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damn-stark

Jan 8

Chapter 23 The calm before

Chapter 23 of Strange

A/N- I hope you guys liked it!! Enjoy the peace before the worst comes!

Warnings- Swearing, fluff, SPOILERS, angst, talks pregnancy, violence, long chapter.

Pairing- Steve Harrington x Hopper!Fem-reader

Episode- 5x07

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

In the eeriness of the Upside Down, where thunder rumbles like a foreboding song, and darkness and frigidness reign with an iron fist, the sound of your sister's voice as she calls out your name is like heaven came down to this hellscape.

But, you’ve been tricked by her voice before and it turned out to be a trick created by a cruel monster. She could be another illusion, all the figures you see coming out of the shadows could be a mirage before you’re at last taken to some hell.

Your dad, Eleven, Robin, Mike, Erica, Murray...and company are your saving grace, but what if it isn’t real? They’re getting closer, everyone seems to see them this time. Dustin keeps calling out for Mike, but what if…

“Are they really there?” You need to ask before you get ahead of yourself and get excited like before.

“Unless we’re all getting tricked then I’m going to go ahead and say yes. That’s them,” Steve says with a hint of doubt of his own, and given what’s happened, you don’t blame him for starting to share your fear. But they keep calling your name, and no matter how many times you blink, they don’t vanish into the fog. They keep getting closer and your yearning to unite with them only grows deeper and louder, but…you can’t risk burdening your friends by getting fooled again.

No matter how strange Eleven and your Dad look at you as you hang back in the ominous fog, you don’t run to them. You stay put and study every detail of their beings to make sure that they aren't a trick.

Dustin and Mike soon meet each other halfway in a happy embrace and you wait for something, anything, but nothing happens. No vine unwraps itself from a pillar, and no Demogorgon jumps out of hiding. The boys hug and break apart and everyone else stays where they are, so ever so cautiously you break away from your spot and start walking towards El and your dad.

As they remain where they are and nothing jumps out to scare you, your walk turns to a jog, your knotted eyebrows ease, your doubtful frown starts to turn to a smile, and at last your frightened heart starts to dance with joy.

When at last you reach your sister and have her in your arms, a heartwarming sense of bliss washes over you and you know nothing but relief at long last.

“Hey,” you coo as you hold Eleven tightly.

“Hi,” she whispers just as faintly as she also can’t believe that you’re with her, but she's happy that you are.

The one last thing that makes it all better and like you could survive all evil is your dad's strong arms joining your embrace.

“Hey, baby,” he greets tenderly and that’s all you need to hear for that anger you feel for him to temporarily melt away. Not even the fear that he’ll find out about your little bundle of inconvenience bothers you at the moment. You’re absolutely blissful.

However, when you pull away and see Eleven and your dad under the flashlights, worry starts to filter through.

“Have you guys rested? You guys look exhausted.”

“Have you?” Your dad deflects and your answer is written all over your face like it is on theirs.

“No.” You still muster before your eyes fall on a small and young woman with a shaved head and an intense stare before they dart to Vickie beside Robin, and lastly, to a random slim middle-aged man near Erica.

You had noted them before, but in your worry that everything you were seeing was an illusion they just kind of got pushed to the side. Not anymore though. What are they doing here?

“Nancy?” You hear Mike question before you can voice your questions. “Where is she?”

Oh right…

“Where’s Holly?”

You drop your head to hide your pity.

“It was like something had a hold of her, but you couldn’t see anything,” Nancy describes the terrifying scene. “It was him. Vecna. It had to be.”

“Mike?” Lucas’ voice coming from the walkie startles you, pulling your attention to the boy who was just called. “Is Holly okay, Mike? Mike, do you copy? I repeat, is Holly okay?”

A tense silence falls over the group as Mike and Nancy speechlessly and without offering each other any kind of physical comfort process what happened to their sister just as they were so close to having her at their side. It’s a pitiful and somber sight, but they seem to find strength in each other and that lets Mike answer curtly.

“We’re on our way back. I’ll explain everything once we’re back. Over.”

There’s a short silence before Lucas breaks it. “Copied. Over.”

Another silence falls over the group where Mike deals with the defeat of losing Holly after having her so close, but you’ve had time to sit with that defeat and you can’t help but keep wondering who the two strangers are so you finally blurt. “Can I ask who’s that skinny man and that girl over there?”

“My sister.”

“Mr Clark.”

Dustin and Eleven answer at the same time and you understand them both, but the questions don’t stop, you’re still as curious as before. Your dad can read that and offers clarification. “The kids' old science teacher and Eleven’s sister from the lab.”

“Oh!” Steve voices your exact thoughts before he points out the one girl you do know. “What is Vickie doing here?”

“It’s a long story,” Robin laughs nervously. “But she knows everything now.”

You hum in comprehension and offer her a pleased smile since you’ve been bothering Robin to tell Vickie the truth for a while now. Albeit, this is not the way she should’ve found out, in the middle of all the chaos, but alas, there’s no more secrets between them and she’s by her side so you couldn’t be happier for her.

“So are we going to start heading out now?” Jonathan suggests as there’s no movement going on.

“No, Jonathan we were actually going to set up camp here and catch up!” Dustin quips with a sarcastic smile, making said man groan and roll his eyes before he starts moving forward, making the entire group then start moving towards the gate that they managed to break open not far from the lab. Thankfully. It’d be torture having to walk any further.

“Hey, kid, are you okay?” Your dad finally manages to ask, and at first, you start to think about your inconvenience again and fear that he somehow knows. It would explain the constant glances he and Eleven kept throwing at you as you make your way to the gate.

“Joyce said that Henry was targeting you along with the other kids,” Eleven finishes for him, offering you some relief and a definitive answer to those constant glances.

“Oh, yeah, I’m…well, I’ve had some scares, but I’ve managed to escape, so I’m okay for now.”

Eleven doesn’t look comforted by your response. She looks at the shadows around you before she looks at you with heavy concern as if at any minute you’d disappear from her side because of Vecna. And it's because she looks at you as you’re watching her that you note something else behind her exhaustion. Something that gnaws at your heart. Something that has a part of her distant, morose, and pensive.

Yet you don’t question her here with your dad by your side and so many other people around you. You save your question for later and instead let your dad voice his confusion. “But why you? You’re not a child like the others. It doesn’t follow the pattern.”

You swallow thickly as your eyes flicker to the ground and your cheek slips between your teeth.

“Because of me,” Eleven gives her conclusion that makes her lips and her eyes droop. “That’s why he tormented her last time. He is doing the same now.”

As much as you want to reassure her that it’s not what she thinks, you can’t let your dad know the truth. You know him and he’d make everything so much harder plus you want to tell Eleven somewhere quiet where it’ll just be the two of you. Not here in the hellscape. Thus, you don’t correct her and let your dad believe what she said because it is believable considering your past.

At least it is to him, not as much to Eleven’s nosy sister who glances back at you and stares at you hard as if trying to uncover your secret.

And out of fear that she will, you leave your sister and your dad's side to join Robin, Vickie, and Steve.

“So,” you drag out with a look of curiosity. “How did it happen?”

Vickie and Robin look at each other before Vickie starts to stammer. “These…dogs! Only they weren’t dogs. They-they were in the hospital while Robin was there and they…they ate a man’s face!”

You and Steve look unaffected by her story. Just more curious.

