writing in the apocalypse

one-shots

if i ever were to lose you (i’d surely lose myself)

“No—god, I just, I don’t care, okay? Forget about everything else—forget the kids, forget Robin, they’re not important right—you’re not even listening to me!” And she’s not. Her eyes are wide and she sits frozen, staring over his shoulder. Frustration spikes. He turns to follow her gaze, to see what the hell she’s looking at— —and he sees Robin.

or, Steve speaks without thinking, but words aren't the only thing that can hurt

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you’re the reason that i’m hanging on

Max picks at the hem of her sleeve. “Did you see the clock?” It occurs to her, distantly, that Max is seeking comfort as much as she’s offering it. Robin feels something stir in her chest, and she thinks she should say something. Do something. She thinks she would normally know what. Now, she just doesn’t.

or, the obligatory Robin gets Vecna'd fic

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the fallen leaves tell a story

"Say one day a Tarnished does take the throne. Say that you do. The smaller corners of the world will mean nothing to you, then, and neither will I.” “That doesn’t bother you?” “Why should it? I cannot change it, and it hardly affects me.” Nancy studies her for a long moment. “What’s your name?” “Robin,” says the woman. Nancy looks her over. Bright blue eyes. Freckles painted over her cheeks. Warm firelight making her glow. Robin.

or, the Elden Ring au that literally nobody asked for

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May Chaos Take the World

She wonders, looking over the empty ruins of the village, if it’s worth it. If anything in this wretched world has ever been worth it.

Robin is.

Nancy calls her to the grace, her hands empty, no strength to give or to gain, and yet Robin comes anyway. She kneels beside Nancy, keeping her space but smiling at her all the same.

“What do you wish of me?” she asks.

“Stay,” breathes Nancy.

To her delight, to her dismay, Robin does.

or, another elden ring au no one asked for

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screaming in the dark (i howl when we’re apart)

When Eddie asked what everyone was doing on Halloween, Nancy was prepared to hate whatever he had planned. At best she’d be indifferent, sitting around with the kids because they need even teams or something. Instead, she finds herself increasingly intrigued as Eddie continues to spin his tale. It helps that Robin keeps squirming beside her—crossing and uncrossing her legs, fingers tapping or twisting with the endless energy that buzzes through her constantly—and every motion seems to put her a little bit closer to Nancy.

or, the party plays Werewolf; game or reality, Nancy doesn't like the idea of losing Robin

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if you wanted, you could do no harm

She stops for gas at the station on the edge of town, the one that technically isn’t even in Hawkins, even though it serves as the universal indicator that you’re officially too far into rural small town America. There’s no one there as she fills the tank, no one there as she digs around the passenger seat for a road map she already knows she was stupid enough to forget, no one there when she growls under her breath and marches inside to buy one.

But when she turns around, map in her hand and a water bottle tucked beneath her arm, Robin Buckley is glaring at her.

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love like love’s no loss

“You’re getting that look on your face again.”

“What look?”

“Your ‘I’m planning something impulsive’ look.”

She rolls her eyes.

“Nancy. Please tell me you’re not planning on going out into the freezing cold just to check on Robin.”

or, Nancy goes out into the freezing cold just to check on Robin

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warm my bones and fill my glass

Robin finds her upstairs, in her room, curled up at the foot of the bed and staring numbly at the wall.

“Can I join you?” she asks quietly. “My character died to gnolls, so it got pretty boring pretty quick down there.”

Nancy doesn’t really nod, but she doesn’t say no, either. Robin sits down beside her, and they exist together in silence for a while.

or, Nancy doesn't have people. She only hurts them. Robin keeps showing up anyway.

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daylight’s dying (run, baby run)

Nancy kicks her toe lightly against the curb. The light buzzes as it flickers again, and she looks up at it, eyeing it just in case.

“I could fake my death.”

