𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐗 !

he called over his shoulder as he went to collect the walkie. “and erica. and both my parents. and tracy.” lucas’ stomach dropped a little bit. he hadn’t meant to mention her. as he returned to the living room with the walkie and handed it off to max, lucas continued on like nothing had happened at all. “or willa and ward. he likes luke, though. probably star wars solidarity.” before sitting down, lucas plugged the christmas lights in and then wandered over to the kitchen and dug around in the fridge for a couple of cheap beers. he opened them and passed one off to her before he slid down to sit opposite her, legs crossed, and held a hand out to the cat. yoda flicked his tail and turned his lamp-like eyes away from lucas and back to max, purring away. 

“traitor,” lucas muttered as he tipped the bottle back and set the bottle aside. he took the offered walkie and rested it against his knee. he fiddled with the controls and bypassed the frequency he and the party used to communicate (still) and the one the kids used to talk in ‘secret’. he found a frequency that held nothing but static and set the walkie aside. he remembered walking in on mike fucking around with his walkie, the year el had left them, and he’d left it on one frequency for a while and left it, just in case el would pop in. he figured that was a decent enough starting point.

lucas picked at the label of his beer just for something to do with his hands and looked across at max, head tipped slightly. maybe it should have been weird to have her in his apartment, but it didn’t. it felt fine. normal, almost. yoda meowed at her as she talked and lucas couldn’t help but scoff. he mimed cat ears with his hands. “triangles,” he said, as if that explained everything. and then, because the question had been eating him up for days now- 

“how long do you think you’re gonna stick around?” 

.

“tracy?” max’s eyebrows shot up at the unfamiliar name. it didn’t matter if lucas was seeing someone or not, at all! but max would be curious to know why lucas hadn’t mentioned her, why she wasn’t here right now, and who she was all around. but lucas scampered off to the kitchen, so she wasn’t sure that was something she would be getting answers for tonight. max instead turned her attention to the walkie. she felt stupid as she sighed and pressed the button to talk into it, “luke? i’m max...i...i know your dad. are you there?” she was met with the silence of static and set the walkie down, turning to watch the wall. the christmas lights didn’t move. “maybe he doesn’t like me.” she said dryly, not thinking much of lucas’ theory. but whatever, she’d humor him. 

“thanks.” max said quietly, trading the walkie for a beer gladly. she hadn’t even opened it when she jumped in to defend the friend max had already found in lucas’ cat, “it is not very feminist of you to call your woman-loving cat a traitor.” she deadpanned, then proceeded with a sip of her beer. she watched intently as lucas worked with the walkie, but like she was expecting, they were met with more static. he seemed fine with letting it run and max would let him do that. if that’s what he needed right now, who was she to tell him no? 

trying to get comfortable, max leaned back some more, yoda in one hand and sipping her beer from the other when lucas dropped a bomb. how long do you think you’re gonna stick around? she nearly choked on the liquid in her mouth, but managed to swallow it. she shook her head, eyes bugging from her head when she commented, “wow, okay, straight to the point.” max inhaled largely. the idea of going back now felt...heavy. but she didn’t know how crazy she was about staying here either. “i guess...” max paused to shake her head some more, “as long as it takes to figure things out?” the question itself was so loaded, but he had caught her in an honest mood and she reluctantly confessed, “i’m not itching to get back just yet. don’t worry.”

that vulnerability was a little... too much for max, so she tried to break some tension by looking smug and nudging lucas with her foot, “how long have you been waiting to ask me that?” she took it a step further and teased him, “and why do you need to know? stalker.”

max wasn’t huge on reading newspapers. there were enough articles and resources she sifted through on a daily basis for clients or her own personal curiosity that she didn’t see the use in still getting the whole thing. but as she passed a hawkins post dispenser on the road as she walked towards jitters for yet another coffee, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea. luke was gone, but so were other people. and that was...cause for concern. amidst her indefinite stay, being informed didn’t seem like such a bad idea. she sighed, still operating from a state of constant disbelief. she stepped towards the machine, bumping into a blonde woman who she quickly identified as holly wheeler. 

not because this full adult resembled the little kid max would’ve recognized, but she had those i-can’t-put-a-finger-on-it wheeler features. “oh...” max’s brows furrowed over her tired eyes and she gestured ahead to the machine, “go for it.” holly had not really been part of their supernatural investigations, which was probably for the best, but it also meant max hadn’t been given the opportunity to really talk to her. the last she remembered of holly was using her crayons. max briefly wondered what her life had been like since then. she extended one arm for a stiff hug as she said, “i won’t do the how are you bullshit.” she promised holly, “but i’m sorry about luke.” max didn’t even know if they were close. it stung every time max either remembered or was reminded by how little she knew. max was a stranger to holly, but in light of everything, the least she could offer was gesturing ahead, “let me buy you a coffee?” 