“Demo-dogs, huh? Yeah, that’s how Steve and I joined forces,” you share with an ease that intimidates Vickie. “He and Dustin were hunting one and he asked me to join. I did thinking it was a joke…”

“Only it wasn’t,” Steve interjects for you. “It wasn’t a Demo-dog at the time either. It molted while we were looking for it, but why was one at the hospital?”

“Yeah,” Robin scoffs with a smile. “Nice story actually they were after Max…”

Nice?

“What?”

“Let me finish,” Robin cuts off your concern before it could turn into panic. “They were after her, but didn’t actually reach her because Lucas was with us and swooped her up off her bed, and just when we thought we were toast, Mrs Wheeler ended up blowing them up.”

Concern and confusion all run through your head before you have to ask for clarification. “But why were they after Max?”

Robin’s smile widens and then she shares the unexpected; Max is awake. That’s why Vecna sent Demo-dogs after her because she was helping Holly escape, but as heroic as that is, all you care about is her being awake. After 18 months she’s finally awake and just on the other side with Lucas. That’s why he wasn’t with the group that came to rescue you, because he was with Max temporarily bound to a wheelchair!

She’s awake and waiting just past the gate!

The happiness that accompanies that news enflames your heart and moves you quickly and swiftly out of the Upside Down so you can reach her before she can disappear or before someone can say that it was all a joke.

Life has been cruel and you don't want this news to be another one of its jokes, so you move as fast as this newfound rush can take you. However, when you see her being pushed by Lucas in the parking lot, you stop at the edge of it and cover your mouth as tears of joy cloud your eyes.

It almost feels like your heart is going to stop with the way joy keeps bursting through the walls of your heart, but it doesn’t fail you and she doesn’t vanish.

“Max!” Dustin cries loudly beside you before he breaks into a sprint towards her, making you finally react and start running towards her.

When you eventually reach her, you lose some of that thrill so as not to hurt her, and hug her gently along with Dustin.

“Hey, guys!” She exclaims.

“You can’t believe how much we’ve missed you,” you hear Dustin’s voice breaking. “We were always so scared you wouldn’t wake up, but we never gave up.”

You feel Max nod. “I know,” her voice quivers. “I can’t really hug you guys back right now, but please pretend that I am.”

“Okay,” you can’t help but cry. “Okay. Oh, Max,” is all you can muster. You’re completely at a loss for words because everything you could say feels so minimal to how you actually feel.

Thus, you say nothing at all. You just hug her until you assume she’s had enough, letting Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan come up to her next to express their joy for the girl's return.

It isn’t until you’re making your way to the van with a group that you finally find what to say. “I’m so glad you’re awake. I was so close to imploding if I had to play your song one more time.”

Max giggles. “Lucas feels the same way…” she trails off before she asks quietly. “You went to visit me?”

You nod with tears pooling in your eyes again. Only this time the tears were caused by hormones you don’t quite understand just yet. They’re just cruel and make you overemotional at times.

“All the time. We all did,” you offer her some light on the time she was gone. “Not as much as Lucas of course. I tried to beat him, but he ended up winning.”

Max laughs softly before she can’t help but wonder out loud. “Are you and Steve still together?”

You smile and pat her shoulder. “Yes, we are. I live with him now actually…as to why it’s a long story for another time, but yeah we are.”

Max groans. “I was afraid of that.”

“Why?” You giggle.

“Because you guys are so…”

“Gross,” Dustin adds, making you shoot him a glare.

“In love,” you fill Max’s silence.

“Disgustingly in love,” Lucas quips, making you snort.

“Says you,” you taunt.

“Let's go with…sappy,” Max finally voices her thoughts, leaving you wondering what really means behind that word, but not asking because you reach the van and let Steve and your dad load her into the van.

Once they’re done and she’s as secure as she can be in the back of a van not equipped for a wheelchair, you make sure to hop in after Eleven and take a seat beside her before Mike can. That way you can finally ask her what you’ve been meaning to ask. You aren’t completely alone, her sister is sitting across from you, and there’s others nearby, but it’s good enough to worry about her.

“Are you doing okay?”

Eleven raises her head at the sound of your question, but doesn’t meet your gaze. She knows not to do that. She wouldn’t be strong enough to answer with her practiced nod and short response if she did. “Yes, I am just…tired, that's all.”

That’s not it. Well, not all of it.

“I think I need more food,” she adds hoping that would make it better, but there’s something else she isn’t saying.

You don’t press her though. Not here.

“Oh, well, we’ll be at the radio station soon. We’ll eat and get that energy up,” you state so there’s no room for argument.

“Okay,” she says quite matter-of-factly to hide something that she isn’t letting you hear or see, but again, you don’t press. You just drape your arm around her shoulders to let her lean her head on your shoulder.

“I have something I need to tell you,” you let her know eagerly she can know it’s nothing bad. “So after we eat or during, either or, how about we find somewhere quiet so I can tell you?”

“Okay,” she says, but not so practiced this time. There’s a hint of curiosity and eagerness this time which makes you smile and keep that smile painted on your features until you find the eyes of her sister.

Of course, she averts her eyes when you catch her, but you proceed to address her. “So you’re the one who dressed her up in that punk getup? Kali, is it?”

Said girl looks surprised that you know her name and even more so that you voice lightheartedness.

“Yes, and yes that was me. I can see that she didn’t keep it.”

You snicker and shake your head. “No, she looked cool though so she should’ve.”

Eleven musters a chuckle before you offer Kali some grace.

“Thank you for looking out for her and teaching her what you did. Ever since she came back from being with you all I heard was how cool you were, so it’s nice to finally meet you.”

Kali glances at her folded legs and nods gently before she meets your gaze and offers you a tiny smile. Unlike Eleven she’s harder to read, not because you don’t know her, but because she can mask her face well, so all you see is a genuine smile.

“Likewise. She talked about you too. You and her cop.”

You smile wider and tighten your hold around Eleven. “Flattered. Can’t say I expect you to know much considering we had only just met back then,” you share, making her nod.

“No, I don’t know as much as I know your father, but I know you’re her sister. That counts for something.”

You hum with content and then rest your chin on Eleven’s head, letting the conversation end on a good note.

Eventually, you reach the radio station and the first thing you do is greet Joyce after she rushes to embrace Jonathan, and she's quick to usher the both of you inside, saying that you need to eat since you’ve been in the Upside Down for too long, and to that you both agree.

“I’m feeling a…” you trail off and think for a quick second before something mouthwatering comes to mind. “I want a grilled cheese sandwich with pickles and…”

“Peanut butter,” Steve finishes for you, making you gasp.

“Oh my god, babe!”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “What can I say?” He says smugly as Mike passes by and rolls his eyes while Robin chuckles teasingly.

“Okay, what about what to drink…ready?” You ask and he claps and nods.

“Pepsi!” You both blurt at the same time, making you beam at him before you come together and high-five.

“El,” you address her as she’s passing by. “Do you want a grilled cheese?”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

You hum in comprehension before you let Steve drape his arm around your shoulders and turn you so you can head over to where you keep the food, finding Dustin in your way as soon as you walk out of the hallway.

“Ten minutes,” he warns. “I need you guys back here in ten minutes. That means no fooling around!”

“Got it…dad,” you mutter as Steve walks around him.

“Gosh,” Steve quips, making you giggle as you leave Dustin groaning dramatically.