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sweetest submission, drinking it in

(smut/pwp) (posted anonymously)

Robin responded by taking Nancy’s wrists and slowly pulling them over her head. Nancy tilted her chin up as if in defiance. She could see Robin’s shadow hovering over her through the blindfold. The mattress dipped beside her, causing her to slide just slightly into Robin’s knees. Nancy sucked in a breath, part of her hoping that Robin would shift to straddle her, to use her warm weight to hold Nancy down as she— “Are you worked up already?” Robin asked, a low chuckle in her voice. - in which Nancy has a very, very good night

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Raise Dead series

Raise Dead

(warning: major character death)

“Okay,” Jonathan cuts in. “Can one of you explain what exactly you’re talking about?” “Raise Dead is a fifth level cleric spell that allows the caster to restore life to a humanoid creature,” Dustin reels off. “Wait, El can do that?” Steve turns to El. “You can do that?” El looks scared. “I don’t know.” “We’ll never know unless we try, and El’s definitely a powerful enough caster to—” “This isn’t your stupid game,” Nancy snaps.

or, Robin dies, the group falls apart, and the kids never know when to quit

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what could’ve been, would’ve been

It’s not all Robin’s fault, of course. Nancy doesn’t really spend that much time with them, and when she does, she usually keeps her thoughts to herself. So, despite the fact that Robin has been introduced to Hawkins’s own brand of hell now, Nancy finds that it’s easy to keep the distance between them. But there are times when Robin will lean over and whisper some sarcastic commentary for only Nancy to hear, and there are times when it will make Nancy laugh—genuinely, unexpectedly laugh. And there are times when Robin will grin at that, looking almost proud of herself.

or, the months leading up to March 1986

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i’m with you (that’s where i’ll stay)

Robin sleeps like…well, like the dead. It unnerves Steve, who more than once has taken her hand and pressed his fingers to her pulse just to make sure she’s still there. Robin is never this still, not even in sleep. He’s long since lost count of the number of times he’s woken up to the covers pulled away and tangled around Robin, or to her legs kicking gently against his, or to her having moved from his side to the edge of the bed and back again. Robin turns, she rolls, she twists and she tangles but the one thing she never does is stay still. Asleep in the hospital bed, pale and drowning in the starch white of her gown and the bedsheets, she barely even breathes.

or, coming back to life is easier with your friends around you

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thriving in the apocalypse series

(works listed here in timeline order, but you can go to the series page to find them in the order they were posted! it’ll make sense either way)

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as empires crumble and cathedrals flatten (in my heart)

Robin’s eyes are heavy when they meet hers. Nancy hears an accusation in her own voice. You saw this. You knew this would happen. You didn’t stop it.

or, the author is obsessed with Nancy's visions of the end of the world

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cast some light and you’ll be alright

Everyone else has someone. Everyone else has been caught in the aftermath. But Nancy—she pushes Jonathan toward Will, knowing he needs it more. And she puts makeup over the dark spots beneath her eyes. And she isn’t noticed by anyone.

or, nightmares in the wake of Vecna's victory

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soldier (on better things, your heart is hung)

“Does this count as littering?” Robin asks, nodding toward the cans. Nancy rolls her eyes. “We’ll clean them up.” “Okay.” Nancy bites back her smile and pulls out her revolver. She catches the way Robin tenses, but she pretends not to notice as she looks over the weapon.

or, Nancy chooses a successor

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i found a way (i found a way to reappear)

It’s not her conversation. It’s not her friendship. It’s not her house, or even her friend’s house. Nancy is your friend, she reminds herself. But Nancy isn’t here right now, either. And besides, Nancy has only ever been her friend at the end of the world. When there are mysteries to solve, and monsters to fight, and nightmares to talk about, Nancy is her friend. She thinks Nancy might be her friend other times, too, but it’s a theory that hasn’t been proven yet, and there’s a part of her that’s terrified of pushing her luck.

or, movie night at the Wheeler's house

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but your hand’s wet with sweat, and your head needs a rest

Robin looks over her shoulder. She can hear the boys grumbling in the bathroom, and then a peal of laughter. She looks back at Nancy and nods. They’re okay. Nancy’s expression softens. Slowly, she sits back down, and her friends immediately absorb her in their conversation. Still, her eyes flick back up to Robin again, a small smile in her gaze.

or, 4 times Robin sticks up for the party, +1 time Nancy sticks up for Robin

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all the comfort invested in my soul

Nancy's smile fades. “We can’t just go swimming to go swimming?” “At eight o’clock on a school night?” “School’s a joke these days anyway.” “Nancy.” Nancy frowns out the windshield. “It’s…stupid.” “Try me.”

or, Nancy faces a fear with Robin at her side

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breakfast for dinner

“What are you two up to tonight?” “Probably just heading home,” Max says with a shrug. El shifts beside her, a small frown pulling at her features. Robin twirls her keys around her finger, thinking. “Are you interested in a little field trip? I gotta get groceries on my way home.”

or, girls' night with Robin and Max and El

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made a family from people you found

“Will,” she says softly, then waits for him to look up at her again. “Do you want to tell me more, or do you want me to talk?” He looks torn between fleeing and crying. “I don’t—I don’t know how to talk about it.”

or, the Will and Robin coming out scene we deserve

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i don’t wanna live like this (but i don’t wanna die)

She’s not stupid. She knows it happens. Has spent too many late nights in Hawkins’s library poring over the books and newspaper clippings everyone else steers clear of to not know that it happens.

