Four?” She asked.

“Phase Four.” Nancy agreed, cocking the sawed off shotgun she armed herself with.

“Let’s light this bastard up.” Steve nodded, whipping out his zippo to light the liquor soaked fabric dangling from the bottle in Robin’s hand.

The annoyed groan Vecna released as he stood to his feet turned to one of distress when the flaming bottle Robin threw with full force struck him in his chest. The impact sent him staggering back. Before he could gain his bearings, you threw your hand back out, slowly turning your tensed hand palm up, turning the bones in his arm with it. His eyes bulged as he yelled in pure agony when sickening snaps of his bones sounded. The pressure you applied didn’t let up even when his body began to ragdoll as Nancy began to fire shot after shot into his body. The impact of each bullet as well as the molotovs Robin and Steve took turns throwing, sent him staggering back. With every one of his back steps, the four of you advanced forward until he was back against a window. The next round Nancy fired at him, sent him stumbling back through the window.

With no regard for the hivemind under your feet, you all ran down the steps as fast as you could manage, flinging the rickey front door open.

 The adrenaline high you were all riding on began to crash when you made it to the spot Vecna landed at, only to find a scorched patch of grass.

“This is not good. This is so, not good.” Robin began to panic as you snapped your heads around, looking for any sign of the direction Vecna could’ve possibly ran in.

“Spread out. We fucked him up pretty bad, he can’t be far.” You instruct the group, each of you fanning out across the lawn.

Before any of you could get too far, the loud unmistakable chime of a grandfather sounded from the house.

“No…no…no…” You repeated, immediately darting back to the house and up the porch steps, the others close behind you. 

The four of you gathered around the chiming clock, watching it in absolute horror.

“Fuck.” Steve’s voice wobbled as tears began to well in his eyes. You all knew what it meant, but none of you wanted to be the one to say and make it real.

The crushing guilt immediately weighed heavy on your shoulders. You just became the next in a long line of those who broke their promise to Max Mayfield.

“Stay with me, Max. Stay with me!” You heard the voice of your brother faintly yelling. You weren’t sure if you were imagining it. Like your brain was trying to give you a sense of hope that would alleviate your guilt…then you heard it again.

“Erica, help!” 

“Do you hear that?” You ask the fear stricken group.

“The chiming? Yeah, I hear it loud and clear.” Steve snapped, not necessarily at you, but at the fact that he too failed the girl he promised to protect.

“We need a doctor!”

“No, that!” You point out. “It’s Lucas.”

“Stay with me! Stay with me!”

“Oh, shit I hear it.” Steve replied when he strained his ears to find your brother’s voice amongst the loud chiming.

“Lucas!” You begin to shout, hoping that it would penetrate the other side. You rush towards the stairs, preparing to run up them until the ground began to violently shake. 

You formed your stabilizing chain again, trying to keep yourselves on even footing. You thought that it would only last a few seconds, but when it began to stretch into what felt like hours, you had enough. Lucas’ cries and pleas for help was all you could hear. You needed to get to him and you refused to let the shaking house stop you.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Steve shouted when you ripped yourself away from his grasp, but the tunnel vision that consumed you didn’t allow you to hear a word you said as you raced up the stairs to the attic. 

“Ok, I can do this. I can do this.” You encouraged yourself, ripping your bandana from your eyes before sitting down on the floor, trying your best to ignore the violent shaking and crack beginning to split through the attic.

“Baby, what are you doing?!” Steve asked, dropping to his knees in front of you. He brought his shaky hands to your face, forcing you to look at him.

“Saving Max.” You explain with a wobbling chin.

“Then let’s go. You can’t help from here.” Steve tried to reason.

“We’ll never make it back in time.” You shake your head. “If…if I can remote travel maybe…maybe I can do something.”

“How? You said you couldn’t do it. Plus there’s no radio or a bath to put you in.”

“I don’t know! I don’t know, but if I can somehow save Max, then I have to try!” You shout through tears. “You told me to believe in myself. You say that I’m this strong person who can do anything, and so that’s what I’m doing. I’m believing in myself right now because I don’t have any other choice!”

“Y/n…”

“I don’t have any more time to argue with you, Steve. I don’t know how long this is going to take, so just please get out with Nancy and Robin. I love you and I will find you guys after.

“I’m not leaving you, love.” He refused, shaking his head at the very notion.

“Then promise me that you will save yourself if this place starts to go under and I need you to know…I need you to know that no matter what happens I love you, ok?” You declare, resting your forehead against his. “Promise me!” You demand when he doesn’t speak. 

“I can’t, honey.” You feel his head shake against your forehead.

“Please.” You beg softly, your weak voice finally breaking him.

“I…I promise.” He finally relents as tears spill down his cheeks. “Just please don’t make me.” He begged, pulling away to look in your eyes.

“I’ll make it as fast as I can.” You reply, placing a shaking hand over one of his that was cupping your cheek. The gesture being a silent affirmation that you would do everything in your power to not make this a ‘good-bye.’

“I love you more than anything, honey.” He proclaimed before placing a kiss against your lips that praying wouldn’t be the last one you ever shared.

Once you separated, you began to tie your bandan around your eyes. You inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to clear your mind and tune out the distractions around you.

“Steve?” You call out.

“What do you need, honey?” He asked, with a shaking yet soft voice.

“Just…just hold my hand.” You request. Steve was quick to interlock his fingers with yours squeezing it tight, giving you the extra comfort you needed. You knew you needed to be as calm as the eye of the storm in order for this to work.

Your body began to tingle as a feeling of weightlessness took over your senses. Steve tried his best to keep quiet when for you, but it became hard when blood began to  flow from your nose like a faucet. He fought against every instinct in his body to pull you out, but he knew that by the way your eyes rapidly flicked back and forth behind your eyelids that whatever you were doing was working. You were close and he wasn’t sure if you’d forgive him if he severed the connection you were on the brink of forming.

Your clothes were soaked when you opened your eyes. You sat up slowly, realizing that darkness was all you could see. The shallow water under your feet sloshed as you stood up.

You made it! You fucking made it! Your celebration was short lived, knowing that your trip was for one specific purpose. You needed to find Max.

You began to call out the girl’s name, walking aimlessly through the darkness you weren’t quiet sure how to navigate.

“Max?!” You called out again.

Your ears perked up when you heard ragged breathing at the wet sniffling that came with tears. A hopeful smile broke across your face at the sign of life.

“Max?” You made your voice softer as you saw a hunched figure crying in the distance.

“Y-y/n?” You heard the voice you least expected.

“El?” You ask, picking up speed, jogging to the girl. 

You sucked in a sharp breath as if you were punched in the gut when you approached, laying eyes on the sight that made the tears stream down her face. Lucas was weeping, squeezing the red head as tight as he could, as he pleaded for her to hang on. 

“Help is on the way, just hold on.” He repeated, now running his hands up and down his upper arms as if he were trying to warm her up.

Your stomach twisted in knots as your eyes traced over Max. Her once blue eyes were now milky as blood poured from them and her limbs were twisted unnaturally. The images of the lab that would forever haunt your brain began to flash in front of your eyes.

“Is…is she..?” You stutter out through broken sobs as you kneel beside her. You of course knew the answer, but you just really, really wanted to believe that she wasn’t gone. El could only muster a nod, harboring that same fear as you, that saying the words would make it real.

“She can’t. No, no, no she can’t.” You shook your head as uncontrollable tears streamed down your cheeks. 

“But I think…I think we can bring her back.” El spoke with tearful determination.

“W-what?” You ask, trying to and failing to stop your cries.

“Just follow my lead.” She instructed before taking a deep breath. You were quick to nod in agreement, ready to do anything you could.

You mimicked El as she reached out a hand, placing your shaking one next to hers on Max’s chest.

You followed every peak and valley of her breathing, your movements matching the others until it became hard to decipher where each of your powers began and ended.

Your eyes darted behind your lids as if you were connecting dying neurons, keeping them alive until something stronger could keep them together. That was all she needed, a spark to keep the fire lit.

You never released such a deep sigh when you felt Max’s chest rise to meet your hands. It was no extreme gasp of breath or a strong shot awake. It was a small sign of life that kept your hopes alive. You were ready to press further with El to give her the rest all you could, until you were yanked back into reality, your image in Max’s mind disappearing into a fog, leaving El to fair, bringing back Max on her own.

“What the hell?!” You began to berate him, but before you could finish airing out your grievances he was demanding you to run despite the fact that he was already dragging you along, giving you hardly any time to find your footing. “You told me to save myself, but you never told me not to save you!” He explained his behavior as you ran through the crumbling house.

“Oh, shit!” You exclaim when a fiery orange rift splits through the staircase, missing both of you by less than an inch. You grab Steve's vest, pulling back right before the foyers shaking chandelier would’ve come crashing down on him.

“Thank you, honey.” He was quick to show his appreciation for your actions before resuming the sprint to freedom.

“Come on! Come on! Come on!” Nancy and Robin shouted at the two of you when you crossed the threshold to the outside. When you made it to the porch’s third to last step, you decided to jump the rest of the way. A choice that saved your lives as the house finally sunk into itself, dragging the porch down with it.

“Jesus Christ! You idiots scared the shit out of me!” Robin berated you and Steve before flinging her arms around the two of you. “What the hell was that?!”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but it was for a good cause.” You explain, squeezing her back.

“What ‘good cause’ makes you do that?!” 

“Max. I think El and I just saved Max.” You  sluggishly reply, the exhaustion in your body beginning to catch up. Steve noticed it immediately. You tried to keep a straight face, but he could read it in your body language. You pushed yourself harder than you expected and now it was catching up with you.

“I got you, honey. I got you.” He was quick to assure you, wrapping one arm around your waist, while you slung an arm over his shoulder.

“El? How?” Robin was quick to question.

“Look, I’m as curious as the next guy, but we need to get the hell out of here before we get stuck in here.” Steve urged the group, when the ground somehow shook harder as the ground violently cracked in front of you, the fiery orange bursting through the seams.

“Agreed.” Nancy nodded at him. “We need to go, now!”

You knew something was incredibly wrong when you spotted Dustin hunched over something in the distance. He had no business still being down here. He was supposed to be a decoy and that’s all.

“Dustin!” Steve called out, causing the boy’s head to snap up. Your paces picked up, breaking into a full sprint to get to the crying boy. Your hearts sank and your throat went dry when you realized that ‘something’ was Eddie.

“What the hell happened, man?” Steve asked the boy, as the four of you kneeled down beside them, your eyes becoming glassy.

Dustin wanted to answer and tell you all about the heroic sacrifice Eddie made, but the words wouldn’t come. All he could do was weep over his friend.

“I’m so sorry…” You begin to weakly apologize to Eddie, staring into his dead eyes that used to be brimming with life. “I’m so, so sorry.” You continue, bring up a shaking hand to close his eyes and put him to rest.

“We can’t…we can’t leave him here.” Dustin finally managed to get out through his sobs. 

“I’m sorry man, but there’s no way to get him through the gate and we need to go before that rift catches up with us.” Steve hesitantly broke the horrific news.

“No! I’m not leaving him!” 

“We don’t have a choice, man!” 

“Then leave me here!”

“No. No way. I hate to leave him here too, but we need to go before we get trapped in here too.” Steve spoke sternly, yanking the boy to his feet. 

“No!No!No!” Dustin screamed in protest, trying to break free from the tight hold Steve was keeping on him.The tears brimming in Steve’s eyes finally fell as the boy continued to fight against with all the strength he could manage. 

He hated to do this to him, but there were no other options. Even if you tried there wouldn’t be enough time to get Eddie through, especially without desecrating his body.

“I’m sorry.” Steve began to repeat to the desperate boy until Dustin finally collapsed into him, weeping into Steve’s shoulder and clinging onto him for dear life. 

All of you knew that the upside down being Eddie’s final resting place was wrong. He deserved so much more. More love, more understanding, and more respect. He sacrificed himself for a town that would never see him fit to receive those things, but every member of the party knew without a shadow of a doubt that Eddie Munson was a fucking hero.

~Two days later~

Hawkins as you knew it was over. Entire blocks of homes fell through the cracks caused by the “earthquake” and dozens of lives were lost. Your small town had been rocked by a tragedy that its residents would never truly understand.

The military came in droves in order to provide relief. They were welcomed with open and thankful arms. Mothers and grandmothers even baked them cakes and pies as signs of appreciation if they were able to do so. 

The community rallied together to set up a temporary shelter in the shared school gym.

You, Robin, Steve, and Dustin were quick to decide you wanted to volunteer, hoping that after your failed attempt to save the town, you could still help in any possible way.

Now you and Robin sat in Betsy’s trunk, chatting with Dustin as Steve helped Nancy load the last box of her donation boxes into the backseat.

“Did someone order pizza?” You heard Karen ask, as repeated honking caught your attention. Both you and Robin climbed out of the trunk to get a better look at the approaching dusty yellow van. You squinted your eyes out to read the red lettering plastered on the side of the vehicle. “Surfer Boy Pizza?” You read aloud, making all of your eyebrows knit in confusion.

“What the hell?” You continue as the van pulls up to park at the end of the Wheeler’s driveway.

Your confusion only grew when a boy with long flowing hair, dressed in loud pants climbed out the vehicle. Who the fuck is that? You thought until the van’s side door slid open, revealing Mike Wheeler followed by Will, El, and Jonathon.

The confusion on all of your faces immediately dropped, replaced by relieved and excited smiles. 

Without another thought, you sprinted towards the group, El meeting you in the middle, throwing your arms around each other.

“You’re here! You’re fucking here!” You cheer, squeezing her tight.

“I’m here.” She parroted, burying her face further into your shoulder, missing the feeling. She missed you and the feeling of being completely understood. 

“Is Max…is Max alive?” She asked, the thought weighing heavy on her mind for the past forty-eight hours.

“Yeah, she’s in a coma. They don’t know how long until she wakes up, but she’s alive.” You assure the girl. The doctors called Max’s survival “Nothing short of a miracle” not knowing that half of the miracle was standing in front of them and the other was floating in a pizza dough freezer all the way in California. The information made the pent up tension in El’s shoulder release as she blew out a big sigh of relief.

“Is this the one?” You heard an unfamiliar voice ask.

“Excuse me?” You asked, pulling away to look at the source. It belonged to the long haired boy that climbed out of the van before your friends.

“The other freaky mind chick Jonathon told me about?” He tried to clarify. “I’m Argyle by the way.” The boy introduced, holding out a fist for you to bump instead of a simple hand to shake.

“Cool…” You began, still slowly coming to the realization that you kind of liked the description of yourself that he gave. “I’m y/n and yeah, I’m the… freaky mind chick.” You continue, accepting the fist bump.

“That’s totally rad, dude.” He nodded with a dopey smile. “You know, I thought I had super powers once, but I was just really stoned.”

“Wow, that’s crazy.” You reply with an amused smile.

“I know, right? That’s why I only partake in Purple Palm Tree Delight now. It’s keeps me mellowed out, man. And I know we just met, but I think you could use some. You seem, like, super stressed out, dude. I have some in my van and I don’t mind sharing.” Argyle offered with a wide smile and wiggling eyebrows. Despite barely knowing the boy, he was quick to grow on you and you would’ve felt a little bad turning down his generous offer, so you accepted the sweet gesture for what it was.

“Sure, what the hell.”

The gym parking lot was packed when you arrived. A mix of volunteers, donators, and those who needed help walked into the temporary shelter alongside the four of you.

Your heart ached and guilt coursed through as you passed cot after cot occupied by friends and neighbors who lost their homes to the “earthquake.” The ache burrowed itself deeper when your eyes flicked over to the massive ‘Missing Persons’ board that was almost at capacity. You could feel the same guilt radiating off the others as they too looked around at the consequences of your perceived collective failure.

The harsh feelings didn’t begin to subside until you arrived at the donation table and were quickly greeted by the girl who had been assigned the position.

“Hi.” She gave you a soft wave.

“Hi.” You greet back as you each place your boxes down on the table. “We have some stuff that we hope can help. We have some blankets and sheets and some clothes and kid’s toys.” You state, pointing to each corresponding box as you described its contents.

“Wow. It’s already so organized. We appreciate that.” The girl mused as her eyes skimmed over the neatly folded clothes and blankets. Even the box of toys each of you contributed to had been filled as neatly as possible. You knew it wasn’t a requirement, but you also knew that they didn’t need the extra work.

“Do you want a tax receipt for it?” She asked, picking up her clipboard, prepared to jot down your information.

“No, we don’t need one. Thank you, though. But we were wondering if there was anything we could help you with. We know this place is crawling with volunteers, but we figured maybe a few more hands couldn’t hurt.” You inquired.

“I’m sure we can find something. We’ll take as much as we can get. Follow me.” She instructed, letting her lead you to your assignments.

You and Steve were put on clothes sorting duty. Both of you listened intently as the task supervisor explained all that entailed your roles.

“We’ve got infants, girls, boys, men, and women. We just need you guys to sort and fold, but keep any eye out for anything that is in too bad of shape. We don’t really want that. Pretty simple, right?”