the rain battered down on steve harrington’s windshield as the green, digital clock flipped to midnight on his dash. while he was focused on driving, max sat slumped in the passengers seat, tired, but not willing herself to sleep. deciding she needed a wake up call, max unbuckled her seatbelt, rolled down the window, and stuck her torso out. the wind stung and the fat droplets of rain pricked when they landed on her skin. but it effectively woke her up. delusional from lack of sleep, she howled out before ducking back into the car. max didn’t want to act like they’d just returned from another futile search in the woods. mud, much to his dismay, smeared the floors of steve’s car and they were already drenched from being in the woods for so long. max forgot how it rained here. she’d lived through more droughts than anything. like she’d done nothing insane, she looked over to steve and asked, “where’s the kid?” 

max watched as his car wound up the hill towards the holiday inn, “you wanna come in? i have some beer, liquor, whatever.” she wondered if steve would freak out at her like she was still fourteen. “you’re going to spin out and die in this rain.” max told him like it was fact. clearly, he was managing fine driving now, but for once she was being overly cautious. subtly of course, but she had a hunch nobody could take on another tragedy right now. as he pulled up to the hotel, max crossed her arms and further tried to convince him, “i have an incredibly dope shower.” 

figures that max would forget something so crucial about mysteries-- dustin and lucas theorizing all the time was headspinningly annoying. and she was sure that she wasn’t even hearing the half of it. between that, more sleepless nights, and growing concern about a missing child, she was due for a drink. it seemed every time she stepped foot in the hideaway she was confronted by someone she had known once upon a time, or someone like cole, or akeem, cornering her with another fire to put out. it was safe to say, recent and past, the only person she’d had fun at the hideaway with was eddie.

but al’s wasn’t so bad, smaller than the hideaway and just as a grimy. max made quick work of the place, downing a few beers before switching over to a simple jim and coke. she wondered if susan, her mom, had spent any time in this place forever ago. probably. it reminded the bars in los angeles her father used to take her to when she had weekends with him. the stench of the smoke and the dimly lit pool table. she hadn’t really played since college, but hustling had to be like riding a bike, right? max didn’t need the money anymore, but just wanted to see if she was still capable of it. “hey.” she approached the man with the broad shoulders, toughly folding her hands in front of her, “wanna play a round? i’ve got a twenty.” max threw it on the table and took another generous sip of her drink. she smiled slyly at the stranger, intentionally slurring her words, “i haven’t played since college, so’cant promise a good match. but good company.” max’s eyes narrowed, “maybe.” 

he did. miss her. of course he missed her. there had been a time that the four of them had been all lucas needed. his party, his family. but then will went missing and they’d met el and she’d fit so seamlessly into their group. when max moved to hawkins, lucas had really tried his best to keep her at arm’s length. he’d seen what had happened to el and he worried that dragging her into their party would just put her in danger. (and he’d been right, hadn’t he? she’d nearly died.) but max had a way of worming her way into getting what she wanted that lucas had always envied. so she’d jointed the party, too, and that summer, after dustin got back? the six of them? that was lucas’ perfect summer. of course he missed that.

he’d never admit that to max, though. he was too busy trying to process what max’s dreams might mean. “i mean…” he swallowed around a lump in his throat. it was always kind of weird, talking about them. but he had to put it out there, just in case. “el used to get visions of the upside down, too.” it hung their between them. it was different, obviously. max didn’t have super powers (other than maybe getting her clients off with community service), but since the vecna thing, maybe she was connected to the upside down? or maybe it was just ptsd. he didn’t know. he was just trying to make sure she wasn’t about to get sucked into some gate that had been closed but not locked up properly. he held his hand out for a pinky swear. “secret’s safe with me.” he kissed his fist once she linked their hands and that was that. it was max’s business. if she wanted to share with the others, she would.

 he hopped onto his bike and headed for home once she was situated. “try and hold on,” lucas said as he took a sharp turn. it took a little longer to make it back. he wasn’t used to riding with a passenger anymore or really used to riding at all. his calves burned and his bad knee ached a little bit as he pulled up to the apartment and stowed the bike in the hallway. 

“so, it’s not much,” he warned her as he walked backwards down the corridor. “but it’s home.” when lucas opened the door, yoda made a break for the open door. he scooped him up and held the cat like a baby until max closed the door behind her. predictably, the tabby dug his claws into lucas’ jacket until he let him go, then promptly weaved through max’s legs while lucas flicked on the lights, revealing the string lights and alphabet letters. he shoved his hands into his pockets as he stepped further into the room. 

