Hawkins was destined to burn to the ground and take Y/n with it. While her friends refuse to give up hope, she's locked in her room waiting for good news with an unsteady heart. But when the final struggle against the greatest evil finally draws the curtains to a close, it tests Y/n beyond the realms of possibility, dragging her deeper beneath the depths and further from the safety of her bedroom walls.
Can she reclaim what's been lost, or will she fade into the cloud of darkness with everything else?
Warnings: mentions of death, blood, scars, hospitals, a smidge of angst, the usual bs <3
[A/N: I wrote this one so quickly and I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing but I guess we'll find out :) Also I simultaneously love and hate Steve in this chapter.]
<- Chapter Two: Hell of a Fight
Dead Girl Walking
Everything was just a little too bright when you woke up.
The soft repetition of a heart rate monitor echoed into the room, and you immediately felt your stomach twist with guilt and fear.
You’re thrown back against the floor, head blaring with pain as it knocks against the surface. Its claws slash at you again, piercing your stomach. You cry out, tears escaping your eyes.
Something like a quiet gasp left your lips, and you immediately feel something rest on your hand, making you tense.
“Hey…”
You turn your head to your left, the touch now comforting.
Steve and Lucas were sitting at your side with matching faces of worry. They look like hell, so you can only imagine how horrific your appearance is right now.
Then, the events hit.
“Oh god.” You whisper, trying to sit up. Steve is on his feet immediately.
“Hey, no, you need to lay down, okay?” He gently lowers you back onto the bed.
“The Wheelers.” You say, voice scratchy. “They- are they okay?”
Lucas can’t help the sad look spreading across his face then, lips tightening as he silently shook his head. You let your head fall back against the pillow, the guilt that usually rested somewhere above your stomach now trying to claw its way up to your throat.
You failed them.
“Ted and Karen are in surgery.” Steve explains, sitting back down but still holding onto your hand. “But you need to worry about yourself.”
You frown then, hoping the younger boy could give some sort of explanation. Lucas can only shrug, standing from his seat and reaching over to pat your shoulder.
“I’m really really glad you’re okay.” He says, and you offer as best of a smile as you possibly could, trying to reassure him. “I’m gonna check on Nancy and Mike. See if they need anything.”
Steve just nods, and soon it’s just the two of you in this blinding room with nothing but your heartbeat to keep you company.
“You died.”
Your eyes find him immediately, but he’s just staring down at your hand, mindlessly rubbing small circles on your knuckles.
“When I got here… you flatlined. Took… took a minute to get you back.”
“I’m sorry.” You finally whisper. He looks at you this time, head shaking with the absurdity of it.
“Y/n, you don’t have to apologise.”
“I ruined everything.” You say, eyes hot with tears. “I couldn’t save any of them. And now, everyone’s here instead of looking for Vecna because I was so-”
“It’s not your fault.” He interrupts, leaning closer to you. It didn’t matter what he said right now, you saw how scared he looked when he noticed you were awake, head hung low like he had been defeated.
“What about the crawl?” You ask, and Steve breathes out a laugh, shaking his head.
“What about it?”
“Steve.”
“We lost Hop when the van broke down.” He runs a hand down his face, sighing. “It’s hopefully gonna be up and running soon, someone took enough pity on us to give us a jump, but… I did, sort of, leave Jonathan to deal with it.”
“You walked here?” You frown, and there’s a soft brush of pink creeping up his neck.
“Yeah, well, what else was I supposed to do?” A small and sad smile lifts his lips as he looks at you. “Just wait for news?”
“Something like that.” You say, holding his hand a little tighter. He clears his throat.
“It’s for the best. The good samaritan who pulled over to help us? Pretty sure I stood up her sister.”
“Well, that’s-”
Steve winces. “Multiple occasions.”
You narrow your eyes.
“Not proud of it.” He insists, surrendering his hands as he runs a hand through his hair. “Different times- different me.”
“Did you try telling her that?” You ask and he sheepishly grins.
“If by telling her, you mean throw some jumper cables in her direction before I took off running into the night? Then, yes, it was a great conversation.”
“You’re such a doofus.” You laugh, batting him away.
“Okay, watch out for those stitches.” He chuckles, “If you pop one of them, I’m not running out here again.”
“I…” Your voice trails off with the awakening reality. You were so consumed in the comfort of his presence that you hadn’t even noticed the pain.
Unless the pain didn’t even exist.
Your hand slips from his as you sit up.
“Woah, what did I just-”
You’re ignoring him, detaching yourself from whatever machines are surrounding you while Steve protests your every decision. You almost stumble out of the bed but manage to catch yourself last minute, locating a mirror on the opposite wall.
“Y/n, please-”
You lift up your shirt and Steve averts his eyes, blushing. Your breath catches.
“What are you-”
“We need to leave.” You say, voice firm. “Like, right now.”
Steve looks over in surprise to see your blood soaked bandages peel away from your torso to reveal nothing but healed scars. Like the fight had never happened.
“Holy shit.”
It was strangely easy to break out of a hospital. Then again, the doctors were far too busy trying to save lives to care what two 21 year olds were up to.
The real problem was being outside. Since you’re sure they’ve already heard about the demogorgon at the Wheeler house, they’re gonna be keeping a close watch on the cameras they’ve installed. Unlucky for you, the cameras are on every single street.
You’re sure they’re going to want to talk to you about your inclusion in the fight. And you would have lied through your teeth just to spite them if it weren’t for the fact that after being slaughtered to literal death, you had healed completely without explanation. You’re never going to let yourself become one of their experiments.
“What about cutting around the houses?” You suggest, shivering with the cool bite of the night air against your arms and Steve shakes his head.
“No, it’s too risky. Surveillance is heavier around residential areas.” He replies, shrugging off his jacket and offering it to you. Well, offering is a loose term, because he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Before you can thank him, a car suddenly pulls up in front of you. Steve protectively steps in front of you, frowning at the intrusion.
“Y/n?”
You step out to find a familiar face peering out of the driver’s window, eyes wide with confusion and joy.
“Jeff.” You smile at the Hellfire Club legacy.
“You guys need a ride?” Jeff assesses the way you’re both cautiously looking around, Steve’s jacket covering what was clearly a bloody shirt.
“Uh…” You look up at Steve, who shrugged. You didn’t really have options. “Please.”
“Cool. You’ll, um, need to get in the back though, I’ve got a load of shit up front.” Jeff says, nodding at you both.
Steve holds the back door open for you and soon enough, you’re both hidden in the back of Jeff’s car barreling away from the hospital.
Steve occasionally gives instructions, a soft frown on his brow as he tries to recall where the van broke down.
“Thanks for this.” You say, patting his shoulder from the backseat and he grins at you.
“Anything for an old friend.”
“How do you two know each other again?” Steve asks innocently, immediately feeling guilt when the boy’s face drops.
“Eddie.” You say for him, pursing your lips.
“Oh.”
Jeff was one of the many kids Eddie helped through high school. He not only was a member of Hellfire but he was also lead electric guitar for Corroded Coffin. You hadn’t seen him in a long time, even with the quarantine keeping you all here. The last time you spoke was at the funeral, along with Garreth. There wasn’t much you could say to them, not without revealing far too much. If they knew what really happened to Eddie, they wouldn’t have hesitated to join you in your mission to find him, and you couldn’t drag another person into this again.
“I never got to thank you.” Jeff suddenly says, and you frown when you notice he’s looking at you in the rearview mirror.
“What for?”
“Trying to… trying to clear Eddie’s name.” He explains quietly, your throat tightening in memory. “I, uh, heard you got into some pretty deep shit over it and I- I…”
He grips the wheel tighter, smiling despite the tears in his eyes. “I know that would mean the world to Eddie.”
“He’d do the same for me.” You eventually say, heart sinking with dread.
Because it was true. He’d do anything for you, even if it meant going head to head with a hundred demobats.
“It’s right up there.” Steve clears his throat, pointing further along the road.
“Alrighty.” Jeff stops the car a few feet away, and you both clamber out. Steve sends a grateful remark his way before jogging over to the van. You hang back, smiling.
“Thank you, Jeff. Seriously.”
“Hey, you’re a Hellfire member. We look out for each other.” He smiles, tapping the steering wheel. “I’ll see you around, Y/n.”
You give a little wave as he pulls away, taking in a breath. You should have looked out a little better for Eddie in the end.
Jonathan pokes his head out of the van when he hears someone approaching, and his face drops.
“What- Y/n?” Jonathan looks like he’s seen a ghost, head shaking. “What- no- you’re meant to be in the hospital, what are you-”
“I’m fine, Jon, seriously.” You insist, waving your hand as Steve awkwardly approaches the irritated looking girl at the hood of the van. She rolls her eyes when he thanks her, taking the jumper cables and slamming her car door shut loudly. You supposed you should feel bad, but you’d probably have done the same.
“But- but they said you-”
“Do I look like I’m a corpse right now?” You grab his shoulders, letting him take a moment to think, to breathe. You can’t imagine how nerve-wracking it all must have been. Jonathan’s been your friend for the longest time. Between your near-death slaughter to his girlfriend’s grief, he really didn’t look like he had allowed himself to exhale yet.
“...No.” He finally says, letting you pull him into a hug before you hear the hood slam shut.
“Great, let’s go.” You say with too much cheer, making him chuckle in mesmerised exhaustion. You peer into the van as it slides open, a frown etching the space between your brows. “Uh… where’s Dustin? Doesn’t he usually do this with you?”
You look over at Steve who wears a small scowl, arms folded.
“Beats me, didn’t show up today.”
You blink at him, looking to Jonathan for answers. He just shrugs.
“And that’s, like, okay? We’re not gonna look for him?”
“I tried radioing.” Steve sighs, walking to the passenger side and opening the door for you. You don’t get in, arms folded at him with a sceptical expression. “What? I’m not in control of him. He doesn’t tell me anything anymore, he’s probably fine.”
You open your mouth to speak when Jonathan clears his throat from inside the van. You both look at him, frowning as he nods his head in the direction behind you.
As you glance over your shoulder, your stomach drops.
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Steve breathes.
Dustin walks over, two hands guiding his bike beside him, both sets of knuckles bruised. But you weren’t worried about that. It was more so the swollen face, blood pouring from his nose and staining his lips and chin.
“Holy shit, Dustin.” You gasp.
He just smiles, waving a hand at you.
“Look, we really need to get back on the road.” Jonathan states, tone sympathetic.
“I’ll be in the back.” Dustin nods at you, skipping the usual banter where he would claim the front seat and you’d stare him down until he relinquished the title. Which, by all means, was just wrong.
“No.” You say abruptly, earning raised eyebrows from everyone around you. “You, uh, you sit up front.”
“Why?”
“If those cameras spot me, we’re screwed. We’ve got maybe an hour until they realise I’m not dying in a hospital bed anymore.”
“You were dying in a hospital bed?” Dustin looks at you with wide eyes, his gaze darting over your body like he would see horrific wounds.
“It’s a long story.” You sigh, offering a hand on his shoulder.
“Just… get in the van. We’ll update you while we’re on the move.” Steve says, stepping aside for Dustin to climb into the front while Jonathan grabs his bike, slotting it into the back.
You were in for a long ride.
“And by sheer luck, Jessica was coming back from a party, and I charmed my way into getting us a jump before I rushed to the hospital. Now we’ve got Y/n here, which brings us to you, arriving looking like Rocky Balboa. So basically, of all the crawls, this was, like, the one to miss. So, well done, Henderson. Really, really, like, well done.”
Jonathan shares a look with you in the back as the van is plagued with uncomfortable silence.
You mouth, “Are they good?”
Jonathan shakes his head knowingly, clearing his throat when he notices Steve’s eyes on you both in the rear view mirror.
“Speechless.” He sighs, rolling his eyes. “That’s new.”
“I’m still processing, Steve. It’s a lot.” Dustin finally says, his tone anything but patient. “Holly? Why Holly?”
“Well, maybe El could tell us, but it’s a bit difficult to contact her now that we’ve lost our connection to the Upside Down.” Steve snaps, and you raise your eyebrows.
You try to diffuse the situation. “Let’s just-”
“Okay.” Dustin scoffs, “For the future, when the lights go from really bright to really dim, it means the generator is surging so you have to turn everything off.”
“Wow.” Steve interjects, eyes wide with sarcasm.
“Immediately.”
“Guys, why don’t we-” You try again, but they’re not listening.
“Great. Thank you for that, Henderson, and yeah, I’ll remember that the next time that happens.” He glances at the younger boy with disdain. “Or, maybe, and now this is just a suggestion here, you could actually be where you’re supposed to be!”
“They’re not gonna listen to a word I say, are they?” You ask Jonathan, not bothering to lower your voice.
“Not likely.” He says, rolling his eyes at the two as he attempts to find another signal. His face scrunches up when their voices get louder.
“Okay, I was en route to the Squawk!” Dustin starts raising his voice back and you can only watch them argue now.
“When you fell off your bike. That’s right.” Steve addresses with a doubtful expression. “Remind me. What did you fall into again? A knuckle sandwich?”
“Hey! Can you keep it down up there? I’m trying to listen for a signal back here, in case you forgot.” Jonathan finally speaks up, headphones pulled back onto his head when Steve offers a thumbs up.
You look among the men you were trapped in here with, sighing with regret.
“Okay, guys.” You lean forward, lowering your voice so you could give Jonathan some space to do his job. “How about we just take a deep breath, and focus on what’s happening right now, okay?”
Steve sends you a quick look while Dustin sighs, nodding slowly.
“You’re okay, aren’t you?” You whisper to the younger boy, and he turns his head to you.
It wasn’t a sight you ever wanted to see, especially not from the kid who always had such joy and innocence in his character. Bruises, dried blood, and a darkness in his eye you never expected from Dustin Henderson.
You’ve been trying to let him open up to you about Eddie, and for the most part, he has. But no amount of talking could cure the grief he was feeling. You knew that better than anyone.
“I’m okay.” He whispers back, a small smile gracing his lips. But it was still nothing like the toothy grins he’d shoot at you. You couldn’t even remember the last time he greeted you with your secret handshake. Everything was different now. “Are you?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” You smirk, ignoring the side-eye from Steve, who knew you definitely were not good. “Barely a scratch on me. Nothing like what you’ve got going on.”
“It’s just a bruised nose.” He dismisses, and Steve practically barks out a laugh.
“Who was it?” He asks, voice lower now. It wasn’t as malicious as before, his concern shining through. “It was Andy and his goons, wasn’t it?”
“Steve.” You say softly. Dustin clearly didn’t want to talk about it.
“No, Y/n, it obviously wasn’t some stupid lampost in his way, alright?” He eyes the way Dustin is attempting to ignore him, fixated on cleaning the blood from his face. “You poked the bear one too many times.”
“Your concern for me is overwhelming, Steve.” Dustin rolls his eyes again and you groan into the headrest in front of you.
“My concern?” Steve laughs, shaking his head. “I have shown nothing but concern for you since forever, and I have been repeatedly ignored, and now look what’s happened. We are totally and royally screwed.”
“Correction!” Dustin snaps his head to him. “We are screwed because you don’t know how to do the most basic thing like prevent a power surge!”
“Guys-”
“See, this- this right here is your problem-”
“It’s the easiest thing in the world-”
“You can’t admit that you were wrong-”
“My mother could prevent a surge-”
“You can’t admit it-”
“Shocklingly, I think your mother-”
“Jesus Christ!” Steve finally breaks, and you reel back at the sudden anger he’s portraying. “Just do it for once! Just admit it, Henderson. You’re wrong! You screwed up!”
“Steve!” You snap, and he immediately shuts his mouth. “Both of you, shut the hell up! Jonathan is trying to find a signal, and whatever happened is literally the last thing we need to worry about.”
Jonathan sends you a grateful look, tightening the headphones on his head.
“I’m just saying-” Steve tries again and you almost yell, shooting him a warning glare.
“No, we all know exactly what you’re saying Steve, and it’s not helpful right now, alright?”
“Why are you taking his side?” He frowns and you laugh with disbelief.
“I am not taking sides-”
“You are, you’re totally taking his side. He chose a fight over doing what he was supposed to do. If he just listened, we wouldn’t be in this damn mess!” He says, raising his hand in mock surrender when he notices Jonathan’s tired eyes on him.
You stay silent for a while, assessing his words that twisted deep into your chest.
He wasn’t angry at you. In fact, you were certain he wasn’t angry at anyone. He was stressed, even more so knowing that his closest friend wasn’t talking to him anymore, and he didn’t know how to change it. That no matter what happened, he couldn’t help any of you, not really.
But his words still hurt, for some reason.
“Is that what you think about me, too?” You ask quietly, and he looks over at you with a frown. “I chose a fight over just, like, staying in my room and listening to the radios?”
It was a fear you voiced with hesitation, already feeling embarrassed at the implication.
But then something much worse happened. Steve stayed quiet.
He just looked at you, eyes darting between yours like he was struggling to answer it. Because yes. He did think you did something stupid. You got killed, again.
And your actions didn’t even change anything for the better. Holly was still gone, Ted and Karen were still hospitalised. If anything, you just made a greater mess, adding your own blood to the pool.
Steve seems to finally realise his mistake, because his eyes widen as you start to slump back into your seat. “Y/n, I-”
“It’s fine, Steve. We should all just shut the hell up so Jonathan can do his thing.” You say, arms folded as you turn away, biting your lip.
You were truly, and utterly, useless.
“Seems like you’re getting along with everyone.” Dustin mutters and Steve leans his head against his hand, the other holding the wheel.
“I don’t really want to talk to you right now.”
“Well, I don’t wanna talk to you either.”
“Good.”
“...Good.”
“Hey, man, I’m gonna turn on Irwin. One more loop around the zone?”
Steve glances back at Jonathan, his eyes falling over your posture with a saddened frown.
You and Steve weren’t ones to fight. Not like this. Not to the extent where you wrap your arms around yourself and avoid him like just one look would wither your heart.
You didn’t hate him. You never could. You just hated that he saw how miserable you were to be unable to provide anything to this fight anymore. Like all you had was a curse, a death wish, and an extensive library of sarcastic remarks.
Now… now you were just fading away, and there wasn’t anything you could do about it. There wasn’t anything Steve could do about it, no matter how hard he tried.
So, at least for the remainder of this night, you had to avoid his brown eyes so you didn’t drown in the reflection of a broken girl.
“Yeah. Go ahead.” Jonathan replies, until his eyes spark with something. “No, wait. Scratch that. I think I got something.”
“Seriously?”
“Is it Hop?” The younger boy perks a brow, turning in his seat.
“Yeah, I… I don’t know. I’m not getting a hit on the decoder, but I can definitely hear something.”
Dustin climbs into the back and you shuffle around to make room, keeping quiet.
“Is that him?” Joyce’s voice comes through on the radio as Dustin snatches the headphones from Jonathan.
“Yeah, uh, we’re not sure.” Jonathan replies, and you tighten your lips, waiting for Dustin’s verdict.
Your shoulders slump when Dustin shakes his head, kneeling back. “No. It’s not Hop.”
“What? Then what the hell is it?”
“I don’t know, it could be a million different things. Military broadcast, TV channel, any EMI within our frequency zone. The one thing I do know, though, it’s not Hop’s telemetry tag, because if it was, it would show up on the decoder. So… search continues.” Dustin sighs, retreating back to the passenger seat as Jonathan’s face falls in defeat.
He takes a breath before holding the radio back up. “Hey, Mom, um, disregard. It’s a false alarm.”
You frown, looking at the headphones. “Mind if I…”
“Go ahead.” He shrugs, handing them over.
Just before you slip them over your ears, Joyce replies.
“Jonathan, is your receiver in any way connected to the flux capacitor?”
You pause your actions, looking up at him at the same time as the others.
“Flux capacitor?” You mouth, unsure if you heard it right. Jonathan shakes his head with confusion.
“Uh, sorry, Mom. Can, uh… can you repeat that?”
“The flux capacitor.” She says again, and you can only blink in confusion. “Robin said it was down, but she and Will are working on it, I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t messing with your connection.”
Steve and Dustin both turn around that time with matching dumbfounded expressions. You shake your head.
“That poor woman.” You mutter, securing the headphones in place as you listen to the strange sounds of feedback.
Dustin was right, it definitely wasn’t Hopper. But it also wasn’t nothing.
The noises were barely static, a familiar hum to them that reminded you of… chittering? Like the atmosphere of the Upside Down.
You close your eyes to try and focus on the sounds while Jonathan explains to his mother how Will and Robin lied to her.
Big mistake.
You started seeing things like they were memories, images flickering in and out. A wasteland of sorts, hundreds of teeth and claws.
Dust, fluttering through each creature, consuming the space.
Screams, much like a child.
There was a pull tightening your chest, aching to release, to follow. But what were you trying to follow? You tried to find an answer, but something felt wrong.
Eyes are watching you, listening. It’s in your thoughts, whatever it is. A distant pain, but a familiar feeling. It’s…
Him. He sees you. He’s inside. He’s-
“Y/n!”