It just…doesn’t happen here.

Stupid, she thinks. Of course it happens here. If supernatural monsters can run rampant in Hawkins, homophobic killers can exist in the next town over.

or, sometimes, Robin still feels so alone

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when love became an act of defiance

Robin doesn’t know what’s worse: being on patrol when they run into something, or knowing that she could very well sleep through disaster on someone else’s night. Going with Steve makes it easier, but going with one of the kids makes it harder. Tonight, with Steve driving them to the trailer park and Will sitting in the backseat, Robin feels like she’s one bad scare away from losing her mind.

or, Robin finally snaps

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i looked around in a blood-soaked gown

She hasn’t been in the running for valedictorian since sophomore year, and there’s no way anyone in Hawkins High would vote her for class president, but somehow her mother was still delusional enough to expect some incredible achievement from her once graduation rolled around. I’m alive, Robin thinks. How’s that for an achievement?

or, the Hawkins High School Graduation Ceremony, 1986

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even in darkness i’m smiling (i know that fear is a good thing)

Back in the car, Max flips her knife open and shut, open and shut. “I want a flamethrower,” she says. “You want to give Steve a heart attack?” Robin asks. Max catches her gaze in the rear view mirror and grins.

or, Nancy, Robin, and Max patrol Hawkins late at night

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love will not break your heart

Robin's been so full of anger lately, of fear, of all these emotions that Nancy sees like a reflection, and others, feelings she doesn’t quite understand, but wants to ease the burden of all the same. And Steve has been fretting over Robin the last couple of weeks. Of course he would do something nice for her like this. But it doesn’t make sense for them to not tell anyone they were going.

And there it is, the fifth red flag: Steve lied.

or, Nancy gets the answer to a months-long question

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paint me in trust, i’ll be your best friend

Robin is avoiding her.

Well, no—that sounds drastic. Robin still smiles when she sees Nancy walk into a room. She still laughs whenever Nancy says something sarcastic or rolls her eyes at one of the kids. She even makes sure Nancy knows when and where movie nights are, and even votes to postpone when Nancy can’t make it to one.

But she won’t let Nancy touch her.

or, Robin Buckley, through Nancy's eyes

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what you care to die for

Mike swings at another demodog, and it doesn’t back off as much as it should. He makes a nervous sound, pulling back to try again, but Nancy steps in front of him and shoots once, twice, three times, until it finally goes down.

Her ears ring. She hears Robin’s voice, “Nice shot, Max,” and Steve’s grunt, and the sound of something making wet, heavy contact.

No screams. No cries for help. Mike steps back around her as she reloads.

Everything is fine.

or, Robin gets hurt, Nancy has a crisis, and at the end of the day, all you can do is hold onto each other

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on my mind atypical way

Honestly, she’s amazed it’s taken her this long to figure out.

But there’s something about that, about her head being so far behind that her heart is already so confidently made up. It makes this whole thing impossible to deny, but it also somehow keeps most of the anxiety at bay.

I like Nancy, she thinks, staring up at the ceiling of her room.

Duh. Of course you do, her heart says back.

And that’s that.

or, it's September 1986, and everything is fine

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i know i may not look like much (just another screaming speck of dust)

She huffs—a sharp, frustrated exhale—and threads her fingers through her hair. She keeps her hand there, pinning the annoying strands in place, and digs her nails into her scalp angrily. Nancy has been angry a lot lately.

or, Nancy Wheeler deserves to rage

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battle with the heart

Then she turns to offer the joint to Nancy, but Nancy gives a little shake of her head. Robin holds it out to her other side, intending on passing it back to Jonathan, but she gets caught in Nancy’s gaze, instead. She’s staring at Robin, her gaze heavy, something dark and serious in her eyes.