“Yes ma’am.” Steve nodded.

“Thank you kids so much for volunteering.” She replied, giving you an earnest smile in appreciation.

“Of course.” You give her a slight nod before she scurried off to finish her original task.

“Stop staring, creep.” You bump your hip against Steve’s when you feel his eyes on you.

“I’m not staring.” He replied with a betraying smile dancing across his lips

“Yes, you are.” You grin.

“Fine, maybe I’m staring a little. It’s just that this feels kind of domestic, right?”

“How is sorting laundry in a shelter for a town that we kind of helped destroy, domestic?” You ask through a slight chuckle.

“Well when you put it like that it sucks the joy out of it. I just meant that I picture us doing this together not too far in the future. In our house. On our bed. And we’ll take turns doing that thing we like where one of us dumps all the warm clothes on the other when they’re fresh out the dryer…I can tell by the way you're grinning like an idiot that you’re thinking about it too.” He bumped his shoulder against yours.

“Yeah, I am and it’s annoying me that you somehow manage to make something as lame as folding laundry sound so amazing.” You reply, shaking your head with an uncontrollable grin as you pick up a bright yellow sweater from the basket. “Now, stop distracting me. I take my job as sorter/folder very seriously.” 

“Well if I did that then I wouldn't be able to point out the love birds over there.” He replied, nodding his head towards the ‘food pickup’ table Robin had been stationed at.

“Lovebirds?” You ask following his line of sight. Your eyes grow wide when they land on her and Vickie having a conversation that easily flowed, accented by lingering stares between bouts of prolonged eye contact.

“No fucking way.” You finally get out, both of you watching her with proud eyes.

“Way. Like we said, who pauses Fast Times at fifty-three minutes and fifteen seconds?”

“People who like boobies.” You reply, mocking his voice.

“Exactly.” He chuckled along with you.

A comfortable silence settled between you and Steve as you focused back in on your assigned tasks. You were nearing the end of your basket, a mix of concerned voices caught your attention.

“Is that ash?” A woman asked as she walked to the windows

“It has to be.” Her husband reasoned, following his wife’s lead to the window.

“Mommy, it’s snowing.” A young girl squealed with a giddy smile as she looked up at her mother who kept their hand tightly clasped together as she too rushed to the window. 

Despite being in your separate stations across the gym, the four of you still managed to find each other's knowing eyes. Without a word, each of you rushed to join the group of curious people trying to force their way outside to get a better look at the strange phenomenon. 

All of your faces were cast up to the sky as a gray cloud darker than the rest began to roll in, causing the murmuring of the crowd grew louder as each person speculated about what it meant. Most of them chalked  it up to the falling ash from the four raging fires the military finally managed to extinguish only a few hours ago. It was the most comforting option to believe in. Fires cause ash. It was a fact of nature that meant nothing special, because that’s what they hoped for. They hoped it was nothing because they weren’t sure if they could handle any more.

The four of you wanted to believe it as well, but the pits in your stomach that formed wouldn’t allow you to do so. You were burdened with the knowledge that it was a million times worse than any of the people standing beside you could ever imagine.

Vecna’s words were ringing true. This was only the beginning.

Taglist:

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Tears slowly rolled down Steve’s cheeks as he tried to describe the hell that he was dropped into. He fought through his dry throat and wobbling bottom lip to tell you about Vecna as a boy. How cruel he was as a kid. A disturbed boy that murdered his family like they were nothing to him. He viewed them as obstacles to his master plan. As impurities that needed to be cleansed from the Earth like everything else. 

When he got to the lab, his knee began to bounce. That was when he stopped looking at you. Now that he knew the monster that haunted the halls you were trapped in, he wasn’t sure he could face you. The guilt you helped him fight so hard against was creeping up on him, like a chill running down his spine.

“He showed me the lab…” He began. The group’s eyes went wide as they snapped to you. You began to anxiously fidget with your fingers, no longer feeling like part of the audience. You now felt like the show. When you looked around the room, you saw the pity and the sympathy being aimed at you. You knew they meant well, but you hated it. You just wanted to be normal. It’s all you ever wanted, but when they look at you like that, you feel anything but.

 “He showed me him getting tattooed by this old doctor guy. He gave him…he gave him a 001 tattoo. Just like…just like y/n and El’s.” Steve stammered out. The air was instantly sucked out of the room and it felt like a spotlight was being shone on you. You felt like you couldn’t breathe under all the attention. You shot up from your place on the couch and began to pace as your heart thundered in your chest and your mind raced like a car in the Grand Prix. He can’t be One!He can’t be! You tried to hammer into your brain, but you knew it was no use. You always tried to push the thought away, but you knew from the moment you met him that he wasn’t who he said he was. He wasn’t just some creepy orderly. He was far more sinister. The way he watched you. The way he studied you as if he knew something about you that you didn’t even know about yourself.

“W-what does he look like, Steve?” You ask as the tears stinging your eyes finally fall.

“I don’t know how to explain it. He was this fleshy dark monster thing. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Steve described, finally meeting your eyes.His heart ached watching the way your face contorted and your body began to tremble at his description.

“No, no, no. Not Vecna. Henry.” You clarify as you finally stop pacing. After reading your body language, Steve hesitated to answer. He could see that you were on the edge and that the tiniest gust of wind would push you over. He wasn’t sure if he could stomach being that gust. “Please, love. I need to know.” You pleaded when you sensed his hesitancy. You knew he was trying to protect you, but you needed confirmation of the storm that could be coming. 

“He was blonde…had blue eyes. Nothing…nothing special I guess.” Steve stammered out. He immediately regretted it when let out a ‘Fuck’ and began to pace again.

“What does…what does that mean?” Eddie hesitantly chimed in to ask, feeling completely lost in the sea of information.

“It means I know exactly who Vecna is.” You replied, wiping your tears forcefully with the heel of your palm. “And it means this is all my fault.” You shook your head at yourself in guilt.

“Honey, how is any of this your fault?” Steve shook his head at the notion. 

“Because…because I ran.” You answer, your eyes meeting Eddie’s wide eyed stare. “I…I have to tell you guys about the night I escaped the lab.”

You sat beside Steve on the couch, your hand squeezing his. You savored the feeling, knowing that this could be that last time you would experience it. How could any of the eyes on you look at you or love you the same after you tell them what you did, or rather what you didn’t do.

“It was the first time I had one of my nightmares. I woke up to the lab’s emergency lights flashing and my door was cracked open. I was scared out of my mind but I kept walking anyway. That’s when I saw…that’s when I saw the bodies in the hallway. The dead doctors and the scientists and the guards. The walls and the floor were covered in their blood. It was like I was walking through a horror movie. I wanted to turn back, but I couldn't. It was like my feet were forcing me to keep going… I walked to the rainbow room and…” You squeezed Steve’s hand so tight you thought you were going to break it as you fought to breathe. He brought his hand to your back, rubbing it in comforting circles. It was a gesture you weren’t even sure you deser.v.ed. “When I walked inside they were…they were all dead. He killed all the kids. Their bodies were…they were all contorted and it looked like they were crying blood. They were my friends and they were all gone because of that monster. He was covered in their blood, smiling like the fucking cheshire cat. When he saw me I thought I was next, but instead he just asked “What are you doing out of your room, Nne?” Before I could think I ran. I slipped on Five’s…I slipped on Five’s blood. Besides El, he was…he was my closest friend there and I had to step over him just to get away. When I made it to my room, I cried my eyes out. That’s when I actually woke up. I didn’t understand what happened. I just knew that it was gonna happen, like it was inevitable if I didn’t stop him. So I planned. I planned to kill him before he could kill us. He was an orderly so I faked a headache to get him alone. That’s when I attacked him. I was choking him. I could feel him dying. I was so close, then I got tackled to the ground. I don’t know how the guards and the doctors found us but they did. I kicked and I screamed and I told them what he was gonna do, I begged for them to listen, but they just wouldn’t. I almost broke free again and finished what I started, then I got the needle and the last thing I remember before passing out was the way he stared down at me, like…like he won…” You shook your head as if you could shake away the face that’s haunted your nightmares for years. You inhaled sharply, trying to sniff back your tears before you continued. “When I woke up from my sedation, my door was cracked and the emergency lights were flashing. I didn’t want to believe it, but it was happening and I couldn’t stop it. When I stepped into the everything was exactly the fucking same and I knew…I knew I couldn’t face him again. I couldn’t see them like that again. I couldn’t stomach it, so I ran. I stole a keycard from one of the dead guards and once I made it out the door, I just kept running until I got to Steve’s house. I left them all there because I couldn’t bear seeing it again knowing that I wasn’t going to wake up and things would be ok… I thought he killed El too. If I stayed I could’ve saved her. She wouldn’t have been stuck in there for so long. I could’ve…I could’ve done something but I just ran. That means all this death and destruction is because of me. All of this shit is my fucking fault. The kids in the lab, Will, Barb, Bob, Billy, Jack, everyone killed by the fucking mindflayer. Chrissy, Fred, Patrick… Hopper and Max. All of this shit is my fucking fault, because I ran.” You began to weep uncontrollably. The trailer began to shake as you curled into yourself, your head resting against your thighs, your tears soaking through your pants. Your breath hitched and your heart almost stopped when Steve let go of your hand.You were expecting it, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. You expected everyone to step away and stare at you with a hatred that burned so bright that could rival the sun. You expected for Lucas and Erica to see you as a monster that stole their sister’s form. You never felt so unlovable.

What you hadn’t expected was Steve pressing you into him. One hand firmly placed at the back of your neck, the other against your back, letting you sob into his denim clad shoulder. You didn’t expect Lucas and Erica to pull you from him so that they could squeeze you tight enough to prove that you were way stronger than the person they thought you were. You didn’t expect Max, Robin, Dustin, Eddie, and Nancy to wrap their arms around the others so that they'd be hugging you by proxy. You didn’t expect for them to show that no matter how much they never needed to see you as a perfect superhero or a mage to be worthy of their love and understanding. They just needed you to be their friend, their heart, their sister. They just needed you.

“What happened isn’t your fault, love. You tried to warn them. You did your best to save them, but they didn’t want to listen. You were thirteen and you did everything you could. We don’t blame you for running. How were you supposed to know that he would become this?” Steve spoke as the trailer stopped rattling. He cupped your cheeks so that you would look at him so that he could wipe the tears that fell from your pretty eyes. He wanted to make sure that you could see the love and determination in his as he looked at the strongest person he’d ever met.

 “And if you never ran he would’ve killed you too. We would’ve never had you back. Mom and dad were a wreck and it was hell for me and Erica. Everything felt so wrong without you. Home felt so empty.” Lucas reassured you, squeezing you tighter.

“And I think that you’re so focused on who you didn’t save to realize how many people you did. You saved this piece of shit town more than they’ll ever know. You saved us.” Dustin chimed in, his head popping over Lucas’ shoulder so that he could see you.

“You saved me, love.” Steve asserted, pressing a long kiss to your forehead. “ We are going to save this town one last time and we’re gonna get the hell out of here, but we won’t be running. We’re gonna be living. We’re gonna do amazing things and make amazing memories and do all the stupid shit we used to do just better, yeah?” Steve promised, pressing his forehead against yours.

“Yeah.” You reply with a breaking voice, finally letting yourself crack a slight smile.

“There she is.” Steve began to chuckle at the sight.

“Thank you guys for not hating me. It means a lot.” You sniffle looking at the group surrounding you. Your own little family. “Now, what else did Vecna tell you so that we can kick this piece of shit’s ass.”

Steve continued to relay what Vecna showed him. All the horrors he was planning to bring to Hawkins.

Now that you all knew Vecna was like you and El, it gave you more of an upper hand than you realized. There was no need to fight fair with this asshole, so knowing you and El’s weaknesses went a long way. 

“When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. When Vecna attacks, he’s up in the attic. His physical body is defenseless.That’s when we attack him and give him everything we’ve got.” Dustin presents.

“Defenseless? What about the demonic bats?” Steve asked, showing off the deep red ring around his neck. “I know that y/n can handle it, but if we want this bastard gone forever then she needs all the energy she can.”

“Then we’ll have to find a way past them. We have to distract them somehow.”

“And, uh, how do we do that exactly?” Eddie asked the room of upside down veterans.

“No idea.” Dustin replies, instantly deflating the man. “But I know that once we do, he doesn't stand a chance. It’s like slaying a sleeping Dracula in his coffin.”

“That all sounds good in theory, but there’s no pattern to Vecna’s killings. At least not one that I could decipher. We don’t know when he’s going to attack next.”

“No, but he seems to be a numbers guy. He leads and he plans with numbers, right? The four chimes. Four gates, four kills. I mean he was shoving it in our faces the whole time…” Dustin paced as he wracked his brain for more clues. “The clocks! I can’t believe we didn’t notice it before. It was staring us right in our goddamn faces.”

“What are you talking about, Henderson?” Steve asked.

“You, y/n, and Max have seen the same clock with the same time and what time was it?”

“9:11.” Steve answered, the image still fresh in his mind.

“Exactly…” Dustin reached for your arm, pushing your sleeve back. “Nine…” He pointed at your wrist. “Eleven.” He continued, pointing into the abstract to represent El. “He’s been telling us the whole time. It all leads back to them. Steve said that Vecna told him you and El need to try harder to kill him, so what if this is him gloating? Rubbing it in our faces. It was right in front of us, we just weren’t looking.” Dustin hypothesized.

“But the kills weren’t at 9:11.” Nancy argued.

“Yeah, but what if this one is? Clearly this is personal so what if this one is intentional. The fourth kill that opens the fourth gate. The one that destroys Hawkins.” Dustin replied.

“Ok, so we have the time, now we need to know who.” Robin nodded along.

“We do know.” Max chimed in, earning everyone’s attention. “I can still feel him, like I’m still marked. Like I’m still cursed.” She explains. “Maybe if I ditch Kate Bush and I draw his attention back to me, then we can distract him enough for you guys to finish him off.”

“Max. He’ll kill you.”  Lucas piped up, shaking his head at her idea. He knew she was brave and strong, but right now he’s sure if this is her bravery or the voice that’s been pulling her away from the party, rearing its evil head telling her to do something she can’t take back.

“I’ve sur.v.ived before.” Max was quick to respond. “I can sur.v.ive again.” She asserted. “I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into the attic so that y/n can rip him in half or crush him or explode his brain or whatever you want just…just please don’t let me die.” She looked at you and Steve with pleading eyes.

“We got you, kid.” Steve nodded, sniffing back the fresh set of tears threatening to fall. “We wouldn’t dream of it.

All of you gathered around Max’s small kitchen table. You watched as he presented his best option for obtaining every possible upside down monster killing machines you could think of.

“Check this out. The War Zone.” He pointed out the advertisement for the store in the Yellow Pages. 

“Black powder, ammunitions, firearms accessories, government surplus.” You read out the ad’s main selling points. “Jesus.”

“I know. I went there once and it's huge. They’ve got everything you need for uh, well, killing things, basically.” Eddie replied.

“You think fake Rambo has enough guns there? Is that a grenade? I mean how is any of this legal?” She asked, looking at the gun wielding man front and center in the advertisement.

“Wasn’t a grenade your idea?” You ask.

“Yeah, but that’s when I thought it was from the cops, not from the equivalent of a fast food chain where you can buy a burger and fries. I mean it seems like this place is packed with enough shit to siege an entire city.”

“Well, lucky for us it is and this place is just far enough of out Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of any main roads, we oughta be able to avoid the cops and angry hicks.” Eddie suggested.

“Uh, if we’re trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to a store called The War Zone.” Erica voiced her concern.

“Normally I would agree little sis, but these are extenuating circumstances. We need to come at this asshole with everything we’ve got, so I think it’s a risk worth taking.” You reason.

“Yeah, me too.” Lucas nodded along.

“Sure, but is it worth the time? It would take all day to bike there.” Dustin explained.

“Who said anything about bikes?” Eddie asked, furrowing his brow.

“You got a secret car we don’t know about?” Steve chimed in from beside you.

“It’s not exactly a car, Steve.” Eddie slightly grimaced. “And it’s not exactly mine, but, uh…it’ll do.” He grinned mischievously at your boyfriend. “Hey, Red, you got a bandana or a ski mask, something like that?” Eddie asked, turning his attention to Max. The girl pursed her lips together as she looked up in thought until her eyes went wide when she remembered the relic in the back of her closet.

You weren’t sure if a Michael Myers mask was any less attention grabbing than Eddie just walking out as himself. You did have to admit it gave you a much needed laugh when you saw the way he just threw it on. The costume hair was wild and the flap meant to tuck into your shirt was out in the open with his own long hair peaking out from under the rubber.

Eddie led the charge, the boy peaking his head from the back of Max’s trailer as he swept his eyes across the park.

When the coast seemed clear, he motioned you forward, all of you cautiously jogging behind him until you arrived at your ride, which unfortunately turned out to be an older couple’s r.v.. Normally you would’ve felt bad, but you had lives to save here.