The headphones are ripped from your head as you gasp out a breath, heart hammering wildly against your ribcage. The pain in your chest was subsiding, barely, and you could feel a pair of hands on your shoulders.
You look up to see Jonathan’s in front of you now, concerned eyes scanning your face for some kind of sign. But his hands were at his sides.
You glance at your shoulder, breath shuddering. There was nothing there.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asks. You manage to shake your head, eyes trailing to where Steve was conflicted between driving and jumping into the back to help you. Dustin was fully turned around now, gripping the headrest like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.
What the hell did you do to scare them that bad?
“Vecna.” You finally say, voice cracked with the nightmare. “He’s back. And he’s got Holly.”
Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, mentions of illness (unknown cause, heart problems), grief, reader living in her own head again
[A/N: Let's get it started!!!! The next 3 chapters are locked and loaded to be released soon, so we have finally dug out of the posting drought! To everyone who has been tuning in already, thank you <3 I'd love to hear your thoughts, or if there's something you'd like to see in my fic that you wanted for ST5, then please feel free to comment or leave an ask.]
<- previous chapter Prologue: Heart
The Beginning, The End
In the dark, there is always light.
Usually, it’s a weak and dull glow, hidden behind large shadows that grow more and more each day. But you can always find it, eventually. As long as you strayed from the shadows.
Shadows that were whispers. Whispers with clinging hands that pulled you back, clawing at your legs and arms, trying to pull you deeper into the darkness. You could only fight back, screams falling into silence in the void of light.
When you finally break free, you’re stumbling into the night, blind and scared. The whispers only get louder, your hands firmly pressed over your ears until the incoherent yells for attention were nothing but muffled words.
And the light shines for you, brighter, as it always did, illuminating the path to freedom.
You run to the exit, the dark fading into the light, and you’re free.
BANG BANG BANG
Your eyes fly open, body groaning with fatigue. The obnoxious knocks on your front door continue as you try to wake up fully, propping yourself up in your bed with a yawn.
BANG BANG
“I’m coming!” You groggily yell, feet finding the cool floorboards of your bedroom.
You take a quick glance at yourself, wincing at the insane bedhead you most certainly weren’t rocking. There wasn’t time to change, either, because the knocking began again and it certainly wasn’t helping your morning migraine.
Curses left your mouth as you descended each step of your staircase, already prepared to hit whoever was standing on the other side of your door.
When you fling it open, the surprised and guilty eyes of your friend took in your appearance.
“Um… morning?” Jonathan offers, trying a grin.
You lean against the door, frowning. He wasn’t in much better shape, strands of hair sticking up in odd places, clothes rumpled like they were snatched from the floor and thrown on in haste.
“What kind of fresh hell is making you break down my door to wake me up this early?” You ask, eyes narrowed. You then blink, noting the fact that he was standing on your porch. “Wait, why are you outside?”
A woman and her dog are passing by the house then, her eyes trailing to your figure. She scoffs to herself, and in the fog of your tired exposition, you immediately raise your middle finger to her.
“Oh my!” She gasps, and Jonathan is quickly pushing you back into your house with an awkward smile thrown to the nosy neighbour.
“We’re late.” Jonathan says as soon as the door clicks shut. “I had to haul my ass out of bed and get over to the Wheelers to make sure Will woke up in time, and I forgot my keys.”
“Late?” You blink, not entirely catching up with his words. “Late for what?”
“Everything.” He points to the clock on the wall and you squint at it, trying to make out the time.
As if your brain had finally woken up, your eyes widened with a sudden shock.
“Oh shit!”
Jonathan shares in your panic as you fly up the stairs. “I’ll grab the bags!”
As you eventually start changing into any clothes you can find, you glare at the alarm clock on your bedside table as if it would feel shame for not waking you up. It was the third time this month you’ve missed an alarm, and it seems like your usual back-up of a housemate also failed today.
Still, you were grateful to have Jonathan here.
When the Byers returned from California, they were virtually homeless. Both you and Karen immediately opened your doors to them, offering them a place to stay. Joyce and Will mostly stayed at the Wheeler house unless they were coming in late from a Crawl night, in which they would crash here as to not wake up the family next door.
Jonathan, however, officially moved in a few months ago. You were pretty happy about it, the house feeling far too lonely for just one person. He slept down the hall, next to Jack’s old room, and you were always thankful to have one of your best friends a door away.
And he was especially glad to be living with you any time he joined the Wheelers for breakfast. To call it chaotic would be tame.
“Okay, let’s go.” You grab your bag from Jonathan’s hand and swipe your car keys from the table.
By the time you’d locked up and stepped into the heat of the morning sun, everyone was already waiting, growing impatient.
“Come on!” Mike insists, arms folded as he leans against your car. You raise an eyebrow.
Nancy stood in front of her own car with an amused expression at the state her best friend and her boyfriend were in. She raises her hands in surrender when you catch her grin.
“I’m sorry, would you prefer to bike to school today?” You shoot at Mike, and he rolls his eyes.
“Once again, I am forever in your debt that you take time in the morning to provide us with transport to school so our legs don’t get tired from pedalling, you are our saviour and reigning queen of the kingdom.” He deadpans, and you pause on the driver’s side of the car.
Your eyes shift to the boy standing beside him with a questioning frown.
“What he means to say is thank you.” Will translates with a charming laugh.
“Whatever,” You say with a smile, “Get in.”
Both boys immediately reach for the passenger side, and you immediately groan. If there was even a slim chance you’d make it on time, their usual fight over the front seat is certain to set you back.
“Good luck!” Nancy laughs at you as she and Jonathan slip into her car, the boy giving you a shit-eating grin and a jolly wave.
“You rode in front last time!”
“To school, yeah, but you were in front yesterday when we were heading to the station-”
“Uh, no!”
There’s a small tap on your shoulder that brings you out of the distracting mess of teenage dilemmas, your eyes finding a pair of blue ones that made you smile instantly.
“Hey, Holly.” You say, and she sends a confused look to her brother and his friend. “Oh, they’re fighting over the front seat again.”
She hums, eyes narrowing with thought before her lips start to stretch. “Can I ride in front?”
You glance back at the boys, almost laughing at the way they were both desperately blocking each other from grabbing the handle.
“Of course you can, Holly.” You say cheerily, leading her over and opening the door for her.
“Thank you.” She smiles, placing her bag in the foothold and plopping herself down. Will and Mike snap their heads to her, shoulders deflating in defeat.
“Okay, you two in the back.” You shut the door and motion for them to get in.
“But-”
“She asked politely.” You say, winking at Holly when they continued to whine about it, strapping in.
Holly giggles to herself, reaching into her back and pulling out a book you were sure was glued to her hands any moment she could get.
The youngest Wheeler had really grown more confident over the past year. You were used to her being this shy little girl that hid behind her mother when they were anywhere but their house. Only small words were ever exchanged between you, but she seemed pretty comfortable to have you around, a familiarity in your presence.
Now, you could honestly say it was like having another sister with her around. While everyone was kept busy with the Crawls, you’d often be asked to babysit by Karen on the nights Ted worked late and she wanted to spend an evening with her friends. Holly was a little bundle of light, something you desperately needed right now. You mostly talked about books, but you’d rather talk about anything other than the nightmares that lingered below Hawkins.
“So, was everyone late this morning?” You eventually ask, eyeing the boys in the back. Will still didn’t look quite awake, and Mike was looking uncomfortable. “Mike?”
“I yelled at Joyce.” He suddenly admits, shifting awkwardly. “I thought it was Nancy, and I really needed the bathroom.”
“Wow.” You stifle a laugh, the image far funnier in your head than it should be.
“I can never look her in the eye again.” Mike decides, hands thrown up in exasperation.
“She definitely doesn’t care, I promise.” Will laughs, patting his shoulder. Mike offers half a smile, looking unconvinced.
“She’s raised two boys, you think this is the first time she’s dealt with that?” You add, and he shrugs, content for now. “Plus, if you’d rather not make an enemy of Joyce, you’re always welcome at my house, remember?”
“You’d be cool with me randomly walking into your house to shower?” He asks with a frown.
“Hey, as long as you don’t make a mess, I don’t care what you do.”
“Shit.” Will curses beneath his breath, and Holly’s ears perk up, her eyes widening with amusement.
“Language.” You call back at him and he apologises, leaning forward.
“Sorry, but we’re missing the broadcast. It’s 5 past.”
“Right.” You click your fingers, reaching over and switching on the radio before you turn down the street.
The radio manages to tune into the voice of Robin Buckley, accompanied by the very necessary sound effects presented by none other than Steve Harrington.
“While we’re on the subject of things not to do, please steer clear of the Military Access Control Zone, aka the MAC-Z, or as I like to call it, the Big Mac. I have no idea what’s going on in there, but I have a gut feeling there’s a pretty good reason they’d like you to stay away. But hey, the rest of Hawkins is still there for you to enjoy. Someday soon, they’re gonna let us out of here. *desk bell sound* In the meantime, be thankful this is your home, study for that test, enjoy that TV dinner, and go on that date. Which, by the way, is exactly what yours truly is doing tonight. That’s right, Rockin' Robin has a date, ladies and gentlemen. *chicken noise* And now, who is this lucky someone? Well, don’t be so nosy, kids. They know who they are. That is, if you’re listening, which I hope you are. Because this next one, it’s for you, babe.”
A melody starts blaring through the speakers, and you find yourself starting to smile. Robin had been having a pretty great year despite the Upside Down dilemma. And you were so very happy for her.
The radio suddenly crackles, fizzling out.
You frown at your stereo, hitting it a couple times as you turn the street down towards the schools.
“Something they said?” Mike asks knowingly, and you sigh, switching it off completely.
“Most likely.”
As you park the car, you take a quick look at the kids swarming into the high school, a pang of bittersweet nostalgia banging at your chest. Your last years at this school were spent chasing monsters. It was a surprise to everyone you graduated, much less got a scholarship.
You’ve constantly wondered how different it all would have been if the first gate was never opened.
“Alright, off you go, kids.” You grin, winking when Mike delivers an unimpressed expression.
“Bye, Y/n!” Holly says cheerily, hopping out of her seat and practically rushing over to the middle school.
“Uh…” You eye the two boys still sitting in the back, looking over your shoulder. “This is the part where you get out.”
Will whacks Mike’s arm, getting him into gear. When they shut the doors behind them, they don’t leave. Instead, they stand by the driver side window, looking at you expectedly.
“So… are you joining us tonight? We’re going over the next crawl plans.” Will asks tenderly, a soft smile on his face.
“Yeah, we really need someone there who will tell Hopper his plans kinda suck.” Mike retorts. Will sends him a wide-eyed look before he laughs, taken aback by Mike’s disdain to the chief’s orders.
“Uh…” You flex your fingers on the steering wheel, taking a breath. “Maybe.”
Will just nods, looking hesitant at your poor attempt at a lie. Mike, however, leans against the car, voice quiet.
“We… um…” He starts, a look of vulnerability you haven’t seen in him for a while. Or any of them, for that matter. They were all forcing themselves to grow up faster. At least, the world around them was. “We miss you. You’re like our unofficial party member.”
“Unofficial?” You smirk, hands gripping the wheel tighter as you chased away the feeling you were a disappointment.
“For now.” He offers, the boy behind him looking at you both with a smile.
You missed these kids so damn much. With school, all the crawls, and your current state of kind, you haven’t been around them much. Part of you assumed they hadn’t noticed your absence. Clearly you were wrong.
The bell rings out, and you clear your throat, forcing a smile. “Say hi to El for me, okay?”
Mike’s face falls slightly, but he nods regardless. Both of them looked hesitant to leave you, but there wasn’t much choice with the school day already starting, waving goodbye and heading inside with all the other students.
You wanted to help, of course you did. But what good were you right now?
“Mayfield, you there?”
“Helloooo?”
“Y/n?”
You frown, craning your neck to the backseat to rifle through the various crap you had stored back there. Among the mess, as well as the impatience of the boy’s voice trying to reach you, you finally snatch the radio from a footwell and extend the antenna, sighing.
“Good morning, Steve.”
“Henderson is a cocky little bastard.”
“My morning’s been fine, thanks for asking.” You smile, pulling a face at a child currently watching you talk to yourself. “What do you need me for?”
“Sorry. It’s… we need to fix the head of the… what was it?”
“The remote radio head!” Robin calls out from a distance.
“Yeah, remote radio head. I tried to get Henderson’s help, but once again, all I got was a snarky comment and a huge chunk of teenage attitude.”
“Okay, meet me at the radio tower. I’ll head over now.”
You stop your car behind a familiar one, glancing out of the window at the four people in the distance. You suck in a breath. Part of you was really hoping Jonathan and Nancy wouldn’t be here.
Not that you hated them. Of course you didn’t. They were your closest friends.
Who just happened to be having the most insane relationship problems that made you want to tear your hair out.
Jonathan is so selfish!
Nancy is too stubborn!
It was constant bickering on both ends, but never to each other. No, because that would lead to a hopefully healthy conversation about their current feelings, and they wouldn’t do that when their single best friend was a knock away and too good of a friend to not listen to their complaints.
Luckily, them being here together meant you weren’t hearing any comments on how annoying the other was being. But it would just be constant irritated glances meant for your eyes to see, and you weren’t in the mood to be reassuring any behaviour right now.
“There she is.” You hear Steve say as you climb out of the car, adjusting your jacket. The air was chilly, November weather biting at your neck.
You simply raise a hand in acknowledgment to the four patiently awaiting your arrival.
Steve does a quick glance over you as you join them, but it was nothing like anyone else would think. He was checking for signs that there wasn’t anything different about your walk or stance. His eyes soften when you look up at him. “So where’s this, uh…”
“Remote radio head.” Robin offers, hand immediately on your shoulder. Her levels of personal space lately were severely low.
“Yeah, radio head.”
“It’s right up…” You slowly raise your finger, dragging it up along the radio tower until you point right at the top, squinting against the morning sun. “There. Something probably came loose again. It's an easy fix.”
Robin tightens her lips, nodding. “So, I guess somebody’s gotta climb to the tippy top of this bad boy and…uh.” She starts making squeaking noises, acting out a ‘reconnection’, and you nod your head.
Nancy sends a hesitant look your way. “Without a harness or anything, it seems kinda dangerous.”
You go to speak when Steve beats you to it.
“AKA a job for good old Steve Harrington.” He says with a smirk and you fold your arms.
“Do you even know what you’re meant to be doing when you get up there?”
“Yeah.” He shrugs, “You know, just… what Robin said.”
“You mean the…” You imitate her earlier expression.
“Yeah, that.”
“Okay no, I can do it.” You roll your eyes, peering up at it. “I’ve done it before-”
“What? No. You’re not climbing that thing.”
“I’ve done it before.” You reiterate. “Remember? Last December when the wind knocked it too hard and Robin was crying over losing George Michael’s voice?”
“Okay, no need to bring that up.” She frowns defensively.
“Yeah, which you didn’t tell us you were doing.” Steve narrows his eyes, shaking his head at the memory, “Nearly gave me a damn heart attack.”
“But I didn’t die, did I?”
“But you could.”
Everyone goes silent, looking back and forth between you like they had so many questions yet knew all the answers at the same time. Steve’s words were far from being dramatic.
When the final gate closed, your heart had… it had almost stopped. The doctors couldn’t make anything of it, trying to find an explanation that didn’t really exist. At least, it didn’t exist to them. You knew it had something to do with Mind Flayer, the connection between you severing now the military had covered up almost all of the gates.
It made you much weaker than you should be, and your heart hadn’t fully recovered from it. Every now and then, the pain will creep back in, and you’ll collapse. Another hospital trip, another reason to feel completely and utterly useless.
“I, uh, I actually think this might be a better job for Jonathan Byers.” Jonathan suddenly interrupts the silence, moving the spotlight from you and taking his jacket off.
You raise your eyebrows and Nancy sends you a tired look.
Steve frowns at this, stepping beside him and shrugging his own jacket off. You immediately mouth ‘God help us’ to the girls, who agree and smile in amusement.
“I’m like a one quarter monkey, dude. I got this, Byers. Don’t sweat it.”
He then chucks it to your feet and you groan.
“It’s too early for this.” You pinch the bridge of your nose, sighing.
Somehow in the past year, the civil existence of Steve and Jonathan had slowly diminished back to their resurfaced feud from high school. It started when you first landed yourself in the hospital, both offering to help you home. Then when Nancy needed a ride after her car broke down, they both rushed to her aid.
They’ve been trying their hardest to show their importance to the group, to prove they’re the ‘man’. And the only way they’re seemingly able to do that is by bringing the other down a level.
Personally, you thought they were both embarrassing themselves.
While they were both brooding to each other, you nudged past them and briskly walked to the tower.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Steve immediately calls out, attempting to pull you back.
“Relax.” You say, heading for the door instead.
“She’s turning off the voltage.” Robin points out as if it’s the most obvious thing ever. “Unless you wanna fry.”
“Yeah, I know.” He scoffs, following you inside, “I’m not an idiot.”
“Never said you were.” You frown, and he sighs, briefly gesturing to Robin’s silhouette in the distance.
You grab hold of the dial and watch the grey pointer as you turn it to zero, ensuring it shuts off completely.
The previous humming noise stops and you smile.
“There.” You announce, leaning back against the machine. “Now that pretty hair of yours won’t go up in flames.”
Steve nods, hands on his hips like they always are when he’s bothered by something.
“Anything else?” You raise an eyebrow, tilting your head.
He takes a quick glance back before stepping closer, lowering his voice.
“I just- I hope you know I don’t think you’re not capable of doing anything.”
You straighten up, arms falling to your side.
“I know-”
“No, I know how you think.” He says, and you suck in a breath. “I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t think you were capable, you know? You’re, like, one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. I’m just… you’re not…”
“Well.” You finish for him, biting your lip. “I’m not well.”
He just stares at you, an empathetic look that should make you feel better but only ever makes you feel worse.
“You should probably start climbing before Jon beats you to it.” You point out, brushing past him as you walk back to where Robin and Nancy stood.
“Everything okay?” Nancy asks, the length of your absence noticeable.
“Is it ever?” You retort, noticing Jonathan was now stalking towards a ladder on the right side of the tower. “Oh, this is gonna be good.”
Steve finally leaves the control room to find the Byers boy was already five rungs up.
“Whoa, dude, what are you doing?”
“I got this, dude, don’t sweat it.” Jonathan says, turning back to climb.
“Son of a…” Steve mutters as he races for the left side of the tower, trying to match Jonathan’s position.
“Dude?” You repeat to your friends and Nancy scrunches her face.
“I honestly don’t know why we bring them with us sometimes.”
“Like we have a choice.” You say, folding your arms as you stare at the tower.
Robin looks up in a mix of amusement and disgust as the boys make their way up the ladders. Nancy turns around with a sigh, perturbed at the mere sight of them. You just shake your head.
“What is it about you two that brings out their inner Neanderthal?” Robin looks between you both.
“Don’t blame us, they were like this when we found them.” You say, and Nancy snickers.
Your eyes are averted from the train wreck of masculinity when a truck rolls into view, parking next to your car with enough force to make you wince. You really couldn’t afford a new car right now.
“I thought grocery delivery wasn’t until tomorrow.” Robin frowned.
“Me too.” Nancy says, sharing a look with you.
“Do we, uh, wait for them?” You risk a glance behind you. They were both near to the top now, matching each other’s movements.
“They clearly can handle it on their own.” Robin remarks with a smirk, and that was good enough for you.
“Hola, chicas!”
Murray firmly plants his boots into the dead grass, a bright smile on his face. You cock your head in amusement.
“Hey there, Austin.” You chuckle, noting the name badge sewn into his jacket.
“You like?” He adjusts his collar with a flourish.
Murray Bauman was yet another unlikely friendship you’ve made since the military quarantine shut you in. Since everyone was usually off trying to save the world, you were normally the one accepting the goods he had to bring. It had been awkward at first, assuming the difference in age would severely limit your conversation topics. But you both found common ground, sharing in the way you viewed the world, and the government for that matter. He was the only person who could truly understand how insane you felt any time you had gone against the military in an attempt to reveal their secrets because he’d been there before. Crazy until proven right.
“What have you got for us?” Robin asks with a smile.
Murray leads you to the back, sliding open the door and hopping on to grab the products.
“Santa’s brought a full sack today!” He announces, swinging it towards you and joining you back down on the earth. He starts pulling each one out individually.
“A fresh telemetry tag. Scarcer than hen’s teeth, these things.” He hands it to Robin, who simply nods along to his words.
He then grabs two cases, moving them to Nancy. “Enough bullets and shells for Hop to start a small war, if he should so choose.”
You peer over his shoulder to see a crate of… lettuce?
“Anyone order a salad?” Murray grins, digging further into the box and pulling out a weapon. “A grenade salad?”
He grins at the girls beside you, noting their lack of excitement at his joke.
“I hid the, uh, grenades under the.. lettuce.”
“I liked it.” You shrug and he beams at you.