——

*TEN MINUTES LATER*

“Okay, so this is Hawkins,” Dustin explains what he’s drawing on the window of the booth. “And this is the Upside Down. So we’ve always assumed the Upside Down was another dimension opened by Brenner, but it turns out it’s actually a bridge. More specifically an interdimensional bridge that rips through space-time. It is wildly unstable, but held together by exotic matter, which we found dead center right above the lab. In theoretical physics, they call this type of bridge…”

“A wormhole,” Erica and her science teacher both say at the same time, but one with enthusiasm and the other deadpanned.

“And this wormhole,” Dustin points at the pair after they got the answer right before going back to drawing and pointing to it. “Connects Hawkins to here, another world that I’ve coined, the Abyss.”

“Any particular reason?” Robin asks.

“A realm of pure chaos and evil,” Dustin’s old teacher muses, leaving Robin more confused.

“I’m sorry?”

“D&D,” he, Erica, Mike, and Will say at the same time, making your dad groan.

“Jesus Christ.”

“Wow,” Murray adds sarcastically while you finish the rest of your Pepsi.

“I believe this Abyss is the true home of the Demogorgons,” Dustin continues. “The vines, the Mind Flayer, all the nasty shit we found in the Upside Down. It’s where all those years ago you banished Henry,” he directs at Eleven. “He was lost for years, and he would’ve stayed lost if it wasn’t for Brenner.”

“He had me find Henry,” Eleven adds.

“And when you made remote contact with the Abyss, the bridge formed,” Dustin bounces off of her without letting a second of silence form. “And ever since Henry and his army of monsters have been using it to cross right back into Hawkins.”

“Which is why we could never find him on any crawl missions,” you chime in as you sit back in between Steve’s legs. “Because he was hiding there licking his wounds after we beat his ass last year.”

“What a pussy,” Erica quips.

“Exactly,” you snicker.

“So all this time,” Joyce voices. “Vecna’s been hiding in the sky?”

You nod and hum. “Mhm.”

“It’s why I can’t find him in the bath,” Eleven points out before Jonathan voices his connected realization.

“And why Holly fell from the damn sky.”

“Yeah, but why is he taking kids up there?” Your dad asks the important question.

“For the same reason he took me,” Will says. “The minds of children are weaker, right? More easily molded and controlled. So he channeled his thoughts and powers through me to amplify his abilities, and he’s gonna do the same with those kids.”

“Amplify his abilities? To do what?” Your dad queries without wondering why Vecna wants you since an answer was given. Not the truth, but it was enough for him. As for everyone else, well, they assume the same thing so thankfully no one brings up the question again.

“Move worlds,” Max reveals, making all eyes drift to her. “Holly, she said Henry told the kids that they would help him draw the worlds together. And I didn’t understand what that meant at the time, but…I—”

“He wants to move the Abyss, crash it into Hawkins,” Mike assumes, but Will corrects him.

“No, not crash. Merge.”

You feel chills crawl down your spine at the mere thought.

“Henry wasn’t licking his wounds in the Abyss,” Will contradicts you as he goes to the window to add to Dustin’s drawing. “He was making rifts, weakening the Abyss, just like he weakened Hawkins. So when the Abyss and Hawkins collide—”

“They become one,” Dustin doesn’t let Will finish.

“He’s remaking the world,” El adds.

“How long do we think this takes?” Steve finally speaks up with a question. “To move worlds? Like, are we talking like,” he pauses to suddenly clap his hands, motioning instantly before adding his other question. “Or is this gonna take some time?”

“We better hope we have some time,” Mike says. “Because if this is all correct, we have to get 2,000 feet in the air, find our way into the Abyss, free Holly and the kids, and kill Vecna all before our worlds merge.”

“And if my theories right,” Lucas says after Mike adds to the already high pressure of the situation. “He’s gonna move worlds tonight.”

“Have I mentioned how much I hate your theory?” Robin inputs.

“Me too,” Erica says before Steve also interjects.

“Me three.”

“I hate all of this,” you groan.

“But at least now we know what we’re up against,” your dad adds as he also walks over to study the marked-up window. “And what we need to do. We just need a plan and here’s how I see it,” he says and grabs a marker to start drawing and explaining.

“At the base, in the Upside Down, there’s a chopper ready for the taking. We fly up to the Abyss, kill the freak, rescue the kids, fly back down.”

You bat your lashes at the simplicity of his plan because he’s missing a lot of factors.

“And may I ask if anyone here knows how to fly a chopper?” You voice one factor. “I mean I’ve always wanted to fly, but my dreams don’t count as actual skills. So does anyone here know how to fly?”

“It’s a helicopter,” your dad points out quite matter-of-factly. “They’ve got pilots.”

You furrow your eyebrows as his plan still doesn’t make sense.

“We force one to fly,” your dad adds, but still that’s easier said than done.

“Another kidnapping plot. Love it,” Robin says in a sing-song voice.

“How’s this pilot gonna fly a chopper into the rift?” Mike voices your exact thought that you didn’t share because your dad was just going to argue with you.

“What do you mean? We just fly through it,” Your dad gives the reason as to why you gave up questioning his flawed plan.

“What?” Mike questions.

“Idiot,” Murray grimaces.

“Just fly through it?” Lucas also adds to the questions.

“These rotors are like 40 feet wide,” Dustin points out. “It’s too big. It's not gonna fit.”

“Steve hears that all the time and goes in anyway. Don’t you, Steve?” Robin suddenly and for some apparent reason takes this time to tease Steve, making said man snap at her while you slowly shoot her a pointed glare before you can’t help but start smiling.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Steve snaps.

“It’s funny,” Murray argues, causing Steve to hit his shoulder while your smile only widens and you have to stifle your laugh, making Robin wink at you.

You shake your head with a smirk in return and then look away when your dad suddenly blurts.

“Everyone shut up! Look, if somebody else has some magic bean that I don’t know about, I’m all ears. If not, it’s a risk that we gotta take. We fly, or we die.”

“Fly or die,” Murray backs your dad up.

“Kiss ass,” you grumble at the man sitting next to you while Dustin talks back to your dad.

“Well, then I guess we die.”

“Kiss ass? How?” Murray asks for clarification while Dustin and your dad begin to argue over the absurdity that is your dad's plan.

“Because you’ve been agreeing with all my dad has been saying even though it’s a stupid plan. Aren’t you supposed to be smart or something?”

“I am SMART, but it’s a plan!”

“A stupid plan.”

“Listen here, little girl. I don’t like you anymore.”

“Boo-hoo.” You deadpan, making his jaw drop with disbelief and making his eyes narrow with annoyance.

Yet before he can rebut, Steve shakes your shoulders before he slides off the top of the couch and walks off a couple of steps before he turns back to address the arguing group. “We don’t need the magic bean to climb,” he says, but his voice doesn’t break through the clamoring.

“We don’t need a magic bean!” Steve then yells, startling you, but managing to silence the crowd.

“Sorry,” he throws out before he explains himself. “Just…we don’t…we don’t need it. A magic bean,” he says almost shyly as he sees all the attention on him. “We got a beanstalk right here.”

You part your lips to ask for clarification, but he then walks off to grab something from the booth before he comes back to beckon you all to the kitchen slash tool room where he grabs a flashlight and sets it on the worn-out table in the room.

“Okay, this flashlight is the Squawk radio tower,” Steve starts to answer everyone’s confusion and curiosity. “And this slinky.” He picks up the toy and drops it over the flashlight before he stretches it over. “Is the bridge. We’ll never reach the Abyss from the tower, right? But Max said Vecna is drawing our worlds together. So, we let him.”