Eddie was the first one to boost himself through the window he slid open. You didn’t even need to be inside to know that he landed less than gracefully. 

You quickly followed after Steve, his quick reflexes pulling you out of the way of Robin’s flying feet.

The four of you rushed to the front of the r.v. while the others pulled themselves through.

“Where’d you learn to do this?” Steve asked, peeking over Eddie’s shoulder as he snipped through wires he ripped from the ignition.

“Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire.” He explained as he twisted the wiring. “Now, I promised I would never end up like him, but you're gonna have to forgive me for this one, mom.” He finished as he continued his work.

“Uh, Eddie, I’m not sure that I love the idea of you driving.” Robin voiced her concern from behind Steve.

“Oh, I’m just starting this sucker.” He was quick to assure her. “Harrington’s got her. Don’t ya, Big Boy?” Eddie grinned mischievously up at him. 

“Ah man, I can’t believe I never thought of that.” You lamented.

“I mean… you could still call me that.” Steve replied, glancing back at you.

“No, I can’t. It's tainted. It’s weird now.” You grimace, plopping down in the passenger seat.

“And thank god for that.” Robin replied in disgust.

“You guys ready?” Eddie asked, despite leaving no room for response as he connected two red wires together, the contact making sparks as the engine roared to life. 

The back fire from the tail pipe immediately alerted the couple to your thieving.

“Hey! Open this door!” The woman yelled, banging on the door from the other side.

“Hey!” The older man’s gruff voice joined in as he harshly slapped the window. 

“They locked the door!” The woman screamed back to her husband.

“Shit! Go!” Steve urged Eddie and Robin to the back as he jumped into the driver’s seat. “Everybody hang onto something!” Steve instructed the group. “It’s just a car. It’s just a car.” He mumbled to himself as he shifted it into drive.

“Drive, Steve! Drive!” Dustin’s screeching broke through the chaotic panic as you all scrambled to a secure place.

“They look pissed!” Max said as she watched the couple trying to jog after you, but it was no use. Steve was foot wad pressed all the way down on the gas, trying to get out of the trailer park as fast as he could.

“Well, it’s not everyday you lose your house and your car in one fell swoop.” Robin replied as she clung to the small couch she threw herself onto.

“Hold on! Hold on! Hold on!” Steve screamed his instructions as he hit a sharp turn to make it onto the road.

“That was kinda hot.” You look over at Steve , whose face broke out into an uncontrollable smile.

“Kinda?”

“Fine, it was really hot.”

“How’s it handle?” You ask, now that he seemed more settled in and in control of the vehicle.

“Well, considering the fact that this is a stolen house…” He shrugged.

“Better than Betsy? And be careful what you say because I will tell her.”

“Hell no. She’s definitely not better than Betsy…” He shook his head at the ridiculous statement. “But she’s not too bad.” He continued, looking around the small space. “You know how I’ve kind of always had a dream of a big family?”

“Yeah, but how big are we talking, ‘cause the only baby name I have on the board right now is Ruby.”

“Well, what if Ruby had maybe… five more siblings.” He mumbled the last part.

“Six kids?! You want us to have six kids?”

“Yeah, six little nuggets. And to be fair, we’ve had plenty of practice.” He smiled, pointing his thumb to the back.

“Listen, I love you so much that it would be easier to make a list of things I wouldn’t do for you and I’m sorry but having six kids is on that list.”

“What? Three boys and three girls. It could be great. And as far as the name thing goes we technically have three.”

“Three?” You raised your eyebrows at him.

“Yeah. Ruby, Steve Junior, and Y/n Junior. We just have to vamp the rest of them.”

“I don’t want to ‘vamp’ our kids’ names, Steve.”

“Well then what do you suggest?”

“I suggest that we only have two kids and we give them really good, well thought out names.”

“Only two? How about four?”

“Are you giving birth to two of them?”

“Three?”

“Deal.” You finally compromise. Steve quickly took a hand off the wheel so that you could shake on it like it was a gentlemen’s agreement.

“But think about it. In the summer, all of us could pile into one of these and just see the country, you know? The Grand Canyon or the Rockies. Maybe we could go to a beach town in California and like, learn to surf or something. We could even go to the cities. Take them to museums and all the tourist spots.”

“Yeah, and I can get inspiration from all the places we go. A collection inspired by Redwood and Yellowstone. Maybe Chicago or Boston or Detroit. I can picture it now.” You smile at him.

“See! It would be perfect.” You could tell that he was filled to the brim with excitement as you dreamed of your life together. “Like I said, we’re gonna do amazing things and make amazing memories.” He reached over to hold your hand. “And maybe they could stay a week or two with their aunts and uncles so that I can have you all to myself.” He teasingly wiggled his eyebrows at you until you laughed.

“You’ve got it all planned out, huh?”

“Yeah…and I know that things don’t always go to plan, but I think as long as it’s you and me, everything will work out.”

“Oh my god, Harrington. I thought I was done crying today.” You said as you felt your eyes begin to well.

“I’m sorry, honey…but just to confirm though, these are happy tears right?” He asked as you wiped your eyes.

“Yes, you jerk.” You lean over to lightly punch him in the shoulder.

“Hey, don’t punch the driver.” He teasingly chastised.

“Sorry, I thought I saw a Buggy.” 

The War Zone was packed when you arrived. It seemed like everyone and their mother flocked to the store. All of them acting like they were shopping for torches and pitchforks to run Frankenstein’s monster out of town. Only instead of the misunderstood giant, they were gearing up to murder a misunderstood Eddie.

It was decided that Lucas and Dustin would stay behind in the r.v. to keep Eddie company and be your eyes and ears to the happenings outside the store.

The rest of you funneled into the store, the place stocked with an abundance of choice in weaponry. You easily agreed with Rob when she said none of this seemed legal.

“Jesus.” You sighed. “So much for avoiding angry hicks.” 

“Let’s be fast.” Nancy voiced a sentiment that all of you had no problem agreeing with, as you broke into your own small groups.

“First order of business, let’s get you some shoes and unfortunately a shirt.” You said, placing your hands on Steve’s shoulders, pushing him along from behind.

“What do you think?” Steve asked, modeling the camo shirt and heavy fighter pilot jacket he found.

“I don’t know, give me a spin.” You demanded. You began to laugh when he turned then posed for you like you were a painter and he was your muse.

“How ‘bout now?” He asked, with a slight smirk.

“Yeah, it definitely works and the boots tie it all together.” You nod smirking back at him.

“Well, now that I can feel you undressing me with your eyes, let’s find Rob.” 

When you found her, she was by the lighter fluid, scanning the shelves for the best options.

“How many of these do you think we need?” She asks when she hears the two of you approaching.

“I don’t know, probably five or six.” Steve surmised, beginning to load the cans into the cart.

“Hey, do you think you’d be good with a pick axe?” You ask her when you spot the nearby display.

“Rob?” You call out when you don’t get a reply. You were about to call again until you recognized the lovesick grin on her face as she watched Vickie spun a display.

“What are you gonna do? Just stand there and gawk?” Steve asked her as the three of you stared at the girl like a documentary crew watching an animal in its natural habitat.

“Shut up.” She mutters, never taking her eyes off the red head. Right as she was about to step forward and take the leap of faith, a blonde boy ran up behind the girl, wrapping his arms around her.

“Jesus! You scared me.” She chastised as she turned to face him.

“Woah, you gonna mace me with that?” The boy teasingly responds. Both you and Steve’s faces fall at the interaction. You look at each other before focusing back on Robin. Her breathing became heavy and her stomach turned when they began to kiss, the pair so wrapped up in each other, they didn’t realize the heart that they were breaking.

When Vickie finally felt the eyes on her, she quickly pulled away from her boyfriend. Her eyes shifting to the three of you. They widened like deer in headlights at the attention. They quickly softened in guilt and apology, but it was too late. Robin was already pushing through you and Steve to run away.

“Rob!” You called after her.

“Robin!” Steve followed as the two of you chased after her into a secluded corner of the store.

“Oh, Rob.” Your heart broke when you saw her bent over with her hands on her knees. The tears falling from her eyes created clean streaks as they cut through the grime of the upside down on her face. You didn’t hesitate to pull her into you, your hand rubbing up and down her back. She weakly wrapped her arms around you as she cried into your shoulder.

“I know we were joking, but I thought…I genuinely thought.” Steve stuttered out with saddened eyes. He couldn’t help but feel guilty for building up so much hope in her.

“Met too.” Robin replied, her voice muffled by your shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Rob.” You let out, your guilty eyes meeting Steve’s.

“Fuck…” She finally pulled away from you. “I don’t know why I’m crying, we have bigger shit to worry about.” She sharply inhaled, bringing the heels of her palms to her eyes to wipe the tears away. She tried to pretend like she was ok, but she was far from it.

“Don’t be sorry, Rob. I can stay with you while Steve finishes up for us. I got you.” You promised her.

“Yeah, yeah I got it.” Steve nodded along, taking off before she had time to argue.

“I thought…I really, really thought.” She shook her head at herself before dropping it back down on your shoulder, letting you rock her back and forth as she resumed crying.

“I know…I know.”

After leaving The War zone, Steve drove out to the field that was home to Dustin’s Cerebro.

You sat with Erica and Lucas in the lawn chairs you pulled from the r.v. as you constructed makeshift spears.

“Were you ever gonna tell us?” Erica asked you. She didn’t sound accusatory when she spoke, she just seemed almost hurt that you felt the need to hide something so monumental from them.

“No.” You swiftly reply, shaking your head. “I mean it’s some traumatizing shit and I didn’t want to burden you with all of that. I’m your older sister so I have to deal with my baggage. I’m supposed to be the strong one, you know?” You answer, looking between your siblings.

“Yeah, but this is kind of different. We didn’t know you were dealing with all this insane shit by yourself. We would’ve been more understanding  or less annoying.” Lucas replied.

“I would’ve hated that. Special treatment from you guys would’ve just made things worse. I mean I was getting coddled enough by mom and dad. I mean I get it, but I felt like I was suffocating sometimes. I didn’t need any of that from you two. Your job is to be my annoying little brother and my annoying little sister. When I was in the lab that was the kind of shit I held onto. I would lay in my uncomfortable ass bed and think, ‘god I wish Lucas was here to tell me every last boring detail about his latest campaign or I wish Erica was here, shoving her toys in my face.’ ”

“But we could’ve helped you. If we knew about all of this then we could’ve been there for you. You wouldn’t have had to do this alone.” Lucas replied, reaching a hand out to rest on your shoulder.

“I just…I didn’t want you guys to think less of me. I couldn't take care of you because I was the one that needed help or even worse, be scared of me. If I lost you guys, I don’t know what I would do.” You confess.

“Level a city, maybe?” Erica jested.

“Yeah, maybe.” You lightly chuckle.

“We wouldn’t have thought less of you by the way and we definitely don’t now. If anything, you’re twice the sister we thought you were.” Erica assured you, leaning over to rest her head against your arm.

“Yeah?”

“A hundred percent.” Lucas easily agreed.

“And, we're gonna miss you by the way.” Erica continued.

“What do you mean?” You ask with furrowed brows.

“New York. We know you got into FIT.” Lucas explained.

“How?!” Your eyes went wide in disbelief.

“I might’ve snooped a bit and read your acceptance letter then sealed it back so you didn’t notice.” Erica confessed

“Oh my god.” You scoff, absolutely floored by the information. “Wait, you guys let me freak out for almost two days when you already knew?”

“It was Erica’s idea.” Lucas threw her under the bus.

“Judas.” Erica seethed, pointing at Lucas with narrowed eyes.

“Why?” You question.

“Because, we wanted to plan a little ‘sorry your stupid’ party if you got rejected.” Your sister answered.

“Erica.” Lucas chided her. “ She means we were gonna make you a cake and ask dad to buy balloons so that you would feel better.” Lucas clarified.

“You were gonna do all that for me?” Your eyes began to brim with tears at the gesture.

“Yeah. We figured it’s the least we could do considering all the shit you do for us.” Lucas explained.

“We wanted you to feel special, even if your dumbass couldn’t get in.” Erica chimed in, cracking a smile. “Thanks, I guess.” You lightly chuckle with a slightly scrunched face. “I’m gonna miss this, by the way.” You look between them, reaching out to sling an arm around their shoulders. “I know I’ll only be a phone call away, but it won’t be the same.” You sniffled.

“Us too, but you deserve to get out of here. You and your sailor man.” Erica assured you.

“But just so you know, you’re still on the hook for free ice cream for life.”

“Obviously.” You smirk, pulling them into a hug made awkward by the chairs you were rooted in. “I love you idiots.”

“We love you too.” They replied, the frogginess in their voice easy to hear.

“Hey, uh, how are those spears going?!” You heard Eddie hesitantly ask from down the hill, splitting the three of you apart. In lieu of a verbal response, Lucas held his thumb up to him in positive affirmation.

“Flip that damn thumb around.” Erica furrowed her brows at Lucas causing his face to quickly drop.

“What?” He asked, looking between the two of you.

“Uh…it’s too loose.” You reply, quickly glancing down at his “spear”. When he still seemed confused, Erica ripped the materials from his hands.

“This isn’t some basketball where they blow the whistle when your shoes fall off.” Erica jested as she corrected his mistake.

“Ok, for the record, my shoes never fell off.” Lucas defended himself.

“For the record, it’s kind of hard for your shoes to fall off when you never get off the bench.” Erica shot back.

“And yet, you show up to every game.” Lucas retorted.

“I only go because she bribes me.” She paused her task to point at you.

“Really? I’m bribing you when you beg for a ride with me and Steve every game.”

“I’m surrounded by Judas’.” Erica threw her hands up in disbelief. “But I guess if I’m being honest, you’re still my brother. Just the facts.” She shrugged, picking Lucas’ spear back up.

“Yeah, you guys will do great without me and if you guys don’t mind I have a boyfriend and a best friend to bother.” You said, tying the last tight knot you needed to secure the hunting knife to the edge of the large stick you spent almost twenty minutes scavenging for.

The sun was setting when you finally finished preparing for the battle ahead. You piled into the r.v., those of you who would be fighting in the upside down were now clad in every piece of camo and protective gear you could afford. The jokes and plans for the future that filled the air when you first began the journey, were now silent as a new kind of fear settled over all of you. Hawkins as you knew it was hanging in the balance. It was no longer a battle against faceless monsters who ran rampant. It was against a man who had abilities someone as cruel as him should’ve never gifted. 

Now as you pulled up to the Creel house to drop off Max, Lucas, and Erica, a chill ran down every spine in the vehicle. 

“Are you sure about this, Max?” You ask one last time, knowing there was no turning back as soon as they entered that house. 

“Yeah.” She nods. “I just want this asshole dead and if you fail, which I really hope you don’t, but if you do, just know that I’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.” She threatened with a joking lilt to her tone, but the utter fear consuming her body was easy to see.

“I’m not gonna let that happen. I promise I will save you in any way that I can.” You squeeze her tightly.

“I really hope you keep it.” She mumbles into your shoulder. You knew she had an awful history with promises made to her that were never kept, but you just hoped that today would break that cycle. You hoped that you could rid the two curses that hung over her head. 

When you released Max, you pulled Lucas and Erica into you. You hold them tight hoping that this wouldn’t be the last time. You knew the sentiment was shared when they squeezed you back with the same veracity. 

“Look after each other.” You demanded.

“We will.” You felt them nod into your shoulder.

“I love you guys and no matter what happens never forget that.”

“We love you too. Just please come back.” Lucas pleaded.

“I will.” You tried to assure them despite the fact that you weren’t sure of yourself. With so much on the line, you knew there was that trading your life for theirs was possibly a decision you would have to make.

“Say it like you mean it.” Erica pleaded with tearful eyes.

“I’m coming back.” You asserted. “I’m coming back.” You repeat, pulling away to look between the two of them. “And I will see you on the other side.”  

“See you on the other side.” They agree pulling you back in for another tight squeeze before stepping out of the r.v. Both you and Steve watched as they marched up to the dilapidated house. Lucas gave you one last wave ‘goodbye’ before crossing the threshold.

“You ready, honey?” Steve asked, now that the plan was now in action.

“Yeah. Let’s go kick this fucker’s ass.”

Taglist:

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You felt bad for slightly forgetting about Eddie. After Dustin he seemed to trust you the most, considering you were his best bet of a cleared name. Plus becoming friends with a real life mage was an incredible opportunity he just couldn’t pass up.

Now after another grocery run to Bradley’s and another round of Hide From The Butcher, all of you were on your way back to Reefer Rick’s. You, Steve, and Dustin sat in the trunk, tearing through the extra snacks you brought for yourselves. You and Steve followed your tradition of kissing like ducks with the pringles before digging in.

“Not to be a wimp, but can I sit in the car?” Robin pleaded from the front seat. “Cause this is going to totally and royally suck.” She finished with a sigh.

“It’ll be fine, Rob.” You tried to assure her from the backseat, despite your own doubts. How are you supposed to kill this thing? What if you weren’t strong enough?