“when will was missing, joyce communicated with him like this. i guess i thought maybe…” he shrugged. his conversation with erica the other day made him feel kind of stupid about it, but it hadn’t stopped him from asking the christmas lights questions a few times a day. he never got any answers, though. “hangs on.” he left max and yoda in the living room while he ducked into his bedroom and poked around in his closet. he ignored a shoebox and grabbed the walkie he usually kept on his desk at school and met them back there, he held it out wordlessly, like maybe max would be able to make contact when he couldn’t.  “that’s yoda. he usually hates people.” 

.

when lucas extended his pinky, max’s scoffing was inevitable. it trickled into laughing territory as she told him, “you are...unreal.” her expression fell as she very seriously hooked her pinky with lucas’. max began to shake her head in disbelief when lucas kissed his fist. she eyed him through her brows, sly smile forming, “you are still so lame.” it was important lucas know that. but max followed suit and pecked her own skin before dropping her hand. “most binding contract i’ve ever made.” she deadpanned at lucas. 

max made an effort not to acknowledge what lucas was saying about el and visions. mostly because she didn’t want to talk about it, but also because hearing el’s name so much lately was starting to bug her out. if only, if only. if one thing was certain to max it was that as  these dreams and visions were starting to get worse for her, whatever that mean, the last thing she should be doing was thinking about how it should have been her over will and el. in case of the worst or whatever. guilt seemed to make it worse. in the past. god, just the thought made max cringe and hurriedly suggest, “let’s get going.” 

but she kept thinking about it more. el specifically while she cozied up to lucas so she didn’t fall to her death. about how scared she must have been all of those times she did the unbelievable, the heroic. max wouldn’t give fear that power over her, she refused to, but it did make her wonder if denial was the brave thing to do. max decided she was being open minded about it! and she was! but she wasn’t going to buy into the vecna-upside down-wacky shit agenda until she had concrete proof, innocent until proven guilty and such. though it seemed when she entered lucas’ apartment, perhaps there would be a chance for them to gather some evidence. the thought of it made max nauseous. 

to help the feeling, she crouched down and held her hand out for the cat to sniff. it was a good enough distraction to stabilize her. max remained close to the ground and silent as lucas explained the thinking behind the lights. what was their to even say? they were testing a method pioneered by a dead woman to find her also now dead son. it felt cursed to even consider, like how oujia boards were bad juju, brought shit in. but desperate times, right? if some of that shit they brought in included luke, it would probably be worth it right? save an innocent? max was starting to understand lucas’ thinking. and she wasn’t sure that she liked that. when he disappeared to grab, something, max adjusted to sitting fully cross-legged, the cat on the ground in the center, and petting him. 

aside from the name yoda being terrible, max was quick to retort, “people? do you mean mike and dustin? because they hardly count as people. and yoda would be more than justified in not liking them.” she snickered as she looked down to lucas’ pet, “motherfucker,” she told him, “you don’t even look like yoda.” the amusement ended there when she realized lucas was holding a walkie. solemnly, she took it and flipped it around in her hands, fiddling with it for a second. for a beat, she stared at it, then looked up at lucas. with a defeated sigh, she held it up to him, “i don’t remember how to work this shit.” maybe she was stalling. just a little bit. 

Hawkins was fucking whack as fuck. Max had never talked about it much– she got all cagey and dodgy when Akeem asked about her life in Indiana– but, it had never bothered him because… Max was just kind of like that. Take it or leave it. And she was way realer than anybody else he’d ever met, so Akeem had decided somewhere along the way, unknowingly, to accept it. But now that he was here, he was starting to get it. Not in any real, conceptual way, but… Hawkins was fucking whack as fuck.

The people, for starters, all seemed like they were afraid of something, which was weird to him for a place with like four rent-a-cops and virtually no crime he could find– and he’d looked. Plus, there was that whole thing where the mall cop told that one tall skinny dude that his kid was missing at dinner? And there was the whole thing about the bats or whatever? Akeem definitely thought he’d just had too big of a dose, but when people were whispering about it the next day…

Well, he had a lot of questions for Max. Which was a problem, because she was definitely, 100% dodging him.

It wasn’t unusual, and Akeem was an expert at waiting her out. Smoke a few bowls and before he knew it, she’d be coming around again– only, Hawkins was fucking whack as fuck. And she didn’t know where he was staying, to his knowledge, so Akeem had to chase her down… Which, to him, looked like cruising around town in his tinted Cadillac until he found her.

No luck yet, and God he was hungry, so Akeem pulled off to follow a sign that promised the best burgers in the Midwest. What the fuck the Midwest knew about a burger, he didn’t know, but he was gonna find out. When Akeem stepped up to the joint– Billy’s or Benji’s or something– he was crushed to find it all but abandoned. He was in the middle of cursing Hawkins for not updating its signage when he saw her.