“I knew you would.” His eyes light up. “Oh, and before I forget…”
He pulls a small brown package from a bag and offers it to you. You timidly smile at that, taking it from him with a small ‘thank you’. You notice the others’ curious stares, but you simply hold it in your hand as he continues his haul presentation.
“I’ve got… gatorade for El’s battery.” He continues, presenting a bottle.
“Someone say gatorade?” Jonathan rushes into view, Steve following shortly behind, both out of breath. Your lip quirks.
“Let me get one.” Steve pants, and Murray hands it over.
“Sure thing.” He reaches back as Steve gulps down the liquid, “But it’s not gonna go too well with peanut butter!”
“Boppers!” Steve laughs, catching them when they’re tossed over. “God, I missed these things. Thanks.”
Steve shakes the box in your face like a child on his birthday and you try not to laugh. He glances at the box in your hand. “What’s that?”
“Nothing.” You say, pocketing it quickly. Murray senses your tone and claps his hands together, cutting off Steve’s question.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Byers. I got you a present too.” Murray says with a smirk. He presents a tape, leaning forward. “I know you’re allergic to jazz, but just give it a whirl. I think you’ll find it quite… engaging.”
He winks and Jonathan snatches it out of Murray’s hand, trying to avoid everyone’s eyes.
You peer at the tape. “Coltrane?”
Jonathan just widens his eyes in a begging manner at you, making you shut your mouth tight with a small surrender of your hands.
“And for the station manager,” Murray taps Nancy on the head with some papers, “The reason for my premature delivery.”
Nancy sends a small glare his way for the whack before sorting through the papers. You all crowd around, intently looking over what seemed to be documents. Military documents.
“A burn?” Nancy reads, looking up at you all. “Tonight? But that’s-”
“Too soon, I know.” Murray nods. “Whatever they’re doing in the Upside Down evidently needs a serious injection of resources.”
“That’s a lot of cargo.” Robin comments as Nancy flicks through the pages.
“I figure a supply drop this big takes two hours, minimum.”
“Which gives Hopper plenty of time for a crawl.” Nancy states, her eyes suddenly finding yours. Her face drops a little, knowing you can’t do much for them.
“Maybe tonight’s the night we finally find that bastard and end this.” Murray suggests, eyes tracking over to you as your breath hitches.
“Let’s hope so.” You finally say, stepping away from the group. “Thanks for the presents, Murr.”
“Anytime, boo.” He nods, pulling his truck shut once again. “I’ll be heading off. Radio me when everything’s sorted.”
Nancy hums in agreement, watching him leave before turning to find that you’re not standing with them anymore. She makes a hesitant look at Steve, who was already shifting on his feet to go after you.
“I got it.” She announces, not giving the boy a chance to follow. “Y/n!”
Your hand is on your car door handle when she catches up, hands still clutching the files detailing every last provision the military are taking tonight.
“Hey, um, you should be there.” She says, smiling tightly. You knew she was trying to seem as casual as possible, scared you’d take it as her treating you like charity. “We’re gonna need an extra brain if we want a concrete plan in time.”
“Nance…” You sigh, hiding the way your hand shook by tucking it behind you. “You’re more than smart enough to make up for the both of us. I’ll just… I can keep doing what I’m doing, you know? A Hawkins look out. Just in case something happens.”
“Right.” She says, nodding slowly. “But-”
“I’m fine.” You say gently, looking back to where the two boys stood with frowns aimed in your direction, observing. “Tell them that, too, will you? They’re freaking me out with their pity.”
“Men.” Nancy rolls her eyes sarcastically and you laugh, giving her a quick hug. “You’re more than strong enough for us, Y/n, you know that, right?”
“Trying to.” You say with a fallen smile, another farewell as you climb into your car and start the engine, watching Nancy return to the others.
You weren’t isolating yourself. Or, at least, you weren’t trying to. You just knew how low your physical capability was these days. And the fear of getting too close to a gate again…
It was better to man the fort. Even if it didn’t provide anything.
Your stereo automatically switches on when you’re about halfway to the hospital, the familiar sounds of Robin Buckley blaring from your dashboard.
“Hey there, friends, this is Rockin' Robin. Sorry about the abrupt departure. I hope you survived without me. We had some annoying technical difficulties. *smashing glass* *baby crying* But thanks to our brilliant friend and her even more brilliant mind, we’re up and running once again. To make it up to you, we have a very special treat that’s sure to turn your day upside down…”
You switch off the stereo, taking a breath. Why couldn’t you be useful?
18 months. For over a year your sister has been led in this bed, red hair braided, limbs limp. And you couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
Before the military had successfully covered the gates, you were summoning what you could of the Mind Flayer to you every single day. You sat by Max’s bed, you used every inch of your being to force the Mind Flayer to help her like it helped you and Eddie. But rather than listen, it… hovered. It made you angrier than anything. What good was this ability if it didn’t listen?
You should never have let her go into that attic. No amount of Kate Bush replays was going to soften the excruciating guilt you felt every time you held her cold hand.
Lucas usually joined you on your visits. Most of the time, he was already here before you arrived. If anyone were to feel the gut-wrenching weight of losing someone, it was him.
You hadn’t been there when it happened. You were too busy dealing with your own death, it seemed. Except only one of you made it out.
To witness that… You made sure Lucas knew he wasn’t alone.
And you never showed anything other than hope. Not when it meant the difference between happiness and losing your sister forever.
When you eventually left Max’s side, you continued with your usual routine. You head down to the first floor, patiently waiting by the reception desk until a familiar face greets you.
“Y/n, how lovely to see you.”
“Hi, Doris.” You smile, leaning against the counter. “Here for my check-up.”
Doris nods, punching a few keys before a small frown pulls her eyebrows together. “I’m sorry, hon, it doesn’t look like I’ve got anyone available for you right now. It’ll be about 20 minutes.”
You bite your bottom lip, nodding slowly. “Oh, okay. Um, that’s fine, I can just come back tomorrow-”
“Y/n, hey!”
You turn around to see Vickie Dunne approaching, looking especially cheery in her pink and white stripes.
“Hi, Vic.” You grin, noting the way she was looking between you and Doris. “Oh, I’m meant to be getting a check-up, but there isn’t anyone available-”
“I can do it.” Vickie offers instantly, nodding. “Yeah, we’ve got a room open. If you want to.”
“Um… sure.” You say, thanking Doris as you follow the girl down the halls.
Ever since Vickie and Robin had started dating, she’s become a regular part of your life. You and Steve were the only ones aware of their relationship, and they were so good together. Vickie was funny, and smart, and had no issue accepting you and Steve came with Robin like a packaged deal.
Even now, as she checks your blood pressure and listens to your horrifically unsettled heartbeat, she is chatting about her date with Robin, how excited she was to finally take the public leap, even if everyone would assume they were just there as friends. You politely nodded, but you couldn’t help your mind wander with the cool touch of a stethoscope, chest tightening with anxiety. Vickie assured you everything was looking fine, but you knew it wasn’t. Not really.
She couldn’t see the knots that were tying together like a noose around your neck, a reminder of what you could only assume your fate was going to be. A sickness no one could explain, plaguing your entire body. You could collapse right now, and there wouldn’t have even been any warning.
It was especially terrifying when you returned home, the door creaking open and echoing through the deserted hallways. The thought of death seemed to linger with you wherever you went. When would your next chest pain be the last thing you feel?
You kick your shoes off and look up at the clock, eyes briefly catching the portrait below of you and Jack.
The kids would be out of school by now, probably going home to their families, eating a good meal before joining the others at The Squawk.
And you were here, shivering in the empty house like the air was haunting you.
While Jonathan was a permanent addition, it wasn’t as if he spent all his time here. Sometimes he’d stay in the Wheeler basement with his brother, or spend the night with Nancy after the Crawls. He lived here, but he had other people to care for. And it made it pretty lonely.
Your friends stayed over sometimes to fill the void of your loneliness. Steve, most of all. But you knew he was just scared to leave you alone for too long. Like you were fragile goods that wanted to break. He always took on your burdens as his own, much like those of his other friends. You appreciated him more than you could ever say.
Neither of you had spoken about the promise you made 18 months ago. Your sister was in a coma, and you were ill. Steve spent practically every second dedicating himself to the crawls. When he wasn’t, he was at The Squawk with Robin, or led beside you in your bed with a quiet exposition any time a Crawl was over and they still hadn’t found Vecna.
“Then what now?” You ask, bringing your clasped hands to rest just below your chin and he leans in, forehead against yours. “There’s so much going on right now. I mean, from the curses to the exes, how do I even- I don’t know how much I can deal with right now.”
“We wait.” He finally suggests and you pull back to look at him, “We kill Vecna, we save Hawkins, again, and… we see where it leads us.”
“So… we’re friends. For now.” You add with a smile and he grins at you.
“For now.” He nods. The look he gave you set butterflies in your chest. Not the fluttering mess of it all, but rather a beautiful warmth of wings around your heart.
You and Steve were never going to be anything until you knew everyone was safe. But it didn’t mean you were nothing. You still searched for his hand in the night when your dreams felt too real. He always found you in a crowded room, arm brushing against yours for comfort when everything felt too much. The love was still there, it was just… patient, this time.
Nancy slept over when the madness of her own house took over, often appearing at your door in the middle of the night in her pink pyjamas with a pillow tucked beneath her arm. You never felt burdened by that. Actually, it was kinda nice. It was like the sleepovers you so missed, gossiping and giggling over everything and nothing. Like the teenage years you lost to the threat of danger and death were slowly being reclaimed with each chic flick and nail polish stroke.
The Party hadn’t spent as much time here lately as they did when the quarantine first fell into place. It used to be much more lively, the boys running in and out of the kitchen taking full advantage of your offer to ‘help themselves’ while you were out. You never got annoyed at how loud they were, or scoffed at their attempts for a DnD game amongst the chaos outside your windows. You wanted them to be kids. Even if the shadow of everything still loomed above them. Now… now they weren’t really kids anymore. They lost that spark around the 8 month mark.
Robin and Vickie had taken your offer on meeting here whenever it was free. You’re convinced your living room was half the reason they fell in love, really. The quietness of it, not having to fear unwanted eyes branding them as pariahs. Even with the fear of being outed, that was enough for them. They just wanted each other, and god, Robin deserved every butterfly in her chest.
You appreciated how safe people felt here, even if you couldn’t quite find the comfort in it yourself.
Right now, you were shrugging off your jacket and flopping back into your bed, sighing. Maybe you should have taken the offers presented to you. The kids always wanted your input, reminiscent of the days you’d be right by their side like a guardian. And your friends… they knew you weren’t well. Everyone did. But they didn’t want you to feel left out, and that was enough to keep every bad thought in your head at bay, knowing they cared for you.
Your walkman had found its way over to you, headphones slipped over your ears as you rested against your pillow. One breath in, one breath out.
And you drifted off for a while, music wrapped around you like a blanket.
Knock, knock.
Your eyes fly open, a frown denting your forehead.
Knock, knock.
You hesitantly sit up, freeing one ear and listening out once again. The noise had felt too close to be coming from your front door.
Knock.
The window.
You shrug the headphones off, resting them around your neck, walkman strapped to your side. You kept eyes on the window, hand brushing against the bat that rested against the wall beside it. Taking a breath, you grab hold of the curtain, throwing it open.
A pair of eyes are staring at you, and you almost scream.
“Jesus.” You breathe, dropping your shoulders.
You unlock it and slide it open, shaking your head. “Steve?”
“Oh, hey.” Steve grins, crouched outside your window, elbow resting on his thigh. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“What the hell are you doing?” You ask, but there was a laugh on your lips as you step aside and watch him gracefully clamber into your room. “I have a front door, you know.”
“What’s the fun in that?” He retorts, running a hand through his hair as he takes a breath. “Gotta say, thought that would be easier than it was.”
“We’re not 16 anymore.” You point out, gently sliding the window back down, just enough to block the chill of the air. “What are you doing here?”
“Just saying hi.” He shrugs, fingers fiddling with the assorted items on your desk.
You watch how he studies a few of your notebooks intently, and you feel a tightness in your chest when he picks up the red one. His eyebrow perks at your writing, shoulders stiff.
“Are you still…” He looks back at your guilty expression, biting his tongue. He snaps the book shut.
There wasn’t a lot you could do when you were confined to your room on nights like this. So, you kept an ear on the radio broadcasts. Whether it was your friends voices, or an alternate frequency altogether. Military frequency. It was always risky to do it, especially since they’ve had their eye on you for about a year now.
But it was the only hope you had left of finding Eddie.
“Steve.” You softly say, taking the book from his hand and throwing it back on your bed. You wanted to ignore the way he looked at you. You hadn’t told him you were still searching for Eddie, especially since the last time almost got you arrested for good. “Why are you here?”
He looks indecisive, not sure if he should be moving on from what he just found. But instead, he lowers his head and reaches for your hand. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
You smile at that, shrugging. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Y/n.” He whispers now, squeezing your hand. You knew he wasn’t asking about your absence at the meeting.
“I’m fine.” You nod, both hands clasping around his, trying to make him believe. “My chest feels normal, I did a quick check up with Vickie when I was visiting Max, and everything’s looking good.”
“Any tremors?”
“Nope.”
“Headaches?”
“Only from these conversations.”
“No fainting?”
“None.” You promise, and he finally sighs. “You don’t have to keep asking. I’d tell you if something was wrong.”
“I know.” He smiles then, shaking his head. “Anyway, we, uh, we missed you. At the meeting. Nance has a… well, she has a plan.”
“Let me guess, you don’t like it.”
“It’s- it’s a good plan. Safe. Very safe.”
You tilt your head as you perch on the edge of the bed now, watching him fiddle with your camera. “You think it’s too safe.”
“Yeah.” He sets the camera back down and plops down next to you, groaning. “I get it. We’ve got a grid, we need to eliminate everything, but I know he’s not grocery shopping down there, how do we even know he’s still-”
“He’s alive.” You say, shivering. Steve frowns. “I know he is. And you’re right, he’s not gonna be hiding out in some supermarket, but he’s tricked us before. It’s going to take a long time, but we need to be safe about it. We’re not the only ones down there anymore. One screw up, and the military is gonna snatch us up and boot us out.”
He takes in your words, hand covering his mouth as he leans forward.
“You’re right.” He eventually sighs. He watches the smile grace your features. “This is why I need you at those meetings.”
“My ideas aren’t any different from Nancy’s.” You chuckle, and he shakes his head.
“No, but you’re good at… that.” He gestures to all of you, making you laugh. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, Nance is most definitely level-headed and capable of explaining herself, but I know she’s doing everything out of fear of what that fucked up mind wizard planted in her head. We just… we need you with us. Another brain to tell us if we’re doing things right or just acting on emotion.”
“You don’t need me for that, Steve.”
“Are you kidding me? We always need you. And what about all those ideas? You’re the one who suggested Hopper and El use the tunnels in the first place. And suggested we take over The Squawk so we could communicate with each other. Why do you think you aren’t helpful to us?”
“Because that’s all I am, right now. Just a few ideas and an extra head to nod along to whatever’s being said.” You watch his face drop, sighing. “I'm never doing any of it. You're the ones who are out there actually trying to save Hawkins and I'm..."
You lower your head onto his shoulder and his hand instinctively grabs onto yours.
"I'm sitting in my room... waiting for you all to save Hawkins."
Steve left after a little while to begin tonight’s Crawl, promising he’ll be back later to update you. Not that you needed one. They wouldn’t find Vecna, that you knew for sure.
“Do you even know how old your daughter is?!”
The crack in the window let slip Karen’s distraught voice from next door, making you sigh. It was hardly the first time the parents were arguing, but you knew that meant a young girl would be hanging on to their every word, as she always did.
And you’d be a pretty shit babysitter if you didn’t at least try to make it better for her.
You take a random hardback from your bookcase and quickly wander to their porch, knocking politely.
Karen answers, sighing. “Oh, hi sweetie.”
“Hey, Mrs Wheeler.”
“Karen, honey.” She reminds you with a knowing smile, but you can see the redness in her eyes. “What brings you by?”
You hold up a book in your hand, nodding to the stairs behind her. “I promised Holly I’d let her borrow my book when I was done reading. If it’s a bad time, though, I can-”
“No, no, of course not.” She ushers you inside, pretending like her fight with her husband didn’t happen. “I was just about to draw myself a bath.”
“I can give it to her.” You say, “I always enjoy our little talks.”
She smiles genuinely at this, her chest rising and falling with some kind of relief. “Okay. Did you want some food? We’ve got leftovers.”
“I’m okay, but thank you.”
She gives you a wink before disappearing into the kitchen.
You catch sight of Ted at the dining room table, head in his hands as Karen walks past him. If you were ever to get married, you prayed it was for love.
Holly’s room had been left open a small gap, reminding you slightly of El. It makes your chest tighten slightly. You haven’t seen her in months, maybe. With the military constantly on your tail after your stupid threat to Dr. Kay, you couldn’t risk meeting her. The last time you saw her was at a Crawl meeting, and she was so happy to see you. Losing Max meant losing her best friend, and knowing she was having to hide made staying away all that more painful.
You gently knock. “Hey, it’s Y/n. Can I come in?”
There’s a quiet shuffle from the other side until it swings open completely, Holly’s red eyes avoiding yours.
You place the book on her nightstand, letting her close the door behind you and sitting beside you on her bed.
“How are you feeling?” You ask, and Holly shrugs, fiddling with her necklace. “Sometimes parents fight, you know? And it’s never your fault.”
“It is this time.” She says quietly, eyeing the book she had been reading, A Wrinkle In Time. “I got in trouble at school.”
“Really?” You frown. Holly was far from being a trouble-maker.
“They saw me talking to my friend.” She admits, head low. You look confused, and she sighs. “My… imaginary… friend.”
“Oh.” You say, nodding slowly. “Let me guess, they think you’re too old to have imaginary friends?”
Holly just nods and you nudge her shoulder.
“He doesn’t feel imaginary.” She wipes her eyes. “I just hate that it makes them fight.”
“That’s not your fault, Holly.”
“Nancy and Mike are never here, either.” She says, sniffling. “It’s always just me. Maybe they just don’t want to hang out with me.”
“Who? Your siblings?” You frown, and she nods sadly. “Holly, I know for a fact that they both love you so much. So do your parents. Anything that is happening, is certainly not because of you, okay? Nancy tells me how incredible you are all the time, and Mike definitely doesn’t shut up about how cool his little sister is.”
“Really?” She starts to smile, staring down at the small figure on her necklace, and you nod.
“Yep. They’re just… busy.” You sigh, looking at the alarm clock beside her bed. You needed to get back home soon, before the Crawl started without you. “And you know you can always talk to me, right? I might not have the teenage angst that Mike has, but I’m happy to fill in.”
She giggles at that, nodding. “Okay.”
“Great.” You grin at her, standing up. “I’ve got some work to do, but remember, I’m just next door, alright?”
Holly smiles up at you, settling back into her bed. “Thank you for the book.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” You say, letting the door close behind you as you creep back down the stairs. The bathroom across the hall was faint with the sounds of running water, and Ted was nowhere to be seen.
You hoped you helped Holly feel a little lighter with the weight of everything. There wasn’t much you could do when your parents fought when you were younger. All you knew was that you had to protect your sister from it.
Back in your room, you rush to the radio system set up in the corner, finding the right frequency. Since you couldn’t join them, you were tasked with listening to the broadcasts, just in case the military changed their plans last minute or were about to catch onto Hopper’s presence in the Upside Down. Mostly, though, it was to soothe your own mind, make sure they were all okay.
Prepared for the usual silence broken apart by your friend's quick instructions, you grab your red notebook from the bed and lean back in your chair, flicking through. You might as well try to connect some dots on Eddie’s whereabouts while you wait.
But the broadcast wasn’t silent.
There was a faint sound of chittering, the kind that usually haunted your dreams.
Then, screeches. Gunfire.
Men crying out.
You’re on your feet before you have time to think. What the hell were you supposed to do?
You scramble to find your walkie, needing confirmation from your friends that they were okay. That Hopper was okay.
You find it at the edge of your bed. Alongside a shadow, hovering above it…
The Mind Flayer, or a small part of it, had slipped through the crack in your window. It just floated above your bed, feeling like it was staring at you.
It wasn’t as if this has never happened before. When the gates were still open, you were summoning it all the time to try and save Max. But this… this is different. This time, you’re scared.
The radio behind you suddenly cuts off into static, and your blood runs cold.
“What do you want?” You shakily ask the black dust. It doesn’t speak. It never does.
Not out loud.
it’s time
Your hip crashes into your desk when you hear a voice in your head. It’s not Vecna’s, it’s the same one you heard at the graveyard, right before your body felt like it caught on fire.
And now, as you stare at the void of dark particles, you start to understand what that voice truly was.
It was always the Mind Flayer.
The lights start flickering wildly, goosebumps lining your skin.
stay
You frown at its order, hand gripping the edge of the desk tightly like you were readying yourself for an attack.