“I just can’t stand to see those doe eyes of Eddie’s break again. I really, really can’t.” She continued.

“At least he can drink himself into feeling better.” Steve spoke through a mouth full of pringles.

“That's what my mom does.” Max piped up, earning saddened eyes from you, Steve, and Lucas.

“How bout we give it a trial? “Hey Eddie. Uh good news first this time. We got you DUstin approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Bad news is that he’s in that other darker, much scarier dimension, and the gate’s closed so we have no way of getting to him. He’s entirely shut us off, so basically we’re screwed. And I know you were already screwed, but now you’re doubly, triply screwed.” She rambled, her anxiety growing the further she went along.

“Maybe we don’t put it like that.” Lucas suggested.

“We’re one step closer to finding Vecna. That’s what we say. That’s what’s important.” Nancy stated matter of factly.

“See, Robin? A positive spin can make all the difference.” 

“Oh shit.” Nancy let out slowly,spotting the news van as she pulled into Rick’s driveway. The scene was now swarming with passerbys, watching on with curious horror from behind the barrier put up by the police. 

All of you scrambled out of Nancy’s car, using the news van to get a better look and to hear Chief Powell’s run down of the situation.

“...The Roane County line received a call a little after midnight reporting a homicide here on the lake. Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shore of Lover’s Lake about ten yards from the house you see behind me. It was there that we found the victim, an eighteen year old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick Mckinney…” You wrapped an arm around Lucas’ shoulder in comfort. You didn’t even need to see his face to know that he was hurting from the loss. “His limbs and his body were disfigured…” Images began to flash in your mind. Images you’ve been trying to forget for years. You didn’t want to believe it. The thought being too much to bear, despite the fact the idea had been gnawing at the back of your mind. You hoped that it could be anything but him, the one thing you couldn’t face. “There was an eyewitness on the scene, helping us to identify a person of interest. Eddie Munson. We encourage anyone with information to please come forward.” All eyes went wide, your hearts hammering in your chests as Powell held up a picture of Eddie.

“Oh man.” Steve sighed from beside you, worried eyes finding Dustin’s. “This is not good. This is really not good.” Steve continued.

“Dustin, can you hear me? Mage?” Eddie’s voice crackled through the walkie.

“Eddie! Holy shit!” Dustin whispered. “Are you ok?” He continued, all of you gathering around to listen in.

“Nah, man. Pretty goddamn far from ok.” Eddie replied.

“Where is he?”

“Where are you?” Dustin parroted Robin’s question.

“Skull Rock, Do you know it?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s near Cornwallis and-”

“Garret, yeah. I know where that is.” Steve cut him off, making his way to Nancy’s car.

“Hold tight. We’re coming. We’re coming.” Dustin assured Eddie, following behind your urgent group.

“Dude, I’m telling you, you’re taking us the wrong way.” Steve argued back against the boy, the pair had been going at each other, arguing about directions ever since you all stepped foot into the woods. Dustin had been set on following his map and compass opposed to Steve who had been moving on muscle memory.

“I’m positive. I checked the map.” The boy shot back.

“You do realize Skull Rock is a super popular make out spot, right?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Yeah, well it wasn’t popular until I made it popular…” Steve argued back. Unbeknownst to them, Nancy was behind them, rolling her eyes at their bickering.

The boys continued to argue while you hung back with Robin, the girl still hard pressed on her whole Nancy theory.

“I’m still noticing some googly eyes at Dingus, like she’s trying to relight a flame that’s been snuffed out.”

“Look, I tried to bring it up at the library, then you and your stupid big brain interrupted me.” You informed her.

“How? What did you say?”

“When you left, thank you by the way, she was being strange. Like she was annoyed with me, then she just blew up. She said she wasn’t in any real danger and that I should call Steve cause he would love to pick me up. I couldn’t hold it in anymore so I asked her if she was…”

“Jealous?”

“I wasn’t gonna say that.”

“Yes you were.”

“Well you planted it in my mind ok? I was trying not to think about it because we have bigger things to worry about but…”

“Oh my god, it’s infectious. Are you jealous too?”

“I’m not jealous, Rob.”

“Then what is it, because I saw the way it bothered you when Steve volunteered to go with her so…”

“I’m not jealous, ok?! I’m scared. I’m fucking scared.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I know that I didn’t tell you everything about me and my powers and all that shit because trust me, it’s a lot. I mean not even Steve knows everything. I just…life has fucked me over a lot. I feel like I can never win or just be because something is always lurking in the darkness waiting to pounce to steal all the shit I worked so hard for. I mean it took me over five years to be “ok” and things were fine until I was finally happy then the upside down shit happened again. Then I’m with Steve and things are beautiful, then bam! secret Russian base and now…  this shit takes the cake. I finally get my ticket out of here. Out of this shithole that has done nothing but torture me. Now all of a sudden Max is haunted by this creep, Eddie might go to prison and Nancy is looking at the love of my life like he’s the one that got away. I know Steve loves me and I love him, but what if this is the biggest down a peg kicking that I get. What if I lose everything because I can’t just have something good with no strings attached. I just…I don’t want to lose him, Rob. I’m tired of losing things and people and feeling like I can’t escape.”

“Ok…ok, breathe” She instructs. “Have you told Steve this?” She asked when you calmed down a bit.

“No, because I don’t want him to think I’m jealous. Because he’s gonna do this thing where he promises nothing will happen and he loves me and be the best boyfriend ever and it’ll only make things worse if something really shitty happens.”

“I know that I’m probably the worst person to say this but…I think you might be catastrophizing a bit…ok a lot. You’re catastrophizing a lot.”

“I know and that’s why I’m trying not to think about it. I have to stay focused on the bigger picture because if I think about it then I’ll spiral and if I spiral something really bad might happen. Like  natural disaster level shit.” She nods despite the fact that she has fortunately seen it with her own two eyes.

“Ok. Yeah. Let’s think about something else. Something good…What about movie night when this is all over? We can make a watchlist, make Dingus pay for the pizza, the usual.”

“Ooo. I’m thinking our first watch should be Fast Times a-”

“Stop!” She chuckled, shoving you.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” You apologize through a chuckle, slinging an arm over her shoulder.

“You are so lucky that I love you.”

“The luckiest.”

“Oh my god, look at the love birds.” Robin cooed, not so subtly pointing to Lucas and Max who seemed to be having the most fluid conversation they’ve had in months.

“I know, I feel weird for staring, but it’s nice seeing them together again.” You smile.

“Bada bing, bada boom!” You heard Steve shout in the distance. “There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky, little face.”

“I don’t understand.” You arrived in enough time to hear Dustin whisper aloud his thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can’t admit it. You just can’t admit that you're wrong, butthead.”

“Y/n? Do you see the way he talks to me?” Before you could reply, leaves loudly crunched under the weight of heavy feet, stealing everyone’s attention.

“I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead.” Eddie spoke, when he jumped down from his hiding place.

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner.” Dustin sighed in relief, rushing to hug him. 

“Yeah. Me too, man.” Eddie sighed, patting the boy on the back.

You placed a comforting hand on Steve’s shoulder when you saw the way he grimaced at the interaction. 

You gave him a slight frown, now gently rubbing your hand back and forth. He gave you a tight lipped smile in appreciation.

The group gathered around Eddie like he was Robin’s camp counselor telling a ghost story.

“When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh…my walkie was busted, man.” He explained between large gulps of water. “Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing I do now, apparently. I ran.” He threw his hands up, releasing a humorless laugh. 

“Do you know what time the attack was?” Nancy interrogated him.

“Yeah, no, I…I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked.” Eddie explained, tossing her his damaged watch.

“9:27.” She read off.

“That’s the same time our flashlights went kablooey.” Robin surmised.

“Which means what, exactly?” Steve asked.

“I think it means that that surge of energy that made our flashlights go kablooey, was probably Vecna killing Patrick.” You deduced.

“Well, we’re one more scary step closer. At least we know how Vecna attacks.” Robin nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, and where he attacks from.” Lucas continued.

“So now we need to sneak into his lair in the upside down and drive a stake through his heart.” Max supplies as if the solution would be as simple as she explained it.

“A stake? Is he like a vamp…? Is he a vampire?” Steve asked, trying to wrap his mind around the thought of a clock-making vampire wizard.

“It’s just a metaphor.” Max was quick to explain. 

“A bullet should work on him, right?” Eddie asked the group before his eyes found yours. “Not that I’m doubting you, I just want to make sure this bastard is dead.”

“No, I get it. Plus I’m not complaining about extra help. We can chop his head off after just to be sure. I just can’t work any of my magic from here. At least we know where he is, we just have to get there.” You’re quick to agree.

“Hey, uh, Henderson’s not cursed is he?” Eddie asked, his eyes drifting to the pacing boy. Steve’s heart stops for a moment, only to be quickly relieved when he sees Dustin in his own world, pacing in deep thought.

“Cursed? No,no. He’s fine. Mental? Absolutely.” He replied. He couldn’t feel a little warm inside at the fact that he still knew more about Dustin than Eddie.

“BOOM!” Dustin cheers, making all heads snap to him. “Bada…bada…boom!” He pointed at Steve. I was right. Skull Rock was north.” His smarmy tone made Steve roll his eyes and cross his arms.

“Seriously? You’re serious?” Steve asked with raised eyebrows.

“Mmhmm.” Dustin hummed, wearing a proud smile.

“This is Skull Rock.” Steve frustratedly waved his hand in the rock’s direction.

“Mmhmm.”

“Ok, you’re totally, absolutely, a hundred percent wrong. Right now.”

“Yes.” Dustin replied, only mounting Steve’s frustration. “And no.” The boy continued.

“Oh my god.” Steve shook his head, running his hands down his face in an effort to calm down.

“This worked correctly when we left the Wheelers’. It was correct when we got in the car at Kerley, but it started to slip the further east we went. Now it’s way off. WHen I was leading us here, I wasn’t wrong, the compass was.” DUstin explained, flashing the tool for all of you to see.

“So you’re using faulty equipment. You’re still wrong.” Steve argued back.

“Except it isn’t faulty. Lucas, remember what can affect a compass?” He asked your brother.

“Uh…an electromagnetic field.” He quickly supplied.

“Yep.”

“I’m sorry, what does this have to do with finding the gate?” You ask with knitted eyebrows.

“Oh my god, you were too busy playing detective. I forgot you weren’t there. Ok, In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there is some super big magnet or-”

“There’s a gate.” Lucas finishes from his friend when the realization hits him.

“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” Nancy piped up.

“Sure, but what if somehow there’s another gate?  Agate that we just don’t know about. It would have to be smaller and way less powerful.”

“Like a snack-size gate.” Robin shrugged.

“How? Why?” Steve asked.

“No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate.” The boy reasoned. “And I hope it is because then we’d have a way to get to Vecna.” The boy explained.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Steve called after the boy when he attempted to take off in the woods. “Where are you going?” His question stopped the boy in his tracks. “Eddie’s still a wanted man. We can’t just go for a hike in the woods.” Steve reasoned.

“This steel capsule might be the key to saving Max and Eddie. So, what say you Eddie the Banished?” He asked Eddie who had been trying to wrap his head around all the new information being dumped on him. He never expected it to be easy, but this was a monumental task.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which if I’m being straight with you, I think it’s a really bad idea. But, uh…the Shire…the Shire is burning.” He slowly agrees, realizing that he’d be a sitting duck if he was left alone in the woods where anyone could find him. “So, Mordor it is.” He stands, wiping his dirty hands on his black jeans.

Dustin begins to jump in his spot, a wide smile spread across his face at the fact that what seemed to be a small step was now a massive, bigfoot sized step.

“What’s Mordor?” Steve asked, his fingers locking with yours as the group began to follow behind Dustin.

“It’s the realm of Sauron in Lord of the Rings. It’s actually a really good book.”

“Better than Sherlock Holmes?”

“Way better.” You chuckle.

The everchanging compass’ needle had made the endeavor longer than you expected. The needle’s constant spinning and stopping made following the path harder as the sun was replaced by the moon. 

“Something’s happening. I think we’re close.” Dustin cheered when the needle’s spin became more chaotic.

“Watch your step, big guy.” Eddie reached out to grab the back of Dustin’s hoodie when he nearly walked straight into Lover’s Lake, his eyes laser focused on the device in his hand.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.” You sigh, casting your eyes over the murky water, a light fog hovering over its surface.

“There’s a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Max asked, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“Whenever the demogorgon attacked, it left an opening. Maybe Vecna’s the same way.” Nancy hypothesized.

“Well, only one way to find out.” Steve shrugged.

“Easy. I said easy, man.” Steve scolded Eddie as the pair attempted to push the boat back into the water without losing control over it.

“Sorry, dude.” He was quick to apologize, before getting a strong hold on the vessel to stabilize it enough for boarding.

“Here you go.” Steve held his hand out to Robin.

“I’m just gonna do that.” She ignored his hand, opting to use both boys’ heads as leverage instead.

“That works too.” Steve sighed, fighting the urge to push back and shake his hair out to return it to its former glory. Eddie stepped in next, holding his hands out for Nancy to take.

“Wheeler.” He called out, the girl immediately accepting the help.

“Your turn, honey.” Steve held his hand out for you. Ever the gentlemen, he placed a soft kiss to the back of your hand before letting it go.

“Thank you, Prince Charming.” You couldn’t help but smile at the small sign of affection.

“Hey, hey, hey. Are you trying to sink us?” Eddie held his hand out to stop Dustin when he realized the boy was about to make an attempt to climb in. “This thing holds four people, tops.” Eddie explained. A slight frown formed on your face when Dustin’s face dropped at the news.

“I think it might be better if you guys stay here and keep an eye out for trouble.” Nancy suggested. Your eyes immediately found Steve’s, his head shaking at the idea of staying back again. You gave him a subtle wink to prove you had his back.

“You keep an eye out.” Dustin shot back before mocking the face Nancy made at him. “It’s my goddamn theory.”

“You heard Nance.” You pipe up, knowing that the extra spot would need to be for Steve. “Plus we’re at maximum capacity.” You remind him. “Compass.” You stood to hold your hand out to the boy.

“Fine.” He huffed, throwing in some theatrics before placing it in your palm.

“Hey, there you go.” Steve tossed Dustin’s backpack into his arms, ridding himself of anything that would way him down.

“Ow.” Dustin whined as Steve pushed the boat all the way into the water, his foot dipping in as he stretched himself to climb inside.

“You said four!” Dustin huffed.

“I’m sorry. I promised!” You shrugged at the boy who was slowly shrinking as the boat floated away from the shore.

“Thank you.” Steve smiled, placing a quick kiss to your cheek. He didn’t love the circumstances, but he was excited that he finally got to do something other than sit in a basement and drive kids around all day.

“Bedtime’s at nine, kiddos! Miss you already!” Robin stood up to wave at three teens back at the shore.

Eddie and Steve had been paddling for almost five minutes as you stared down at Dustin’s compass with light provided by Nancy’s flashlight.

“Woah.” You mutter when the needle starts to spin nonstop.

“Woah.” The group parroted, the boys stopping their paddling to follow your gaze.

“What’s going on? Why’d you stop?” Dustin’s voice broke through the walkie situated in Robin’s lap.

“Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital aah!” Robin describes the best way she could.

“What the hell are you doing?” You look over at Steve when you notice him taking off his shoes and socks.

“Somebody’s gotta go down there and check it out. So, unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High Swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then it’s gotta be me…no complaints.” He pauses undressing to point at you for the last part.

“Steve-” He stopped you before you could get another word out.

“You promised.” He reminded you with raised eyebrows, beginning to stand to his feet, now that he was barefoot.

“Fine, but don’t die or I’ll kill you.” You look up at him pointedly.

“I promise you won’t get rid of me this easily. Just…” He began before slipping off his yellow sweater. “Hold onto this for me, ok.” He asked, handing you the soft fabric.

“Yeah…yeah…I’ll…”

“Oh my god, you pervert!” Robin smacked your arm when you trailed off your attention distracted by Steve’s toned back, staring at the smattering of freckles you’ve spent hours kissing.

“Ow!” You began to rub the injured area.

“Get a room next time.” She complained, shaking her head, neither of you realizing you weren’t the only one with wandering eyes.

“Hey, good luck.” Eddie piped up, handing Steve the plastic bag he wrapped a flashlight in.

“Thanks.” Steve replied, inhaling and exhaling big breaths to prepare himself for his plunge.

“Gross.” You heard Robin from beside you, plucking the cigarette from between Eddie’s lips and throwing it into the water. You wanted to distract yourself with the image of a cigarette smoking fish, but Steve was all you could think of.

“I love you. Don’t die.” You threaten again.

“I love you too and I wouldn’t dream of it. I’ll be back before you know it.” He assured you, placing a kiss to your forehead. 

“Steve?” Nancy called out from behind him right as he was about to jump in.

“Yeah?” He turned around to face her.

“Be careful.” She smiled up at him. He gave her a slight nod before finally diving in.