The corner of your lips starts to pull into a smirk as your confusion turns to awe and pride as you start to understand his plan

“And we wait and wait as he draws it closer and closer,” Steve continues. “And when it’s close enough and the radio tower is poking through one of the rifts, bam!” He snaps his fingers. “El makes her move, she does her meditation thingy, enters Vecna’s sick mind, and ambushes him. In your face, dickhead. And then, stopping the spell, halting the worlds from moving,” he puts it a lot easier than your dad's crazy plan was as he lets the slinky fall.

“Wham, voilà!” He exclaims while you can only smirk at his brilliance. “We’ve got a beanstalk. It’s perfect. All we gotta do is climb up it into the Abyss.”

“I like it,” Erika gives her opinion.

“It’s not totally insane,” Mike comments.

“Thank you,” Steve says.

“But there’s a problem,” Mike continues. “A big one.”

“I can’t reach inside Vecna’s mind,” El continues for her boyfriend. “He’s too far away.”

“Can't you just try?” Steve asks. “I don’t know, load up on some of your junk food or something?”

“No,” you actually add this time. “But we can get her close. The Upside Down lab is under his lair, and it’s still frozen in time, meaning that everything that was there before from Brenner’s experiments should still be there, like the…”

“Bath,” El finishes for you, making you nod in agreement.

“If you do make it into his mind, I can walk you through it,” Max offers herself to the plan. “Guide you. I know his sick mind inside and out.”

“I should be there too,” Eleven’s sister Kali also volunteers herself. “This plan hinges on stopping Henry, and right now, Jane is fighting him alone. It doesn’t need to be that way.”

You smile softly at her show of support whilst she continues.

“I can follow her into his mind. We can end our brother together.”

“Okay, yeah, I dig it,” Steve backs them up. “Sisters kill their brother. We rescue the kiddos, come home, heroes. And if Lucas is right, we don’t have a lot of time, so we have to move fast.”

“One final thing,” Dustin interjects before he walks over to Steve with a timer. “Cherry on top. On the way out, we drop a bomb near the exotic matter. Set a timer, escape the Upside Down,” he says as he lets the timer set off as an example. “The bridge collapses, and with it, the Abyss, the Demos, the Mind Flayer, all of it, gone. Game. Set. Match.”

“I like it,” you praise them with a beaming grin that lasts a second before you slowly draw the attention to the teacher. “But what are you still doing here?” You point him out. “I don’t mean that to offend you, I’m just saying that you can leave now. You don’t have to put your life at risk because this will be a risk.”

“She’s right, Mr Clark,” Dustin agrees with you. “You don’t have to do this. You helped us communicate, and we’re thankful, but if you want an out no one will blame you.”

The science teacher takes a deep breath as he weighs his options for a few seconds before he exhales deeply and looks up with determination. “I hear you and perhaps I should take this chance to leave, but I’m already in the middle of it. I want to see it through. Help as much as I can. I’ll take the risks.”

The boys and Erica all share a look of pride before you voice the support. “Okay, I like it. Great. That’s all I needed to add, other than that I love the plan!” You praise the boys, but mostly Steve.

“Great. Let’s start getting ready then, time is wasting,” Steve urges, making everyone move.

“Uh, Jim, I need El to help me flip the truck. The Demos made us crash and now it’s stranded in the field,” you hear Murray tell your dad, and since El was still nearby she heard too, so she responds before your dad can.

“I can do it.”

“Maybe not,” you voice your disapproval as you push through the passing bodies to join them around your dad. “We need you to preserve as much energy as you can. Can’t you use something else?”

“Yeah,” Murray scoffs. “What can possibly lift that massive truck in this quarantined town? So unless you and everyone else want to walk into Upside Down, then we need it, so El, can you help me lift this one truck?”

“Yes, I can. It'll be fast,” Eleven assures you. “I can do it and still have a lot of energy.”

You purse your lips together as you think about her agreeing to help, and try to come up with another way to help Murray flip his truck.

But, you come out blank so you step back and let Eleven go. Albeit, before she can leave with Murray and her sister, who volunteers to tag along with her, you pull Eleven aside.

“Before you go, can we talk?” You ask, reminding her of the impending conversation you had mentioned earlier. “We won’t be long,” you assure her and her sister, who’s waiting just behind her. “I just want to tell you this before I can’t,” you coax her as you find your sister's gaze again, seeing no moment of debate. She trusts you so she just looks back at her sister.

“I’ll be back,” she lets her know before she follows you down into the basement where you guarantee you’ll be alone.

However, when you’re alone, what you have to say doesn’t come as easily as you thought. It’s all such a jumble in your mind that you start to pace hoping that would straighten out everything you want to say, but the anxiety to reveal your news makes it impossible. So you just start looking crazy.

Eleven doesn’t think so, of course, she just grows concerned. “Are you okay? Is this about Henry?” She voices her concern, making you come to a sudden halt and shake your head.

“No, no,” you alleviate that concern gnawing at her, but considering that you still look perplexed, she doesn’t sit easily.

She’s going to pester you again, but you take a deep breath and proceed to reassure her. “What I’m about to say is not add pressure to the situation. It’s not to burden you. It’s to let you take a peek at the…rainbow at the end of the storm.” You laugh nervously, whilst Eleven looks at you puzzled and concerned.

“I don’t understand,” she reveals with confidence because she’s in your sole company. Or at least that’s what you both thought. In your anxiety, you fail to hear the inconvenient incomer that stops and decides to eavesdrop when they hear you and Eleven talking.

“Okay,” you breathe out and sit down across from her, but make sure to scoot the chair closer to her to be able to take her hands in yours. “Here’s the thing,” you pause and let out a shaky breath that makes Eleven gently squeeze your fingers.

“You can tell me anything,” she assures you, making you meet her gaze with a nervous look.

“I know,” you let her know. “It’s just hard because of the way things are, but again this is not to burden you. This is good news…I think. It hasn’t felt that way, but it is…or it will be.”

Eleven's eyebrows remain knotted as you don’t get to the point.

“I,” you clear your throat and let her hands go to rub your thighs before you start bouncing your leg and talking to the floor. “Steve and I. Well, me. I am. Not Steve. I’m going to have…a baby,” you finish in a whisper, but Eleven hears and goes still as she’s quick to figure out why Henry has really wanted to use you as a vessel, and as she’s quick to remember what her sister had told her about the pregnant subjects the military was using to make more of them.

“God,” you laugh nervously again as you clutch onto your chest. “It feels like a…weight was just lifted off of me even though dad still doesn’t know. Which reminds me. Don’t tell him. I will tell him, just after this so he doesn’t become even more overbearing. I wouldn’t have told you either until after, but…I’m hoping that hearing this will make you.” You shrug. “Fight harder,” you say softly and slowly lift your gaze to see her looking at her lap.

You can’t tell what she’s thinking, but you don’t investigate further either. You just assume she’s taking in the news and continue.

“I want this to be something you look forward to because I want you in their life. I want them to know you, not a story of you. I want you to, you know, make waffle extravaganzas when they’re older. Even though they’re so stupidly sweet.” You giggle and she shares a breathless laugh.

“I want you to teach them how to say your name and show them everything you never got to do as a kid. I want to watch morning cartoons together and whenever I’m at dads house and they’re falling asleep we can watch them sleep because it’ll probably be so adorable, but I can’t do any of that if you’re not there, so I need you to fight to survive,” you speak with a soft ferocity in hopes that would help encourage her. You hoped it did help, but you can’t be sure, because when you grab her hands again, she meets your gaze with tears streaming down her cheeks and a trembling bottom lip.