Warnings: heart health, threat of danger, swearing, this is the last tame chapter I have
[A/N: I started off strong with this chapter and then I just word vomited, so there we go! edit: I didn't realise the queue in my drafts wasn't working so this was meant to be released much earlier than now, so apologies to anyone waiting <3]
<- Chapter Four: Just Observing
A Nice Night for a Kidnapping
Erica Sinclair’s silhouette enters the open door of the Turnbow house, a soft smirk sent over her shoulder before she disappears behind the walls. The plan is in motion. Now all you have to do is wait.
Dustin clicks off the radio after checking in with Lucas and the others currently residing in the WSQK van behind you, sighing into his seat.
“I don’t think I like this idea.” You voice from the backseat, your foot nervously tapping on the floor of the car as your eyes stay glued to the Turnbow house. What if the demogorgon shows up early? Now you’ve lost an entire family, and Erica. How would you even explain that to her parents? How would Lucas-
A hand suddenly rests on your knee, stilling your movement. You look up to see Steve’s eyes already on you, a reassuring smile on his face.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” He says, tilting his head. “We’ve got it all planned out. If anything goes wrong, we’re ready for it.”
You just nod, a small smile sent back his way as he twists himself back to face the front.
“You guys are sickening.” Dustin retorts, flashing a smile your way and a glare to Steve.
“Is there anything I can do that won’t immediately make you hostile?” Steve shoots him a look. Dustin just shrugs.
“Breathe.” He replies, scrunching his face. “Actually, no, scratch that, lately you’ve been sounding like you’re a cross between Darth Vader and a pug. So, uh, nothing.”
Steve just exhales sharply through his nose in annoyance.
“Yeah, like that.”
“Okay, you little-”
“So, um.” You raise your voice a little, scooting forward so you are poking your head between the seats. “When I agreed to ride with you guys, there was a small, maybe invisible, implication that you wouldn’t be bickering like an old married couple the entire time.”
“He started it.” Steve huffs, and you could almost laugh at how childish it looked.
Dustin opens his mouth, and you promptly lean over and shut it back up.
“And I’m ending it.” You narrow your eyes at them both, and Dustin sinks back into his seat.
“I missed that.” Steve comments with a flicker of a smirk.
“Missed what?”
“How scary you can be.” He says, tilting his head back and you smile.
Dustin immediately starts retching and you flick your hand into his shoulder before a startling, high-pitched scream echoes out of the Turnbow house. For a moment, your heart jumps. The demogorgon. It’s killing them, it’s-
The front door opens and Erica stands with an unamused expression and a wave to signal the ‘all-clear’.
Steve stiffens with concern, Dustin’s eyes are wide, and you pinch the bridge of your nose.
“We’re going to hell.” You mutter, flopping back against the leather seats and groaning as everyone starts making their way into the house, leaving you behind.
You shift uncomfortably, adjusting your jacket for the millionth time today. That weighted pressure is consistently pressing against your chest, though whether it’s your heart or your anxiety, you’re not sure.
The road around you is quiet. A few whistles of the leaves drift in from the crack in the window, sometimes a soft chirp from a cricket. It’s meant to be peaceful, but you aren’t sure what peace even is anymore.
There’s a small yet painful jab to the left side of your chest, making you wince. You quietly hold your hand over it, closing your eyes and taking deep breaths, trying not to disturb the silence.
find us
You shake your head, pretending like you could do anything to get the voice out of your head.
you are a part of us
join-
The persistent whispers dissipated with the opening of a car door. You blink your eyes open with a frown. How long have you been stuck like this?
“Jesus, you should hear him in there.” Steve settles in the driver’s seat, shutting the door beside him. “Make sure you don’t miss. Yeah, like Nance has ever missed a shot in the last five years, you know?”
He glances back at you, frowning. You look up to see he’s already spotted the way you’re clutching at your jacket, unsteady waves of breath leaving your mouth in haste.
“Is it happening again?” He panics, twisting in his seat to readily grab the wheel, like he’d just drive away from the mission and find you help. You grab his arm before anything happens, shaking your head.
“No, no. It’s not- I’m fine.” You blurt, wondering how the hell you’re gonna stop this man from worrying about you when he needs to stay focused. “I just… I just feel a little off sometimes, but it’s not serious, I promise.”
“It looks pretty serious, Y/n.”
“I…” You bite your lip, lowering your hand. “This happens a lot. Normally when I’m alone, but it- it doesn’t last very long. Or, I didn’t think it did.”
Steve frowns at you. “What-”
“Ever since the gates closed, I’ve felt weaker, like I’ve lost all my energy. It comes back to me sometimes, though. I’ve noticed it’s whenever a crawl happens, or recently when the demogorgon opened a gate. And I think it’s because of the Mind Flayer. But if I feel stronger, then I will inevitably start feeling like shit again when the gates close because I’m no longer connected to-”
“Sorry.” Steve holds a hand up, cutting you off, his mind barely keeping up. “I don’t- none of this is making sense.”
“I don’t know how to explain it.” You scrunch up your face, “It’s like, the closer I am to the Mind Flayer… the better I feel.”
“Because it makes you powerful?”
“It’s more than that.” You find his eyes. “It saved my life, Steve, back in that attic. It was the strongest I’ve ever felt. Without it… well, I guess I’d feel like I have been feeling for the last ten months.”
He nods along, his lip drawn between his teeth, like he was taking in your every word and trying to find a solution. “How are you feeling right now?”
You consider lying, but where would that get you? “Not, uh… not so great, to be honest.”
“Then we should…”
The ideas fall with the realisation. You can’t go to the hospital. You certainly can’t go home. The only option was to leave you in the Squawk mission room, but both of you knew Steve would never leave you alone with the reminders of your health.
“I’ll be okay.” You say, leaning forward. That crease between his eyebrows starts forming again. “Steve. I’ll be okay, I promise. It’s just- you asked me to tell you if anything felt wrong with me.”
“And I’m glad you did.” He says quickly, reaching his hand out to you. “ But I don’t think I can do this knowing-”
The passenger side door opens and you both jump, feeling like you were caught despite nothing happening at all.
Dustin slides into his seat with hesitation, eyes narrowed.
“I’m going to pretend that I didn’t see anything for my own mental wellbeing.” He says, and you roll your eyes.
“We weren’t even-” Steve starts but Dustin holds his hand up.
“Excuse you, I’m pretending over here.”
Steve glares at the boy before turning his head away. “Fine. Everything good to go in there?”
“Yeah.” Dustin sighs, fiddling with the binoculars hanging from his neck. “Just gotta wait now.”
And wait you did. Your fingertips kept subconsciously tapping the fabric that rested just above your heart. Steve’s gaze was trained on the house for any sign of flickering lights, but he spared you a glance ever so often. You pretend not to notice. Dustin mostly rested his eyes, reminding you of how long it’s been since you’ve really slept.
After a long time of hearing nothing but everyone’s breaths, Dustin clears his throat.
“This is gonna work.” Dustin mumbles, mostly in reassurance to himself.
“Totally.” You respond anyway, nervously pulling at the frays of your denim jacket.
“It better work.” Steve huffs. “It’s not like we’re conspicuous or anything.”
All of your eyes trail up to the massive antenna attached to the roof of Steve’s car. A nervous gulp slid down your throat.
“You, uh… think the military are watching right now?” You ask no one in particular.
“Probably.” Dustin snorts. Steve jabs his elbow into the boy’s side. Dustin frowns at the sudden blunt force to his arm before his face drops with realisation. “I mean, no. They’re too busy with the Upside Down stuff. We’re fine. Totally.”
You cock a brow as high as the octave in Dustin’s voice. “Yeah, I feel so reassured.”
“They’re not finding us.” Steve says, the words laced with such determination that you knew they were final. “Besides, they have no reason to even want to track us right now.”
“Right.” You nod, biting the inside of your cheek.
“I want Y/n Mayfield brought to me alive.”
No reason at all.
If anyone was going to question the distant look in your eye, it was interrupted by Robin’s voice blaring through the radio speaker.
“Hey. Talk to me, guys. How’s it looking out there?”
“It’s boring.” Steve replies, “How are the Turnbows holding up?”
“Uh.. they’re still in their ‘food comas’. But I swear to god, this Demo better show. If we took out an entire family for nothing, my conscience will never recover.”
“It will. Just make sure you let us know as soon as it does. Or if Will starts getting all tingly or whatever.” Steve answers.
“Tingly?” You frown. Steve shrugs.
“I don’t know. What would you call it?”
“He’s not Spiderman.” You laugh, and Dustin whistles quietly.
“That would be cool, though.” The younger boy sighs, head lolling against the window.
“And if it doesn’t show? I’ll be no good in prison, Harrington, they’ll shank me to death as soon as I open my mouth.”
You snort then, resting against the side of Steve’s seat.
“I wouldn’t worry about that, Robs, I know a lawyer.” Steve says, making you smirk in confusion. “My uncle is a criminal defence attorney.”
“So, like, what kind of criminals does your uncle defend exactly? Are they, like, white-collar criminals? Because that does seem like a Harrington thing to do, you know, defend rich douchebags.”
Steve huffs out a laugh. “You’re not wrong. I don’t really have an answer though, it’s not like I ever see my family…”
When his voice trails off, you immediately know why. You felt it as soon as it happened.
“Robs… we’ve got company.” Steve finally says, eyes trained to the road ahead.
The lights that lined the streets start flickering, each taking a turn to blink one after another. Your mouth feels dry, goosebumps lining your skin. And your heart… it felt tight.
“Moving south down Arlington, T-minus 30 seconds.” Dustin says, and Steve repeats it into the radio.
Your hands feel clammy. Was that normal?
Everyone is checking in with each other over the radios, and you’re sitting in the back of a car that’s about to track a 10 foot monster feeling like your whole body is on fire and numb all at the same time.
“It’s inside.” Dustin says, but you’re shifting uncomfortably, a strange beacon echoing in your head.
join us
follow
The Mind Flayer kept summoning you, your legs already poised and pointed to the exit. You notice it early, trying to pull away from the lack of control you were currently facing. But with every effort to stop your body mindlessly trailing after the gate the demogorgon created, your heart starts hammering harder in your chest.
The horrific sound of gunfire echoes out, and you have to close your eyes to drown out the horrific thoughts attempting to infiltrate you.
get out the car, and leave them behind
you are needed
you are ours
“Y/n.”
You snap your head up to Dustin, watching his face fall as he takes in your dischevelled appearance. You clutched your chest like it was the only thing keeping you alive.
“Uh, Steve-”
“Dustin, how close is it?” Steve’s far too immersed in the current mission to notice anything other than the chaotic house across the street, jaw set with the expectation of tracking the monster. “Dustin, how close?!”
You look at the signal tracker, your hands gripping dangerously into the headrest of Dustin’s seat.
“Shit!”
Everything in Steve’s car starts flickering then, suddenly making everything far too real.
It was right beneath you. Or maybe…
Something slams against the passenger side window and you all cry out.
Nancy and Jonathan peer in, eyes wild.
“Jesus Christ!” Steve yells, accidentally hitting the steering wheel and cursing under his breath.
He finally looks back then, expecting to share in the relieved mess of not being attacked by a vicious demogorgon. Nancy and Jonathan are sliding into the car, one on either side of you, begging to know if Dustin is successfully tracking it.
Steve watches how your hands start to shake. It wasn’t from the short-lived fear of the jump-scare your friends accidentally created. He’d seen it before. That glassy look in your eye, the way your chest rises and falls far too quickly. How hard you try to pretend like everything’s fine.
It was happening again.
“I repeat, trackers in pursuit!” Dustin yells out, snapping Steve back to the wheel. “Hit it!”
The engine purrs to life and Steve slams his foot on the gas, jolting the car forward and racing off down the road.
Nancy grips onto the side, her head turning to you and widening her eyes.
“Y/n.” She says, and you look over, frowning at the way she looked at you. “Your nose.”
Your fingertips immediately swipe at your upper lip just as Steve wings a sharp right. You stare back down at the blood coating your skin, stilling. That… that’s never happened before.
There wasn’t any time for reassurance to your friends as the car bursts through garden fences, the occasional high-pitched roar of Dustin’s directions filling the air as the three of you in the back hold onto each other for dear life.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Steve winces with every fence that shatters around the bonnet, barely keeping control.
“You’re gonna crash!” Dustin yells out, and Steve risks a bewildered look his way.
“You said right!”
“Jesus Christ!” Jonathan cries out, squeezing his eyes shut with another explosion of wooden panels.
“Wait, wait, stop right now!”
Steve does his best to brake, throwing you all forward in the process. Your seatbelt barely catches you, so Jonathan throws his arm around you to pull you back before you propel into the front seat.
“Thanks.” You breathlessly say, wincing in pain with another jolt to your chest. Jonathan shares a look with Nancy, who shakes her head knowingly.
“God dammit, Henderson, what are we doing?!” Steve pants, and Dustin hurriedly adjusts the satellite.
“I lost the signal!” Dustin mumbles a string of swear words, and you bite your bottom lip in anticipation. You can’t have just kidnapped a whole family for nothing. “Got it! It’s heading southeast now!”
Steve turns the car back around, driving back through the holes he created in the fences and returning to the road.
“That was fun.” Jonathan mumbles sarcastically, eyeing you with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Hm.” You can barely speak now, and Jonathan taps his hand aggressively against the back of Steve’s chair.
“What?!” Steve shouts over his shoulder, turning left at Dustin’s instruction while desperately trying not to let up on the speed. If he stopped now, he’d lose the demogorgon.
“Something’s wrong with Y/n!”
Steve’s eyes flash to the rearview mirror, heart sinking with the sight of you. Your head is lolled against Nancy’s shoulder, the girl wrapping her arm around you while keeping her fingertips pressed to your pulse. Blood had been trickling from your right nostril, staining your lips.
You’ve never been this bad before.
“Shit!” Steve cries out, foot to the floor, racing against time.
“Oh no.” Dustin’s face drops.
“What?!”
“It’s heading to the barn!” Dustin relays, and everyone goes quiet.
“How far?” Steve asks, hoping they can make it in time. When Dustin doesn’t answer, he makes his voice louder. “How far, Henderson?!”
“It’s already there.”
Your voice is merely a whisper, but it chills the entire exterior of the car all the same.
If it was even possible at the point, Steve speeds up, eyes set on the flickering lights he can spot in the distance. There was a noticeable figure in front, being driven out by an axe-wielding mother. Steve narrows his eyes.
“What’s the plan, Steve?” Jonathan asks, and for once it wasn’t demeaning. He was far too terrified for the answer.
“I don’t think you wanna know.” Steve responds, and Jonathan leans back in his seat, looking at Nancy.
“Hold on.”
The demogorgon is stumbling away from the barn, snarling at Joyce. She’s relentless, eyes wild with fury. She keeps swinging the axe at it, barely nicking the skin.
So, Steve does the only thing he can, and drives straight into it.
The monster shrieks, body slamming over the roof of the car, and Nancy turns her head beside you, watching the creature roll into the dirt. It wasn’t dead. Of course it wasn’t.
Steve spins the car back around to face it, all of your eyes set on the demogorgon. It stood back up, panting, snarling. You lift your head to watch as it takes a step forward, something like a threat.
you should be dead
we saved you
The voice feels cold against your skull, making you shiver. The pain was twisting a knife into your chest now, body shaking with fear. Before now, the voice had been somewhat soothing, trying to lure you towards it, back to the Mind Flayer.
Now, it’s become sinister. It was deliberately hurting you, angry at your constant denial of its requests.
If you didn’t listen now, it was going to kill you.
The demogorgon roars, and turns away. It leaps over to one of the grain bins, ripping open a gate and pushing itself through.
“It’s flipped! And it’s headed back towards us!” Dustin confirms.
Steve grips the wheel, but he doesn’t move.
“What are you doing, man, we have to turn around!” Jonathan leans forward, frowning when Steve just shakes his head.
He looks over his shoulder at you, a look in your eye that screamed everything he needed to know. You were dying, and chasing this monster wasn’t going to heal you.
“I don’t know how to explain it.” You scrunch up your face, “It’s like, the closer I am to the Mind Flayer… the better I feel.”
That sounded like a plan.
“Gates are kinda like Peanut Butter Boppers, right?” Steve suddenly asks, earning himself some confused looks. “The outside is, like, crunchy and tough. But then you bite down on it, it gives way to a gooey, creamy core.”
Jonathan cries out. “Dude, what the hell are you talking about?!”
“Y/n, open your eyes.” Nancy says, her hand gently tapping against your cheek. You’re struggling to stay awake, gasping for shallow breaths.
“If I drive fast enough, the beamer can punch a hole into the gate, and then we can track the Demo on its home turf in the Upside Down!” Steve explains, eyes constantly flickering back towards you. You were barely hanging on. “Then we follow it back home.”
Jonathan immediately starts arguing, and Nancy frowns as she holds you against her.
“What about Y/n?” She looks at the boy in the driver’s seat with a fearful set of tears in her eyes.
“She needs to be down there.” He says, watching her frown back at him. “Seriously, Nance. I can’t explain it, I don’t even know if it will work, but you have to trust me.”
“Trust?” Jonathan looks between them both in panic. “We won’t be able to do anything if we crash!”
“We won’t crash!”
“It’s almost gone!”
Nancy looks at the gate, ignoring the chaos of men’s voices floating around her, hands tightened around your shoulder. She truly didn’t see another option.
“Do it.” She says, and Jonathan stares at her like she’s crazy.
Nancy doesn’t need to repeat herself. Steve slams his foot back on the gas and aims for the grain silo, Dustin and Jonathan mumbling out strings of curses and objections.
You try to sit up, but Nancy holds you back. You must have drifted out of the conversation because all of a sudden you’re watching the crimson gate get closer and closer, raising goosebumps on your skin. Jonathan is gripping onto the seat in front of him for dear life, Dustin is screaming, and Nancy shares a determined exposition with Steve as he heads straight for the gate to hell.
None of you are sure if he’s gonna make it. You’re all hoping, at least. But you know Steve. You’d trust him with your life, much like you are now.
The car slides through the glowing membrane of the gate, everyone screaming out in both fear and commitment. You watch the world bleed around you, and you feel the soul-crushing weight on your chest slowly start to lift.
Any pain you had… breaking through the seal to the Upside Down changed everything.
“We got you, you son of a bitch!” Dustin cries out with glee, cheers and celebration coming from everyone in the car as Steve grins and navigates through the flipped version of your home.
“How do you feel?” Nancy asks you quietly while Dustin directs Steve’s driving once again. Her hand squeezes yours and you give a smile.
“Better.” You say, a soft frown in recognition of how crazy all of this was. Just moments ago, you felt like you were dying, and now it was like nothing had happened at all.
“Turn left, cemetery!”
Steve pulls out of the road and wings to the left. You feel Nancy tense.
“Roane Cemetery?” She speaks up, frowning. “That’s almost at the county line.”
“Doesn’t this thing ever get tired?” Jonathan groans.
“Uh, unfortunately, it looks like the opposite.” Dustin shares with a shaky inflection in his voice. “I think he’s speeding up.”
“Can this thing go any faster?” Nancy stresses and Steve tilts his head.
“Let’s see.”
The tires screech across the ground, engine revving, making you far more nervous than you needed to be. The last time you were down here, you found it nearly impossible to get around without alerting some predacious creature to your whereabouts.
There was no chance in hell Vecna didn’t know you were here.
Steve and Dustin start arguing in the front as you cautiously peer out of the windows, a small migraine sitting between your eyebrows. You weren’t sure how, but you could sense something was off.
You redirect your attention to the front, face falling.
“Steve.” You try, but he’s in a useless heated debate on the importance of Dustin doing his job properly.
It gets attention from Nancy and Jonathan, though, both eyeing the windshield.
“What is that?” Jonathan asks, and you shake your head.
“Not good.” You lean forward now, “Steve, you have to stop!”
He barely notices you, not even looking at the road.
“Steve, slow down!” Nancy tries to no avail.
Soon enough, it’s a chorus of pleads from the three in the back and Steve finally takes notice, frowning.
But it’s too late. He turns and sees the massive wall, slamming on the brakes. You brace yourself as best as you can, but there isn’t much you can do in the middle seat.
The car jolts hazardously forward, and everything goes black.
“Eddie?!”
The screams are beginning to hurt your throat. You’ve been wandering around this void of light for what seems like hours, searching, hoping. You found him once. How come you can’t find him again?
Your shadow begins to form in front of you with a beam of reflection. You frown into the pool, barely able to see your own features. A shadow. You had a shadow in the dark?
A glance over your shoulder provides the answer. A bright beam of light is leading you back, guiding you away from this misery. For a moment, you were unsure if you should follow it.
That thought disappears with the sharp tug of claws wrapping around your arm.
You cry out, trying to pry what felt like dust from your body. Something starts whispering in your ear, but you aren’t focused. Everything is suddenly suffocating, the words incoherent, the claws strong.
“No!”