“He’s gonna be ok, right.” Robin asked, both of you peering over to watch the shine from Steve’s flashlight die out into nothing the further he swam down. “Right?” She asked again when you didn’t respond, your eyes staying on the water.

“Time check?” You finally mumble out, every passing second feeling like a lifetime.

“Uh…closing in on a minute.” Nancy read from her watch.

“Come on, baby. Come on.” You whisper under your breath, your hand finding Robin’s who had been fidgeting since she lost sight of him. “I told you.” You look over at her with glassy eyes when you begin to fear the worst.

“Jesus Christ!” You yelp, bringing your hand to your chest when Steve finally breaks the water’s surface.

“I found it.” Steve informed all of you, treading in the water.

“You found it?” Nancy’s eyes widen, sliding to the boat's edge to look at him.

“Yeah.” He nodded, trying to wick the lake water from his eyes. “Dustin, you’re a goddamn Einstein.” Robin celebrated the boy through the walkie.

“It’s pretty wild. It’s more of a snack-size gate than a mama gate, but it’s still pretty damn big. ” Steve describes his findings.

“That’s great, Let’s get you back in the boat though, yeah.” You nod urgently, still on edge at the fact he was still in the water. You held your hand out for him, while Nancy tried to shift her weight to make pulling him in easier.

“Yeah, yeah. He agrees, reaching for the hand you held out for him. Before he could make contact, something pulled him down. His hands clung to the edge of the boat, fighting to stay anchored to the surface. He was able to pop up for less than a second of air before he was pulled back down.

“Shit!Shit!Shit!” Eddie began to panic behind you as Robin and Nancy screamed Steve’s name, but you couldn’t hear it. The world stopped for you the moment he went under. You stood to your feet with no concern for the boat’s stable nature, only thinking about Steve and how intent you were on killing whatever dragged him down.

“Y/n wha-” Robin began with wide eyes. She didn’t even have to stop you before you were in the water, swimming as fast as you could.

You ignore the stinging in your eyes as you swim with them wide open, looking for the gate. You were sure it was something that burst through the upside down to take him. 

You swan down faster, despite your burning lungs when you found the glowing red crack on the lake’s floor.

You push your way through, flipping onto your back before landing on fleshy, tangled vines.

“Steve!” You scream, hoping he can hear you over the booming thunder and red lighting lighting up the dark sky.

“I’m here! I’m…AHHHH!” You hear him yell in pain. You ran as fast as you could, ignoring the sound of the squelching vines beneath your feet. “Help!” You hear him struggle to get out as he fought against the tail wrapped around his neck. Your throat went dry when you him not only being choked, but also being turned into dinner by the three of the creatures flying around.

“You might want to close your eyes.” You warn him when you reach him. He’s thankful he followed your instructions when he heard a pop, followed by warm liquid spraying across his face and body.

“I got you. I got you, baby.” You assured him as he began to cough. A red ring forming around his neck from the creature’s strong hold.

“Thank you.” Steve grunted as you helped him up. Once on his feet, he scrambled to grab the oar he had been using to defend himself before he got pinned down.

“Oh, shit! We’ve got company!” You yelled with wide eyes when you realized a swarm of more of those flying monsters were on their way. 

“Duck!” Steve demanded, grabbing your shoulders and forcing you down right as one swooped right for you.

“On your left!” You heard Robin scream from beside you, smacking a bat away that neither of you saw.

“Where did you come from?!” You ask, popping the one she smacked like a balloon. Your darting eyes were quick to find Eddie and Nancy deep in their own battles with the bats.

“You didn’t think we were gonna leave you down here by yourselves, did you?” She asked,  raising her oar in preparation for the next wave. 

“Get it off of me! Get it off of me!” You ran towards a screaming Nancy who had been trying to rip the attacking bat off her back.

“I got it!” You throw your hand out, unfortunately spraying Nancy’s back in the bat’s sludge.

“Thanks.” She replied breathlessly, knocking away another bat with her oar. “Go to hell!” She seethed, bashing its small face in. 

“Nice one, Wheeler.” You compliment, before running off to make soup of the three separate bats coming at Robin.

“Eat shit, asshole!” Robin yelled, stomping one’s head under her boot.

“Come on, you sons of a bitches! Come get me!” You screamed for their attention.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Eddie screamed when the bats answered your call.

“Just trust her!” Steve replied as he tore a bat apart. Half of it under his foot, the other half in his hand.

You outstretched hands stopped the large group of bats in their place. No matter how hard they fought, their wings and tails couldn’t wiggle free from your hold.

“What the fuck?” Eddie stared with wide eyes as he watched a blood run from your right nostril.

With a low grunt, you clenched your hands into fists, crushing the small bodies like Caprisun pouches. 

“Jesus H. Christ!” Eddie screeched when you opened your hand again, making every tiny body fall from the sky.

“I told you to trust her, man.” Steve smiled proudly, patting him on the shoulder before making his way to you.

“That was amazing!” He wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you tight. “Are you ok?”

“Me? What about you?!” You pull away from him and begin to examine his torso that was littered in bites you weren’t fast enough to stop.

“Well, they took about a pound of flesh.” He surmised, looking down to examine his injuries with you.

“Oh my god! You’re back!” Your eyes went wide when you spun him around to get as close to a full examination as you could.

“I promise I’m ok, honey.” He assured you, bringing a hand to your face to swipe your blood away with his thumb.

“Do you think these bats have rabies?” Robin asked, examining the body of one of the dead bats.

“What?” You and Steve ask in unison.

“It’s just that rabies is like my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor soon because once the symptoms set in, it’s too late. You’re dead.”

“I agree.” You nod. “About the hospital. Not the rabies.” You clarify when you receive confused stares.

“Hey, hey. Uh…I know you can do that crazy bat killing thing, but that’s a lot right.” Eddie pointed to the next wave of bats that is definitely bigger than the swarm you just fought.

“Yeah, we need to get the fuck out of here.” You nod, knowing that if you run into more of the creatures that called the upside down its home, then you would need as much strength as you could muster.

“The woods! Come on!’ Nancy pointed towards the bank of trees in the distance.

The five of you crouched under Skull Rock, waiting for the swarm chasing after you would pass.

“Steve?” You whisper, looking back at him when you could hear him wheezing behind you.

“I’m ok. I’m ok.” He tried to assure you but neither of you were convinced. With his adrenaline crashing, he became aware of his body again. Every cut, scrape, and bite he endured hitting him all at once.

“No you’re not. It’s a blood bath down here.” You grimaced, eyes catching the blood oozing from his bitten up torso.

“What’s happening? Is he ok?” Nancy asked, both Robin and Eddie in tow.

“No, he’s…He’s losing a lot of blood.” You inform the group. “I just need you to sit down, love.” You turn your attention back to him, helping him slide down the jagged wall as gently as you could. 

“Woah.” You heard Robin behind you, her voice trembling in fear when her eyes landed on his wounds.

“I know. I have to stop the bleeding.” You inform him, beginning to shrug off your jacket.

“Honey…honey wait. You love that jacket.” Steve stammered out at the sight of you ripping it apart to get a big enough piece of fabric to cover his wounds.

“I don’t give a fuck about the jacket. I care about you not bleeding out.” You spit back, frustrated that he cared about a stupid piece of clothing over his own life. 

“I can buy a new one to make it up to you.” He offered.

“You can make it up to me by living.” You refuse. “This is probably gonna hurt like a bitch, ok?” You begin to speak like a nurse talking a toddler through his shot at the doctor’s.

“Mmhmm.” He hummed. “Just do it.” He continued through gritted teeth, leaning forward so that you could reach all the way around him.

“Ah…Ah…”He grimaced as soon as the fabric touched his wounds. His hand found your shoulder, squeezing it tight.

“I know. I know…I’m almost done I promise.” You assure him, securing the fabric around his waist.

“So…” Robin walked over, hoping she could distract Steve while you patched him up. “The good news is that I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies, but if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms, or start feeling aggressive, like you wanna punch me or something, then you should probably let me know.” She rambled.

“Robin.” He got out.

“Yeah?”

“I kinda want to punch ya.” He replied, making Robin let out a relieved chuckle.

“Sense of humor’s still intact. That’s a good sign.”

“Yeah.” Steve sighed, happy for the distraction.

Robin lightly bumped her shoulder against yours to assure you, before leaving the two of you alone again.

“Ok, how does that feel? Too tight?” You ask him before tying the fabric for good.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s good.” He assured you, his teary eyes looking down at you as you focused on treating him.

“Stop ogling the doctor.” You chastise him as you finish securing the knot.

“I’m sorry I can’t help it.” He smirked, when you flashed one in return. It quickly dropped when he realized it didn't match your eyes. “Hey, hey. What’s going on?”

“What’s going on? You almost died. You scared the shit out of me, jerk.” 

“I told you, honey.You can’t get rid of me that easily.” He shook his head, his hands found your cheeks, pressing your forehead against his. “You’re stuck with me. No matter how many chomps those bastards take out of me.”

“I like that.”

“What? That I would be bat food?”

“No, you goof. I like being stuck with you.” You chuckle, placing a soft kiss to his cheek. “Now let’s go before Robin asks if you have rabies again.”

“Oh yeah, what’s the deal with that?”

“We watched Cujo and she hasn’t been the same since.” 

“So uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?” Eddie asks, gazing as far as he could from his perch on top of a large rock formation.

“Pretty much.” You reply, helping Steve walk out from under Skull Rock.

“Wait! Watch out for the vines!” Nancy stopped Eddie before he could brazenly jump down. “It’s all a hive mind.”

“It’s all a what?” He asks, now worried that he put himself in a position he can’t get out of.

“All creepy crawlies around here. They’re all one or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.” Steve explained.

“Don’t touch it.” You gently smacked Steve’s hand away when he began to fiddle with his makeshift bandaging.

“Sorry, it’s just a little tender.” He explained, easing up on the fidgeting. Well, at least when you were looking.

“But everything from our world is still except for people, right?” Robin asked, knowing that her knowledge started with a secret Russian base and stopped with the Mindflayer.

“As far as we understand it, yeah.” You nod, watching as Eddie tried his best to get down from the rock without alerting the hive mind.

“So, theoretically we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up all the vines and shit guarding the gate so y/n doesn’t have to expend anymore energy in case we run into more scary as shit creepy crawlies, right?”

“Yeah, Rob. I’m sure Hawkins P.D. has grenades.” Steve scoffed sarcastically.

“I would rather just do it myself then walk all the way to the station. I mean that could take god knows how long. We don’t really have the luxury of taking a stroll across Hawkins.” You reason.

“What if we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have some in my bedroom.” Nancy piped up.

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns plural in your bedroom?” Eddie asked, utterly shocked.

“Full of surprises isn’t she.” Robin chimed in.

“Yeah, and she’s a great shot.” You compliment. Despite it all you couldn’t help but admit that the girl knew her way around a gun.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” She listed.

“Yeah, she almost shot me with that one.” Steve spoke.

“Yeah, and you almost deserved it.” Nancy replied, smiling up at him, her gaze only breaking away when flying denim hit Steve in the face.

“For your modesty, dude.” Eddie explained.

“Thanks.” Steve replied. Before he got the chance to slip it on, the ground began to rumble and shake like you were standing at the epicenter of a magnitude 10.0 earthquake. Steve was quick to wrap an arm around you, pulling you into his chest. His other hand pressed against the rock face for further support. 

Eddie did the same for Robin and Nancy, wrapping an arm around both of them, keeping his back pressed against the rock.

“Is…is it over?” Robin asked when the shaking finally stopped, worried that like with any normal earthquake, aftershocks would soon come.

“I think we’re-” You were quickly cut off when another sudden jolt shook the ground. “Good.” You finished when it passed.

“So…guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.” Eddie piped up, still a little scared to release the girls in his arms, especially considering Steve seemed nowhere near ready to let go of you.

“Yeah, me too.” Robin agreed.

“Good, then let’s get the fuck out of this shithole.” You sigh, feeling like you can finally breathe again.

“You know, you’re doing a lot for a super senior your brother and his friends have only known for seven months.” Eddie spoke, breaking the silence that had settled between the two of you as you walked in the middle of the pack.

“Shit…You heard that?” You grimaced, dropping your face into your palm.

“Kind of hard not to, man. I’m sure the whole school heard.” He chuckled. 

“Sorry, I was just pissed at Dustin and Mike. What they did was totally fucked up.” You explain. “If it’s worth anything I said all that shit before I knew you. I’m not saying I would ditch my brother, but I guess making sure they don’t give you the chair seems pretty fair to me.” 

“Jesus.” He chuckled at the morbidity. “I get why you were mad though. Lucas is a good kid and he’s great at DnD. Your sister too. Actually, better than good. She’s a goddamn beast, man.” He smiled.

“My sister, Erica?” Your eyebrows knit together. 

“Yeah, well she introduced herself as Lady Applejack, but whatever.” He shrugged.

“Yeah…yeah that’s her. alright.” You smile.

“God, you Sinclair’s are something else.” He shook his head with a smile.

“We get that a lot.” You reply, the pride evident in your voice.

“Any chance you can spare some of that crazy confidence?” He asked.

“What do you need extra confidence for? A few days ago you were marching across the lunch table calling out every clique in the lunch room.”

“I know, but what you have is something different, man. One thing about me is that I’m a runner. I didn’t want to believe it before, but now it’s kind of hard to ignore. You, though, you’re no runner.”

“Uh…Yes, I am.” You were quick to dispute.

“You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better.”

“I’m not. I mean it.”

“Come on, dude. I mean from the way everyone talks about you and the way you jumped in after Harringon without a thought and the way you crush bats and shit. Nah, I don’t believe it.” He shook his head.

“You should…I…I ran once and it got a lot of people hurt and a lot of people died because of it. I figured the best I could do was to stop running because it’ll eat you up inside.” You look at the boy, who’s already looking back with big brown, scared ones. 

“Does it ever stop?” He asked.

“Sometimes. I mean the highs are absolutely amazing and the lows…well you’re looking at it…” You throw your hands up to emphasize your surroundings. “But things are pretty good when I’m around my favorite people. Then there’s those nights when it’s all I can think about. Kind of like replaying an argument in your head and you finally think of the best comeback. I just lay there and think about all the what ifs. How different things could be if I just didn’t run.” You gave him a slight frown as you watched the gears in his head turn.

“And?”

“I’ll never know which life would be better, but for better or for worse I think I got a pretty good deal.” You smile, both of you turning back to look at your best friend and the love of your life. The former waved like a maniac while the latter shot you a smirk that never failed to make your heart race.

“Man, I want that.” Eddie mused.

“Steve and Robin? I’m sorry dude, but they're mine.” You shook your head.

“No, I mean I want to find people who complete me, you know. The kind of people who would jump into another dimension just to save you because they love you that much.”

“Well if it makes you feel better, you have like seven people doing that for you right now. Well I mean if the other dimension is prison cause I’m pretty sure harboring a fugitive is a felony and most of us are at least eighteen.” You chuckle.

“I appreciate it. Maybe if this all goes to plan I can make sure I keep the promise I made to mom before she died.”

“I’m so sorry, Eddie.” You frown. 

“It’s ok, It was a long time ago.” He assured you as he shook the thought of her laid up in her hospital bed out of his mind and the subsequent the feeling of her grip loosening from his hand when the she flatlined that followed.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what was it?”

“She made me promise I wouldn’t end up like my old man. He’s been in and out of prison since I was a baby. He was even locked up when she passed. That’s when I moved in with my uncle. Did the shit my dad couldn’t. I just don’t want to let them down, you know.” He looked over at you with glassy eyes. He was almost surprised you seemed close to tears yourself. He never expected to unload all his baggage on someone, let alone offer him some form of help.

“Yeah…That’s why we’re gonna make this shit work. We’re gonna make sure you get out of here with the rest of us. We won’t let the world leave Eddie Munson behind.”

The Wheelers’ “house” was covered in vines when you arrived. More ash than you thought possible filled the space when Nancy pushed through the front door.

“Damn, Mrs. Wheeler. Redecorate much?” You joke, shining your flashlight around the dark space.

“Come on, I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to.” Nancy prompted, the four of you quickly following behind her as she raced to her room.

“Hey, hey, honey.” Steve called for you.

“What?” You ask, trotting back down to the step he was on.

“Do you hear that?” Steve whispered.

“Hear what?” 

“...That. Doesn’t that sound like Dustin’s voice?” He began to look around in every direction, trying to find the source.

“I don-” You could barely get your words out before Steve cut you off.

“Shhh! Just listen.” He instructed. You trained your ears the best you could, even holding your breath…until you heard it. Dustin’s passing voice. It was loud one moment then almost imperceptible the next. He was pacing you figured, most likely brainstorming with the others about what the hell they were gonna do.

“Dustin!” You began to call out. “Dustin! Can you hear me!” You began to shout, Steve following suit.

“Dustin!” He called out.

“Dustin!” You continued, not stopping even when you heard clamoring feet run down the rickety steps.

“Hello?! Hello?! Dustin!” Steve wandered around the breakfast table, trying his best to follow the boy’s presumed movement.

