Guardian Angel Pt. 1
☆stranger things masterlist☆
Pairing: female reader x Eddie Munson
Summary: Y/n thought her days in Hawkins, Indiana were over, but when she begins getting visions of threats from the Upside Down, she knows she needs to step in and help
Warnings: SPOILERS for ST4, follows the timeline/plot of season 4, drugs, smoking, death, violence, trauma, cursing, fluff, potentially more (will update for certain episodes if there’s more)
A/N: After an extremely long hiatus, I’m back! No matter what life throws at me the itch to write never goes away. I started writing this 2 or 3 years ago and it was already pretty long, and it’s definitely nowhere near finished. This part is about 5K words, but I’ve got 20K wrote so far, so definitely check in for the next parts soon! Requests open (Stranger Things only atm), taglist open, inbox open! Please like, comment, and reblog!
Burns Harbor, Indiana was a small town, population of 2,107. It was a quiet and small town that bordered on the edge of Lake Michigan. The lake was pretty, yes, but Burns Harbor was nothing close to being a vacation spot. It was one of those towns you would drive through while you’re on a road trip and think nothing of. You may stop at one of the two gas stations for a pit stop to fuel up on gasoline and snacks, but that’s about it. It was a bare necessities type of town.
The residents didn’t ask questions or go poking their noses into others’ business. That was the best part of it for you. You had been living there for less than four years of your remarkable twenty three years of existence. It was a miracle you were still alive. You didn’t think that in a funny, ironic type of way, it was very much literal. Years ago it felt like death stared at you through your windows, stalking you and waiting for a chance to knock on your door and catch you by surprise.
You had since escaped from that feeling of creeping death, but could never forget your times at that place. You swore never to go back, never to risk your life and get close to it. You weren’t exactly that far from it though. Burns Harbor was a few hours from the place that had stripped you of your identity and tried to make you into something you didn’t want to be. The memories of your years at the laboratory were blurred together but vivid at the same time. All the sounds, rooms, experiments. They were just an arm’s reach away in your mind.
You tried to abandon the memories, forget altogether what had happened to you and the powers that you yielded. The things that made you different from everyone in Burns Harbor. That gap in time could easily be replaced, on the surface, as you having a normal adolescence. There really was no need for you to have a false backstory because nobody asked. That was the charm of the town you had relocated to. On the outside you were just like the other 2,106 people that resided in Burns.
When you first escaped from the lab you were afraid. The only thing that guided you were the visions. You had caught glimpses of a person, a girl like you, out in the real world. The journey to Chicago from Hawkins, Indiana was a grueling one. At the age of sixteen out in a world you hadn’t set foot in since you were eight, everything was terrifying to you. Your perception of life had been totally and utterly warped by the man you had once called ‘Papa.’
It was hard to trust anyone. You were afraid of the people that picked you up on the side of the road and helped you get towards your destination. In the span of a few days you hitched five rides. Some stayed quiet, some asked questions. Your response was always the same: nodding, shaking your head, or silence. The people that picked you up didn’t know what to think of you. A timid, dirty teenager with buzzed hair. Most assumed you were running away from home. Those few days were scary, but didn’t compare to the years you had spent within the white walls of the lab.
Once you made it to Chicago you found the girl, Kali. She took you in and helped you get on your feet. You stayed there in Illinois for two and half years before you decided to leave. The lifestyle that Kali and her gang lived wasn’t what you wanted for your future. She had helped you become ‘normal’ and enhance your powers, and for that you were forever grateful. Hints of Kali still lingered in you at Burns Harbor. For one, you still dressed in dark colors. Your closet was mostly black, with hints of red and white littered in too.
Assimilating with the people that lived in your new town wasn’t hard. It was easy to pick up on normal things. You had an apartment, a vehicle, and a job. Even though it was nothing crazy.
A chilly breeze hit your face as you stuck your head through the window. “Here you go! Have a good night and enjoy your food!” you smiled. You handed over the bag that held a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
“You too,” they replied. They drove off, probably not realizing what they had said. You heard that same phrase hundreds of times when you were working the drive-thru and when you first started working it cracked you up. Now you were used to it. People were in such a rush to get their food and go home that they gave a quick and easy reply, even if it didn’t entirely make sense. Not all customers were like that. Some wouldn’t say anything at all but others would give you a genuine smile and even say thank you.
You leaned against the counter and let out a breath. With a quick glance at the clock you saw that it was nine fifty. Only ten minutes before closing. There wasn’t anyone else in line at the drive-thru so you went ahead and started wiping down the black counters.