You shed yourself from the restraints and immediately start running to the light, feeling the dark closing in on you. It was trying to trap you, but you were much faster than that.
The exit feels warm against your skin as you find yourself closer. It’s far too bright, but soon you miss the blinding nature of it.
A silhouette appears in front of you, blocking the light from reaching you. You barely catch yourself, falling back, splashing into the ground as droplets of water coat your skin.
The figure looks down at you, tilting their head. Their hands are clasped tightly together, a knowing smile plastered on their faceless features.
Warnings: graphic descriptions, blood, death, just pure and unhinged chaos in this one (pray for reader and her doomed narrative)
[A/N: Guys... I have literally just written the ending to this chapter because I had a sudden burst of inspiration when I should have been resting but oh well, the angst has returned!! I needed to post it right away though before I changed my mind and everyone had to wait another week for a chapter release. This one is kinda heavy so please proceed with caution <3]
<- Chapter One: The Beginning, The End
Hell of a Fight
The heavy weight of a nailed bat is by your side, knuckles white from gripping too hard.
You left the Mind Flayer remnants behind in your room, flying out of your door onto the porch. You brace yourself against the banister, wide eyes staring at the house beside yours.
All the lights were flickering, bright bursts of light, no kind of pattern. Something you recognised all too well.
A demogorgon.
“Y/n?!”
The radio in your back pocket screams at you, and you swiftly snatch it to your lips.
“Yeah, I’m here, Mike. I’m outside.”
“Is it…”
“It’s already inside.” You confirm, chest tightening.
“Y/n, we’re on our way with El, but we’re not… we’re going as fast as we can.”
“I’m not letting anything happen to her.” You say, and another voice cuts into the broadcast.
“Wait, no, you can’t go in there. It could- you could die!” Steve’s fearful voice adds and you suck in a breath.
You weren’t strong enough for this.
That didn’t matter anymore. A giant crash rang out.
“Wheelers, how close are you?” Steve asks, persistent.
“Eight minutes out.” Mike pants.
“Five minutes away.” Nancy replies.
Your stomach drops. Why were you just standing here?
“It’s not enough time.” You speak, controlling the fear you felt in your voice. “I’ll try to distract it for as long as I can before you guys get here.”
“Wait, no-”
“Y/n!-”
You switch the radio off, throwing it towards your porch.
The first thing you hear when you open the door is the muffled sound of Fernando by ABBA blaring from the top of the staircase. You don’t need to think too hard about it, hand gripped onto the lower spindle as you throw yourself up the stairs. You can hear a voice, and then a snarl, tightening the grip on your bat.
You turn the corner just in time to watch Ted Wheeler be thrown through a bedroom door.
The demogorgon stalks after him, and you see Karen and Holly run out of the bathroom with urgency.
Karen’s eyes widen in surprise when she sees you there, but the roar of the monster behind her keeps her moving.
“GO!” You yell to them, stepping around them and letting them slip past you down the stairs.
The demogorgon’s mouth uncurls, rows of deadly teeth aimed at you, raising its claws. You’re already driving your bat upwards to its head, knocking it back with a harsh blow.
You felt it then, a sharp pain to your chest, almost debilitating you. The creature hadn’t struck you, but the excursion had worsened your health.
“Fuck.” You spit, looking up just in time to watch a gate rip open on the floor beside the monster, the demogorgon jumping in.
You frown, confused.
Holly screams from below, her mother crying out orders to run. You run back down the staircase, spinning around in time to watch Karen slip across the floor and crash into the side of the kitchen island.
You run to her, grabbing her by her arms.
“Mom!” The young girl cries, running back to help you. Your eyes dart around for the predator, confused at its disappearance.
Maybe it had-
It jumps out behind the doorframe, Karen’s arms tightening around you and Holly.
“Get back!” She tries to push you both behind her, Holly stumbling away.
“No, you both need to leave, right now!” You beg her, raising your weapon at the demogorgon.
It swipes at you, and you manage to dodge, driving the nails into its right side. You pull it back out as it screeches in pain.
“Y/n.” Karen breathlessly says behind you, her terrified figure gripping onto Holly. Pleading, maybe, like she was terrified you were going to get hurt. You didn’t have the space right now to explain it wouldn’t be the first time.
Knowing you could easily trick it, you purposefully raise the bat to its left, studying the way it readies itself for the attack. You swing, but you flip the bat into your right hand, sure it would confuse the creature so you could strike the weakest spot you’d created.
Its grey and crooked hand catches your weapon, claws wrapping around the nails, tearing its own skin. Your eyes widen in shock, trying to pull the bat away.
It guessed your own move. How did it know to do that?
The other hand back hands you across the island, slamming you into the cabinets with enough force to knock the wind out of you. You heard the Wheelers yell out for you as you struggled to stand, your bat clattering to the floor at the monster’s feet.
Karen looks to you in horror, redirecting her attention to the ten foot nightmare stomping towards her. She reaches out for a wine bottle, smashing it against the counter and raising the sharp edges with a deadly manner.
Her teeth are gritted, eyes wild above the mascara smearing her cheeks. She was afraid. She was angry.
“Stay. Away. From. My. Daughters!”
She screams, ignoring the cry of her youngest child as she charges at the demogorgon. The shards pierce the grey skin of the beast, stabbing it over and over and over with all her might. It kept stumbling back, screeching in pain as black blood leaked to the floor.
You grab onto the marble, baring your teeth as you pull yourself up, eyes set on the bat behind Karen. Holly is frozen with fear, tears streaming down her cheeks as she watches a mother’s rage for protection, barely noticing how you were desperately trying to crawl over.
“NOOOOO!”
Holly screams out and you look up to see the claws that had punctured Karen’s stomach, causing the woman to stumble back from the pain. You hastily grab your bat, ignoring the consistent stabbing pain in your chest as you rise to your feet.
A gate had started opening on the back door as its other hand swipes across the mother’s neck and body, splitting skin. You cried out, feeling a strange burst of adrenaline.
Black dust suddenly wrapped around the demogorgon’s arm, prohibiting a final blow.
Karen had fallen back, and you had caught her by instinct, quickly lowering her to the ground as the dust held the creature still.
You had hoped it had lasted longer than a few seconds.
It broke free, spitting its rancid breath at Holly. She screams, body in shock and hands shaking. You look down at Karen with such agony, wanting- no, needing to help her. But her eyes were locked onto yours, silently begging.
Save her.
You manage to block its path, standing between the demogorgon and the youngest Wheeler, both hands around the bat. You take in a breath, willing the Mind Flayer to help you once again, counting on it to.
Except for the first time… it didn’t obey you.
Dread floods your body when the dust disappears through the gate, the monster ahead already flexing its bloodied claws.
You could feel the tremor of the terrified girl behind you, and you held your breath.
You weren’t going to win. You knew that. Not with your body seemingly depleting the longer you stood here, not with the ache in your rapidly beating heart. Especially not with a small bat and a giant monster.
But you had to try.
You yell out when it charges at you, bringing the bat overhead and slamming it down into its face as hard as you could. It definitely surprises it, and you change direction now, striking at its side. Then its leg, its arm. Anywhere you could possibly hit, enough to wear it down so Nancy could come blazing in with her shotgun and dispose of it for real.
You were never one for luck.
There was a moment where you thought you were going to win. The 10 foot creature was beginning to curl in on itself, backing away like it hadn’t expected you or Karen to fight back. You had an insatiable anger coursing through your veins knowing the only woman who ever treated you like a daughter was bleeding out on the floor behind you, and you were going to win.
You twist your body to swing the bat into the monster’s head… and everything falls apart.
A sharp, debilitating sting tore from beneath your ribcage. It felt like someone was twisting a knife beside your heart, blackening your vision as you tried to grasp onto your weapon.
But it was too late. Your sickness had ruined it all.
You felt it before you saw it; a searing pain of an open wound, hearing the blood splatter the walls and Holly’s sobs echoing in your ear.
Its claws had slashed open your chest, causing the bat to tumble from your grip. You stumble back, panting for breath.
“Holly, when I say, you run.” You beg her, and she shakes her head.
“I- I can’t, I-”
“Please.”
She wipes the tears from her eyes, nodding. Her face falls when the demogorgon roars out, raising another arm.
You glare up at it, hand spread across your chest. One breath in, one breath out.
“NOW!” You cry out to her, watching the demogorgon pounce at you.
You’re thrown back against the floor, head blaring with pain as it knocks against the surface. Its claws slash at you again, piercing your stomach. You cry out, tears escaping your eyes.
The roar sends spit flying onto your face, every nerve in your body alight with terror. Rancid breath blared over your cheeks, rows and rows of sharp teeth getting closer to your face, and you couldn’t escape it.
Claws wrap around your throat.
You expect another strike, turning your head away. You didn’t want to see the end. Instead, you watched Holly’s figure attempt to disappear to the front door, running around you with tear-soaked cheeks and red eyes. She should have left as soon as the monster slammed you into the ground, but you couldn’t expect so much from an 11 year old. At least, after all of this, she escaped.
The demogorgon stops, snapping its head up to her. No.
It catches her leg, pulling her back. You try to move, but the pain is too much. None of your limbs seem to be responding to you. You even try to cry, but blood just gurgles out of your mouth.
Holly screams, desperately trying to grab hold of anything to stop it taking her. But she’s not strong enough.
Your hand twitches on the ground as you try to follow them through the gate, eyes blurry with tears. Holly’s voice still called out when they crossed over, your heart wrenching when the demogorgon drags her out of view, further into the Upside Down.
The front door slams open, rattling through your bones, the edges of your vision becoming black.
Were you going to die here?
“Oh my god.”
A girl’s voice. Nancy’s, maybe. Or even El’s. You weren’t sure.
You barely register anything. You’re certain you could see a pair of hands hover over you, but that could have been death’s grasp reaching out to you once again.
You’re not sure what horrors the sight would bring to your friends. All you knew is this is how you would be found, again. Broken.
Except this time, you weren’t alone.
One hand was laying beside Karen’s, the other outstretched to a blood soaked bat, the image like an omen that would never wash out.
The light was too far away. Or perhaps it didn’t even exist at all. Everything was dark, eerie… terrifying. You were used to the beating thrums of whispers and screams in the darkness. It made the silence so much worse.
There were so many walls around you, blocking you in, choking you. It took a long time to adjust to the dark, confused by the fluttering particles lined up around you.
You start running. It’s practically useless, no sense of direction guiding you, but you had to move. You were afraid of what the moving walls would do to you if you didn’t.
Left, right, right, left. There wasn’t a reason for the deciding turns you make, just pure adrenaline.
The maze of dust was getting tighter now, trying to close you in. You’re barely brushing past the darkness, your heart beating erratically, yet you couldn’t feel it against your chest anymore. It was like it was out of your body, whispering in your ear, reminding you how scared you were.
After all this time, running, fearing, you haven’t bothered to consider the most important question.
Where are you?
“Y/n?!”
Your feet can’t move anymore, stopping you short of what appeared to be an endless path to a slither of light. A voice was echoing closer.
That voice…
“Y/n!”
You turn around, running back into the maze, searching, hoping. The dust fluttered in, trying to keep you away. You just ignore it, following the voice that called out for you.
How long has it been now? Seconds, minutes? Maybe hours. Time didn’t matter to you right now, or even the mystery of where you were, because you needed to find that voice. You weren’t more sure of anything.
More sharp corners, more suffocation. The voice was still calling. But where? Who?
“Y/n-”
It cuts out, final and warped. You can’t explain the immense sadness that flushes through your chest, slowing your footsteps until you stop completely. You feel empty now.
The wall- no, the dust beside you flickers wildly. It seemed to be getting thicker, blocking you. You narrow your eyes. Blocking you from what?
Raising a hand to the wall, you feel a jolt of electricity beneath your fingertips, the particles scattering from your touch. An escape. Both of your hands push through the dust and you stumble past the darkness, gasping at the relief of breaking through the maze.
“Are you there?”
The voice was louder, returning with a morbid tone. They were close, whoever they were.
“Hello?” You call out, footsteps echoing into nothing.
And when you next blink, you see it. You see him. A red glow illuminates his shadow.
“Eddie.” You breathe out, something horrid twisting in your stomach when he doesn’t reply. He doesn’t even look at you.
His tear stricken eyes are glaring past you from where he sat in a red pool of water, hair clung to his face, arms wrapped around his body. He looked angry, terrified, and hopeless.
You wanted to cry out for him, but your voice was ripped from your throat. Instead, you heard the screeches echo from behind you, louder and louder.
Bats. Dozens of them. They were swarming in, piercing the darkness with sharp red beams of light. And they were heading directly towards Eddie.
“NO!” You finally scream, trying to outrun the bats. Eddie still doesn’t notice you, the tears streaming down his cheeks as the creatures start closing in.
When the first bat flies over your head, a sharp jolt rips through your chest, causing you to stumble back. It wasn’t painful. If anything, it felt like life.
You had to ignore it.
Eddie was closer now, only a few steps away. You run for him like it was the only thing you’ve ever known, throwing your hand out and begging for him to see you. He only buries his head into his knees, sobbing.
Another sharp jolt pulls you away, and the first bat strikes. It rips at his hair, and Eddie does nothing.
You scream until your throat feels sore, running again as another and another swoop down onto him. Your hand catches onto a bat, and it bursts into a bright beam of light before it disappears completely. You can help him. You have to help him.
The next jolt is simply shrugged away while you tear through the blockade of deadly monstrosities. It’s getting more persistent, sparking a dread somewhere deep in your chest to tell you time was running out. What time?
The bats were too many, swarming around him. He did nothing, just allowing them to tear his skin like this was what he was made for. As if he didn’t know anything else. You couldn’t break through if you tried, and the realisation of it caused you to stop.
Heartbreaking sobs echoed from your mouth into the dark, watching as Eddie fades away.
“I’m so sorry.” You whisper, falling to your knees.
Within the flurry of wings, you finally see him. His eyes, mostly, as deeply sad as they were brown. Your heart skips. He was looking at you.
His lips gasp open, a shaking arm reaching out.
You move towards him without a second thought, your hand dangerously close to his.
A fourth and final jolt spreads across your body with a surge of energy… and it rips you away from him. You scream, but it doesn’t matter.
The world around you is vanishing, Eddie blurring into the distance, the dust leaving like an evacuation. All that was left was a white, bright void of nothing and everything.
And it consumed you.
You’re not sure what would have happened if you stayed. You’re not sure what was happening now you were leaving.
The only thing you remember is the shadows that looked down at you, and an uncomfortable sensation coating your body.
There wasn’t a single obstacle the universe could throw at him to keep Steve away from the hospital.
The WSQK van had spluttered into an unsatisfying stop a little while ago. Steve had muttered out a few unhelpful curses while Jonathan rolled his eyes. Luckily for them, a poor girl from Steve’s past had driven by then and offered help despite her obvious disdain towards him. Funny how he thought that was going to be the worst part of his evening.
“I’ll try to distract it for as long as I can before you guys get here.”
How many times had Steve begged into the hard plastic of his radio when you stopped responding? Too many, maybe. Or not enough.
“What’s happening? Is anyone there? Someone answer me!”
He had repeated that over and over until the crackle of the speaker jolted him upright.
“Steve, it’s Lucas. She’s… we’re getting everyone to the hospital. I’m sorry.”
His grip was so tight he was sure he’d break the radio. Lucas didn’t have to spell it out for him, the fear in his voice was only overpowered by the sob that caught in his throat as he spoke.
The radio in question was thrown back into the van with any responsibility he had to this crawl. Jonathan had yelled for him to wait, but Steve could only hear the blood rushing to his ears as he ran from everything, the steps below his sneakers echoing into the pitch black of the night.
The hospital.
Steve didn’t know how long it would take him to get there. He barely felt the burn of his calves as he sprinted across Hawkins, an endless stream of praying to a god he wasn’t yet sure he could believe him muttering through his lips.
He spotted Lucas first. The younger boy’s hands were on top of his head as he breathed in and out erratically.
“Steve!” He called out when he turned to find him rushing through the entrance, ignoring the suspicious glares from patients and nurses. “They- they took Karen and Ted into the OR, we- we don’t know if they’re-”
Lucas crumbles before him, and Steve has to catch him in his arms before he crashes into the ground.
“Lucas, hey, it’s okay, what-”
“She’s not.” Lucas sobs, and Steve’s blood runs cold. “She’s not- we were too late, I can’t-”
Steve grips onto the shaking boy as he frantically searches for Nancy and Mike. What room could they have even-
“Doctor, she’s flatlining!”
Lucas stills, eyes darting up to him with a terror that would have shook him to his very core if he hadn’t already been moving them over to where a nurse was calling out.
He sees the others then, Nancy’s bloody hands shaking while Mike holds her tight, both of them staring into a room he couldn’t see. Nancy catches his gaze, eyes widening above her mascara-stained cheeks. She was shaking her head. Was it an explanation, or a warning?
Steve ignored it either way.
Lucas still held onto him, tucked beneath his arm. Steve didn’t mind. Right now, he needed something to ground him. Because when he finally stood beside the eldest Wheeler siblings, his stomach plummeted.
You were laying in a hospital bed, shirt ripped and soaked in your blood. He can see the exposed and torn flesh of your chest and stomach, slashes big enough to tell him exactly what happened. You didn’t win the fight.
And you were flatlining.
There were so many nurses and doctors yelling out orders, each trying to bring you back in any way possible. One carts over a defibrillator, and that’s when the watching becomes agony.
Your friends wait in fits of tears for that spike of a heartbeat. One jolt of electricity to your chest.
Nothing.
Steve’s blurry eyes keep focus on the monitor beside you. The line stays still, and his world feels like it’s collapsing.
Another jolt of electricity. Nothing.
Nancy can’t keep in the sharp bursts of her cries any longer, and Mike lets her bury her face into his jacket, looking away from your figure. But Steve can’t look away. If he does, he’s sure you’ll disappear.
“Clear!” The man in charge yells, and another shot of electricity is sent directly to you.
Steve watches a small flutter on the machine, a soft spike of a heartbeat. It’s gone before he can cherish it, and everything feels numb to him now.
Come back, come back, come back.
A nurse says something he doesn’t understand, but the look of the doctor speaks louder than the chaos of the hospital.
One last try.
Steve doesn’t dare breathe when the ultimate raise of the paddles hover above your chest. There was so much he hadn’t told you yet, so many moments he wanted to live with you there by his side. You had to come back. He couldn’t save Hawkins if his reason for home was no longer with him.
The final jolt courses into you, and Steve’s eyes finally fall shut.
Lucas shifts beside him, Mike sniffles loudly. There’s a rush of people behind them, but all of it, even his own aching heart, is silent. He’s only listening for one thing.
Warnings: none? just a few mentions of reader’s condition, some illusions to torture (ish), pretty fluffy all things considered
[A/N: Another chapter??? And it didn’t take me weeks to post it?? This one is a little boring, not too much happens, but lots more interactions with reader and her family <3]
<- Chapter Three: Dead Girl Walking
Just Observing
“It looks like Robin sent up the Bat-Signal.” Dustin remarks, watching Nancy’s wagon speed up the hill.
You watch as she slams the door shut, Mike and Lucas following behind. She looks utterly distraught, hand twisting her sweater. Jonathan meets her half way, letting her crumble into him.
There’s a sour taste in your mouth when you notice her hands shake as she grips onto her boyfriend. It’s downright bitter when Mike pretends like his eyes aren’t completely glazed over with grief.
You were meant to save them. The Wheelers. And you failed.
“You okay?” Steve whispers gently beside you, arm brushing against yours. You avoid his eyes, afraid he’d see what you were thinking if he caught a glance of your face.
“Better than most.” You reply softly, nodding at the two boys approaching you.
“Holy shit.” Mike says when he notices Dustin’s beaten face.
“Yep. Bike crash.” Dustin lies, squinting against the sun. “Flew headfirst into a light post.”
You can feel Steve tense beside you. Sparing him a look, you carefully lock your finger around his, out of sight of everyone else. His eyebrows raise with shock, but he doesn’t step away.
“Look, I’m sorry about missing the crawl, about everything.”
“It’s not your fault.” Mike shakes his head profusely. “Don’t beat yourself up.”
“Looks like he already did.” Lucas comments with suspicion, and you couldn’t help the small snort that sounded into the morning air.
He instinctively smiles at you, looking over before something comes crashing over him. A realisation.
Before you could question the saddened look on his face, he walks over and hugs you fiercely.
“Hey, woah, you okay?” You laugh in surprise, holding him back. Then a wave of dread pangs in your chest. “Is Max okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, she’s… she’s the same. It’s just…” He nods, pulling away. “You.”
“Me?”
“You…” He takes a quick glance at everyone around you, scared to speak the next words, but releasing them with a sharp breath. “You died.”
Bile rises in your throat. Yeah, you died. Again. It didn’t get easier.
“Only for, like, a minute.” You try to ease, but he shakes his head.
“I-I went to your hospital room. You weren’t there, and I thought…”
Your stomach drops with a weight of guilt.