“What are you guys doing?” Nancy asked in utter confusion.

“Henderson’s here. The little shit in here. He’s like…in the walls or something. Listen.”

“Hey, I’m getting something in here!” You yelled out to your boyfriend, now followed by the others. 

“That brings us to the question you first raised. How and why is there a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Dustin’s distorted voice hung in the air.

“All right, so either that kid can hear us or he’s being a total douchebag.” Steve shook his head, continuing to inspect the unnatural atmosphere of the Wheeler residence.

“Will found a way.” Nancy piped up.

“What?” Steve asked.

“Will. He spoke to Joyce through the lights.” She reminded him.

“Guys? You seeing this?” Steve asked, shining his flashlight on the overhead light Nancy attempted to flick on.

“Yeah.” You nodded, eyes narrowing in wonder when you noticed the light orange particles glowing around the chandelier. You reached out to touch it, feeling energy dancing across your fingers.

The group was quick to follow, each of you getting familiar with the dancing particles.

“It kind of tickles.” Steve observes, unsure if that's a feeling want to experience in the upside down of all places.

“Yeah, it kind of feels good.” Eddie continued, fluttering his fingers in the light.

“Does anyone know morse code?” Nancy asked the group, earning ‘no’s from each of you.

“Wait? Does SOS count?” He asked the girl. You lock eyes with Robin. Is he serious? You ask each other before flicking them to Eddie. “Is that…is that good?” He looked around for approval.

“Better than good. It’s perfect, man.” 

After much trial and error, you were finally able to get in contact with the kids. The closest and most accessible gate for all of you was the presumed gate that formed in Eddie’s trailer.

“Goddamn.” Eddie stared up with wide eyes when he entered his “home.” The red light from the gate casted itself on your faces as you gathered around, waiting for the kids to arrive. “This is where Chrissy died. Like right where she died.” He explained, his throat beginning to tighten at the reminder.

“I think there’s something in there.” Robin grimaced when the small portal began to pulse and squelch.

“What the hell is that?” Eddie asked, squinting to get a better look at whatever was trying to force its way through.

Steve pulls you back as you all yelp when the barrier breaks, the red and slimy membrane bursting. Its color changing when it fell to the floor in a stomach churning splat!

 Steve led the charge, inching forward to get a peak at whatever burst through.

“No way.” He let out when he peered through the gate, realizing that all of you were in the ceiling of Eddie’s trailer as he looked down at the kids.

“Hi!” Dustin waved, followed by Lucas, Max, and Erica.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You ask your little sister when you spot her.

“I’m here to save your stupid ass!” She shot back.

“Thanks, I guess!” You shout back.

“Holy shit, this is trippy.” Robin stared up in amazement.

“Bada, bada, boom!” Dustin cheered once more at the sight of your five relieved faces.

“Not quite sure how these physics work, but…here goes nothing.” Dustin huffed, throwing the blanket rope through the gate to the five of you.

“There we go. And if my theory is correct…” The boy began to tug at the rope to test its strength before letting go. “Uh…Abracadabra.” Smiles break out across the kids’ faces when the rope doesn’t fall.

“All right! Pull on it! See if it holds!” Dustin shouts the instructions up to you.

“This is the craziest shit I’ve seen in my life! And I’ve seen some crazy shit!” You heard the amazement in your sister’s voice after Robin’s pull test, held up.

“Guess I’m the guinea pig.” Robin volunteered herself to go first. If all went to plan then she would safely land on Eddie’s mattress below.

“Oh my god!” Robin exclaimed when her body reoriented when she passed into reality. “That was fun.” She finally cheered when she hit the mattress, finally feeling safe after hours of prolonged horror.

“All righi, I’ll go I guess.” Eddie shrugged when none of you jumped to go next.

“That was fun, shit!” He whooped when he flipped into his mattress. 

Nancy was next to go, leaving only you and Steve.

“Before you say a goddamn thing, get your ass up the rope.” Steve stopped you before you could even say anything.

“You know me too well.” 

“I do, now let’s go. Let’s get you out of here, honey.” Steve chuckled, lacing his fingers together to give you a boost.

“You know I can do it myself right.” You smile, grabbing onto the rope.

“I know bu-” Steve suddenly goes quiet. Your heart almost stops when you turn to find him standing motionless, his eyes rolled back into his head.

“Steve, hey! Baby wake up! Come on!” You begin to plead, slapping his cheek repeatedly to wake him up, but it wasn’t working.

“Hey!What’s taking so long?!” You heard Robin call, the girl sneaking a peak to check on the two of you despite Dustin’s insistence on staying out of the “landing zone.”

“Steve…Steve’s…he’s…Vecna’s got him!” You yell to the group, fighting to get the words out through your sobs.

“Wake up, please! Please! Open those big eyes for me, baby. Please!” You screamed bloody as the group scrambled in utter panic.  

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” You heard Robin’s frantic voice assure you as she grabbed.

“You can’t go back down there, man. What if this is a trap or some shit and you have nowhere to land!” Eddie tried to reason with the girl, but she didn’t want to hear it.

“I don’t care! I’m not leaving them down there!” She grabbed hold of the rope, pulling herself through the gate once more. “Make room!” 

She landed less than graceful on her way down, but she didn’t care. She just needed to be there with the two of you.

“I can’t lose him, Rob! I can’t!” Your tears flow freely.

“Steve!” She rushed over shaking his shoulders as the two of you pleaded for him to fight through whatever hell Vecna was putting him through so that he could come back to his family in one piece.

One moment Steve was waiting for you to climb up the rope, the next he was falling through utter darkness, feeling like there was no end in sight. His heart was thundering in his chest. He had to admit he was shocked when he landed in his bed.

“What the fuck?” He whispered to himself, quickly standing to his feet when he realized it was covered in thick black vines and the air was littered with smokey ash. He was still in the upside down. He was quick to realize. He climbed off his bed, rushing to look out the window. The sky was deep red, the remnants of the Creel house floating aimlessly. His eyes squinted, reading the 9:11 on the grandfather clock that passed by the window. Just like you and Max had seen. He knew it meant something. 

“Ok, I need to get the fuck out of here.” Steve mumbled to himself, rushing to his bedroom door. Instead of running into his hallway, he instead ran out into the red wasteland he saw from his window. He stared wide eyed as he walked down the detached set of stairs of the Creel house.

“I see you’ve been looking for me, Steve. I see 009 has been looking for me. You were all so close to the truth.” A deep voice boomed, sending a chill down his spine. His breaths became jagged as he snapped his head around, searching for the source. “Did you ask her how old, blind, dumb, Victor was doing? Did he miss me? I’ve been meaning to check back in, but I’ve been busy.” Steve’s heart hammered when he found the bodies of Patrick, Fred, and Chrissy strung up on the fleshy spikes, littering the area. “So very busy.” The omnipotent voice continued.

“Jesus Christ.” Steve shuddered at the sight. He felt an unsure glimmer of hope when he found the restored door to the Creel house. He hated where he was. He knew he needed to get out, but he was concerned he would only bury himself deeper.

When he stepped through the door, the upside down particles were no longer floating in the air. It seemed…normal.

“What do you think?” A man asked as a woman and two children walked in behind him. Victor Creel and his family he assumed.

“It looks like a fairytale.” Steve’s suspicions were quickly confirmed when the smiling girl repeated the words you had retold earlier. He watched as the little girl ran up the stairs, immediately being chastised for the action by her mother.

“This is nice.” Victor sighed happily, wrapping his arm around his wife, staring off dreamily. He was a far cry from the man you, Robin, and Nancy had described.

Everyone in the house seemed so happy to be in their new home…excpet for the little boy. His somber face staring down at the floor.

“You won’t lose him ok, I’m here and we’re gonna get him out ok!” Robin assured you, trying to convince both of you that he was stronger than Vecna. That out of everyone he could make it through.

“Y/n! Y/n! What’s his favorite song?! We need his favorite song!” Dustin shouted above you, the boy’s face soaked in tears.

“Centerfold! Centerfold! He won’t stop listening to it!” You shout back, never taking your eyes from Steve.

“I don’t know if I have that man!” Eddie replied in a panic.

“Then find something! Anything!” You scream back.

Steve was beginning to understand as he followed the trip down memory lane Vecna/ Henry had laid out for him. A misunderstood little boy who unlocked powers that would become catastrophic in his hands. Who knew that torturing and mutilating animals wasn’t even on the top ten list of heinous shit he would go on to do.

“My mother somehow knew it was me and she despised me for it. She called a doctor. An expert, so she left me with no choice. No choice but to act. To break free.” He explained, showing Steve what he did that night. How he killed his own family like they were nothing.

Despite his plan for his father taking the fall, working, he didn’t account for the doctor his mother called. Doctor Brenner.

“Anything?!” Robin asked.

“Still looking!” Nancy screamed

“Look harder, Wheeler!” She yelled back, repeatedly slapping Steve as hard as she could. She would apologize for his bright red cheeks later if it meant he lived.

Steve was now in the lab, watching as a man in white hair tattooed the boy. 001. He read from the boy’s wrist.  It made his heart break, realizing that the same had been done to you. This old piece of shit strapped you down, made you a number, made you part of his program. He kept you in the same place as this monster.

“When he realized he couldn’t control me, he tried to recreate me.” Vecna/Henry/001? Steve was no longer sure what to call him at this point. “He started a program. Others were born from me, but 009 is different. She’s not of me. She’s something else. She’s something we want.”

“We? Who’s we?” Steve finally spoke, still watching as the boy writhed in pain under the needle.

“I see you have a lot of questions, so take a seat, Steven.”

“You’re out of your goddamn mind!” Steve refused, running out of the room into the hall. His breath hitched when he found the walls smeared in blood, mangled bodies just like Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick’s lined the floor. It was horrific. Then he heard the screaming. The voices young and old, screaming and pleading for their lives from an entity they couldn’t see. They haunted his ears as he took off down the hall, searching for a way out. This first door he arrived at was boarded up. He pulled as hard as he could, fighting to tear them off.

“Come on…you son of a…bitch!” He grunted as he finally got one loose.

“Steven.” Vecna called for him down the hall. “What are you doing? It’s not time for you to leave.” Steve’s eyes went wide when he turned at the sound of Vecna’s voice. Nothing could’ve prepared him for what he would see when he turned around. A brooding man marched towards him. The only prevalent features on his face were his piercing blue eyes. The rest of him was burned away, the exposed under layer of his skin was gray and black, a loud squelch sounded under his feet with every heavy step he took. It was hard for him to believe that this was the little blonde boy.

Steve figured he still had the chance to make it out when he noticed Vecna’s slow pace.

“Now you’ve seen where I’ve been. I would very much like to show you where I’m going.”

Vecna’s words fell on deaf ears when Steve was able to break enough through to get to push open the wide double doors.

“Take a seat, Steven.” Dr, Brenner stood before him. His eyes glazed over, being operated like a vessel for Vecna.

Before he even had a chance to move, Steve was strapped down in a tattoo chair.

“Let go of me you piece of shit!” Steve yelled, fighting against the vines wrapping around him to keep him confined to the chair.

“That’s funny. 009 said the same thing.” Steve gritted his continuing to fighting, despite knowing Vecna was just trying to get a rise out of him with the comment.

“Don’t talk about her you bastard!” He seethed, even as Vecna himself towered above him.

“I want you…” Vecna leaned down to Steve’s eye level. “I want you to tell Nine  and Eleven everything you see.” He demands before holding a clawed hand over Steve’s face.

“NO!” Steve screamed, trying to close his eyes to shut out the images of Hawkins burning, but it didn’t work. The chiming grandfather clock cutting in between images of gates opened from each of Vecna’s kills ripping open to destroy the town.

“Tell them that they should try harder the next time they attempt to kill me!” The words ripped through Vecna’s throat

Your world felt like it started again when Steve’s eyes rolled back into place. The rigidity in his body relaxed when he released a relieved gasp.

“Oh my god!” You pulled him into you, burying his face into his shoulder. You were sure you’re suffocating him but neither if you minded as you clung to each other. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” You assured him, soothingly petting the back of his head as he sobbed into your shoulder. ‘I got you.” You both cried. At this point not even the jaws of life could separate the two of you.

“He’s ok…he’s…he’s back!” Robin shouted up to the group as she wiped the tears from her face.

“I-I hate to break up a lover’s reunion but can I-”

“Yes!Yes! Get in here!” You extend an arm to the girl who was quick to accept rushing over.

“You scared that shit out of me, Dingus. She cried into his shoulder. He squeezed her as tight as he could with his single arm.

“I know that was…that was…”

Taglist:

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You, Robin, and Nancy had been brainstorming all night long after the rest of the group fell asleep. Stopping Vecna and clearing Eddie’s name already felt like a herculean task, but now that Max’s life was on the line, everything felt heavier. You needed to learn as much as you could about Vecna as fast as you could.

“What if we went straight to the source?” You suggest.

“What do you mean?” Robin questioned.

“What if we talked to Victor Creel? I mean who better to ask than the one to experience it.” You continue.

“How? Who's gonna let a bunch of teenagers just waltz in there and ask to speak to a man declared criminally insane.” Robin pointed out. 

“What if we weren’t a bunch of teenagers. What if we could be college students or anything that makes us seem more prestigious? We could say we’re working on our thesis and we need to talk to Victor. I mean worst case scenario, we’re back here at square one and best case, we learn some vital information.” You surmise.

“That might work, actually. We could swing by the school again tomorrow morning. I still have the newsroom key. We can draw up some fake documents and just hope we can sell the shit out of this.” Nancy nodded along in agreement. Despite the argument between the two of you, she had to admit that this was the best option at the moment.

After coming back from the school the following morning, the three of you bounded down the basement stairs.

“We have a plan!” Nancy announced to the group. The boys who had been reading through copies of the Weekly Watcher that you printed before leaving the library, perked up.

“Yeah, thanks to this beautiful noggin…” Robin brought a finger up to tap against your forehead. “And Nancy’s newspaper minion, we are now rockstar psychology students at the University of Notre Dame.” Robin explained to the boys, each of them skimming through the folders of your new identities.”

“I’m now Ruth.” Nancy began.

“I’m Rose.” Robin went next.

“And I’m Ruby.” You finally introduce with a smile.

“Ruby?” Steve asked, surprised by your name choice.

“What? I like it.”

“I know, I just thought we were saving it for you know…the future.” We. He didn’t even catch it.

“It doesn’t mean I can’t use it now.” You shrug. If anything it means more to you now if things go according to plan.

“Nice GPA.” Dustin complimented when he read the 3.9 on Nancy’s resume.

“Thanks.” She smiled widely at his words.

“What’s the plan?” Lucas piped up to ask.

“We called Pennhurst Asylum, and told them we’d like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we’re co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics.” You began to explain, slightly grimacing at the fact your plan almost went up in flames.

“To which they said no.” Robin cut in.

“But we landed a three o’clock appointment with the director. Now all we have to do is charm and convince him to let us talk to Victor. Then maybe we’ll know enough to get rid of this shitty curse.” Your eyes wandered over to Max, who was sitting at the basement’s desk, seemingly writing a novel.

“Yeah, about that. We’ve been doing our Victor Creel homework and uh, we’ve got some questions.” Steve began.

“Yeah, lots of questions.” Your brother piped up beside him.

“So do we. We just hope that Victor can answer them.” Nancy agreed.

“Wa-Wait a second…Where’s mine?” Steve asked as he flipped through the three folders.

“Honey, you’re out of your mind if you think I’m babysitting again.” Steve complained as the three of you followed Nancy to her bedroom.

“You’re not babysitting, ok. The boys can handle themselves. This is about you keeping an eye on Max.”

“Oh my god, you have a Tom Cruise poster!” Robin squealed behind her, her wide eyes taking in anything and everything she could.

“That’s…old.” Nancy tried to defend as she looked through her closet. “Can you please not touch anything?!” She snapped as Robin began to pick up her knick knacks and riffle through her cassettes.

“I know this sucks, babe, but she won’t talk to the boys the way she talks to us.”

“What if I can help with this director guy though? I could, you know, turn. on. my. charm.” He punctuated with snaps.

“I know and deceiving an asylum director is on my top ten list of date ideas with you, but this is about Max right now and making sure she’s ok. And I promise that next time one of us gets a hunch or a lead or some other crazy shit, then you can do it. No questions asked, ok.” You assured him with honest eyes.

“Yeah…yeah.” He began to nod along. “For Max.” He agreed, knowing that in the end his mind would always be on Max if he tagged along. She had started to become like a sister to him the same way Dustin had become his brother. They bonded over the feeling of not having a place at home and finding that sense of family in people they never expected. They also had to admit that the Sinclairs did an absolute number on them.

“I’m holding you to that promise though.” He smirked, accepting your proposal.

“If it makes you feel better, you’re not really the charm we need.” Nancy cut in.

“How would that make me feel better?” He huffed, both of your eyebrows knitting together at the comment.

“Not like that.” She began, continuing to pick through her closet. “It’s just that I did a little digging last night and it turns out this Dr.Hatch is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Harvard visiting scholar. He’s a lifelong student of the world and if we’re gonna win him over then we have to convince him that we are too. That like him, we are academic scholars.”