“Oh, oh, no, no. Why are you crying?” You immediately probe after you failed to notice her tears in your ramble of words that were suddenly able to come out of your mouth.

“Because,” she sniffles. “It’s happy news. I am happy.”

Tears you fought to keep away finally break out of your eyes and you question her. “Yeah?”

She nods. “Yeah.”

You offer her a wobbly grin and for once that little bundle of inconvenience doesn’t feel that way. It feels like good news because Eleven takes it well.

“So you promise to fight hard?” You insist of her as you bring her hands closer to you.

“I promise,” she assures you as she holds your gaze for a lingering moment before she’s the first one to lean in and wrap you in an embrace. “I am happy for you.”

You hold onto her and smile tenderly.

“You are going to be a good mom because you have been a good sister to me,” she says, completely shattering your heart and making you start weeping.

“Oh, El,” you coo and hold her tighter as she does the same. “I love you.”

She smiles softly and without hesitation, she returns those sweet words full of sincerity. “I love you too.”

Your smile widens and you press a light kiss on the side of her head before you caress her back.

“Jane or El?” You question. “I hear your sister call you Jane, so do you prefer Jane or El?”

She shrugs. “Whatever you want. It does not matter to me.”

You scoff softly. “Okay, then…El,” you say the name you have known her by since you were introduced.

“That’s all I needed to say, so I’m going to let you go before they come barging in here,” you let her know before you pull away and face her without the anxiety you started off with.

“Thank you for telling me,” she says as she wipes away her tears. “I’m happy you did.”

“Me too. Now come on. Times wasting,” you usher her and get up.

When you’re on your way upstairs you drape your arm around her shoulders and she does the same with you.

“How are babies made?” She asks, making you stiffen before you slowly look at her with an awkward look and she looks at you innocently and full of curiosity.

Or so she led you to believe because she then starts smiling. “It’s just a joke,” she reveals, making you laugh with relief.

“Oh good. I mean I was going to give you a very brief explanation, but good. Jeez.” You chuckle as she giggles.

When you eventually make it outside, Murray immediately complains as he honks the car, but you pay no mind to him and watch Eleven and her sister off before your dad joins you outside and you both watch them leave.

“I don’t trust her,” your dad suddenly says and you need no clarification as to who he’s talking about. There’s only one stranger leaving with El.

“Didn’t you think you did, but El trusts her so you should try to do the same,” you tell him, making him sigh.

“I thought you’d say that,” he mutters.

You hum and then turn to head back inside, but before you can leave his side, he suddenly grabs your arm and starts pulling you away with just a brief explanation thrown over his shoulder. “We need to talk.”

“Okay, but you don’t need to be so harsh,” you hiss and pull your arm from his grasp to follow him all the way to the radio tower where no one is near to listen in. Which is weird because he never shies away from having a private conversation around others, but you digress since it seems important.

“So were you planning on telling me?” He immediately attacks you with a sharp question that you don't need clarification for. At least you didn’t think so, you assume what this is about whether it’s out of fear or a feeling, you don’t know, but you assume considering his gaze his hard and his jaw is clenched.

“Tell you want?” You ask cluelessly just in case you’re wrong.

“About what you told El in the basement just now.”

You knew it. Oh!

“You were eavesdropping?! How dare you?!” You immediately deflect with a grimace.

“Tell me,” he presses coldly. “Were you going to tell me? This isn’t just something you keep to yourself, not when a monster is actively after you because of it, and not when all our lives are in extreme danger!”

There’s silence from you for a second as you scowl at him, but he doesn’t care. He grabs your wrist and immediately proves why you didn’t want to tell him anything.

“You’ll be staying here with Max and that nurse girl. You will no longer be putting your life in danger, and I don't know why Steve even allowed it in the first place.”

“No,” you bellow and rip your wrist from his grasp, catching him by surprise. “It was my choice to put my life at risk because I couldn't and cannot just sit idly by while Steve, you, El, and everyone else are risking your lives to try and put an end to this bullshit! I will not!” You seethe and then hit his shoulder to press your argument. “You will not make me!”

“Not…” he trails off and shakes his head as he scoffs in disbelief. “Who do you think you are? Do you know what you will be if you go out there in the state that you are in? Hm?”

You throw your hands up and throw out the first word that comes to mind. The one thing you’ve deemed yourself from the start. “A burden. Is that what I’ll be to you? A liability? Why do you think—”

“Yes,” he admits your biggest fear, making you shuffle back with your heartbroken with disbelief and hurt.

“You will be a burden,” he says the word outloud. “Because before even though I gave you a hard time, I could go on reassured by the fact that you’ll be okay, but now?! Now, you’re all I’m going to be thinking about besides all the other stuff I have to worry about already. So you will be staying here—”

“No,” you cut him off in your best sharp voice, but it’s shaky at best and your eyes display anything but rage. “I told you no. Do you really think I’m going to be safe here? The military is still out there, they most likely already know that I know Eleven, do you not think they’re after me to get to her? And Vecna, he can send more Demo’s any time he wants, so tell me if I’ll be safe here and not better off with you and everyone else? I have been fighting this entire time before you even knew. It will not be different—”

“But it will be,” he snaps and lurches forward to grab your shoulders and pull you closer to him. “It’s not the same. We are planning to finally kill that bastard, we are planning to take back what he stole. Do you not think he’s going to put up a fight? Do you think it’ll be easy?”

“Do you think it’s easy for me now?!” You cry. “Why do you think I didn’t tell you? Because you were going to make it a big deal and I’m already dealing with so much,” you breathe out. “I have been in a constant battle with myself between giving up so I don’t have to be a burden, or keep fighting. I always want to give up, but-but I can’t,” you stammer and slip away from his hold as he looks at you with his mouth agape and his expression conflicted over what you’re saying.

“It would be easier. Steve, Dustin, Jonathan, and Nancy wouldn’t have to gone off course as many times as they did to help me. Steve wouldn't have to be so hard on himself to keep me and himself safe, and you.” You point at him with a shaky finger. “You wouldn’t have to think of me all day. It would be easier to give up so I don’t have to be an inconvenience and so I don’t have to think of this baby as an inconvenience, but that’s all it is. And that’s all I am. So yes, I know. I know,” you breathe out with tears streaming down your face.

“I'm a burden, but I can’t…I can’t stop. I can’t stop thinking of this baby as a burden and I don’t want to. I should be happy. It should be happy news, and I shouldn’t have to have this battle with myself, but I am and I’m scared…Daddy, I’m so scared.” You sob and his anger completely subsides and guilt and pity take its place, making him step forward to cradle your face with his large hands and pull you close so you’ll hear every sincere word.

“I’m sorry,” is the first thing that comes out of his mouth. “I’m so sorry. I…can be an idiot and I’m sorry. You are not a burden. It’s just not easy anymore knowing what I know.”

“I know,” you sympathize with him. “But I can’t just be an easy target. I can’t just sit by. I can’t just not fight…or should I not? Wouldn’t it be easier?”

He caresses your cheeks with his thumbs and shakes his head. “No, it would not.”

He then drops his head and lets out a defeated sigh before he lifts his head and meets your gaze with a proud look. “You give them hell. You do what you’ve been doing and you never stop. Not now and not after when the fight ends. You’ll be up to your head with that baby sometimes. It will be hard, but you never give up. Don’t be like me. Don't lose your heart. Do you hear me?”

With streams of tears rolling down your cheeks you nod as you hold onto his hands.