Akeem’s face split into a grin and he cornered Max, and his smile barely wavered as she ran through her questioning. “The missing kid,” he confirmed, still unfamiliar with all the whack names in this whack town. “Nah, I was lookin’ for you,” he explained, the rumble of his stomach cutting through whatever he was going to ask her. “Then I got hungry and…. man, is this place shuttered? No burgers?” he frowned, though Akeem figured somewhere in the weed-induced haze that there were bigger issues. Missing kids, and shit. “I can help, I got wheels.”

.

it would’ve be impossible to stop the groan max expelled when akeem and his goofy ass grin revealed themselves.“why the fuck are you still in town, akeem? huh?” she wasted no time digging into him, knowing he had no good reason to still fucking be here after the night spent at the school and enzo’s. max had made it perfectly clear he was unwanted. not because she didn’t like being around akeem, but because he had no business being here or getting tangled in all of the hawkins nonsense. and if max was being honest, she was deeply offended that after all of the years of knowing her, akeem thought she needed rescuing. so yeah, maxine jumped to yelling.

“you should be looking for a fucking plane ticket, or bus ticket, or however your creepy ass got here.” she continued, chopping one hand down into her palm as she verbally listed all of the other things akeem could be doing rather than looking for her. “you got hungry.” max echoed in disbelief, leaning against the wall. she shook her head, physically having to bite down on her tongue so she could think about how to get akeem gone rather than wasting her energy insulting him for how stupid he was being by chasing after her. it was gross.  

for several moments, max refused eye contact with akeem, slowly shaking her head. when she finally looked at him, she was reluctantly calmer, “all shuttered up, has been forever. i used to come here to like, hang out or whatever.” she explained, coy, even sounding like her teenage self. akeem was one of her oldest friends, older than cole, and she never opened up this part of her life to him. max didn’t like that he was here, living in it now. and she didn’t know how to make understand he had to go. all signs pointed to turn back now! for akeem. or at least max thought so. 

“shit akeem, i have wheels too. the fuck is wrong with you?” max grumbled, pushing herself off the wall. there he went again with the narrative that she needed his help or something. “you’re forgetting that i’m the one who bails your ass out.” she said, pointing aggressively to akeem, unblinking as she looked at him. max’s voice was firmly level as she added, “cole is a fucking fantastic lawyer, you know that. you had no reason to come.” 

lucas shrugged. it had been a combination of things. losing will and el, losing max, his parents putting pressure on him to get a scholarship, all while balancing two varsity sports and hellfire club. it wasn’t that bad. he could have had it much worse, but at the time, all he’d wanted to do was escape this place…and then once he had, all he’d wanted to do was make it back to his friends. “don’t worry, madmax. you bailing didn’t send me into a tailspin or anything. that’s presumptuous of you.” it kind of had, but mostly because he’d missed his friend. he’d been worried about her since she’d been gone. he didn’t say that, though. it didn’t seem like the time or place.

relief loosened the tension in shoulders when max confirmed that there were no clocks, but the things she was describing weren’t that much less worrisome. he was freaking, but he rearranged his face into a nonchalant look. lucas couldn’t help but go to her and he only hesitated for a fraction of a second before reaching out to her, a gentle squeeze to max’s bicep before sliding his hand down to take hers for a moment. he didn’t thread their fingers, just held her hand like they were thirteen at the movies again, hoping it was reassuring and not weird. “you really think that’s it? now that you’re here, it’s just sneaking up on you again?” he sounded doubtful. he didn’t doubt max so much as he doubted her explanation. this place had always been fucking weird. 

he let go of her hand when she took the compass and chose to ignore the little spike of electricity he still felt. he called over his shoulder as he stepped out of the building to retrieve his bike. “i didn’t drive. figured i could cover more ground this way.” he flicked the headlamp on and perched upon the bike, giving her a pointed look. “come on. just like old times, right? you still remember how to do this, don’t you?” and then, in case max was still skeptical. “it’s not far. i dare you.” you couldn’t say no to a dare, after all.

.

there was no contesting her own line being used against her. it would destroy max’s validity in any past arguments, so instead she met lucas with that same playfulness, “what? it didn’t? i’m not sure if i should be hurt or not, stalker.” she told him, laughing lightly, trying not to feel guilty for doing so. it was awkward to talk about after all these years. how many minutes of max’s life were spent tearing herself apart over leaving? over feeling weak and unworthy to be standing here instead of will and el? she didn’t blame lucas or anyone else for whatever feelings they might’ve had, but it was still strange to be shedding light on these people and memories that felt so dark and intimate. fitting that it would be lucas sinclair of all people to actually get her talking. she tried to keep it as light as she could given the circumstances, “it’s okay. you don’t have to say it. i know you missed me.” she taunted, letting her words hang in the sticky summer air. 