“Holy shit, y/n. There’s a little ballerina in here.” Robin commented in amazement, showing off the small figure spinning as the twinkly music poured from the  jewelry box.

“Ok, I know that I’m staying, but is she giving you an academic scholar vibe?” Steve asked, making the girl roll her eyes and slam the box closed.

“No…” Nancy immediately replied. “But she will.” She finished, holding up a pink button up shirt with a frilly collar.

“Oh, please tell me you’re joking.” Robin’s face fell.

“No. That goes for you too, y/n.”

“What?! Why me?” You throw your hands up.

“I just mean that you might want to go more…simple, maybe.”

“Simple?” You raise your eyebrows at the word.

“Yeah…It’s just that I don’t think this guy will understand your style is all.” She explained, now trying to find her own outfit.

“I’ll try my best, alright. I don’t have much ‘simple’ to choose from.” Of course you had more formal clothes, but almost nothing that didn’t illuminate your personality. It's just not how you’re wired.

“What do you think?” You asked Steve, modeling your outfit for him. You were still unsure about it. You knew that you looked fine, good even. Still you just didn’t feel enough like yourself, as your eyes landed on the vibrant blue heap of clothes on your floor that you originally picked out, but of course wasn’t simple enough.

“It looks like you're gonna pull me into your office and show me whose boss.” He smirked as his hands found your hips. 

“One, we don’t have time for you to talk like that…” You began, a smile breaking across your lips. “Two, I feel more like a secretary than a boss right now.” 

“Then you’re the sexiest secret I’ve ever met.” He compliments, pressing a sweet kiss to your lips.

“Mmhm…We gotta stop. Robin and Nancy are waiting.” You reluctantly pull away from him.

“One more?” He pleaded.

“No, because one will become five, then ten, then we’re never gonna leave.” You explain, knowing how this always goes.

“Ugh, fine…but can you hold onto this for later maybe.” He mumbled in your ear.

“Ew, you perv.” You smack his shoulder, letting out a light chuckle.

“I’m sorry, but you put the thought of you as a sexy secretary in my brain, now I can’t stop thinking about it.” He held his hands up as he defended himself.

Robin hadn’t stopped fiddling with her collar since the moment you saw her. Everything out of her mouth had been a complaint about what she was wearing, which you understood. The textures of different fabrics against her skin was driving her crazy and the fact that she couldn’t go two seconds without tripping over the incredibly short heels too small for her feet didn’t help.

“I can’t breathe in this thing, and I’m itchy. I’m itching all over.”

“It’s not all about comfort, ok? We’re academics.” Nancy chided her as the three of you walked up the long stretch of road to the main entrance of Pennhurst. 

“Who are apparently coming straight from Easter brunch. Also, this bra that you gave me is really pinching my boobs.” She grumbled, beginning to pick at her clothes and adjust herself for more comfort without a care for subtly.

“Ok, could you just let y/n and I do the talking? If that’s even possible?” Nancy replied pointedly.

“It’s not only possible. It’s inevitable, because shortly I’ll be dead from strangulation.” She shot back, tugging on the frilly collar yet again.

“Stop pulling in it, you're gonna rip the collar.” You lightly smack her hand away.

“If I do, I’ll buy her a new one. I’m sure Nancy would prefer that to taking her blouse off of a corpse.

When you arrived, you were led to Dr. Hatch’s office. His wall was lined with bookcases, every shelf full to the brim with books and trophies of his achievements. The wall behind his desk was decorated with certificates and diplomas he’d spent decades earning. Nancy was completely right when she described him as a lifelong student of the world.

The three sparred glances at each other as the man sat in front of you scanned through the falsified documents you presented him. 

“3.9, 3.8., 4.0. Very impressive GPAs, ladies.” He complimented,though you could hear the disdain in his voice. Sure you were lying, but it felt like you weren’t being believed just because you were women.

“And this is a recommendation from Professor Brantley.” You handed Hatch the letter you had been holding onto. In the corner of your eye, you caught Robin fidgeting once again with her collar, trying and failing to get comfortable.

“Yeah, I know Larry quite well, actually.” Nancy’s wide eyes met yours before, focusing back in on the doctor before he could sense the anxiety coursing through the three of you. “ You know what they say, ‘Those who can’t do, teach.’ ” He joked, receiving a polite chuckle from the three of you, hoping to butter him up a bit.

“That’s actually why we’re here. I mean we can only learn so much in a classroom.” You spoke in your customer service voice, making sure to maintain eye contact with the man who was holding the key to saving Max in his hands.

“Mmm…and I’m sympathetic to your struggle, truly. But there is a protocol to visiting a patient like Victor. You have to put in a request and then you have to undergo a screening process, at which point the board will make a decision.” Your faces immediately fell. You knew it was a high possibility that he would turn you down, but actually having the door slammed in your face was like a blow to the chest. “I can see you’re disappointed, but I’m more than happy to give you a tour of our facility. Perhaps you can even speak to some patients in our low-security wing.” Hatch looked between the three of you, his bias against women in this field clear in his tone.

“And we would love that. It’s just that our thesis is due next month.” Nancy replied, trying her best to keep the demure, academic facade up as if she’s not cursing this asshole in her head.

“And you’re out of time. Whose fault is that?” He replied coldly.

“Ours, absolutely. And I do apologize-” Robin, suddenly cut Nancy off. 

“Don’t apologize, Ruth. Screw that.” She began. Both yours and Nancy’s eyes went wide, worried she was about to light the bridge that was already doused in gasoline. “The fact of the matter is that we did put in a request months ago and we were denied. Then we reapplied and were denied again. And coming here was our last-ditch effort to save our thesis, and I really…I can’t breathe in this thing…” Robin’s rant began to take a turn as she yet again fiddled with the collar she assumed would be her cause of death.

“Well, Rose, maybe you’d like to go outside and get some air.” Nancy suggested through gritted teeth, hoping Robin would leave the room and take her frantic and nervous energy with her.

“Maybe I should, Ruth…” She slapped the table before rising to her feet. “Because I’m starting to think this whole thing is a colossal mistake. I’m breaking out in a rash. My boobs hurt and to tell you the truth, Anthony. May I call you Anthony?” Nancy’s eyes found yours, begging you to make her stop, but you knew Robin almost always had a trick up her sleeve. ‘Trust her.’ You tried your best to subtly mouth as Robin continued to rant. “These aren’t actually my clothes. I borrowed them because I wanted you to take us seriously, because nobody takes girls seriously in the field. They just don’t. We don’t look the part or whatever, but can I tell you a story? 1978, I was at summer camp and my counselor Drew told me and everyone in Cabin C the true story of the Victor Creel Massacre, and little Petey Mchew, you know Petey, right, Ruby?”

“Of course I do.” You nod, knowing that Petey was actually Penny and that she was Robin’s first kiss.

“Little Petey Mchew started sobbing right there on the spot. I mean full on hyperventilating and all the other campers couldn’t sleep for weeks. And I couldn’t sleep either, but not cause I was scared, but because I was obsessed with the question ‘What would drive a human being to commit such unimaginable acts?’ Other kids wanted to be astronauts, basketball players, and rockstars, but I wanted to be you. I wanted to be you, so forgive me if I’ll now try anything in my power, including wearing this ridiculous outfit if it means I might get to speak to the man that ignited my passion and learn a little bit more about how his twisted, but let’s face it, totally fascinating mind works. So, yes, we don’t have the official paperwork, but don’t tell me that cry-baby Petey Mchew wouldn’t have gotten an audience with Victor in a matter of moments if he asked politely, because you and I both know that he would. So…ten minutes with Victor, that’s all I ask.” A silence hung in the air for a moment. Dr. Hatch’s face flashing a range of emotion. The three of you were at the edge of your seat, waiting with baited breath for his answer.

“Ten minutes. That’s all.” He finally replied. The three of you tried your best to contain your excitement and relief.

You followed behind Hatch the man informing his secretary of his brief absence. Robin held her hand out, earning a downlow high five from you as you smiled proudly at her. That’s what you loved so much about her. She was amazing at turning her ‘weakness’ into her superpower.

A guard was posted by the big door to the small wing of the asylum designated for maximum security patients.

“Do you think it would be possible to speak to Victor alone?” Nancy asked.

“Alone?” Hatch questioned, his hard exterior returning as he sauntered up to Nancy.

“I think that we would just love the challenge of speaking with Victor without the safety net of an expert such as yourself.” You explain, adding an extra layer of flattery. The three of you plastered on polite smiles, waiting for the man to hopefully give in.

“Yes, why not? You’ve caught me in a rebellious mood” He finally with a chuckle to cover the tinge of suspicion had returned. “And there’s something rather urgent I need to check on anyway, so…sure.” He continued. You could feel the sinking feeling in your stomach. You knew that he knew, you just hoped he hadn’t caught on to fact yet. “Keep a close eye on them.” He instructed the security guard. The three of you thanked Hatch as he scurried up the stairs.

“Follow me.” The guard commanded, finally unlocking the heavy door.

 It felt like you were being led through a dungeon when you crossed the threshold. It had been cast in darkness, most of the brightness coming from the very dim yellow lights on the ceiling.

“Do not startle him. Do not touch him. Do not pass him anything. Stand five feet away from the bars at all times. Is that clear?” The guard instructed flatly.

“Yes, sir.” The three of you reply.

“Victor.” He called out to the man hunched over his desk. “Today’s your lucky day! You got visitors. Real pretty ones.” He smiled, your skin immediately began to crawl as his eyes looked between the three of you. “Must be in one of his moods. Have fun.” He finished when Victor still didn’t reply, the only sound filling the space had been his ragged breathing as his nails scraped against the desk’s hard surface. 

A grimace grew on your face as you watched him. Not from fear, but from sadness. The small cell Victor was confined to had been his life. He hadn’t breathed outside air since he arrived. He didn’t get outside time or group therapy. He was essentially in solitary confinement until the day he died. It made you think about Eddie. If this didn’t work. If you don’t catch Vecna and when Eddie’s eventually found, he would end up in the same position. Cut off and alone. A man you could only speak through if you had the right paperwork. A case study for future generations to read and write about. To make him a part of their thesis.

“Victor, my name is Nancy. Nancy Wheeler.” She slowly and calmly introduced herself. Both you and Robin quickly followed after her, introducing yourself to the man.

“We have some questions.” Robin begins.

“I don’t talk to reporters. Hatch knows that.” His gruff voice finally spoke.

“We’re not reporters. We’re here because we believe you.” You assured him calmly, inching closer to the bars, hoping to bridge that gap and prove you’re not afraid of him. Robin followed your lead, walking up to the bars.

“We’re also here because we need your help, because whatever killed your family, we think it’s back.” Her words make Victor’s hand stop scratching the table. The man finally turned to face the three of you, all of your eyes growing wide with shock when they landed on his face. His own eyes deeply scarred and disfigured. You would’ve assumed they were sewn closed if it weren’t for the scarred whites in between peeking through to highlight that they were permanently closed with no help.

Nancy spent the next few minutes, quickly catching Victor up with the murders and the symptoms that came with the curse of Vecna.

“Does anything we’ve told you sound like what happened to your family?” Nancy asked. “Victor? I know this is hard, b-”

“You don’t know anything!” The man immediately lashed out.

“You’re right. We don’t know. That’s why we’re here. To learn and to understand.” You jump in hoping to calm him.

“We need to know how you survived that night.” Robin continued.

“Survived?” The man began to chuckle at the word. “Is that what you call this? Did. I. survive?” He questioned, threw his hand up to emphasize the environment. “No, I assure you, I’m still very much in hell.” 

Victor went on to tell you his story. About how he and his family moved into a beautiful house. How everything seemed so perfect. A fairytale his daughter had described, despite the fact his son was still cautious. A smile had grown on his face as he reminisced on all the good that preceded the bad. The smile he wore quickly dropped into one of deep sorrow as he continued on. Things took a sharp turn after about a month. It started with dead animals of all kinds. Each of them clearly tortured and mutilated. The police chalked it up to wildcats, refusing to believe the man for the first time of many. Then came the visions and nightmares that haunted both their sleep and the daytime. They could never escape it. It was always there to terrorize them, like a lion playing with its food. That was until it got too hungry and began to bite.

They had been having dinner when it happened. The radio switched on, on its own, sending a chill down the family’s spine. Despite it becoming routine at this point, it horrified them every single time.

“It took Virginia first.” He sat down on his bed, beginning to wring his hands together in hopes that it would calm him down. “I tried to get the children out, to save them, but I was back to France. I was back in the war. It was a memory from when I thought German soldiers were inside. I ordered a shelling, but I was wrong.” Victor brought his hands to his ear as he could cut the noises bouncing around in his head. “This demon, it was taunting me. And I was sure that it would take me, just as he’d taken my Virginia, but then I heard another voice. At first I thought it was an angel and I followed her only to find myself in a nightmare far worse. WHile I was away, the demon took my children. Henry had slipped into a coma shortly after that and a week later he died. I tried to join them. I tried…” The man began to cry as he mimed stabbing himself in his eyes. “Hatch stopped the bleeding…He wouldn’t let me join them.” The man weeped despite the fact that nothing could fall from them. Victor finally collapsed in his bed, pulling himself into the fetal position, beginning to rock.

“Who was the angel you followed?” You ask. In lieu of a verbal response, Victor began to hum. The tune immediately caught your ears, your eyes widened in recognition. You could feel Robin and Nancy’s gaze shift to you as the melody echoed in his cell.

“What did your house look like Victor?” You ask, the connection beginning to form in your brain. “I know it’s hard Victor, but please.” You pleaded when he continued to hum as if Ella Fiztgerald was the guardian of his impenetrable safe place. 

“Is he everything you hoped he would be?” Hatch interrupted, her voice carrying from the other end of the hallway. Your heads immediately snap over at the doctor swiftly approaching, another security guard marching behind him for extra muscle. “I just had a very interesting conversation with Professor Brantely. Perhaps we should discuss it in my office while we wait for the police.”

Shit. 

“You’re not listening. Our friend is in danger.” Nancy tried to plead with Hatch as he led you to his office. The three of you had been sandwiched between him and two security guards.

“Do you really expect me to believe anything you have to say at this point?” He shot back.

“Listen, you pompous asshole, our friend is in real fucking danger. She could die and if she does, her blood will be on your hands. Victor Creel is telling the truth and that truth could be the difference in saving her life. ” You seethed.

“Boo hoo. You can tell your little sob story to the police.” He replied, his tone laced with venom. Your eyes narrowed at his callus and dismissive tone. You began to breathe deeply, trying your best to calm down before you ruined the man’s prospect of having any more ‘extracurricular activities.’ 

When you finally made it outside, Robin leaned into you and Nancy. The outdoors creating enough noise pollution so that only the two of you could hear her whispered words.

“Victor said that the night of the attack, everything was on in the house, but he made specific mention of the music. The song you heard, which obviously means something. Think about it. Hatch said that music can reach parts of the brain that words can’t. What if that’s the key? It might be the lifeline back to reality.” Robin explained, both you and Nancy nodding along to her theory. It was all you had at this point and it would mean nothing if you ended up at the police station.

“Ok…um…” You looked behind you, now aware of the space between the three of you and the guards. “I think we could beat them.”

“What?” Both Nancy and Robin ask.

“To the car. We can totally outrun them.”

“Ok, but there is no way in hell I can run in these shoes.” Robin replied.

“Then take them off. We need to create as much space as possible, so on the count of three we’ll make a break for it ok?”

“Yeah. Ok.” The pair agreed.

“Alright…1… 2…3!” The three of you break into a sprint. Robin kicked off her shoes, the pair catapulting through the air.

“Cinderella, you lost your slipper!” You heard a patient call out. You couldn't help the chuckle that forced its way up as you ran past him.

“Come on, come on!” You urged Robin when you made it to the grassy ledge you had to jump down in order to take a short cut back to Nancy’s car.

“Oh my god!” She leaped down, joining you and Nancy. The frilly white socks Nancy had lent her were now stained with dirt and grass.

“We’re almost there, come on!” You latched onto Robin’s wrist when she showed signs of slowing down.

“Oh my god!” She huffed again, pushing herself when the car was now only a short field away.

You had all yet to catch your breath as Nancy frantically tried to unlock her door.

“Hurry up!” Robin urged the girl along, her eyes spotting the guards, hot on your tails.

“I’m trying!” Nancy shot back, finally getting the key into the lock. “Get in!” Neither of you needed to be told twice, flinging yourselves into the car.

“Get out of the car! Get out of the car!” The guards caught up. One pounding on the windows while the other tried to open the locked doors.

“Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!” Robin exclaimed, as Nancy peeled out of the parking lot, leaving the men in the dust.

“Y/n, where the hell are you?! This is a code red! I repeat, a code red!” Dustin screeched from the walkie, resting in the seat.

“I’m here! We copy!” You reply, your heart beginning to race again at the boy’s frantic voice.