“You’ve been doing great. I mean you’re still here unscathed even with that bastard after you. I’m sorry I didn’t see that. I’m sorry I’ve been overbearing…I just love you,” his voice breaks. “I love you so much and I don’t…I don’t want to lose you. Again.”

“You won’t,” you croak. “Just trust me. Please.”

He scoffs and then presses his forehead against yours, making you cry harder.

“When that baby is born you know what’s the first thing I’ll tell them? How hard you fought,”

“But,” you try to argue and bring up what you admitted to him, but he continues before you can finish.

“Regardless of your mindset now you're still fighting. That’s all that matters and that’s all that they’ll hear from me.”

“Okay,” you cry with a wobbly smile.

“And it’s not uncommon, you know? To think that way. Especially not with the way things are, so don’t give yourself a hard time,” he tries to make you feel better and you do. A sense of comfort washes over your heart.

“It’ll be easier though. After,” he says as he pulls back to face you again. “And I know I’m not your mother. I’m sure it would be easier if she were here to go through this with her because you’ll have a thousand questions, but I raised you didn’t I?” He asks with a smile, making you nod.

“So you come to me with whatever you need, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

“Do you promise?” You ask with a little bit of fear of what the future may hold.

“I swear,” he reassures you. “Do you need me to talk some sense into Harrington?”

You giggle and shake your head. “No, he’s…been good. Supportive. We’re just waiting to be excited until after,” you say and pause to swallow thickly before you pass your dad a pleading look. “I know he may never say it and his dad well, I don’t think he’ll take the news well. So, can you talk to him? Give him some advice or I don’t know…say something nice. Show him some support too.”

Your dad rolls his eyes as he drops his hands from your cheeks and stands up straight. “I’ll see what I can do,” he mutters.

“Dad,” you plead, making your dad sigh deeply before he assures you.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to him. After.”

With that said you throw your arms around him to give him a tight embrace with a relieved smile decorating your features.

“Thank you.”

Your dad presses a kiss on the top of your head before he rests his chin on you. “I love you,” he says with his heart.

Your smile widens. “I love you too.”

“I have to go now. You make sure to wear extra protection, but nothing too heavy so you can still run fast. Keep your weapons close and ready. Eat something before you go and never hesitate to contact me.”

You giggle and nod as you reassure him. “I will, and try not to worry too much about me, okay? I can fight and I already promised Steve to stick with him, so be as you were before you knew.”

“That’s impossible,” he interjects. “But…you can fight, so you fight.” He says as he hugs you tighter.

“I will.”

“Give them hell.”

“I will,” you reassure him one more time before you let him go.

“I’ll see you after,” he promises as he pats your shoulder.

“I’ll see you after,” you promise the same thing before you go your separate ways, noticing Joyce making her way to him now that you were done talking, whilst you make your way inside and don’t take a moment to take a break.

A break comes when you’re on your way to the gate and then when you make your way to the tower at the Upside Down, but even then how well anyone can rest when you're making your way to either place is the real question.

You’ve tried to guarantee no surprises when you’re entering the gate, but to be overconfident would be stupid considering how much firepower they have on them. And the Upside Down, well, it’s Upside Down, unpredictable and dangerous.

So really rest comes after. When the fight is done and there’s nothing lurking in the shadows.

Your body seems to struggle knowing that, it threatens you with all different kinds of aches, and it threatens to cast an exhaustion spell that would be hard to break out of, but your heart is lit by determination that fights back all those aches and counters that exhaustion spell with a fury to once and for all end the evil and darkness threatening not only your existence, but all the people you love too.

What burns with the most ferocity in your heart though isn’t fury, it’s fear. Not for the monster threatening your existence or that of your unborn child, but fear of losing those you love.

Whether you’re there or not perhaps doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but that fear still moves you. It makes you secure your boots' shoe laces so you don’t risk tripping and falling if you’re on your way to help someone, or so you don’t fall behind and they have to come help you.

And perhaps it’s funny to be so wary of your shoelaces, but once you pull on your boots over your camo military pants that once used to be a part of your work uniform, it’s something you can’t help but obsess over until it’s done and they’re no longer loose.

As for extra measurements? Keeping your fear in mind, but also making sure you’re prepared, you accept that your dad is right about not being weighed down too much, so you secure a holster around your thigh for a shotgun pistol, while around the beltline of the holster, you pack extra bullet shells because you can never have too many.

On your torso, just for your father's sake you wear a black leather vest with some padding, but it’s nothing too heavy. Just extra precautions because you still need to feel light.

Lastly, just for warmth, you don the jacket that you got in your last fight with Vecna, the one that matches Steve’s!

Robin will most likely have something to say about it since you know Steve is wearing the same jacket, but now you have something to use against her since she has a girlfriend who buys matching things for them to wear. So, two can play at the game if she dares to start.

Regardless, you save donning on your speargun and extra shafts until after you’re dressed, but also remember not to pack too many shafts since they're already weighing you down the most. Anything else that fits in your pockets you don’t hesitate packing since nothing you pick up and shove away is too heavy.

After that, you wonder if you’re missing anything so you pat yourself down as you check off a mental checklist, but you don’t seem to be missing anything. Thus, as you spot Nancy walking over to you, you get in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.

“Okay, look at me and tell me if I’m missing anything. I just want to make sure,” you address her curiosity, making her look at you up and down as she taps her finger on her chin and hums.

Once she’s triple checked she points at your beltline. “Your Walkman?”

“Oh.” You mouth and glance down before you shake your head. “No, I am relying on hope. He hasn’t put me in a trance and it doesn’t seem to be his thing this time around, so I’m leaving it behind.”

“Okay, well then, everything looks good to me,” she assures you, making you nod in comprehension before you try to go pick up your shotgun pistol, but as you’re turning you notice her eyes aglow with curiosity.

“What?” You probe.

Nancy shrugs. “Now, you told me your secret so I get to worry, okay?” She reminds you. “Are you okay? Have you eaten? Drank water?”

Your face softens and you offer her a sweet smile. “Yes to everything. I’m good,” you let her know, making her nod slowly with some relief washing over her.

“Good,” she says. “You’re all good then.”

She offers you a sweet smile before you move on and walk to the weapons closet with the intention of grabbing your shotgun pistol, but when you’re across from the room you see Steve and Dustin hugging inside.

It doesn’t catch you by surprise, but you don’t barge in and interrupt their moment either. You hang back and wait and watch with an admiring smile slowly tugging on your lips and awe glimmering in your eyes.

Not because it’s a rare sight. Not because you’re overwhelmed with emotions, but because when you see how Steve hugs Dustin so tenderly and with so much love in his eyes, something changes.

You can’t say that if you look at the future all you see is a miracle, rainbows, and clear skies. You’re still scared as shit, but that thing you’ve been battling with and that’s felt like a nightmare if you thought too much of it no longer feels like a nuisance.

Your walls come down and that bundle of inconvenience is no longer something you try to shun from your thoughts hoping that would somehow make it go away. It’s an unexpected surprise, nothing will take that away, but you finally feel a flutter of excitement at the thought of the baby.

“For the record,” you hear Dustin interject, pulling you from your thoughts. “A Rubik’s Cube isn’t even a good measure of intelligence.”

Steve laughs as he pulls away from Dustin who laughs along with him.

“And your beanstalk plan, seriously, only a genius could’ve come up with that,” Dustin adds softly and with admiration.

“Yeah, well…I learned from the best,” Steve muses.