A different kind of serious than normal, Robin thinks. Not staring down monsters serious. Not planning for the end of the world serious. Not even putting together clues serious. Just…

“Rob?”

or, the first kiss fic

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let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear

Nancy is supposed to be back in town after months away, a week full of finals in the books, already thinking about next semester’s schedule and her plan to get more articles published in the paper. Instead, she’s spent the last few months patrolling the woods and falling in love.

or, a cozy night around the fire

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celebrity fake dating au

this story that we found ourselves in

(warning: misogyny and sexual harassment, substance abuse, addiction)

Three days later, they find a magazine on their doorstep. Steve flips it open to a picture of him kissing her cheek beneath tall, bold letters:

FANTASY ROMANCE ALIVE AND WELL

Stuck to the page is a crinkled post-it note and Jonathan’s handwriting: thanks for the tip—wishing you both the best.

Robin sinks into the kitchen chair. It’s official. She’s in a relationship with Steve Harrington.

or, the Robin-centric celebrity fake dating au

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now i am a heart with a head on my shoulders

“Look, I…” Max pauses. She tilts her head back, looking up at the ceiling as if searching for something, then drops it again and levels her gaze—surprisingly bright, full of a fire that she’s never been on the direct receiving end of—at Nancy. “I want to be a little better about this than I was with Steve, but I think we still need to talk.” Nancy’s thoughts race, then freeze. Her heart sinks a little. “Oh.”

or, Max and Nancy have a talk

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our hearts know deeper seasons than our memories

“I love you.” Robin keeps breathing. It’s not loud, but it’s so much more than what she’s grown used to. Her apartment has been mostly silent since May. It’s been empty since Mike stormed in a few weeks ago, the magazine with Robin’s interview rolled up in his hand, only to find her sitting at the kitchen table with tears in her eyes, already reading it. Nancy has been so alone for so long—was ready to be alone forever in penance for what she did. But she’s not. Robin is here, somehow, despite all the times Nancy pushed her away or let her go. “I’m so in love with you, Robin Buckley.”

or, the celebrity fake dating au, Nancy's POV

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blooming up from the ground

Content to follow Robin’s lead this time, with every new step they take together again, Nancy doesn’t think too much about the way Robin nips at her bottom lip, or the way her own legs tighten around Robin’s hips, or how her hands slide under Robin’s shirt to glide up the warm skin of her belly.

She doesn’t think about it. Not until Robin freezes under her touch.

or, it's January 1998, and the girls are healing together

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flayed!robin au

the devil’s after both of us

“Robin?” Steve asks, still trying to approach her. Robin shakes her head. She’s so pale. A bead of sweat trails down from her hairline. There’s a cruel light in her eyes that Nancy has never seen before—has never even thought Robin capable of.

Because Robin’s eyes aren’t cruel. They’re warm, and usually crinkled in a smile, or at least some level of mischief. Even when she’s angry, her eyes are bright, not dull and cold like they are now.

They’re also, Nancy realizes, usually blue. But now they’re dark, too dark, nearly black.

Nancy is so, so stupid.

or, the flayed!robin au

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karen gets vecna’d au

you’re not much, goodness knows

“It’s about your mother.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Nancy asks sharply.

But she knows. As Powell sighs again, looking helplessly down at his feet for an explanation he doesn’t have, she knows. As Steve looks anxiously between them—as behind her, Max peeks around the corner and starts walking closer—she knows.

or, the Karen gets vecna'd fic

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lethal company au

degenerate stars (you’re in deep)

(warning: major character death)

The Company doesn’t hire people for their brains. From what little Nancy could gather in her research before applying, the Company doesn’t pay too much to who they hire at all. Bodies are bodies. And though records are suspiciously sparse, she has a feeling the bodies pile up fast.

So, as annoying as Dustin is over the radio, he stays on the ship. Nancy looks Robin and Steve over quickly, hoping they can handle themselves out in the field. At least for as long as Nancy needs to get to the bottom of this.

or, the Lethal Company au   

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charmed au

i am human (and i need to be loved)

Robin has fought hard to get where she is, but she’s done it. She and Max are adults now. They have jobs, friends, lives that are free from the chaos and the danger of their past. If she carries a few secrets to maintain that peace, is that so wrong?

Max has dreams, memories, visions, maybe. She’s not sure. All she knows is that they mean something, that she knows this girl who keeps showing up—and that, despite what Robin tells her, she knows something, too.

After years spent in isolation, El finally finds a way to escape. She doesn’t know who she is or what she’s supposed to do now, so she goes to the only place in the world she can: home.