“I’m sorry.” You reach out, hand on his arm. “I- we had to get out of there fast. It’s a long story, but I should have reached out. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You’re okay now, right?”
“Yeah.” You say, but it was far from the truth. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
The doors to the WSQK slammed open, a very stressed Robin Buckley stepping out into the sun with a determined gaze.
“Hey, this isn’t a social call, kiddos.” She gestures to everything wildly, nodding back at the building. “Let’s go.”
Mike pats you on the shoulder in recognition as he steams past Robin into the building, presumably to find Will. Robin nods at everyone as they pass her, leant against the doorframe with a frown. When you go to follow, however, she grabs your arm and pulls you aside.
“You okay?” You ask when she doesn’t say anything, her eyes just staring at your face. “Robin?”
Her hands suddenly wrap around you, burying her face into your shoulder. You immediately grab onto her, sighing into the hug.
“I heard everything.” She says quietly, making no move to let go. “I should have been at the hospital, I’m sorry-”
“Robs,” You finally pull away, shaking your head. “I’m all good. See? It’s a long story, but I’m even better than I probably should be.”
Robin nods along, wiping away her teary eyes. “Good. Great. You need anything, though, you’d tell me?”
“As if you can’t already read my mind.” You smile, nudging her shoulder.
You both trail inside to where everyone was sitting listening to Will. You take a seat on the couch beside Dustin, hearing the tail-end to the conversation.
“Derek. He’s going after him next.” Will concludes, smiling at you when he notices your presence.
“Derek?” Steve questions, “Derek Turnbow? As in the Turnbow family? Like Turnbow Realty?”
“The one and only.” Robin nods, settling in on the other side of the room, and you frown.
“Who’s…” You start to ask before you shake your head. “Actually, do I wanna know?”
“Whole family’s a menace.” Lucas shares, and you raise an eyebrow in curiosity. He sends a knowing look. “Rich people wanting to be richer, kind of menace.”
“Gotcha.” You lean back into your side of the couch, shoulder pressing into Steve’s leg from where he was perched on the armrest.
“How can you be sure?” Nancy asks, face worn. “Sure that Derek’s the next target.”
“Because I saw.” Will says, eyes misting over with what you can only assume to be the haunting nightmares left in Vecna’s wake. “I’ve learned that when I’m close enough to the hive mind, I can tap into it- into Vecna’s mind. I can see who he’s targeting. The first time it happened, I saw through Holly’s eyes. The same day she was taken. And this morning, the same thing happened again. Only this time, I wasn’t Holly. I was someone else. I was Derek Turnbow. I’m positive.”
“Hold on, I’m a little lost.” Steve pinches the bridge of his nose, and Dustin huffs.
“Shocking.” He says, and you gently jab your elbow into him as Steve talks.
“Were you seeing through the eyes of… of Vecna, or of Derek?”
“Both.” Will confirms, and your eyes widen. “I was Vecna… but inside Derek’s mind.”
You slowly nod along, looking up to where Steve had looked more confused than before.
“Vecna’s like a psychic serial killer.” Robin reminds everyone, “He stalks his victims, but he does it by invading their minds. That’s what he did with Chrissy, with Max, with-”
“Me.” You say, shaking your head slightly as you pretended the events didn’t still affect you. “It’s different this time, though. I was listening to the feedback in the van and Vecna was showing me something. But it was nothing like what he used to show me. When I had that vision… I didn’t feel any, uh…”
“Fear?” Mike suggests, and you nod.
“Yeah.” You twist your hands together, “Like he wasn’t trying to scare anyone. Which is weird.”
“We did some digging at the hospital,” Nancy offers, and your eyes shoot up at her. “And it turns out that before he took Holly, Vecna stalked her, but… he didn’t appear as Vecna. He appeared as Henry. As a friend.”
“They saw me talking to my friend.” She admits, head low. You look confused, and she sighs. “My… imaginary… friend.”
“Oh.” You say, nodding slowly. “Let me guess, they think you’re too old to have imaginary friends?”
Holly just nods and you nudge her shoulder.
“He doesn’t feel imaginary.” She wipes her eyes.
How could you have been so blind?
“We think he was trying to earn her trust.” Mike adds, shaking his head, “Now, why he went to all that trouble, we don’t know. But I highly doubt his long-term goal is friendship.”
“Whatever it is, whatever he’s planning, we have to stop him. And we have to save Derek.” Will insists, not that any of you needed convincing.
Everyone here wanted Vecna’s head on a spike.
“Do you have a plan?” You ask, tilting your head at the way Will starts slowly nodding.
“Yeah, I think I do.”
Will leads everyone downstairs, to the hidden bunker beneath the Squawk. You hadn’t been down here in a while, too consumed with tracking the military broadcasts to join them on any mission planning. It was colder than you remember.
“The Turnbows live here.” Will points to the projected map. “We wait in a van across the street. As soon as they’re asleep, we move in, we grab Derek, and we take him to… here, the McCorkle farm. It’s completely isolated. It’s abandoned. The only thing is, we need to make sure he doesn’t see us or know where he is. So, we’ll need to blindfold him.”
“Wait- wait, hold on, what?” Steve reels back, and you have to agree with him on that one.
“We’re abducting people now?” You frown, wondering if you should have just stayed in your room and waited for them to figure it all out. “We can’t do that.”
“So that Vecna can’t find him.” Robin nods along as if the plan wasn’t crazy.
“Yeah.” Jonathan says sceptically, looking over at Joyce. “What, and Mom, you’re okay with just kidnapping a child?”
“No, we’re saving a child via kidnapping.” She says, and you tighten your lips. “And yeah, it’s fine. I think. Yes. Now’s not the time to play it safe, Jonathan.”
“Yeah, Jonathan.” You mutter beside him and he glares at you.
“You just opposed the idea.”
“I changed my mind, they make great points.”
“They haven’t made any points!”
“If I may,” Dustin interjects, walking out in front of you, “Though I’m not morally opposed to any of this, there are a few holes.”
“Yeah.” Lucas agrees, “Like what if Derek falls asleep before the Demogorgon attacks him?”
“Or what if Derek wakes up before we grab him, and alerts his family?” Nancy adds. “We’ll go to jail.”
“We can’t risk alerting the military.” You agree, wrapping your arms around yourself, “If they catch us even once doing something we’re not supposed to, we’re no help to anyone at all. We have to be as inconspicuous as possible.”
“Exactly.” Dustin nods, leaning against the table, “And the most gaping hole is even if by some miracle this plan even works, if we go under the radar, avoid the military, and keep the Demo far away from the Turnbows… Holly’s still missing. Hop and El, still MIA. This doesn’t bring us any closer to finding Vecna. This plan just buys us and Derek some time. That’s it.”
“Not necessarily.” Mike chimes in, a lightbulb of an idea striking his face. “There might be a way. A way to save Derek and find Holly.”
“It’s gonna involve a lot of work, isn’t it?” You say, and Mike smirks. “Oh yay.”
The plan, as suggested by Mike, is to get someone the Turnbow family is familiar with to infiltrate the house and knock them out so you can extract them safely. That person in question? None other than Erica Sinclair. You left the recruiting to Mike and Lucas, however, knowing that getting her onboard would be much harder than they think.
Joyce, Robin, and Will will be waiting with the family in a barn not far from the Squawk. Meanwhile, Nancy, Jonathan, Mike, and Lucas, will be trapping the demogorgon at the Turnbow house long enough to shoot a tracker into it.
Which leaves you, Steve, and Dustin to wait for the demogorgon to return to the Upside Down, and track it across Hawkins.
You didn’t want to be left behind this time. At least this way, you weren’t in any immediate danger, and you could keep Steve and Dustin from ripping each other’s throats out.
“So… a solid plan?” Mike looks up at everyone, and no one objects, making him smile. “Great. We should probably get a list of things we need out to Murray as soon as we can.”
Nancy volunteers herself to send out the message, grabbing a pen and paper. “Okay, what’s on the list?”
Everyone is gathered around the table now, offering up suggestions. Dustin peers over her shoulder to ensure everything he’s asked for is spelt correctly, nodding in approval every now and then.
Your hands shake for a moment, the sturdiness of the table no longer making you feel steady. Your friends were talking over each other, some even laughing, and suddenly that was all too much.
The pain in your chest was growing back again, and you didn’t need to make another scene.
Quietly, you retreat from the group, heading back up the steps and towards the back door of the station. There was a small porch situated outside there, providing you with just enough air to soothe yourself back to normality.
There was just an endless field for a view, a couple of hay bales and pumpkins lined up near the edge. It was oddly peaceful in Hawkins despite the knowledge of what is lurking beneath.
The door behind you creaks open, and you peer over your shoulder.
“Hey.” Steve greets, and you hide a smile.
“Following me now, Harrington?”
“You wish.” He grins, joining you at the railing. “I think you’re the one who just knows where I’m gonna be.”
“Oh, so I’m the stalker?” You raise a brow, and he nods.
“Absolutely.”
His shoulder brushes against yours and he seems to physically relax into it, eyes scanning the landscape like you had just done moments before. There’s a soft breeze in the wind, prickling goosebumps along your skin, but you don’t shiver. The coolness of it feels nice. Grounding.
Steve sighs, lips tightening. “About what happened in the van…”
“It’s okay, Steve.” You say, sending a small smile his way as the guilt starts twisting onto his face. “You were right.”
“No-”
“I almost won.” You frown into the air, mind wandering to those final moments with the demogorgon. “For just a second… I thought I did it. It was retreating.”
Steve’s hand gently slides onto yours on the railing, trying to get you to look at him.
“And my stupid heart ruined it all.” A tear slips down your cheek, one you let fall. “Holly’s gone because of me. Karen almost died because of me.”
“No one thinks that.” He finally says, shaking his head. You still avoid his eyes. “Can you look at me? Please?”
His fingers trace your jaw and tilt your head to him, those brown eyes drowning with sorrow.
“Mike told us that his mom is only alive because of you.”
You purse your lips to try and hide the way the sadness was attempting to take control of your expressions. “What?”
“They said she got lucky.” He explains, voice low, making sure you listen. “That one more attack would have killed her. And you stopped that.”
“But I didn’t stop it from taking Holly.”
“Now we know that Vecna wanted her…” Steve assesses his next words, a soft scrunch between his brows. “I don’t think any of us could have stopped it. We both know when he wants something, he doesn’t give up. And I was wrong, Y/n. You weren’t stupid for going into that house.”
You didn’t have a response to that. Instead, you just nod numbly. He lowers his forehead to rest against yours.
“I was just scared.” He whispers with your hands tangled between his. “I need you to be careful, or I’m gonna lose my damn mind.”
“Probably too late for that.” You smile, and he laughs, pulling back to look at you.
“Just… Can you please take a step back, for now? At least until we’ve gotten the hard work out of the way.”
“I can’t just sit inside while everyone works-”
“I’m not asking that.” He shakes his head, running a hand through his hair as he watches the group start to exit the mission bunker. “You can… observe. I know it’s not what you wanna do, but you shouldn’t be risking anything until it counts.”
“Okay.” You finally breathe, stepping towards the door. “I’ll observe. I promise.”
“Okay, so I couldn’t get any ethanol, but,” Murray smirks, grabbing the object behind him and handing it to Steve, “I was able to scrounge up a gallon of acetone. Now, be very careful. You smoke a Virginia Slim too close to this stuff, it’ll catch fire, okay?”
“Yeah, we’ll keep the smoking to a minimum.” You hum in agreement and Murray winks at you. Steve scrunches his face at the exchange before another item is thrust into his view.
“Snare wire, various gauges.” He hands more of it to Steve before turning back around. “A creepy, child-sized CPR dummy. Its purpose a mystery to me.”
Jonathan takes it from him and you frown at the plastic dummy. Is this really going to work?
“Shotgun shells, per our lovely lady’s request.” He nods at Nancy. “And three 20 packs of water balloons. Purpose also a mystery. But I did take the liberty of selecting the grenade style as it felt thematically appropriate.”
“Outdoing yourself once again, Austin.” You sigh.
“I do try.” He smiles, reaching down to the box in front of him. “Do keep those far away from… these 3000 feet of barbed wire. Oh, I almost forgot. Some sparkling new spark plugs for Bilbo Baggins.”
“Spark plugs, that’s it?” Dustin frowns. Everyone else has started heading back into the building with all their equipment in hand, ready to start the preparations.
“I’m also giving out free hugs.” Murray shrugs, making you laugh.
“You didn’t get the turbocharger?”
“No.”
“The suspension kit?”
“No.”
“The aerodynamic spoiler?”
“Oh, let me guess.” You chime in, and Murray pauses for your answer. “No.”
“Ding, ding, ding!” He laughs, but Dustin doesn’t find it nearly as amusing.
“It wasn’t a goddamn Christmas list, Murray.” Dustin stresses and Murray jumps down from the van, eyes narrowed.
“That’s exactly what it was. And the fact that Santa Murray scrounged all this up in a single afternoon and smuggled it into what is likely the most heavily secured location outside of the White House, Fort Knox, and Area 51, is a goddamn Christmas miracle. So, count your blessings, hang some mistletoe, pucker up, and kiss my jolly ass!”
Dustin tightens his lips, nodding slowly. “Thank you for the spark plugs.”
Murray leans against the side of the truck, watching Dustin retreat back into the barn with a sigh. “He’s too smart for his own good, ain’t he?”
“He means well. And we sure as hell need him more than he needs us most of the time.” You offer, folding your arms. “How much harder was it to get here this time?”
Murray tilts his head at you, a look in his eye that answered the question before it left his mouth. “Something tells me the next time I try it, they’re searching the truck. Handsy-style.”
“Shit.” You sigh, watching the way everyone was moving inside of the barn, different exchanges happening but all staying on mission. The stakes were never this high before. Then again, you didn’t have the military breathing down your necks and surveying your every move.
“Oh, by the way…”
You look over to see Murray patting down his pockets, humming when he finds what he was searching for and handing it over to you.
A folded piece of paper.
“You got me a note?” You raise a brow and Murray shakes his head, the usual look of mischief falling to a serious expression.
“Open it.”
You gently unfold the paper with a frown, eyes trailing across the dozens of small lines of typed writing. There was a small logo in the top corner you couldn’t recognise, but the signature at the bottom made your blood seethe.
“Sullivan.” You whisper out, and Murray nods.
“Old military buddy of mine managed to get into the sucker’s office. He does it every so often, usually to inform cases I work on, blah blah blah. He asked me what I wanted to know this time. So, I figured… why not help a friend out?”
You find it as soon as he finishes explaining, throat squeezing until you were sure you would choke on nothing.
The subject is non-responsive to sixty-three different rounds of treatment, results varying between aggression and hysteria. It appears what we assumed was happening is not evolving naturally. I believe keeping the subject here will breach every man’s safety in the facility.
Dr Kay requests we dispatch the subject to her current post. I do not believe this will be beneficial. We must eliminate any danger before it is beyond our control.
Await for further instructions,
Lt. Col Jack Sullivan.
“My intel couldn’t find anything else out. It’s all been kept hush hush. But… seems promising it’s your friend they’re talking about.”
“Do you think they did it?” You ask quietly, hand shaking. “Eliminated him?”
“No way to tell. Whatever they were doing was kept under lock and key from everyone. But considering this is clearly a letter that has no address and was found on Sullivan’s desk… the orders never made it anywhere. Chances are they’ve still got him.”
“Or Dr. Kay does.” You say, folding the paper back up when you notice a pair of eyes looking at you from the barn. “Thanks, Murray. Seriously.”
“Hey, anything for you, kid.” He pats your shoulder, pulling the shutter back down on the van with a sigh, “And don’t worry, I’m not gonna share a single word of this with anyone else. I know what it’s like to be crazy until proven sane.”
You give him a curt nod before you walk over to where Dustin was currently attempting to (terribly) disguise the fact he was spying on you a moment ago.
“Oh, hey, Y/n. Didn’t see you there.” Dustin shrugs nonchalantly, fiddling with the spark plugs in his hand.
“Uh-huh.” You smirk, “How’s your nose?”
“Barely feel it.” He shrugs, then his face scrunches. “Can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not.”
“Better than the alternative.” You offer, and he nods.
“How about you?” He asks, eyes a little wider with empathy. “Are you… Are you okay?”
You take a breath, repeating your last words with a quieter tone. “Better than the alternative.”
“I should have been there on the crawl.” He finally sighs, dropping the plugs onto an empty bench, “Maybe then the van wouldn’t have broken down and we could have come to help you.”
“Hey, what’s done is done.” You rest your arm around him, placing your cheek on the side of his head. He was much taller now than the boy that would follow you around the Wheeler house with a toothy grin. “Everything will work out for us, okay? We’re gonna find Hop and El, rescue Holly, and beat the shit out of some monsters along the way. True hero style.”
Dustin smiles at that, eyes gleaming. “Just like a campaign, huh?”
“Sure, bud.” You laugh, hand quickly removing his hat to scruff up his hair.
He starts laughing, ready to protest your actions before a giant crash echoed through the barn, making you both frown.
You send a questioning look his way, and he shrugs. With a sigh, you shove the hat back on his head and move towards the noise continuously being made outside.
You both walk into the bizarre sight of Steve Harrington tearing out the interior of the WSQK van, chucking things out the back with a heavy grunt.
“What are you doing?” Dustin frowns, narrowly missing a metal bar thrown in front of him.
“Are you gonna help me or just stand there?” Steve barely spares a glance, kneeling on the carpet as his eyes squinted from the bright sun. He finally notices you standing beside the boy, eyes softening. “You okay? You and Murray were talking for a while.”
“Oh, uh, yeah.” You say, clocking Dustin’s curious smirk. “We were just talking.”
“About what?” Steve asks, a little more persistently than you would have liked.
You narrow your eyes. “Stuff.”
“Stuff-” Steve breathes out, shaking his head. “What kinda stuff?”
You raise your brows and Dustin can’t help the laugh that escapes him, earning a glare from Steve.
“What’re you laughing at?”
“I can’t believe you’re jealous of a 40 year old.” He snorts.
“Hey, no, I’m not-”
“Steve.” You sigh, rubbing your forehead slightly, the bright sun inducing a small migraine. “What are you doing?”
“Upgrades.” He shrugs, looking between you both. “So, uh, help?”
“I’d rather not herniate a disc over a lost cause.” Dustin comments, still seemingly amused at his own earlier remark.
“Yeah, that’s the attitude.” Steve mutters, smiling slightly as you hand over the drill he was searching for.
“This van once stalled out chugging up Pickett Road like it was the Little Engine That Couldn’t.”
“In the van’s defence, I can barely get up Pickett Road.” You announce and a brief and rare grin graces Dustin’s features.
“Maybe not, but this thing is not fast enough to keep up with a Demo, not without serious modifications.”
“Yeah, Henderson, what the hell do you think I’m doing?” Steve gestures around him, “Modifying.”
“It kinda just looks like you’re emptying it.” You say, peering inside. Even the bench you usually sat on was reduced to the pile on the grass.
“A lighter van is a faster van.” He replies, and you scrunch your face.
“Um-”
“If we’re just tracking, we don’t need half of the crap that’s in here.” He continues, wiping his forehead. “Speaking of, can one of you go empty the window washer fluid?”
“Oh, the window washer fluid. That’ll do it. Good job, Steven.” Dustin claps his hands mockingly and you whack the back of his head. “Hey, what the hell?”
“If you don’t like it, then be helpful.” You suggest, glaring at Steve when he attempts to open his mouth, most likely to spew out more bickering messages. “And you should maybe ask for suggestions before you destroy a perfectly good van.”
Steve pauses, running a hand through his hair. “And what do you suggest I do?”
“I don’t care.” You raise your hands in surrender, pointing to the building you were now creeping toward. “This is all on you two, I’m just meant to be observing, remember?”
“That was merely a suggestion.” He sulks and you grin.
As you walk away, you can hear Steve’s sudden protests, glancing over your shoulder to where Dustin was climbing on top of Steve’s beamer, a drill bit in his hand.
“Hey, no- no, not my-”
Dustin was drilling a hole into its roof. You were unsure if you should stop him, but the boy was just doing what you suggested.
“Y/n!” Steve calls after you, arms flailing about as Dustin laughs almost maniacally.
“Observing!” You retort, disappearing inside before anything else happens.
Inside wasn’t any better.
Nancy was smiling with a determined look in her eye at Murray, the telemetry tracker in one hand, a shotgun shell in the other. You pause for a moment to meet Murray’s eyes, his face worn with discontent.
“Did you question her ideas?” You ask, Murray’s head hanging low with regret.
“...Yeah.”
You look at Nancy, her eyes squinting in amusement at you, making you smile.
“Good luck with that.” You snort, walking further into the building.
You find the radio you sought after, sitting at the table and letting your shoulders fall with an exhale of the breath you kept trapped inside whenever you were around the others.
You figure the best way to help them all is to just get out of their way and keep tabs on the radio. The only way you were getting any updates would be through the military frequency. You just needed to know. About Hopper and El, Holly… Eddie.