“I guess we should start shutting down,” Polly called from deeper in the kitchen.
“Yeah might as well,” you called back. You turned the sink on and rinsed your off-white rag. Water mixed with soap and grease dripped down the cloth and into the sink. Out in the dining area, your coworkers had finished wiping down the tables and mopping the floor. The lights went off in the front of the building and left only the back half illuminated.
You had been working at KFC for a couple months and it was a nice environment. Your coworkers were nice. Much nicer than those at your previous job. Not once had you been in a full on argument with anyone at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Most of your coworkers were around the same age as you except for two older women. Darlene and Wilma were extremely hospitable fifty year olds that lived together and invited everyone over for Christmas back in December.
They weren’t working that particular night and the store was being run by twenty year olds. On the outside it sounded like a recipe for disaster, but for the most part everyone was calm and just there to work.
“I’m done up front.” Grant came in and leaned against the counter beside you, tossing his rag into the sink and rolling his neck around to stretch it.
You glanced at him through tired eyes and nodded. “I’m just about finished up here. It was a slow night so I had time to clean in between customers.” You took your red visor off and wiped your forehead. There was a thin line of sweat left on your hoodie. You were very ready to get home and get in the shower to wash off the layer of grease that seemed to coat your entire body.
“So…” Grant started. “I went on a date with Katie last night.”
You smiled and looked at him. “How did it go?” Grant was a hopeless romantic. In the months you had known him he had gone on more dates than you could count on your hands. He was a good guy, but he could be shy and awkward around people that he liked.
“It went good. At least I think it did. Yeah- yeah it went good.” He nodded, chewing on the inside of his lip.
“Did you ask her to go out again?” you asked, giving him a pointed look. This was the real question. A lot of the time he was too nervous to ask or had overthought so much about whether or not the girl liked him that he chickened out.
You looked down at his feet and smiled. “Yeah.”
“And what did she say?” you dragged out the last word, eager to know.
“She said yes.” He grinned and shuffled his feet a little, doing a little happy dance.
You raised your eyebrows and smiled. “Grant, oh my god! Finally.”
Polly walked in running her fingers through her hair. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Grant here has finally got a second date,” you said, looking at the man of the hour.
Polly’s mouth dropped open and you could see the line that her burgundy lipstick created on the inside of her lips. “No f-ing way. I didn’t know he had it in ‘em.”
Grant gave her a deadpan face. “You guys suck.”
Polly snickered, “Sure we do.”
“Anyways…” you started, changing the subject. “What are you guys doing this weekend?”
Grant let his head roll back and groaned. “Spring break is starting for my sisters and my mom wants me to drive them to their friends' houses or whatever.” Grant still lived at his parent’s house and had twin sisters in high school. He supplied you guys with constant stories about them and their shenanigans. “But I have that date with Katie soon.”
“Ooo,” Polly teased. She received a glare from Grant, who was tired of months of being made fun of by her. She sighed and averted her attention from the victim of her bullying. “I want Mickey to take me to Indianapolis for a concert next Friday but he’s dragging his feet.”
You shut your eyes and rubbed them. Mickey was Polly’s latest boyfriend, and not a good one at that. Everything she told you about him made you like him less and less. You hadn’t actually met him yet because every time Polly tried to set up a hang out he declined. “Go by yourself if Mickey won’t take you. Or go with that one cousin you have that lives around here.”
She grimaced. “No. Absolutely not. I'm pretty sure Shelby has a thing for me and we’re cousins. He’s… just no.” She crossed her arms and shook her head, disgusted at the idea. Polly tilted her head up at you, “What’re you going to be up to y/n?”
“I’m not sure yet. I want to go by the music store and check out what they have. A new Metallica album came out a little bit ago and I want to see if it’s there.” The music store was a frequent visit for you. So much so that you were on a first name basis with the workers there.
“Sounds fun.” Polly’s voice was monotone. She wasn’t really thinking about what you had said at all. She was in her own mind worried about the concert and her boyfriend.
“Well I think that’s cool. If you find it you need to get me a copy too. I’ll pay you back when I get paid.” The blonde boy had grabbed a toothpick from a jar and had it hanging out of his mouth.
“Yeah, I’ll look.” You glanced at the clock again and saw that the minute hand was past the twelve. Finally time to go.
Grant had followed your line of sight and clapped his hands together. “I’ll lock up. You guys go ahead and leave.” He started heading further into the kitchen to grab the keys.
“You sure?” you called after him.
“Yep!” he hollered back.