volleying with lucas was much easier than it was to speak so openly about her nightmares. what she wasn’t quick to tell lucas was how chronic they were, how’d they’d been keeping her up at night since she left hawkins. though she often saw different events play out in her dreams, they all felt the same-- like a cold fist slowly squeezing her, juicing her like an orange, then discarding her. despite how unaffected she wanted to seem or deliberately vague she was going to be, the sheer fear in max’s eyes was undeniable. but if it could help someone else, it would only prove she was a bad person if she didn’t disclose to information with someone. and somehow, through the tests of time, she still trusted lucas to be that someone. at the reminder of her new chrissy nightmare, max burped with her mouth closed, then swallowed what was either a lot of saliva or vomit. “i don’t see what else it would be.” she said as casually as she could, then shrugged, “but you never know.” max was fairly successful in maintaining her signature aloofness, but it faltered when she asked very earnestly, “lucas please though, don’t tell anyone. seriously.” 

max wondered if she had been pitiful or something because the way lucas was looking at her when their hands grazed was different. her chest felt tight and max briefly felt like she was a teenager again. it was silly and it passed as soon as they parted to exit the building. when lucas revealed his bike, she stared for a long moment, then eyed him through her brows are you fucking forreal right now? “oh i remember.” max snipped, tilting her head and clenching her jaw as she looked at it. “i remember how it hurt my ass.” she frowned. “oh fuck you.” max said dismissively when lucas dared her, climbing on the bike. 

the ride was more awkward than when they were kids. max wasn’t young, ignorant, and fearless anymore. she gripped lucas as tight as she could, which made it hard to watch the compass, but it at least meant she was less likely to fall off. needless to say, max was relieved when lucas’ apartment rolled into sight. she climbed off the back once they were completely stopped and admired the outside of the building. it was...quaint and max smiled earnestly, “awesome.” she told him, liking the idea of lucas having a place of his own. but it was back to business, “what am i here to see again?” 

it struck him then how much max had missed. when she’d left, he was a benchwarmer for the high school basketball team who still hadn’t grown into his skin. now, he coached  (and taught) for the middle school he’d met her in. having her back in his life -back in hawkins- felt so natural that he’d almost forgotten she wasn’t always here. (and that she’d eventually go back where she’d come from.) “you missed my teen rebel phase. i was tagging hawkins middle.” he patted the spray paint in his cup holder almost fondly. “he walked up on me. i just told him i wasn’t afraid of his bullshit anymore and that i was pissed enough to want to hit somebody, so he would be doing me a favor.” it’d helped that he’d shot up about four inches that summer, but troy was the least of lucas’ problems back then. 

a hoarse laugh surprised him when he realized it’d come from his own throat. “can you imagine mike if luke found a max?” the laugh built in his chest. it might have been the stress that caused the little laughing fit, but it felt good to let some of the emotions he’d been holding back out. when she stood, he just stretched his legs out in front of him, tapping the notebook idly with his fingers. “yeah, maybe. i’m not so sure he’s there but…” but they’d first really made contact with the upside down, defeated the demogorgan there. hawkins middle seemed as likely a place as any to have weird shit going on. he often saw things in the shadows when he was there late grading exams, but he always blamed too much caffeine and too little sleep. he looked up at her with raised eyebrows. it was weird that max didn’t know about cindy but then…max didn’t know about tracy, either. 

“luke’s mom practically handed him off two minutes after she had him and skipped town. but i guess maybe he could still be curious…” he scratched her name down on his paper and circled it. he wouldn’t make mike call her. he could handle that. “i dunno if luke would even know how to read a bus schedule.” but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t just hop on a random one for the hell of it. he was mike’s kid after all. 

but lucas couldn’t shake the fear coiling in his stomach that this wasn’t some regular old runaway story. it only worsened when max warned him. he sat up straighter just at the shift in her tone, but he did cut in to say “what was that? i was right?” with a cheeky grin. it faded almost as quickly as it appeared, though, when she admitted to seeing things. a million questions were on the tip of lucas’ tongue at once, the first of which was “are you seeing clocks again?” 

but then she was asking about the walkies and the compasses and the christmas lights and lucas popped to his feet, not without digging around for the compass tucked away in a side pocket of his bag. he held it out to max. “i think you need to come over.” he held up his hands palm out, a sheepish grin crossing his face. “i just have to show you…something.”

.