“Well, that’s true,” Dustin doesn’t hesitate to say as he examines a spear he and Steve both carry. “Silver lining. If it fails, we both go down.”

“You die, I die,” Steve almost makes you laugh as he repeats words Dustin had told him a couple of years ago in that damn Russian elevator.

“You die, I die,” Dustin repeats that declaration of loyalty back to Steve before he turns away and walks out, noticing you only when he’s about to turn the corner, but not saying anything.

He instead taunts you with that same knowing look that he’s flashed you all day before he pats your shoulder and smiles impishly.

“What?” You finally press him, making him point his chin at the ceiling before he then surprises you by embracing you. “Okay, I’m confused.”

“I know,” he finally reveals. “I know that you guys are going to have a baby and…honestly it’s crazy to think about, but I think it’s some of the best news I’ve heard all year.”

You scoff softly before you hug him back gently and rest your chin on his head. “It is crazy to think about,” you agree. “But it is…it’s good news. Thank you.”

He hums softly and hugs you tighter, making you grin before you both let go and hold each other by the shoulder to share a happy smile before he walks away, leaving you to watch Steve with a tender enamored look.

“What?” He asks with confusion, making you smile brightly before you sway your hips as you approach him to throw your arms around his neck.

“I love you,” you tell him wholeheartedly, making the corner of his lips slowly lift to a shy smile that soon then matches the tender look in his sweet brown eyes.

“I love you too,” he whispers his declaration before he presses a kiss on your forehead.

“I,” you say and pause to scoff softly before you continue. “I was scared before to accept what was coming for us. So many things made me scared to accept it. A part of me hoped that the results were somehow wrong, but I,” you smile. “I’m a little less scared now and I know that you’ll ease more of that fear if you say that you’re all in. You don’t have to. It’s too soon, I know that but—”

“But nothing,” he cuts you off, looking a little offended that you assumed he wanted an out. “I’m with you. All the way,” he declares with no ounce of hesitation detected in his voice. He’s firm so you never doubt him and it works because excitement flutters in your heart and your eyes glimmer brightly with relief and bliss.

“We’re doing this then?” You ask, but not with fear or doubt. With excitement for what the future may hold.

“We’re doing this,” he states with a bright smile of his own. “I,” he says and moves his hands away from your waist to cradle your face. “I have enough money saved up so we can get some place of our own so we don’t have to stay with my parents anymore. It will be small, but so will she. I mean how much room can a baby need?”

A lot, but none of it matters at the moment. You just smile with excitement and awe as he rambles on.

“I’ll get a good job once this is over. Two if I need to and if you want to stay home with her. We-we can host those baby parties so we can get gifts and I-I—”

“We will figure it out,” you put an end to his rambling before you press a sweet kiss on his lips and then assure him again. “We will figure it out. And you’re not getting two jobs. I’d never see you.”

He huffs softly and you hold his gaze as you continue slowly. “Also…well, just know that I don’t have this in my possession yet, but my mom was unmarried and had no other children but me, so when she died. I inherited all she left behind. She just declared on her will that I couldn’t get any of it until I was 21,” you reveal what you got reminded of not long ago by your aunt.

You’re sure it was mentioned before but in the haze you were under when your mother died, it must have slipped your mind. And then you came here and well, it all got crazy here, so it was a surprise when you were reminded that you have something to fall back on.

“Wow,” Steve gasps with surprise. “Way to go Mrs Rain.”

You scoff. “Yeah, it won’t be a lot. We weren’t rich, but—”

“We’ll figure it out,” he adds for you, making you smile softly and nod in agreement before you can’t help but lean in and steal a steamy kiss that makes him dip you.

“Steve,” you giggle between the kiss.

“Shh,” he shushes you before he molds his lips with yours as he pulls you back up and presses you against him.

“You,” he says as he pulls back for air. “Look very sexy by the way.”

You giggle and when you pull back for air you don’t fail to compliment him back. “Look who’s talking?”

He smirks before he can’t help himself and leans in again, becoming a bit more passionate by letting his tongue find its way past your lips and challenging you for a second before your tongues dance as you fall at his will and let him do with you as he pleases.

If things were different you would have made an excuse to go off somewhere more private, but you didn’t forget what you needed to do or where you were. Neither did he, so after a few more stolen minutes of just him and you kissing sloppily, you pull away, but don’t let go. He grabs onto your waist as he peppers your face with kisses, and you gently brush your fingers through his curls hanging over his neck thanks to his backwards hat.

“Steve,” you say breathlessly as he brushes his nose along your jaw. “I really want you to be careful today.”

“I will be,” he assures you as he tilts your head to the side as he makes his way down to your neck.

“I…I’m being serious Steve. You can be…a little reckless and I really need you to be careful.”

At the sound of your concern, he finally pulls away to meet your gaze slowly filling with worry. “I’ll be careful, baby,” he coos.

You grab his hand that he still has against your jaw and press him. “Do you promise me because I don’t want to lose you.”

He swallows thickly and his tender eyes gleam with disbelief as if it’s the first time hearing you say that. “I promise,” he swears.

You draw out a deep breath and then glance at his swollen lips before you steal one more deep kiss from him as if it’ll be the last time while you hope it isn’t.

“Come on before they come and yell at us,” you remind him of the outside world when you pull away, and then proceed to get your shotgun pistol before you find your way back to the others where you prove yourself right. There’s no rest between getting every weapon ready, going over the plan one more time, and then loading everything onto the truck when Murray and the girls return with it.

Moreover, the anxiety to leave and start your plan makes a nervous tension cling to every single one of you, but then there’s a moment to breathe when Mike comes from inside and announces that Will has something to say.

Albeit when Will sits there across from all of you, fidgeting nervously like he has a big secret to share that nervous tension finds its way back.

“I,” he starts off stammering. “I…I haven’t told any of you this because…Because I…I don’t…I don’t want you to see me differently.”

If it’s about the powers things. It’s cool. Very cool in fact.

“But the truth is…the…the truth is I am. I am different.”

You look at him confused as you lean forward in your seat next to Robin.

“I just…I just pretended like I wasn’t because…because I didn’t want to be. I want to be like everyone else. I wanted to be like my friends and…and I am like you,” he states with tears in his eyes, but no indication of where this is going. “I’m like you in…in almost every way. We…we like playing D&D late into the night. And we like that old person smell in Mike’s basement. And we…we like biking to Melvald’s for malted milkshakes. And we like getting lost in the woods, and-and getting lost in Family Video and arguing about what to rent and settling on Holy Grail for the millionth time. And…and we like Milk Duds in our popcorn with extra butter. And we like drinking Coke with Pop Rocks.”

You smile faintly at all the different things he says likes, but your confusion is still present.

“And we like bike races and trading comics and-and NASA and Steve Martin and Lucky Charms and…literally all the same things,” he starts to cry. “I just…I just…I…I just…I…I…I don’t like girls.”

You sit back with your confusion still lingering for a few seconds before you finally start to realize what he’s trying to say, the revelation he’s having a hard time putting into words.

He’s…gay and he just told everyone. Or at least everyone should understand what he should be meaning now.

“I mean…” Will continues with tears rolling down his cheeks. “I mean I do. Just…just not like you guys do. And I, uh, I had this…crush on someone, even though I know…I know they’re not like me.” He shakes his head and cries, and even though he’s currently carrying a sad look in his eyes you can’t help but feel proud that he had the guts to admit what he just said.

You wouldn’t be able to do it. Not in front of so many people at least.