Sullivan had him, you were sure of it. You just didn’t know if he had him still.
After a few minutes of searching, the static cuts out into a transmission, and you immediately shove the headphones on your head, leaning in like it would help you hear better.
It was definitely a military broadcast. Two men, maybe. And a conversation that stiffened your shoulders.
Voice One: “First unit, are you at location? Over.”
Voice Two: “Copy. Place appears to be empty. Over.”
Voice One: “Is the vehicle gone? Over.”
Voice Two: “Negative. Car is still parked. Over.”
Voice Three: “This is Dr. Kay. First unit, search the house. Find her.”
Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, violence, normal angsty stuff, most definitely not proofread, fluffff
[A/N: And the writer forced herself out of her own illness-driven writing drought to provide a semi-okay chapter that spirals the entire st5 season from canon because she said so!!! It's also not proof-read because if I re-read it I'm sure I would have deleted it all and started again]
<- Chapter Seven: The Death Star
Never Let Me Down Again
Eddie Munson changed your life.
November of your junior year, you had crashed into another student in an empty hallway, and the rest was history. You fell in love, you got your heart broken, and you created something that would last an eternity.
Eddie gave you reason to believe that everything was going to be okay. Your past didn’t matter, and the horrors of Hawkins were only temporary. He gave you safety in the normality of his presence. He’s the reason you didn’t give up.
So, after everything you’ve been through, after all he’s done for you… there wasn’t a chance in hell you were going to leave his broken figure in a stark white prison.
The glass was cool against your hand, far different from the burn of tears steadily slipping down your face.
“I need an answer.”
Kay’s hoarse voice scratched at your thoughts, pulling your eyes away from Eddie’s shaking frame on the other side of the glass.
Give me Eleven, and I’ll give you Eddie Munson.
The request was firm, the woman’s steady expression leaving no room for debate.
Your eyes flicker back to the glass, your heart clenching. 18 months. They’ve been keeping him hostage for 18 months.
“What have you been doing to him?”
Kay’s eyebrows shoot up while your eyes stay fixed on Eddie. “That’s classified, I’m afraid.”
“Hm.” You sound, taking one last look at the red marks coating his arms before you push away from the glass completely, turning your head to the woman in charge. “Sullivan put him through sixty-three rounds of some kind of treatment, claimed nothing was working, and yet you specifically requested he be transferred here.”
That stumped her. Kay’s brows furrow with the uncertainty of her secrecy. “How did you-”
“And I have to assume you didn’t just do it for leverage.” You continue, your hand twisting the hem of your jacket as you force your heart rate to calm. “I’m not important enough for that. No, you’re trying to find something, learn something. So, you want El to… what? Take her power? Restart Brenner’s program?”
A mindless laugh echoes in the air once it’s released from Kay’s throat. You bite the inside of your cheek as she signals for the remaining soldiers to clear the room. They obey, and suddenly it’s just you and her, and the boy you thought you lost sitting behind the window.
“I may have underestimated you, Miss Mayfield. Or, may I call you Y/n?”
You don’t respond, and she just smirks.
“I’m offering you a chance to right all of this wrong.” She says, eyes beady with caution. “What I am trying to create here is opportunity. Brenner made many mistakes, ones I am inclined to believe could have very easily been avoided if he had kept a leash on one very special child. Eleven is dangerous, but I can help her be the greatest asset this country has ever seen. She can help us understand this impossible world, and we can save your friends. You see, Y/n, I’m not the bad guy here. I’m only trying to help.”
Your shoulders drop, a visible exhale that makes her smile.
“You seem like an intelligent girl, Miss Mayfield. Well, clearly.” She vaguely gestures to your presence, clasping her hands back together. “So, I will admit to you that we took Eddie Munson into our care after his medical results were reported to us. They were unlike anything those doctors had ever seen. To put it simply, your friend should be dead, and yet he is still here. And considering the unidentified bites on his body, we knew straight away he had stumbled into something greater than he could have ever imagined. Our goal was to find out why he was still breathing, and if it had anything to do with his experience down here.”
The silence was starting to fray the edges of her smile, and Kay took a step closer to you, voice low.
“I am willing to forget he was ever here, Y/n. But I will only release him once Eleven is in my custody.”
You eventually meet her gaze, slowly nodding. She’s pleased at the action, sighing.
“I’m glad you’re seeing the bigger picture.”
“I am. My answer is no.”
Her body tenses, eyes flashing with a silent rage. You only shrug, suddenly all too calm.
“I’m not giving you El.” You bark out a breathy laugh, shaking your head. “Your whole speech of saving us is such bullshit. You have no idea how to stop all of this. And there’s no way in hell you were ever going to let Eddie go. If it was really that easy, he wouldn’t still be here. You wouldn’t keep a problem around, you would have killed him and they would have found his real body in the woods.”
Kay’s expression darkens much like the walls in the room, her hand wavering closer to the gun strapped to her belt. She didn’t intimidate you. She couldn’t, not with the silent visitor currently seeping through the vents.
“I like to think I’m smarter than I look.” You say, clenching your jaw. “So, if I were to guess, you did try to kill Eddie. But for some reason, he came back.”
Her hand was touching the cool metal now, her body bracing. “How could you possibly know all of that?”
“Because El was never the answer.”
With a burst of unnatural energy, you throw both your hands out to her. She immediately raises her gun, finger already on the trigger, but it’s useless. You pull the black dust that had been slowly coating the wall behind her towards you, the thick smoke of darkness consuming the space she stood.
Kay yells out, and a flurry of insistent thumps on the metal door start echoing around you. The soldiers wouldn’t get in for a while, and that gave you plenty of time to initiate the next phase.
The entire time Kay was delivering her speech on some bullshit world peace tactic, you had been creating a plan. They were never going to let Eddie go, and you definitely weren’t going to be making a deal. You had already sensed the Mind Flayer near. You think it must have followed you when those soldiers found you outside the Lab, patiently awaiting its moment.
Your hand reaches through the dust to tug away the keycard Kay clipped to her belt, running to the other side of the room and swiping it at the metal door.
Gunshots start ricocheting around you, and you duck just in time for a bullet to hit the wall beside you. The harsh green light beeps to life, and you push into the door, escaping the room just as the door finally bursts open with angry military men.
There wasn’t going to be much time for you to escape, but the Mind Flayer hadn’t left you like it did at the Wheeler house. It was still attacking Kay, and it was blocking the other soldiers from reaching you. You didn’t know its true intentions, but right now it was the only hope you had.
“Eddie?” You call out, blinking against the harsh white lights on the ceiling. The space he had occupied before was now empty, and your nerves spiked. “Eddie?!”
The door Eddie had been dragged in from was propped open, the small glass window smashed, pieces scattered on the ground. You cautiously walk closer to it, your fists clenching at your sides.
Small patches of crimson spotted the white ground, and you frown. The same red could be seen smothered in the edges of the broken glass still attached to the door. And when you peer through the gap, a body lay motionless on the other side, catching your breath in your throat.
And it wasn’t Eddie.
A force hits you from behind and you crash into the ground. Strong hands are keeping you down, and as you twist around to face them, something sharp presses into your neck. You cry out, reaching for an idea of a weapon with the aimless flail of your hand. You force yourself to look up, and you stop struggling.
Eddie glared down at you, hand clutching a glass shard so tightly that it cut into the palm of his hand, droplets of blood falling against your skin. His eyes were unfocused, an unsteady waver of his head as he kept the glass against your neck, not committing to pushing it any further.
“Eddie.” You gasp, slowly bringing one hand up to gently rest your fingertips on his wrist. “Eds, it’s me. It’s me.”
The fury of his gritted teeth fades, face falling with recognition. For a moment, he begins to smile with relief, then notices the sharp edge he was holding to your throat.
“Fuck.” He breathes out, a whisper of a voice that scratches his throat.
He scrambles away from you, throwing the shard to the ground and staring down at his hand like he didn’t believe what he almost did.
You slowly sit up, rubbing your neck. You study the way his hands shake, knuckles littered with small cuts. You’re reminded of the body behind the door, noting the guilt drowning in Eddie’s eyes. He was just trying to escape.
“Are you real?”
His small voice broke your heart. He could barely look at you, frozen with the same fear you had whenever Vecna had slithered his way inside your head. You open your mouth to answer just as a loud thump hits the locked door in the corner.
“I’m here, Eds. I’m not going anywhere. But you have to come with me.”
Eddie’s eyes flash to yours with uncertainty, staring down at your hand.
“Please.” You beg, and Eddie nods, reaching out to you.
You notice movement in the corner of your eye and lunge forward to grab his hand and pull him with you to the exit just as a soldier fired his gun into the large glass pane.
Sirens blare around you as you swiftly manoeuvre the both of you around the unconscious man on the ground and further into the base. You had no clue where you were going, guided only by the will to escape and survive.
You turn a corner only to find three men already running towards you, guns raised and aimed. Eddie pulls you in a different direction before they can shoot, and you blindly follow.
Everything hit you like a blur after that.
Too many hallways, flashing lights, orders barked from angry men. You just focused on Eddie’s hand in yours, the two of you relying on one another to make the right decisions.
And when you found an exit, the door thrown open with haste and revealing the red sky, the grip on your hand tightened with relief and uncertainty.
Because you both knew the escape had only just begun.
“Dustin, do you copy?”
“Come in, Dustin, do you copy?”
“...Over?”
You throw the radio into the dirt, pressing your lips together as the sting of tears threatens your eyes.
You hadn’t made it far from the military base. You knew they’d catch up with you if you continued on foot, so you’d taken Eddie and hid you both in some kind of truck stop. There was enough cover that you wouldn’t be spotted immediately, and more than enough exits to start running again if they found you here.
The radio on your jacket was very much useless. The fall from the lab had damaged it on impact so you’ve had to search every vehicle on site just to find one measly radio in an attempt to contact your friends. You had adjusted the channels best to your capabilities, relying mostly on second-nature as your heart hammered in your chest. You tried contacting them again and again. No response.
“Maybe the signal is off.” Eddie suggests from beside you, voice barely a whisper.
He was wrapped in your jacket now, casually hiding the dirt and blood caked into his white shirt and pants. Black boots had been fitted onto his bare feet, courtesy of the soldier who left them in the passenger side of his truck.
Eddie’s arms held himself as his back pressed into the cool metal side of the military jeep, eyes tracking the scenery around you, in awe of his freedom and fear of his sentence.
You pull your gaze from the abandoned radio and focus on him, heart clenching. You hadn’t searched all this time to give up now. You can’t let him down again.
“Come on.” You say, shifting on your feet and pulling open the jeep door and motioning for him to climb in.
Eddie frowns, looking around him. “I think they’re gonna notice us stealing their truck.”
“We can’t just sit here waiting for someone to come save us.” You say gently, “The radio isn’t reaching the others which means they’re either on the surface, or…”
Your voice trails when you realise you couldn’t finish the sentence. The lab explosion may have thrown you from the building, but your friends were caught in that blast too. You couldn’t be certain they made it out.
“They could still be at the lab.” You finally say, nodding in confidence. “Either way, we have to get out of here.”
“Okay.” Eddie says, hesitating like he wanted to say something else before ultimately deciding not to waste anymore time.
As he shuts the door behind him, you quickly grab the radio from the ground and climb in the driver’s side, taking a deep breath. You had no idea how you were getting out of the Upside Down, but if you had anything at all it was determination and a terrifying amount of self confidence.
“Huh.” Eddie sounds as you pull away from the base and try to cruise along quietly, hoping to not alert anyone.
“What?” You frown, casting a glance at him.
“Just getting some insane deja vu.” He sighs in bewilderment, resting his head. “Always stealing other people’s vehicles.”
“If they didn’t want it stolen, they shouldn’t have left the keys in.” You grin and he laughs, tilting his head toward the window before his body goes rigid.
“Jesus christ.” He mutters and you frown. “Behind us.”
You adjust the rear view mirror, breath hitching. So much for a quiet escape.
“Step on it!”
Eddie yells out and you slam your foot on the gas, jolting slightly at the sudden change in speed. Two trucks speed up to view behind you and you curse under your breath.
“Hold onto something!” You instruct as you find a road to follow, abruptly turning left.
The boy beside you braces himself in his seat, wild eyes staring behind him the entire time. “Holy shit, they’ve got guns!”
“I’d be more surprised if they didn’t.”
You grit your teeth, clocking a dirt road and hazardously taking a right, stomach clenching every time you check behind and see the men getting closer. Where the hell were you meant to go?
“Y/n?! Are you there? Over!”
The radio thrown on top of the dashboard blares to life just as you take another sharp turn. It flies across the car and Eddie manages to swipe it into his hand before it flies out of the jeep, scrambling for the buttons.
He holds it out to you as you try to drive, getting as close as he can while you lean closer.
“Dustin! I’m here, over!”
“Oh thank god.” Dustin’s breathy voice mumbles into the speaker, and Eddie’s face drops with relief at the younger boy’s voice. “Where the hell are you, we couldn’t find you when the exotic matter exploded-”
“Shit, turn left!” Eddie yells at you, briefly removing the hand bracing against the dashboard to show the way, surprised at the massive wall suddenly in your way.
You throw your whole body into turning the jeep, barely escaping the collision with the border.
The truck behind you wasn’t so lucky. Eddie’s eyes widen in horror as it crashes into the wall, suddenly consumed by the flesh of it before disappearing inside completely.
And then something truly unpredictable happened.
The wall opened.
You felt it before you saw it, a strong force pulling you backwards, your foot firmly planted on the floor. You quickly turn in horror to see some kind of void sucking everything around you back in it before your vehicle wins the battle and tears away from the scene, steering you back towards the centre of Hawkins.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!” Eddie cries out, juggling the radio in his hands while the distant noise of Dustin’s high-pitched voice continues to blast through.
“Y/N! I sweartofuckinggod you better answer me!”
“I’m here!” You grab the radio and steer with one hand, ignoring Eddie’s protest to your decision. “Getting chased down by our military friends and I have no idea where I’m going!”
“We know, El is watching you. Over.”
You and Eddie share a look. Should you be relieved or scared with that information?
“She says she found a gate!”
“Where?” You ask just as the ominous screech of tires echo from behind you. Another truck.
“Turn right!”
You don’t bother to ask, you just turn. Unfortunately, and expectedly, the soldiers follow you.
“I can’t lead them to it, Dustin, I need to lose them!”
“Don’t worry, we’ve got a plan.”
You frown at the ominous nature of it. “Do I get to know this plan?”
“Just… when I say jump, you definitely should.”
Eddie coughs. “Uh, did he say jump?”
You hand the radio back over to him, gripping the wheel with both hands. “I don’t think I’ve ever followed one of his plans that hasn’t ended in injury.”
Eddie blinks at you, the currently silent radio resting in his lap. “And the other option?”
The glass of the rear windshield suddenly smashes as a bullet rips through it, causing you both to duck in surprise and swerve the car. Eddie’s wide eyes finds yours again, shaking his head.
“Okay, yeah, jumping it is.”
Dustin’s voice fills the air once again as another shot rings out. You figured it was only a matter of time before they gave up chasing and started shooting to kill.
“Um, so you’re not gonna like it but you have to drive back to the border and cause another rift.” He says and you scrunch your face. “Yeah, El says you don’t like it. But it’s the only way you’re gonna lose them and get home without them following you.”
You shiver at the thought of El watching your every move, wondering if she has told the others Eddie is with you. She’s never met him before, so you would assume she’s confused at the stranger currently riding with you.
Can she hear your thoughts too, or just see your face?
The idea was too overwhelming, so you shake it away and turn to the border as instructed, holding your breath.
“I really don’t wanna do this.” Eddie admits as you line up on the road, the endless wall standing tall mere metres in front of you.
“We’re gonna be fine.” You say, hesitantly speeding up towards it as the trucks follow in tow. “Just, um, remember to jump.”
His hand tightens on the radio, other hand bracing on the car door. You shift yourself so you’re poised and ready to go, slamming down on the gas and barrelling straight towards a risky escape.
“Okay, counting down.” Dustin says, your heart caught in your throat.
“Three.”
The trucks get faster, gaining on you faster than you thought they would.
“Two.”
You start to let go of the wheel, grabbing the handle of the door.
“One-”
“Wait!” Eddie cries out, looking back at you. “What if they run us over when we-”
“NOW! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUMP!”
You both throw the jeep doors open and barrel straight into the dirt.
As you wince from the impact, you watch the previously occupied jeep crash directly into the vulnerable wall. You scramble backwards as the trucks slam on their brakes, and… nothing happened.
From the other side, you can see Eddie’s panicked eyes search for you, a flinch coating his body when the truck doors begin to open.
Fuck, you think, of course it didn’t work, when have you ever had any luck in the history of-
A giant groan cuts through the air. All heads turn to the jeep, watching the wall ripple with some kind of unexplainable force. You shouldn’t have stayed still as long as you did. None of you should have.
You see the jeep disappear before you can react, unintelligible yells from the soldiers immediately dragged after it. It felt like you were stuck in the middle of a hurricane with no way out.
The empty truck follows next, flying past and creating a clear path directly to Eddie. Men start climbing out of the final vehicle, ignorant to obvious danger, guns raised and aimed to kill.
Bullets never hit skin as intended, the strong force of gravity making every shot unpredictable. You manage to throw yourself over to Eddie, pulling him down as debris flies over your head.
You both struggle to escape the warped sense of gravity, every step suddenly pulling you further back.
The radio is still tightly clenched in Eddie’s fist and you grab it in haste just as a scream from a soldier carries through the air, the body disappearing inside the vortex.
“Dustin! The air is too thick, I can’t see anything!” You relay, blindly moving through the fog of dust and wind.
“Keep moving forward! El says in about ten steps you’re gonna hit something solid! Move along it and hide behind- it should hold until the wall seals back up!”
Sure enough, your hand hits something solid. A small structure, hopefully sturdy enough to protect you. One hand follows along the concrete, the other on Eddie’s back as you guide him forward.
You can vaguely see Eddie disappear around a corner, a breath of relief hitting you.
Before the breath was promptly taken by the harsh grab of an arm around your stomach, pulling you away from safety.
You scream out as you’re thrown back, the rift sucking you further away. Your hands grip onto the small strands of dead grass as you raise your head, hair whipping at your face. The barrel of a gun meets your eyes with the crazed eyes of the man holding it.
“Kay knows what you are now!” He yells out, and you recognise his voice. With the squint of your eyes, you realise he’s the same soldier who would interrogate you back on the surface. He grits his teeth, crouching down, feet planted firmly on the ground. “Far too dangerous to keep alive-”
“Get away from her!”
The shot rings out, but it misses your head. The flying force of Eddie Munson knocks the soldier to the ground, both struggling for the gun. In one quick decision, Eddie grabs onto the man’s jacket and pushes him further towards the void.
There isn’t any time for the man to grab anything, and you watch in horror as his body flies past you and directly into the vortex, disappearing into the terrifying hurricane just as the wall starts to finally seal itself shut.
Your hands ache from the grip on the ground as you push yourself back up, looking around you. One empty truck parked a few feet away, no soldiers in sight.
Eddie shares a look with you, the energy depleted from his body as he breathes heavily.
“Rift is closed.” You remember to speak into the radio, catching your breath. “What now? Over.”
“El found a small gate left open back at the Creel House.” Dustin says, and you curse under your breath.
“Of course it is.” You mutter, automatically turning to the hill nearby with disdain.
“We’re heading there now, wait for us on the other side. Over and out.”
“He wants us to go back to the murder house?” Eddie frowns, eyes darting between you and its shadowy silhouette on the hill. “Isn’t that, like, where Vecna lived?”
“He’s not there anymore.” You say as you strap the radio to your hip.
“And the… bats?”
You both instinctively look up, a clash of red lightning illuminating the dark but albeit clear sky. You frown. How come there aren’t any monsters nearby?
“We’ll keep an eye out.” You nod, offering a comforting smile before the distant sound of an engine echoes out. “Shit, let’s go before we have to do all of that again.”
The Creel House was barely a house anymore.
When the gates split open Hawkins, the Creel House was split in half. You’re still not sure how Lucas and Max managed to escape it, especially now you’re looking up at the dreaded attic, eyes trained to the rotten slit through the whole building.
You haven’t been here since you and Max died. You’re not even sure what it looks like back on the surface.
“You okay?”
Eddie asks from beside you, a frown ever present on his features as he takes in your mournful look.
“I will be once we’re out of here.” You sigh, and he nods.
“Amen.”
You both climb through the gap in the wall, looking around the house with wide eyes.
“Holy shit.” Eddie sounds a low whistle.
The interior was… the same. The only difference was the separation of the building, leaving a black and blocked-in abyss in the middle of everything. Presumably the military’s efforts to seal the gates. But other than that, the house was frozen in time much like everything else down here.
“I don’t see any gates.” Eddie whispers as you both peer down at the split, shaking his head. “They’re one hundred percent sure one’s here?”
You go to answer when the idea strikes your mind, eyes trailing to the staircase on the other side of the rift. Would it have even been possible to seal the gate from up there?