You followed after Grant into the kitchen and headed towards the back door. You clocked out and told everyone goodnight before pulling the black metal door open and stepping out into the crisp night air. Stars littered the sky like salt sprinkled on a black counter. Your boots thumped on the grey and black asphalt parking lot that held the employee cars and the dumpsters behind the building. Your dull red Jeep was illuminated in a yellowish tint by the streetlight above it. You pulled your keys out of the pocket of your hoodie when you came up to the driver side door.
You looked over to your right where the heavy metal door had shut and sent out a resounding thud. Polly and two of your other coworkers had just left and were headed towards their own vehicles. Polly headed towards her brown BMW that was bought brand-new five years ago by her parents for her sixteenth birthday. She raised her hand and waved at you when she caught your eye. You had just opened the door but raised your hand above the window so she could see you waving back.
As soon as you shut the door you put the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine of your Jeep didn’t exactly pur but he was in working order. Angus, which was your SUV’s name, was inspired by AC/DC’s Angus Young. He was a trustworthy machine and had been with you since you arrived in Burns Harbor. He hadn’t failed you yet.
You set down the quiet streets, tapping your thumbs on the steering wheel to the cassette you had in. The streets were ultimately empty despite it being ten o’clock on a Friday night. Most of Burns Harbor were in their homes watching tv, doors unlocked and windows open to let in the breeze from the lake.
There weren’t really any “bad parts” of town. Not a lot of crime happened and if it did they were dumb, unharmful crimes. You couldn’t remember the last break in or murder that had happened since you moved to town. You drove slow with all your windows down, enjoying the night air. You looked out at all the businesses you were passing. The movie theater, the video store, a family owned diner, an insurance company. The essentials plus a little more.
You flipped on your blinker even though there wasn’t anyone behind you and then turned into the parking lot for your apartment complex. There were only six units, and they were pretty nice. You wouldn’t be able to afford it on your own but you had a roommate, Kat. Her real name was Katherine but no one other than her parents called her that.
You parked Angus and locked him up so he was safe before you headed towards your apartment building. It was four stories tall but luckily for you, your apartment was on the second floor. You checked the mail on your way up, knowing that Kat definitely hadn’t.
Bill, junk, advertisements.
You unlocked the door to apartment number two and walked in. No lights were on and it was pitch black inside. You felt along the wall for the light switch and flicked it on. The sudden brightness that filled your vision made your pupils constrict. You tossed the mail onto the ceramic tile countertop in your kitchen so you could worry about it later.
You took your shoes off at the door and carried them to your room. You knew Kat wasn’t home since her door was shut, no light was coming out the bottom, and it was silent on the other side. She was probably out somewhere with friends.
As soon as you stepped into your room your bed called to you. You wanted to sink into the soft sheets and fall straight asleep but you desperately needed a shower. You groaned and trudged over to your closet. You grabbed a worn-out band tee and your favorite pair of sweat shorts and dragged yourself to the bathroom.
The white tile was cold on the pads of your feet while you waited for the water to heat up. After another minute or two you stuck your hand under the flow of water and decided that it was the perfect temperature. Your clothes sat on top of the closed toilet seat while you washed yourself. You closed your eyes and hummed Crazy Train as you combed your fingers through your scalp.
Your ears rang and your vision turned black, but just for a moment. Suddenly you were in another place. The sound of the water running disappeared, you couldn’t feel the stream hitting your body, and the air wasn’t steamy anymore.
You saw two people. A girl a bit younger than you, dressed in what looked like a cheer uniform and a guy more your age with longer brown hair. You listened and watched as the guy grabbed the girl by the shoulders and was telling her to ‘wake up.’ You quickly gathered her name was Chrissy. She looked unnatural. Her body was still as a board and her eyes were completely white.
She began to rise in the air as the guy continued to yell at her. Your stomach twisted as one by one her limbs started to contort and snap. Her legs and arms bent at a freakish angle and her jaw unhinged. Then before she dropped to the ground it looked like her eyes were sucked into her body, blood dripping from the sockets.
You gasped, choking on water as you regained your sight again and realized you were back home. It didn’t take you long to realize what you had just seen. It was a vision. Your heart pounded in your chest and even though the water was warm, your skin was covered in goosebumps. It was without a doubt Hawkins. It didn’t matter how far away you got, a part of you would always be attached to that town.
Your visions had gone silent months ago and you thought that maybe number eleven had gotten things under control there. The last vision you had was at the end of summer when you saw a glimpse of a moving truck and the girl getting into it. That meant she wasn’t there. Hawkins was in danger and she wasn’t there to protect it.