“mm, teen rebel phase, i would’ve paid to see that.” max hummed fondly. tagging a building felt pretty minor in comparison the her version of rebelling in california, but she supposed everything felt smaller in hawkins. it was suffocating in that way, “what? did you steal candy from a baby too?” she asked, but a more pressing question came to mind, “seriously, what made you so upset you threw away that incomparable moral compass away?” max was worried what his answer might be. but it was so long ago, very little from her own teenage years still bothered her. or at least, she thought so. maybe lucas would be the same? 

there wasn’t much max had to contribute about luke and cindy and all of the other tidbits of information she’d willingly forfeited learning about in real time. instead, she started formulating more leads of her own. if she was in luke’s shoes, she’d probably figure out whatever the hell bus to hop on to meet her parent. thirteen was a difficult age, especially in a place like hawkins. that was the year she first moved there. that was the logical rationale, the one max’s gut was telling her to trust, but of course, with the visions she was having left and right, full confidence was off the table. 

“no, no clocks.” max cut lucas off quickly, staring down at her hands. her brows threaded together as she tried to arrange the words to describe them. “it’s like...i had this dream about joyce before i got the invite...” she sucked in a breath, tapping her foot anxiously. this wasn’t exactly something she talked about often, or ever. “and then...” max’s voice caught forcing her to stop, “after the funeral it was like...” she shook her head, “i don’t know. like vecna’s lair, but different.” max appeared to be in physical pain as she recounted the last and most recent, “then at the school, it was chrissy. i...saw her...” she had to turn her head away from lucas. there was no way she could get into the dreams, waking up at starcourt, the torment that sleep brought her the last twenty years. pull it together. max sucked all of it in and faced lucas again with the suggestion, “but it could just be ptsd. i don’t know. so...don’t freak.” 

max said it like it was simple, but all of this was so very complicated. hunting monsters and rescuing kids wasn’t like a criminal court case. it was easy to prove someone innocent or guilty with facts, but this stuff was unpredictable, always steps ahead. lucas wasn’t that way though. she eyed his palms, touch lingering when she swiped the compass out of his left hand. max looked at him through her eyebrows, eyes flicking back and forth. she didn’t get what he was trying to do. “do you want me to watch the compass on the drive or something?” max asked him skeptically. she looked at lucas some more, quickly deciphering he was being genuine. that earnest smile was hard to ignore. max sighed, “fine. let’s go.” 

he felt the cushions dip when max sat down but lucas was too busy pushing his hands against his temples to keep from crying to actually look at her. which was probably for the best. seeing max back in the shell of benny’s burgers as an adult was really fucking weird. he felt about fourteen years old again himself as he sat in the dark listening to her talk. reluctantly, he dropped his hands -because she wouldn’t talk until he did, he knew this, knew max- but kept his eyes screwed shut. he was kind of enjoying his trip down memory lane in his head. max in her beat up vans and ripped jeans, him in cutoff t-shirts and shiny new vans she’d stolen bought him for his birthday, coughing on stolen cigarettes and bitching about school projects and their parents (and missing friends and monsters).

he missed it. he’d missed her, now that he let himself. it was good to have her back, even if she was really breaking the immersion of remembering their teenage selves by grabbing his face like that. that was what made lucas open his eyes again, and when he did, his eyes held onto max’s like a lifeline. 

while he was searching her face for something (he wasn’t really sure what), lucas found himself nodding along with her laundry list of all the cool shit he’d done. “troy walsh, too. i made him piss his pants in twelfth grade.” and, honestly? at the time, that had been as big as defeating any number of monsters from the upside down.

when she let go of him, he felt unmoored and found himself leaning in towards her, their knees touching while he reached up to rub his stubble where max’s hand had been moments before. he trailed that hand up into his hair and to the back of his neck. “i hung around places like this once i had a bad influence,” lucas pointed out with a shrug of his shoulders. he dropped his backpack and unzipped it, rifling through it to find the notebook he’d been listing places to check for luke. library, baseball field, the hawk were all hastily scratched out.

he’d circled middle school because it seemed like the next best place to look. there were lots of nooks and crannies to hide in and, well, lucas had always felt like the place was full of surprises. had ever since he was twelve. his knee bounced up and down as he thought about it. “luke’s good, but he’s also mike’s kid,” he said, like that explained everything, and to lucas, it did. it meant that even though he had a good head on his shoulders, he was prone to outbursts and finding trouble. it meant that he’d been raised partially by nancy, dustin, and lucas himself, so he was a smart kid, if not a little reckless. it meant that even if he was good, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t find himself in a place like this one day. 

“i didn’t really think i’d find him here,” lucas admitted with a shrug as he tore out the notebook page and opened a fresh one. he chanced a glance at max. “i was kinda hoping i’d find some kind of…clues out here, though?” it sounded dumber out loud. 

.