“Holy shit. Finally! Please, please, please tell me you guys have this figured out.” You wanted to ask what was wrong, fearing the worst, but you knew every second counted if Vecna had a hold on Max.

“Music! We think it’s a life line back to reality. If he has her then play music!” You shouted the instructions. Robin had turned in the front seat, your worried eyes meeting the other’s.

“What kind?” He asked, already digging through Steve’s collection of cassettes.

“We don’t know! Try her favorite song!” You suggested, now catching Nancy’s worried eyes as she spared every glance she could at you in the backseat. A new tension had settled in the car. Not one of malice and annoyance, but one of sheer terror.

“Do you know it?!” He asked, hoping to narrow things down, though he was sure Duran Duran was not on her list.

“It’s uh… uh… Oh! Kate Bush, ‘Running Up That Hill’. She's obsessed!”

“Thanks!” He shouted, digging until he found the copy Steve keeps in his car just for her.

“Wait, where are you guys?!” You ask

“Roane Hill Cemetery!” He shouted back.

“Why are they at the cemetery?” Nancy questioned, pulling a whiplash-inducing U-turn.

“That’s where Billy’s buried.” You explain, your leg now bouncing. 

You felt absolutely useless, mounting guilt weighing on your shoulders. Maybe Steve was right. Maybe you should’ve swapped places. Maybe if you were there with her, Vecna wouldn’t be doing this to her.

The party was huddled around Steve’s car when the three of you arrived.

“Thank god.” You felt like you could finally breathe again when you spotted Max in Lucas’ arms. The hold he had on her was tight like he was scared she would disappear if he let her go.

“I’m ok. I’m ok.” She tried to reassure the three new worried faces on the scene.

“You scared the shit out of us, dude.” She said, finally relieved.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don't apologize, we’re just glad you’re ok.” You promised, saddened by the fact she felt the need to apologize just for surviving.

“Thanks to you guys. How did you figure it out?” Dustin asked you.

“We got to talk to Victor. When he got overwhelmed telling us about the night Vecna came, he started humming ‘Dream A Little Dream of Me’…” The group’s eyes went wide feeling the weight of the revelation. “And the doctor we talked to said that music can sometimes do what words can’t. We knew the connection had to mean something. We just hoped maybe it would hold Vecna off long enough until we can really get to the bottom of this.” 

“Ok, we need to know everything Victor told you guys. Every detail that seems insignificant, any word that seemed like a mistake. Anything.”

Steve and Lucas were currently on ‘Max Watch’, the pair being the first to volunteer.

 You had all decided that someone needed to keep an eye on the girl. Despite the fact that she and Kate Bush had become best friends over the past few hours, her headphones not coming off unless absolutely necessary. You still all knew that it was a bandaid to something that needed stitches, but it was all you had at the moment.

“Are you ok, man?” Steve whispered, trying not to disturbed the rest of you who had crashed after an exhausting day. Lucas had understandably been off ever since you left the cemetery. He was quiet, looking like he was running circles in his head. Steve caught it immediately, finally having time to ask now that they were as close to alone as they could get.

“Yeah, I just…I can’t stop thinking about what happened. She was just floating there and I couldn’t…I couldn’t help her. I told her that she could trust me. I said I would be there for her, but I couldn’t do anything. I thought I was gonna lose her. I thought I would never get to tell her that I love her again. I thought…” He fought to get his words out as his eyes began to well.

“I get it, man. I really do. I felt the same way you did. I still feel that way sometimes and I know it hurts…” His eyes drifted down to you, your head rested on his lap as you slept. “You think you can move mountains to protect her, then shit happens and you realize you can’t. You feel like you failed the person you love the most and that you ruined everything you’ve worked so hard to build together. That’s what I thought. It felt like I was losing y/n twice and it would be permanent. I mean who would give a guy like me a third chance?” He hadn’t even realized his thumb was lightly gliding across your cheek as he spoke.

“What did you do?” Lucas asked, his eyes finally breaking from Max to look at Steve.

“I realized all I needed to do was see her. We can’t fix them and hope they’ll stay just because we did. We have to prove that we love them even when they’re broken.”

“I do. I just want her to know that.”

“She does, man. I saw what happened after she fought off Vecna. It was you that she clung to. In that moment she wanted you more than anything else. She could’ve pushed away or ran off to be alone, but she didn’t.”

“Yeah, yeah she didn’t.” Lucas finally cracked a smile.

“That’s just how love works. You can’t control it, no matter how hard you try.”

“I guess so, man. Thanks.” He nodded along in agreement.

“Anytime, Sinclair.”

You jolted awake when you could hear the walkie crackling in the distance.

“Dustin, do you copy? Dustin, do you copy?” You made out Eddie’s voice when you were finally in reach of it. “Earth to Dustin.” Eddie called again when he got no reply.

“Hey, it’s y/n.” You reply in a low tone, hoping not to disturb the others.

“Oh my god, it’s the mage.” You could hear his smile through the phone, followed by a big sigh of relief. You had to admit you were taken aback at the nickname the party had given you and El years ago.

“Are you ok out there? Any visitors?” You ask.

“No, I’m just gonna need a food delivery really soon, unless you want me going out into the world.”

“Please don’t do that. You don’t have to threaten your arrest for some, dude. Just stay where you are and we’ll get to you as soon as we can, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…um, could you pick me up another six-pack too.”

“Ye-oh, shit! I need to call you back!” You put the walkie down, giving Eddie no time to respond when you realized Max was gone from her place on the couch.

“Dustin!” You immediately try to shake the boy awake.

“Mm.” He began to stir.

“You’re supposed to be on Max Watch. You said you could handle solo duty.” You scolded him

“Yep, yep, yep. I can.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Then where the hell is she?” You raised your eyebrows at him.

“She’s right there.” He pointed to the empty couch. “Ok, she was there a second ago. I swear I just dozed off for…an hour.” He finished slowly after checking his watch.

“Oh my god, I could kill you.”

“What’s going on?” Nancy stirred at the commotion.

“He lost Max.”

“He what?!” She sat up, now fully awake.

“Come on, we have to find her.” You were quick to your feet. The three of you bounded up the stairs, your eyes snapping around every corner in the house. A collective sigh of relief was released from the two of you when you found her at the kitchen table, drawing.

“Morning, guys.” Karen cheerfully greeted as she flipped pancakes on the stove. “Everything ok?”

“Yeah, mom. Everything’s great.” Nancy assured her mom, despite still being shaken up.

“I think it’s so sweet that you guys are sticking together like this.” Karen smiled.

“Could try sticking together at a different house for a change.” Ted grumbled, pulling his eyes away from the morning paper to stare daggers at Dustin.

Both you and Nancy tuned out their squabble to sit down next to Max, the redhead pulling her headphones down to give the two of you her attention.

“Hey.” She solemnly greets.

“Hey. How you holding up?” You ask, peeking down scattered drawings on the table.

“Fine, I guess. I just couldn’t sleep. People kept blasting music in my ears for some reason…” She joked knocking her shoulder with yours, cracking a smile for the first time in what felt like an eternity and you couldn’t help but smile along with her. “But Holly let me borrow some of her crayons. We’ve been having a fun morning, right Holly?” She spoke to the girl who had been consumed by her Lite Brite.

“Mmhmm.” Was all that Max got from her.

“Is this what you saw yesterday?” You ask, now focusing in on the dark nature of the drawings.

“I mean, it’s supposed to be. I thought it would be easier to draw it then explain it, you know?”

“Is that…?” Nancy’s question died on her tongue when her eyes landed on a drawing of Chrissy and Fred’s mangled bodies attached to a skull mounted pillar.

“Yeah. It was like they were on display or something and there was red fog everywhere. It was like a dream.” 

“Do you think Vecna’s trying to scare you?” Nancy asked.

“With Billy? Yeah, but when I made it here, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. It was like he didn’t want me there.” She hypothesized.

“Maybe you infiltrated his mind.” Dustin jumped in, now taking a seat at the table. “He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Kind of like Freddy Krueger’s boiler room.” His face lit up with excitement.

“Freddy Kruger?” Holly asked from beside him.

“He’s this super burned up dude with razors for fingers and he kills you in your sleep.” He explained, making Holly’s face drop.

“Dude.” You drop your head into your hand.

“Dustin, seriously?” Nancy immediately chastised the boy.

“Sorry, It’s a movie. It’s not real.” He tried to assure the girl once he finally caught on to what he did.

“Wait, what if he’s right, though?” You perked up. “What if this place in his mind is the key to all of this shit? It has to be very important if he didn’t want you there.” You surmise, beginning to parcel through the photos.

“Yeah, it has to be somewhere in these incredibly vague drawings. Can you make that out?” Dustin asked, his eyes narrowing on one of them. Your eyes went wide, snatching the paper from him

“Shi-oot!” You quickly corrected yourself.

“What?” Dustin leaned closer.

“This is it! The door in my nightmare. Stained glass, red rose. This is exactly it.” 

“Wait, wait, wait. Hand me that.” Nancy prompted. “I think I’ve seen this before.”

“What do you mean?” Dustin asked, watching as Nancy sorted through the pieces, folding them to fit into a bigger picture. “Look familiar?” She asked you when every paper was properly aligned.

“That’s Victor Creel’s house.” 

The house was decrepit when you arrived. The beautiful blue exterior Victor had described was now a faded blue, covered in creeping vines. Its beautiful white trim is now dirty and withered from the weather termites. Every window had been boarded up, an action taken by the city when they condemned it decades ago.

The group gathered around the front door, watching as you raised your hand, pulling the nails from the wooden slat that had been fastened to the door to keep curious teens like you out.

“What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?” Steve questioned.

“We’re not exactly sure. We just know that this house is important to Vecna.” Nancy answered.

“It has to have clues in here somewhere. It’s no coincidence that y/n and Max both saw this place.”

“We don’t think he’s in here, right?” Lucas asked, shocked that no one else had raised the point.

“Guess we’ll find out, goober.” You reply, removing the last load bearing nail.

Steve’s hands found your waist pulling you out of the way when the slat fell with a thud, kicking up a decades worth of dust from the porch.

The front door no longer had its shine. The wood was warped and the vibrant glass was now caked in a mountain of dirt, its colors completely washed out.

“It’s locked.” Steve sighed when he tried to turn the knob. “Should I knock and see if anybody’s home?” He joked.

“No need. I found a key.” Robin smiled, picking up a brick from the porch, throwing it through the glass. The group jumped back immediately at the sudden noise.

“Jesus, what the hell, Rob!” Steve let out, his eyes flicking from the broken glass then back to her.

“You know I could’ve just opened it, right?” You stated the obvious.

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” She shrugged with a smile.

The seven of you inched into the house, the floorboards creaking under almost every step.

“Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill.” Lucas joked when he tried to flick on a table lamp.

“Where’d everyone get those? Where’d you get yours, babe?” Steve asked, now realizing you all had your own flashlights.

“Do you need to be told everything? You’re not a child.”

“Mmhm.” Steve narrowed his eyes at the boy as he handed him his backpack.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, back pocket.”

“That kid has such an attitude problem.” Steve complained.

“I know. I think it’s in his tone.” You nodded along.

“Exactly.

“Hey guys. You all see that, right?” Max asked, her flashlight shining on the grandfather clock decorating the hallway, earning a chorus of agreement.

“Is this the clock you guys saw?” Nancy asked, earning nods from you both.

“I mean, it’s just a clock…right?” She inched forward so that she could get a better look. “It’s just a normal old clock.”

“Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? Maybe he’s like a clockmaker or something?”

“I think you cracked the case Steve. A clock-making demon is haunting your girlfriend’s dreams.” Dustin sarcastically replied, making Steve roll his eyes at him.

“The answers have to be here somewhere. I know you’re gonna hate me saying this, but maybe we should split up.”

“Dude.” Robin threw her hands up.

“I know, but we have a lot of ground to cover.”

“Y/n’s right. Let’s just stay in groups of two, alright.” Nancy jumped in. Steve’s hand found yours, leaving no room for any other options.

“Let’s catch ourselves a wizard.” Steve’s hand immediately reached for yours, choosing you before Robin had the chance to pull you away.

“What are you doing man?” Steve asked, realizing that Dustin quickly followed behind the two of you as you made your way to the stairs.

“I’m following my partners.” Dustin smiled at the two of you.

“Ugh, come on, man.” Steve sighed.

“Was that a sigh?” 

“No, I did not sigh.” Steve lied,

“Why’d you sigh?”

“Because we’re always partners and I just want to spend a little alone time with my girlfriend.” He confessed.

“Alone time? What could possibly be romantic about this? Is this a fun date idea to you?” 

“Well, we’re already having a date at Pennhurst so-”

“Actually, we might want to switch up our plans.”

“Why? What did you do?” Dustin asked.

“We might’ve got caught lying then ran from some security guards after they called the cops on us.” You admitted to the boys.

“Oh my god. I’m dating a criminal.” Steve chuckled, shaking his head.

“Did you guys find anything?” You ask when you bump into Robin and Nancy.

“Nothing yet. We ju-”

“Did you hear that?” You cut off Nancy, immediately following the sound. You creeped out the room, picking up your pace when you found Steve freaking out in the hall.

“Woah, woah, woah! Calm down.” You jog up to him, your hands finding his shoulder in an attempt to ground him. “Are you ok?”

“It’s a spider.” 

“Oh my god.” You jump back immediately.

“It’s a black widow.”

“Ehhh.” Your face scrunched up in disgust as you stepped away.

“It’s ok, I got it off…just don’t go in there.” He slammed the door he just came out of.

“Ok…I just…oh no.” Your hand flew up to cover your mouth.

“Oh no? What’s oh no?”

“You have some…webs caught in your hair.”

“What?! Get them out.”

“What if it’s in there. Black widows kill people.” You grimace.

“I got it off, I promise.” 

“You’re not acting like you got it off!” You shot back, noticing his tense shoulders.

“I swear I did. I just need you to get the webs out, honey.”

“Ok, just give me a second.” You finally agreed, knowing that he would do this for you in an instant.

“Alright, I think I got it all.” You sigh, flailing your hand in the air to loosen the hold the webs had on your hands.

“You know if there is a spider in there, you’re never gonna know till it lays eggs and the babies spill out.” Robin spoke in a creepy voice to freak both of you out.

“Dude.” You playfully shove her, making sure to wipe the web's remnants on her jacket in revenge.

“What’s wrong with you?” Steve asked as a shiver ran down his spine at the thought. “She’s got problems.” 

“I know, but we love her.”

“Yeah, I guess. You know what they say. The obvious things are not what people observe or sorry…what they don’t observe or…” You raised your eyebrows in confusion as he butchered whatever he was trying to get out. “uh…Sherlock Holmes.” He finished with a childish pout.

“What?” You began to laugh at the jumbled phrase that fell from his mouth.

“I don’t know it’s some shit Dustin said. I thought it applied.” He answered.

“I’m sure it did. I guess I’ll have to read it for myself when this is all over.”

“Why do you need to read it? I clearly have the book memorized.”

“Oh yeah, what’s the title?”

“Uh…Steve Harrington Is A Genius and He definitely Didn't Butcher That Quote.

“Wow, what an oddly specific and long title.”

“I know, but I heard it’s a best seller.”

“Name another one.”

“Ok, um…What Clues Is The Clock Wizard Hiding In This House?”

“Ooo, one of my favorites.

“Great, what did it say?”

“It says w-”

“Guys!” Lucas called from the bottom of the stairs.

“What’s up?What happened?” You ask, bounding down the stairs to meet your brother.

“We found something.”

All of you gathered under the grandiose chandelier hanging above the dining room table. You stared in confused amazement at the fact it had been flickering. Its brightness warming the dusty room.

“It’s like the Christmas lights.” Nancy observed.

“Christmas lights?” Robin leaned over to ask you.

“When Will was in the Upside Down, the lights would flicker if he was near them. Joyce set up Christmas lights so that she could communicate with him.” You quickly explain.

“Right…” She nodded, still trying to catch up to the insanity that had been your lives.

“Does that mean Vecna’s in the house, just on the other side?” Lucas asked, hoping his theory wasn’t true. If he was right then Max was right here. It was like she was being served up on a silver platter.

“I think he just left the room.” Robin observed when the flickering light finally went out for good.

“Did he hear us?” Max asked.

“Can he see us? Steve followed.

“Headphones. Headphones.” Lucas urged Max to slide them back on.

“Everyone turn off your flashlights and spread out.” You suggest.

All of you fan out, inching through the darkness, waiting for a light to flicker.

“I think I got him!” You heard Robin call. All of you swarmed her right as her light started to dim. “I had him.” She deflated when her flashlight went dark again.

“Wait, wait. I got him now.” Steve piped up, his flashlight now glowing. “I think…I think he’s moving.” All of you followed behind Steve who was being guided by the light until you were led up to the attic.

The lone attic light was glowing as bright as a star. It was the strongest you had seen so far. Your flashlights flickered back to life. They shined as bright as they could manage as you shined them up at the light above you.

You knew that it could only mean one thing: Vecna was here.

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