“But…but then I realized he’s just my Tammy,” he reveals, making you smile as you understand the reference before you glance over at Robin and catch her crying. Thus, you reach for her hand and take it in yours, making her look at you and offer you a wobbly smile before you focus back on Will as he goes on.

“And by Tammy, I mean it was never about him. It was…It was about me. And I thought I was finally okay with myself, but…but then today…today Vecna showed me what would happen if I did this, if I told you guys the truth. He showed me a future, and in this future, some of you are just…are just worried for me. Worried that things will be harder for me. And it just makes me feel like something's wrong with me. So I…so I push you away. And-and for the rest of us, we just drift apart more and more and more and more until I’m alone,” he confesses what he was shown, making your heart ache.

“And I know none of that has happened, and Vecna can’t see into the future. But-but he can see into our minds, and he knows things. And it just felt so real. It felt so real,” he sobs.

“Will,” his mom interjects as she grabs his hand. “You gotta listen to me. That will never ever happen. You’ll never lose me. Ever.”

“Okay. Okay.”

“And you’ll never lose me,” Jonathan doesn’t hesitate to reassure him too before he gets off his seat to go hug him.

“Or me,” Lucas proceeds to say as he also gets up and embraces his friend.

“Or me,” Dustin follows.

“Or me,” Mike echoes and joins the embrace.

“Or me,” Eleven says and joins the group embrace, leaving you to be the last one to speak in support of Will.

“Or me,” you say before you get up and join the group.

“Or me,” you hear Robin say through tears as she stays in her seat, but it’s not like it crossed anyone’s mind to force her to come over. You stay where you are and show your unconditional love for Will, stealing only a couple of moments to remain together before the embrace breaks apart.

“Guess you didn’t need truth serum, huh?” Robin interjects lightheartedly, making Will shake his head.

“Sorry. This sucks,” Max breaks her silence. “But you’re gonna have to hug me.”

“Oh, Max,” Will chuckles breathlessly before he gives her what she asked for.

“Just imagine I’m hugging you really tight, okay?” She says.

“Okay.”

When Will pulls away he faces the group again, but addresses your sister. “El. I know you’re strong enough to defeat Vecna. But he can retreat to the physical world, and we need to be ready to fight him there too. We have bullets and fire, but none of that helped those soldiers. I need to be there and I’m ready. I’m ready to show him I’m not afraid anymore,” he says and you look at his mother, expecting her to protest, but things seem to have changed since the last time. She seems to support his choice and once again you can’t help but be proud, and you have to tell him.

You can’t just sit with your feelings. They’re too big to just hope he knows what it is you feel. And it’s not to be pessimistic either. It's just something that needs to be said, so once you’re in the back of the truck on your way to the gate you make sure to steal a couple of minutes to talk to him.

“So powers huh?”

Will looks at you a bit surprised before he scoffs and flicks his wrist. “It’s no big deal. Really.”

“Well, it is to me because it was your connection to the hive mind that saved me from being taken. I would be in that other dimension now living through whatever torture Vecna had planned for me. So thank you, and you should be proud of what you can do.”

Will smiles shyly at his hands, so you continue as you nudge him.

“And you should be proud of what you confessed today. I know I am.”

Will’s lashes flutter as he still deals with disbelief over hearing that the people he loves support him.

“Thank you,” he whispers before he slowly lifts his gaze to find your eyes. “Really,” he presses. “It means a lot.”

You offer him a sincere smile before you cup his shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze. “Just don’t let the power thing go to your head, okay? It’d suck having to knock you down a peg.”

Will chuckles. “Well, you don’t have to worry. Hopefully, my connection won’t last longer than tonight, but if that does come to pass please knock some sense into me.”

You snicker and nod. “Just remember you asked for it.”

You both laugh together before your attention is stolen by the sound of bullets hitting the walls of the truck, causing Nancy to shoot you a quick look.

“Ready?” She asks.

You let out a deep breath and then smirk. “As I’ll ever be,” you assure her as you take the second rifle from her, hearing more bullets in the distance and assuming that it’s your father. Or at least, you hope it is him playing his part in taking down the soldiers he needs to bring down so you can go through that gate.

He said he was already in place, but you can never be sure and you can’t stop once you’ve already revealed your element of surprise, so you hope while you wait and listen; hearing only the bullets firing in the distance, but no longer hitting the truck, so it means your dad did it. Or at least you hope.

Either way, the truck itself speeds up, and in turn makes you grab onto the shelves bolted to the floor before you hear a loud crash that’s followed by a tremble that would've thrown you off your feet if you hadn’t secured yourself before.

After that, you’re given another rude greeting with bullets hitting the truck, threatening to penetrate through, but luckily none of them do, so you continue to move down the truck and reach Nancy under the gap on the ceiling that she personally accommodated so she can pop out of the top and shoot at the soldiers trying to bring the truck down.

“Ready?” She asks one more time.

“Ready,” you assure her confidently before she uses one ladder to climb to the top, and you use the other across from hers, offering the soldiers below a surprise and fighting fire with fire.

And perhaps you may only be two shooters against a handful of their own coming out to fight, but between you and Nancy, you are intimidating and lethal enough to bring them all down. At least, until Jonathan and Steve secure your dad in the back.

Once your dad is inside, you and Nancy duck inside, but don’t join the others yet. You make sure the truck is on the move and the door in the back is closed before you drop down.

“Nice shooting,” you immediately fire at Nancy with a grin, seeing her mirror it with the same smugness.

“You too,” she throws back before you rejoin the others.

“Everybody all right?” You hear your dad ask the group. “Everybody okay?”

“Yeah,” you all collectively say.

“You all right? Everybody, all right?” He asks once more, earning more of the same responses, so he turns to face you and Nancy.

“Hey, nice shooting back there girls,” he compliments, making Nancy smile, and making you smirk before you don’t hesitate to offer him a compliment.

“You too.”

He offers Nancy a smile and then proceeds to pat her arm before he wraps his arm around you and takes you with him to an empty spot where you can stand and wait for the truck to come to a stop at the lab in the Upside Down, because that’s where you are now. There’s no mistaking it.

Which is good because you can continue with your plan, but it’s also the Upside Down, there’s nothing good about being down here.

“I kind of thought that that was supposed to be the easy part,” Robin interjects as she clings to the bolted shelves.

“It was,” Lucas steals the words right out of your mouth, but what he leaves out and what everyone can’t say is that it’s only going to get harder

So much harder…

A/N- I am so excited for what’s to come 🫠

Tagged- @felicityofbakerstreet @mserynlarsen @m-blasterrr @slvtherinseeker @mochminnie @beepbeephargrove @peterwandaparker @train-wrecc @truthdaze @ioonatv @leahseclipse @preciousbabypeter @cevans-winchester @criminalyetminimal @ttae-yong @distinguishedmakerpandapatrol @geeksareunique @addisonnie @khaylin27 @hehehehannahthings @gyros-cum-sock @whore-for-murdock @jallerentrags @honey-with-tea @milkiane @roseabelle21 @obesesseddd @ilovewomen711 @lqveharrington @reymaybe @earthtostory @xstormiii @a-vvenger @hawkeyeharrington @mortallyspookyglitter @a-avengerparker @natrualartesianmemes @sunsumonner @siovhanroy @callsignwidow @missyviolet123 @scream4mami @sillylamppost @actuallyspider-man @holybirdhologram @mafiulaputaama @xoxogossipgirl-blair @jesschalamet @krw-celine @kitdjarin1

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