“no way.” max laughed in soft disbelief as lucas revealed troy walsh had not pissed himself just once as a middle schooler, but twice later in life, “how’d you manage that?” she asked, clearly amused, but her voice didn’t reach above a whisper. the mischievous awe fell vaguely over her expression, the corners pulling up at her lip despite it feeling forbidden. despite. despite. despite. despite given circumstances, it twinkled willfully in her eyes. which were...staring at lucas’....which were staring back at her...and max was really grateful that she remembered blinking was a thing. that seemed like a good time to let go.  her hands folded in her lap, though they bobbed up and down rapidly along with her legs. it wasn’t long after that max had to stand, trying to paint a portrait of who luke was. she felt useless. max hated that feeling. she was mulling over options in the form of rubbing her lips together when lucas snapped her out of it. it wasn’t a dig, but max could only scoff in response, “luke would be lucky to have his very own max mayfield.” she joked, glancing sideways at lucas before her own words sunk in. maybe not the most appropriate comment. too late to do anything about it now but suck in a breath and hold it for a second. 

max craned her neck trying to look at what lucas was scribbling on, but it was too dark, “what is it?” she asked, kicking lucas’ foot with her foot, “next stop?” she extended the offer subtly. given how he’d crept around breaking down on the couch, max figured he might appreciate some company right now. hell, she appreciated the company. max began to pace as lucas divulged more into luke’s personality. he didn’t have to say more than he’s mike’s kid for max to understand.

 to her, that meant he was angry. and he felt alone in the world. which was so blatant to her that mike did way back when, but she never thought he had much valid reason to. luke on the otherhand...he might have some real reasoning for feeling that way from what she’d seen. max cleared her throat and stopped, casually suggesting, “well maybe he took a bus to the town over. or tried to find his mom? has anyone checked those things out?” she asked, less frustrated and more an olive branch. i will help you. i will help you do the hardwork if nobody else has. it was glaringly apparent to max now, that just because she had forgotten how strongly she felt for all of the party, it didn’t mean that it faded.

the information max was given in response was enough to make her lean against an unsturdy table and mull over it. she didn’t have any clues to offer lucas, or leads that she hadn’t already given, and now as she scanned benny’s, she couldn’t make out anything of importance... well, maybe there was one thing. she’d been trying so hard to avoid making it a whole thing, but as she stood empty handed without any other practical explanation, she realized it was less of a her issue, and maybe a public safety thing. “so...” max stood up, smacking her lips and staring at the floor. where did she begin? 

max knew lucas already had his suspicions, but she didn’t want to freak him out, so she unhelpfully said, “i don’t want you to take this as...” she scrunched up her face, “a big deal, don’t freak out.” max swallowed her words, all casualness subsiding. afraid to say it. afraid to make it real, “you were right.” with an uncharacteristic shame, she looked at lucas, “i have been seeing things...like a lot of things...and dreaming. it’s been... weird lately.” max didn’t give lucas any time to respond and quickly tried to usher him away from that revelation and to the point, “but that’s not incredibly important, what i’m saying is that, have we tried...the walkie thing? or...the light thing? or...the compass thing?” 

he went by bike. it just…seemed right. besides, he couldn’t get the honda through the thick trees, but the bike? of course he could. he’d been canvasing the woods, leaving spray-painted x’s in his wake, when he thought of another hiding place. luke was a bit young for it, sure, but, then, hadn’t they been about his age when they’d first started coming out here?

he changed directions. the headlamp on the front of his bike lit up his path as lucas weaved his way toward’s the shell that was once benny’s burgers, the site of his very first hangover…and the first place he and tracy tyler had kissed. in hindsight, he probably could’ve gotten tetanus from that couch but, they’d been young and invincible then. 

leaves crunched under his tires as he coasted up to the building. he leaned his bike against the wall of the dilapidated building and approached the spot where the front door used to be, pausing to cross out some unsavory graffiti about the wheelers. he couldn’t tell if the fist name had been mike’s or nancy’s or, well, someone else’s, but he left an orange x in the wake of an unflattering word. his shoulders jumped up near his ears and he pointed the can of spray paint in the direction of the voice and just barely missed spraying max mayfield in the eye. 

“jesus christ, can you warn a guy?” he dropped his arm limply to his side and reached up to scratch the back of his neck, eyes flicking over her shoulder into the empty room. “yeah. me, too.” he shoved the spraypaint can into the drink holder of his backpack and pulled a flashlight out of it instead, coaxing it on with a couple of smacks as he stepped inside and shined the yellow light into the nooks and crannies, like luke was still small enough to disappear in plain sight. the flashlight flickered briefly and lucas held his breath…until it just died off entirely. maybe he needed to replace the batteries. 

he shook his head. “no.” his voice broke just a little bit on the single syllable. he’d been trying so fucking hard to stay optimistic, to be normal in front of mike and dustin, that lucas hadn’t had a chance to process much outside of stringing christmas lights around his apartment in august and praying to a god he didn’t even believe in that they’d flicker and give him some kind of clue. they’d stayed lit, except for when yoda tore them off the wall. 

he dropped heavily into the couch, dust floating into the air with the movement, and pressed his palms to his eyes, trying to ward off the impending migraine. “i don’t know what to do. and i’m the one who knows what to do, you know?” that was kind of what he did. if dustin was the brains and mike was the heart, lucas was the working hands that kept things moving. and irght now? he felt stuck. he didn’t like that feeling.