You quickly finished washing your hair and your body and shut the water off. You wrapped your towel around your body and grabbed your clothes, running to your room. Your chest was on fire from how hard you were breathing. The other times you didn't need to go. You watched from a distance while number eleven took care of it. She saved you from having to return. Last summer it seemed like she had finally closed the connection between the real world and the Upside Down, but whatever that was that happened to that cheerleader, it wasn’t human. It wasn’t human at all. And if you were getting visions of it, that could only mean it was connected to what happened in that laboratory.
You discarded the clothes you had originally picked and went back to your closet to get a normal outfit. You definitely weren’t going to sleep anymore. You paced around your room in your socks, fully dressed other than your boots. You realized that your luck had run out. You were naive to think that Hawkins could be left in the past. The horrors that riddled that town were still there. You can take the girl out of Hawkins, but you can’t take Hawkins out of the girl.
After all this time would you really need to go back? Did number eleven realize something was going on again too?
A million thoughts raced inside your brain, some telling you that it wasn’t your problem anymore. You weren’t a hero by any means. Sure you had powers just like most comic book heroes, but that didn’t mean anything. You were sure none of them grew up the way you did or saw the same terrifying sights that haunted your nightmares. You couldn’t say you were normal either, and you sure couldn’t let a whole town die.
You needed a bag, a satchel, something to carry things in. You searched through your room until you finally found a brown canvas backpack. You ran around your room throwing stuff onto your bed that could fit in there. Any extra could just go in the backseat of your SUV.
You didn’t know what you needed to bring for a trip to Hawkins but you knew it would be a couple hours of driving and who knows how long you would be there for.
You rifled through your drawers and found your stash of money. You had saved all that you could in the past few years but never put it in a bank. You put the rolls of cash into your bag along with some other things. You slung it over your shoulder and took a long look around your room.
When dealing with the Upside Down, there really was no telling how long it would take until you would be back. You took in a long breath and held it for a couple seconds before you breathed out and turned around, locking your door behind you.
You found a pen and a notebook and scribbled a quick note on it so Kat wouldn’t be worried when she came home. “be back in a few days.” You hoped that message would hold true.
You took another look around your apartment as you stood by the oak door. So many memories have been created there. Less than half a decade ago you had met Kat.
She was the same age as you and wanted somewhere to live that wasn’t with her parents, but not totally by herself. She worked at the front desk of her parent’s law firm in town. She made decent money considering she hadn’t gone to college. If she wanted to she could pay for the entire apartment herself, which she had offered after a little while of you two living together but you declined.
She was lively and outgoing, something that you weren’t when you two first met. She cracked your shell and helped you open up and talk to people. She had no idea about your powers or your real past, but she believed the false stories you had told her. She thought that you had run away from home because of a toxic household, which was somewhat true.
Kat had introduced you to her friends and family and they all welcomed you with open arms. She also hosted parties and holidays at your apartment and invited everyone she could. Those were the first time in years you had ever celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. Hopefully they wouldn’t be the last times either.
You flipped the light switch off, bathing your apartment completely in darkness. You turned the worn golden knob on the door and took a step out into the carpeted hallway. Your keys jingled when you pulled them out of the keyhole. You twisted the knob to be sure it was locked. Even though most residents of Burns Harbor didn’t lock their doors, you always did. It wouldn’t do much to protect against the evils that you knew lurked in Hawkins though.
When the handle didn’t budge you nodded and started down the stairs. You walked across the hardwood floor of the first story and through the front door, out into the parking lot. The air was just as crisp as it had been an hour ago when you had arrived home.
Angus was there waiting for you. You unlocked the door and hopped in, tossing your bag in the passenger seat.
If you were going on an epic journey you needed an epic soundtrack right? In actuality, the music would calm your nerves. If you drove in silence you might explode from the anxiety that was filling your body. You popped in an Iron Maiden cassette and drove out of the parking lot, headed towards the gas station.
A dingy neon sign on the window told you that the place was open. You pulled up to a pump and headed inside. This was going to be a long drive. You needed some food and a map to even get to Hawkins.
You swore you would never go back to that town, but here you are, off to save the day. That’s if you even managed to. Number eleven did it, so you had faith in yourself. Eleven was strong, there was no doubt about that. Even though you were in an older group than she was, you still heard about the things she could do. And then later on when you left, you had seen the visions of her powers in the real world. Only time would tell if you could stand against the evil like she had.
An especially cold breeze snapped you out of your trance and you clutched your black denim jacket tighter around you. There was a task at hand. You pushed open the glass door to the inside of the gas station and a bell rang above your head, signaling your presence.