.

max was initially relieved when she saw lucas, but then she was worried. she tried to cut the tension with a belated warning, “i’m in here.” but that was pretty much a loss cause. it was more than unfortunate that it took a missing kid for max, and maybe the others, to put aside their anxieties and grievances. to her, it just seemed so trivial. childish. petty. there were more important things at hand and needless to say, max hastily cancelled yet another flight back home. 

she snickered a little when lucas put the can of spray paint in his water bottle holder. she pointed it out, “very practical.” max teased, then thought...very lucas. no matter how normal she wanted to act with lucas, it was immediately out of the question when his voice caught on the word no. she watched him wordlessly as he plopped down on the couch and let it out. hesitantly, she crossed back to the front of the couch and sat beside lucas, nudging him with her knees, “hey...” max told him, ducking her head as if she’d  be able to peer through the solid skin of lucas’ hands.  

max held her gaze until lucas dropped his hands, “we’ve got hawkins best and brightest on this, and i don’t mean fucking...powell and whoever works for that circus down at the police department.” she wasn’t sure if that would help, if any of it would, because she didn’t know lucas anymore. but in light of everything, max was wondering if it might not be such a bad thing if she did know. if she tried. max thought that there was maybe a slight possibility that she wanted to. it was getting exhausting pushing everything and everyone away and maybe it was because a kid was missing or there was a slim chance she might be dying or whatever, but the same question came to mind: would it be so bad? to try? 

it was an obvious no, regardless of the reasoning, so max would do what she could to help comfort lucas. she was game for that! but why did it feel so...difficult? she sighed, deciding there was no use in trying so hard to be sensitive, or act like she understood what lucas was going through, or promise they would find him any day now. instead, she grabbed lucas’ face, lifting his head up for him, “it’ll come to you.” max told him seriously, scanning his face for a second before she urged, “just keep your head up, man. you’re fucking.... lucas sinclair, you fought a demogorgon when you were like twelve, and racist shitheads, and the mindflayer...vecna... and god knows what else. you got this, but you gotta stay in it.” 

all that to say, max thought lucas was more than capable. they all were. statistically, the odds were in their favor to go against the odds. she dropped her hands from lucas’ face and sighed again, rubbing her hands against her thighs awkwardly. she tried to think about other leads, sure that putting lucas in motion had a good chance of helping, “luke is....he uh...the type of kid to hang around places like this? or, is he like, good? like you and mike and dustin were?”

maybe max was in denial that hawkins was hosting it’s second missing persons case, but if she was being brutally honest with herself, that wasn’t the first instance of denial she’d felt since coming home. it could wait though. it could wait. besides, she wasn’t entirely convinced this wasn’t ptsd. maybe if she started seeing clocks, she’d be a little more worried. when in doubt, it could always still get worse! for now, she was preoccupied with luke and keeping akeem’s nose out of shit. she didn’t know the kid too well, but max had gathered he wasn’t crazy about mike, which, she couldn’t blame luke for. 

she also knew the chances that he was merely hiding out or had run away were probably pretty slim given everything else going on, but max remembered being close to his age, the draw to stashing oneself away. so, max thought about where she used to hang out, and other than the skate park, the carcass of benny’s was her favorite for when she wanted to go undisturbed. especially after el had moved and billy was gone. max had no idea what kids did nowadays in hawkins, but it was worth a shot. nobody bothered her or found her there back in the day. well, except lucas, sometimes, which was annoying to her then.  leaves and nails and broken floorboards crunched under her feet as she examined the new graffiti about bush and lance bass coming out last month. there were other various names and sports titles scrawled everywhere. it was a little more rundown, but mostly the same-- a teenage place of worship. if one thing was absolutely certain, even through the dark, it was that luke was not here. she sighed and sat down, frustrated that her teeny tiny lead had been for nothing. how did people like nancy and jonathan do this shit? “fuck.” she kicked a beer can when she heard crunching near the entrance. max held her breath when she popped to her feet, grabbing a...bong? from the table next to her as a weapon as opposed to choppy the knife, which was always on her person. except for court.

 when max was met with a familiar face, she lowered her arms and let her shoulders slump a little, “thought luke might have run off somewhere.” defeated, she set the bong down and leaned against the back of a tattered couch, arms crossed, “it’s nowhere that i know of.” max crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in an effort to seem casual amidst her discomfort, “and i used to know like, every spot.” the silence hung heavy for a moment before she figured she’d ask, “any news or...?” her face scrunched up, “actually what are you doing here?”