A guy that looked to be a few years older than you and much more tired sat at the register. He scratched at his beard and didn’t bother to greet you. You stuck your hands in your pockets and looked around the aisles. You needed snacks and a map. You grabbed a big bag of chips and several Beef-n-Cheese stick packs. Some candy and gum were a must, along with Cokes. You weren’t going to waste money buying a cooler and ice to keep them cold. You could drink them at room temperature.
You carried the stuff to the register and rocked back and forth on your heels while the guy rang you up. You perked up whenever you noticed a little display of pamphlets next to the register. You grabbed a map and plopped it down on the counter too.
The cashier slowly raised his eyes up to look at you and blinked. “Going somewhere?” he asked. He didn’t sound at all interested but you answered anyway.
“Yeah, something like that.” You nodded, lips in a thin line. You looked around at the things on the green counter that were around the cashier. You saw a key dangling from a hook next to him on a bulletin board. It was attached to a wood block that said ‘bathroom.’ You suddenly had an idea.
“Can I use your bathroom?” you asked.
He sighed and took the keys down from the board. He held them out and you took them, headed to where he pointed. Your boots thumped quickly on the linoleum floor. The bathroom smelled like someone had just taken a shit, vomited, and maybe even died in there- all at the same time.
You begrudgingly sat down on the cracked toilet seat and shut your eyes. You breathed in and out slowly, focusing your mind on the guy you saw from your vision earlier that night. What you were attempting to do was something you had only done a few times before, but if this worked…
Suddenly he appeared in your mind and you focused harder until your sight went completely dark. You could see him sleeping on a couch but that’s all you could see. “Hello?” you called out. No response. You walked forward and reached a hand out. Instead of touching him your hand went through him like an apparition. His face twisted a little in concentration but he was definitely still asleep. “Hello?” you repeated, drawing your eyebrows together.
He twitched a little and squeezed his eyes shut. Could he hear you? You stepped a little closer and crouched down next to him. You could see him much clearer now. You turned your head to the side and stared at him. You blew air on him but it seemed to have no effect. “Hey, wake up.” He fidgeted a little.
“Wake up!” you shouted. His eyes shot open and he jumped up with a start. His sudden movement startled you and you fell back on your ass. He whipped his head around wildly, hair swinging everywhere. He stopped and stared and you could have sworn he was looking right at you.
You opened your mouth to say something but were thrown out of his mind by pounding on the bathroom door.
“Hey! You didn’t die in there did you?” the cashier hollered from the other side of the door.
“No! I’m alive. Just having some stomach issues,” you called back.
There was silence for a second and you could just imagine the disgust on his face. “Okay.” You heard his footsteps recede and you groaned. It was possible you had just imagined it, but it felt like he was really looking at you. Not the area you had fallen at, but at you, like he had seen you.
You shook your head and flushed the toilet so it seemed like you had really used the bathroom. You took a paper towel and turned the sink on and let it run for a minute before you turned it off and walked back into the store.
You strolled down the aisle back to the register casually before you stopped and planted your feet in front of the counter. He had taken the liberty of bagging your items while you were using the commode.
“That’ll be twenty-five thirty-one.”
You pulled a few bills out of your pocket and handed them to him. He counted them and put them in the register. He glanced at you while he counted out coins. You held your hand out and he dropped the silver and copper into your hands. You tucked it into your pocket and started picking up your bags.
“Come again,” he called after you in a monotone voice.
You nodded your head in response and pulled the door open with your free hand. As you walked to your Jeep you looked around. The streets were empty. Very faint waves could be heard in the distance and crickets chirped in the grass. You opened the car door behind your own and deposited your bags in the backseat. You rifled through them and found the map, opening it up fully. One side was a map of the United States, the other side a map of just Indiana.
Your eyes scanned across it until you found Burns Harbor at the top. You looked further to the bottom until you found the town you were looking for. There it was: Hawkins, Indiana. You traced a line with your fingertip, connecting the two cities through roads. It would be a couple hours before you arrived at your destination.
Before you left though, you needed to fill up. You leaned against the side of your vehicle, watching as the gallons- along with the price- climbed up until it reached the amount you paid inside. You took the worn pump out of your gas tank and screwed the lid back on.
You opened the driver-side door and got into your seat. Leaning over and rifling through your glovebox, your hands finally found purchase on a pen. You traced the route you had drawn with your finger moments ago, this time in red ink. You drew circles around towns that you would drive through. You tossed the pen back in the compartment and shut it. The map sat in the passenger seat, opened up in case you needed to glance at it. You put your keys in the ignition and started the engine, beginning your trip to Hawkins.