“The attic.” You breathe out, biting your lip. “Lucas told me he first saw the gate split open the attic. Maybe they missed a spot.”
Eddie doesn’t reply, he just follows. You slowly make your way across the other side, cautiously testing the black slit before you step onto it and towards the staircase, staring down at the dead vines that coated each step.
You remember holding Robin’s hand when she was scared she’d fall into the trap, the uneasy look Nancy had given you when she feared reaching the top would be your demise. The promise to Steve that everything would be okay, when it most certainly never was.
Your hands grip onto the banister before you can change your mind, making your way up the staircase as you swallow the fear trapped in your throat.
“This way.” You say quietly, leading Eddie through the hallways to the attic like it was your own home, ignoring the goosebumps plastered all over your body.
You turn the corner and have to fight the urge to cry.
“El will find a way to kill you.” You spit and he seems surprised before anger takes over, lowering his head and glaring up at you.
“You won’t be here to find out”
A frown appears on your face just before a choked gasp leaves your lips.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
His blood-curdling smile haunts your mind as something trickles from your mouth.
You’re too focused on the flickering image of a grandfather clock, cracking glass echoing behind your eyes, to know what Vecna had done.
Looking down, a tear slipping down your cheek, you see his claws had been plunged into your stomach and struck up to puncture your lungs.
“Is that it?”
You blink away the tears to see Eddie already wandered into the room, eyes trained on the small red glow from beneath a floorboard.
You both grab onto each side of the wood and move it away, gasping at the sight of a red, glowing gate completely untouched by the makeshift military grade band-aids.
“Ready to go home?” You ask Eddie, his watering eyes illuminated from the crimson light below.
“You have no idea.”
You find a smaller wooden pole in the room, possibly from a disassembled table or chair, and strike it through the pulsing membrane of the gate, scrunching your face when the bright light of a blue sky shines through. It seemed big enough to climb through, but you weren’t entirely sure what would be waiting on the other side.
“Let me go first, make sure the coast is clear.” You offer and Eddie nods patiently, crouching down beside you.
You position yourself on your knees, reaching both hands into the gate to find something sturdy to grab on the other side. Eddie holds his hands out ready to help you through, and you smile at his offer, taking a deep breath.
Here goes nothing, you think, ducking your head through the gap.
The breath releases from your lungs when you feel your hair suddenly flip, hands finding something like a rock with grooves to latch onto and pull yourself back to the surface. You felt Eddie’s hand on your ankle guiding you up and when your whole body was through, you rolled onto your back and stared up at the sky.
Home. Finally home.
You quickly sat up, assessing the space around you.
The Creel House was now in ruins, the building collapsed into a pile of debris. You’re surprised the military hadn’t covered the gate, though you wondered if they sealed it from the Upside Down instead.
From what you could see, you were alone. No military, or friends. No Vecna lurking in the shadows waiting for you to appear.
You lean back down to the gate and offer a hand, grabbing onto Eddie’s and helping him through next, guiding him up.
When his torso was through, you did your best to wrap your arms around him and tug him out, his body collapsing next to yours with a breathy laugh.
“Wow.” He says, staring at the clouds.
“What?” You ask as he slowly sits up, looking at you with a shaky smile.
“I… I didn’t think I’d get to see that again.” He admits, pointing up at the sky with such relief it made your chest ache with guilt.
And in that moment, with nothing chasing you and no expectation, you finally pull Eddie into a hug and cry into his shoulder, hands gripping the denim of your own jacket over his shoulders.
He laughs out a cry, then winces when you pull him closer.
“Shit, sorry-” You start to pull away but he shakes his head, holding you tighter.
“No, it’s okay. Please, just- don’t let go of me yet.”
You both stayed like that for a while, sat in the debris of a haunted house with the relief of survival.
When you did finally part, Eddie told you everything that happened. Well, what he could remember; the last time he saw you, waking up strapped to a table, different injections and countless nights spent staring up at a brick ceiling. Every night had faded into one long nightmare he wasn’t sure he’d make it out of.
You told him you had been searching for him ever since he was taken, that Dustin missed him more than anything, and that Vecna had returned to wreak more havoc.
You didn’t tell him about your illness. There was only so much he could handle right now.
“18 months, huh?” Eddie says, his hands fiddling with a daisy he found in the grass. You were both sitting further down the hill now, looking out for the appearance of your friends ready to take you home.
“Something like that.” You say softly, resting your chin on your knees.
“And, you…” He looks at you, brows pinched together, a smirk on his lips. “You never gave up.”
“I got you into this mess.” You admit, eyes blurry with tears. “I sure as hell was gonna get you out of it.”
He hums then, smiling gratefully as he discards the twisted daisy back to the earth. “So… I saw the whole dust thing happen. Mind Flayer, right?”
“Yep.” You squint against the sun, wondering where the dust was now. “Definitely did not think that was going to work.”
“Any chance I have superpowers now?” Eddie innocently asks, and you frown. “You know, since the Mind Flayer is technically a part of me too.”
“I like to think I’m smarter than I look.” You say, clenching your jaw. “So, if I were to guess, you did try to kill Eddie. But for some reason, he came back.”
Her hand was touching the cool metal now, her body bracing. “How could you possibly know all of that?”
“Because El was never the answer.”
You almost forgot the most important part of all of this. The dust that was currently coursing through your veins, the very same Eddie had from when you brought him back to life. He needed to know.
“About that-”
The loud sound of an engine freezes your admission, Eddie’s eyes darting down the hill to where he can just make out a van approaching.
“Shit, should I-”
“Hide.” You nod, standing up and pointing back to a tree beside you. “Just in case.”
Eddie doesn’t need to be told twice. He slips around the trunk and crouches low, holding his breath as you make the effort to walk further down the path, prepared to take whatever fall.
When the van gets closer, you notice the familiar WSQK van rolling towards you and you sigh with relief.
Before it even came to a full stop the driver’s side was thrown open, a very relieved and concerned Steve Harrington rushing to you before you even had time to process it.
You prepare an apology, expecting him to scold you for disappearing. “I-”
Your words were cut off as soon as his arms wrapped around you, holding you close as he cradled your head, face buried in your hair.
“Stop scaring me, Mayfield.” He mumbles.
You grip onto him tighter, breathing out a laugh with little effort.
“I’m so sorry.”
He pulls away, hands immediately finding your face and brushing the tears away with his thumbs. “You don’t have to be sorry for anything. I do. Everything I said, I didn’t mean it, okay?”
“No, you’re right. I do stupid shit.” You laugh and he presses his forehead to yours, smiling. “And I shouldn’t have just left you. I won’t do it again, I promise.”
He stares down at you with teary eyes, gently stroking your cheek. “You better.”
Your eyes flicker between his loving brown eyes down to his lips, heart racing. He notices, because of course he does, his head automatically leaning closer to you until-
“Holy shit!”
Dustin Henderson comes bounding up the hill, and Steve reluctantly lets you go, a soft blush on his cheeks as he runs a hand through his hair.
The air is practically knocked from your lungs when Dustin all but crashes into you, muttering into your stained sweater. “You’re alive. Oh my god, I thought you died.”
You plant a quick kiss on the side of his head before patting his shoulder. “Yeah, that seems to be the theme around here.”
His confused stare softens as he catches sight of something over your shoulder. You step away, biting your lip, watching the boy you’ve been searching after for 18 months step out from his hiding place, a cautious grin on his tired expression.
“Hey, Henderson.”
Dustin stares like he’s seen a ghost. Well, technically he has. His wide eyes turn to you, but you’re already smiling, nodding in encouragement.
Then, with a final raise of his chest, he almost screams.
“HOLYFUCKINGSHIT!”
Steve winces at the noise, stumbling back with a smile while you laugh, watching Dustin tackle Eddie so hard they almost fell over.
As soon as you could hear Dustin’s muffled cries, you turn away and wipe your own, steadying yourself.
Everything was better now. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better.
“Looks like all that work paid off.” Steve says, casting a glance over his shoulder to where Dustin was laughing in the reunion with his idol. You could see the happiness in his eyes, if only hidden by the guilt of what he’s said.
“It’s nice knowing I made a good difference this time.” You admit quietly, shoulders slumping as the exhaustion finally caught up to you.
“Let’s get you guys out of here.” Steve says loud enough for the boys behind to hear, hand already on the small of your back. “We’re gonna regroup with the others, but then you definitely need sleep.”
“Rude.” You comment half-heartedly, leaning against him.
As you get closer to the van, Steve suddenly stills, stopping you just as his hand grabs onto the handle.
“So, uh, there’s a surprise for you.” He says, hiding his smile with a cough.
You narrow your eyes before a yawn takes over. “I don’t know if I can handle another-”
“It’s a good one.” He interrupts, not even bothering to fight his grin now. “I promise.”
“Correction,” Dustin adds, bouncing excitedly and making you laugh in surprise, “It’s a great one.”
Before you could question, or protest, or even breathe, Steve slides open the side of the van and reveals every reason you’ve been fighting for.
You see Lucas first, his eyes lit up with a joy you hadn’t seen in months.
And behind him, sitting carefully on the ground surrounded with blankets, is the aching sight of your little sister, tears already in her eyes.
Warnings: swearing, fights, blood, gore (descriptions of broken bones), guilt, grief, angstttttt
[A/N: well, well, well, if it isn't the chapter I wrote before even writing the prologue... I both love and hate this one because I am a sensitive gal who likes to emotionally destroy herself with angst. This will be the last chapter to Part 001 as future chapters are barely written oops. The ending is pretty spectacular if I dare say so myself...]
<- Chapter Six: Stranded
The Death Star
“Well this looks really promising.” Steve says, sweeping the area with his flashlight, little care in his actions.
“We’re in the lobby.” Dustin rolls his eyes.
Hawkins Lab, or the Department of Energy as many knew it to be, wasn’t an unfamiliar sight. The only difference this time was that you were physically walking through it yourself, and not through some projection Vecna created.
Every wall was covered in vines, dirt and grime sliding along the surfaces. It looked untouched and lived in at the same time, the white walls and floors reflecting the flashlights back onto your faces. It was creepy here, and not just because of the stories you’ve heard about this place. It didn’t feel like you were alone.
“Where are we going exactly?” Nancy asks.
“Right. Like, what is it we’re looking for?” Jonathan adds.
“You’ve all seen Return of the Jedi?” Dustin smirks. You open your mouth to answer, but Steve beats you to it.
“The one with the teddy bears?” He frowns, and you sigh.
“You mean Ewoks?”
“What’s the difference?” Steve smirks, “It’s the best one.”
“Is it?” Nancy questions and you shake your head silently.
“No, but every child loves it, so… tracks.” Dustin smiles sarcastically and you nudge him gently, trying to avoid any more fights this evening.
“Are you suggesting the Lab is a Death Star?” You ask curiously, and Dustin genuinely smiles.
“No, more like… the Upside Down is a Death Star, and somewhere in here is the shield generator that powers the impenetrable shield on the Death Star. Or, in this case, the massive wall.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Steve frowns, voice echoing off the vine-ridden walls. His eyes darted between you and Dustin as you seemingly nerd out on a subject he wasn’t well-versed in.
“I think this circular flesh wall is Vecna’s version of an energy shield, except it’s not sci-fi, it’s supernatural. Created by Vecna’s dark magic. And this dark magic shield is what’s preventing us from reaching him and saving Holly.”
You all come to a stop now, facing Dustin.
“So you think this generator has to be here.” You frown, and he nods with you.
“We find this dark magic shield generator, and… destroy it.” Jonathan follows along, Nancy’s lips tightening.
“Find Vecna, save Holly.”
“Medals for all.” Dustin sighs.
You smile a little at that, a small reminder of everything you’ve all been through in the last five years, the battles you’ve won.
“You two haven’t changed.” Dustin commented, smirking.
“So, a secret message.” You look to the boy, very much intrigued.
“What- what does that mean?” Steve asks and you lean into him.
“A secret is something that nobody else knows.” You mock.
“I miss when you didn’t talk to me.” He deadpans and you smile sarcastically at him.
Dustin clears his throat, a grin on his face as he looks at you both. “It means, Steve, we could be heroes. True American heroes.”
“Huh. American heroes.” Steve smirks, nodding along.
“America’s screwed.” You mutter.
You can imagine that brightly coloured Scoops booth like it was yesterday, Dustin’s wide toothy grin beaming up at you, Steve’s leg continuously brushing against yours as you both tried to deny your feelings for each other.
And you could hear it. Very clearly. Echoing from further down the hall…
“And it looks like what?” Steve asks, and Dustin scrunches his face.
“How would you expect me to know that?”
“Did you guys hear that?” You ask quietly, turning back around to where everyone stood in awkward silence. You hadn’t even realised you’d moved away from them, peering at nothing. Nancy frowns.
“Hear what?”
“I thought…” You listen out again, only met with the eerie clap of thunder rumbling around the building. Everyone was looking at you now, faces concerned, making you anxious. “Um, nevermind. Let’s find this generator.”
You walk beside Dustin, the both of you sweeping through the halls with your flashlights, the other three in tow behind you. You come across a staircase, and you both look at it with indecision.
“Up or down?” Dustin asks you just as the others stop beside you, and you bite your lip.
“Strategically?” You raise your eyebrow, sharing looks with your friends, “Both.”
“Agreed.” Nancy nods, “Search in teams of two. Cover more ground.”
“Yeah, that’s cool with me, but can we just switch the teams up?” Steve voices, and you all frown at him. “Nance, you and me go up?”
You tilt your head at the way Steve is avoiding everyone’s eyes but Nancy’s. Sure, he and Jonathan have never been a duo during any of these escapades before, and he and Dustin were having some kind of bromance spat. But why… you? As far as you’re concerned, you’re both friends. Well, admittedly, you’re a little more than that, but you’ve always had each other’s backs.
Steve catches the hurt look in your eye, and his face falls.
Nancy’s mouth opens in surprise, “Um…”
“Are you serious?” Jonathan stares at him, anger crossing his face.
“Me and Henderson need some space.” Steve tries to explain, nodding at the boy beside him. He then turns to you. “And I know he’s gonna want to partner up with you anyway.”
“Right.” You purse your lips, and Steve starts to look a little panicked when you walk around him to stand beside Dustin.
“God, yes, we need space.” Dustin sighs, and Jonathan scoffs.
“Fine.” He looks up at Steve with a shrug. “How about me and you?”
“I think we need some space, too.” Steve deadpans.
You manage to catch Nancy’s eye from across the group, her face worn with exhaustion from both the search for her sister and the insane amount of bickering you’ve both had to put up with this entire time.
“Oh, so, everyone but Nancy.” Jonathan whispers at him as if you all couldn’t hear. “That’s just… it’s convenient.”
Nancy’s jaw is set tight then, her eyes filling with unusual rage. You’ve heard her many complaints about Jonathan over the past year; he doesn’t listen, he’s clingy. But, most of all, you’ve heard about how insanely jealous he keeps being around anyone he deems as a threat. And you know it’s about loss, about Jonathan’s fear that his girlfriend is going to leave him because he’s not and can never be enough for her. Jonathan has always shared how distant Nancy is becoming, and how much he wishes she’d be a little less stubborn about being so self-dependent all the time. And the worst part is that neither of them can see that their actions are hurting each other.
You just want to lock them in a room together until they figure everything out.
Nancy glares at the boys, opening her mouth. “Look-”
“No.” You suddenly say, cutting off Nancy’s words. “No, we’re not doing this. Steve, you’re with me and Dustin, and we’re gonna go downstairs. Nance and Jon, you guys search up. Keep your walkies on, and we’ll keep each other updated.”
Jonathan visibly relaxes at this, nodding to his girlfriend. Nancy sends you a grateful look, adjusting the strap on her gun and leading him towards the staircase.
“Guys, no I can’t-”
“Please, don’t make us-”
Steve and Dustin immediately object and you glare at them. They snap their mouths shut, looking away from you.
“Come on.” You say, shining your light down the stairs and sighing.
“Okay, that was too many stairs.”
The hallway you stepped out into wasn’t visually any different from the rest of Lab, vines claiming the walls, an unsettling chill drifting in the air. But the lowest level held a kind of darkness that settled an uncomfortable weight in your chest, keeping you on high alert.
“Treasures are always hidden in the deepest depths of the dungeon.” Dustin says eerily, and you share a look with Steve.
“What is it, a treasure or a magic shield generator?” Steve mutters, rolling his eyes. “Keep your metaphors straight, dude.”
“Analogy.” Dustin corrects, the growing argument on his tongue subsiding with his flashlight glinting against double doors, raising his eyebrows at you. “Shall we?”
“We shall.” You nod, ignoring the frown on Steve’s face.
You can only imagine his growing frustration with every interaction between you and the younger boy. It wasn’t the fact you were friends, but rather that Dustin barely casted him a glance nowadays. Steve was probably wondering what he did wrong, and what you managed to do right.
You and Dustin push the doors open, and are met with a cause for concern.
“Okay.” Steve looks around the room with a frown. “Did not expect to find a daycare in this hellhole.”
You look at the brightly coloured stripes on the walls, feeling your heartbeat quicken. Rainbow room. It was a phrase El mumbled in her sleep the same night Will’s ‘body’ was found in the lake. The way her face scrunched up proved the words did not provide comfort. And for a girl that barely spoke, it was practically bone-chilling to hear her say it.
This must have been what she was so scared about. The same place she sent Henry into another dimension.
A room meant to calm the minds of kidnapped children.
Your flashlight automatically shines onto the back wall, glass shattered around a gaping hole, the vines protruding from the space and curling around everything near it.
“Holy shit, Henderson.” Steve laughs, walking over to a table and plucking a marble from it. “You were right. Treasure.”
Dustin thins his lips, ready to ignore the comment. Then you saw the irritation take over his better judgement when Steve throws the marble to him, the younger boy staring down at it in his hand with a frown.
“Okay, you know what?”
“What?” Steve responds, barely looking away from the marble maze.
“This is the perfect spot for you, considering your arrested development.” Dustin says and your eyes widen. Steve finally turns around. “So, while me and Y/n search the rest of the basement, why don’t you stay here and play with your balls?”
Your mouth is open in shock now. How many times had they argued like this when you weren’t around to hear it?
“Perfect, yeah. Finally a plan I can get behind.” Steve nods sarcastically, suddenly gesturing to you. “At least I can do something without my babysitter.”
You raise your hands in surrender. “Don’t drag me into this.”
“Come on, Y/n.” Dustin says, already walking out of the room.
“No, actually.” Steve stops him, nodding to you. “She stays with me.”
Dustin narrows his eyes. “No, she’s not.”
“She is getting very uncomfortable.” You say, looking between them with confusion.
“We’re meant to be rescuing the youngest Wheeler, in case you’ve forgotten.” Dustin points out, standing in the doorway with his flashlight facing the ground. “Not making out in some creepy nursery.”
Steve looks a little flustered then, making you frown. “You know what? Fine, whatever. Good luck finding your… treasure. I mean, shield generator. I mean, made up bullshit.”
“Thank you!” Dustin calls out from the hallway, and you’re still standing in the room, feeling awkward and conflicted.
“Aren’t you meant to be going after him?” Steve asks, assessing another table. This one had slots in it, a pile of counters dumped next to it on the floor.
“You could give him a break, you know.” You say it as soon as you think it, and his eyebrows raise.
“You say that like he isn't the one acting like a child.”
“He is a child.” You point out, voice softer this time. Steve runs a hand down his face with a sigh. “He’s sixteen, Steve. And he's been stuck dealing with all this bullshit since he was twelve. Just… I know it’s annoying, but please, we both know how much he's going through right now. All I ask is you give him the benefit of the doubt. I can't be dealing with yet another one of your black eyes.”
Steve smirks a little, messing with a red counter. “You say that like I’m gonna lose a fight to a sixteen year old.”
“I say that because I know you would never fight him back.”
His shoulders slump with the gravity of responsibility, his eyes flickering to yours, knowing you're right. Like always.
“I should go check on him.” You say after a while, looking around the room as you walk towards the hallway.
Just before you go, you turn your head back to Steve, his eyes already on you.
“And just so you know,” You start, glancing at the white walls, “A creepy nursery is the last place I’d wanna make out.”
His neck and cheeks burn red as he barks out a laugh, facing away from you with a hand running through his hair.
“Noted.” Is all he says as you walk away, smiling to yourself.
Catching up with Dustin was easy. The boy had just wandered in a straight line, occasionally blaring the light into empty rooms, offering a smile when you joined him. Neither of you spoke. You just lived in the comfortable silence, albeit on edge about what you could find, and searched the place until you finally hit a dead end.
“It’s officially a bust.” You say, shoulders dropping. The bare wall in front of you stared back mockingly. “Unless this wall is suddenly gonna rotate and reveal a secret room. Maybe Jon and Nance had better luck.”
“I thought he didn’t like anyone calling him Jon.” Dustin queries with a smile as he turns around, taking a moment to lean against the wall.
“The guy lives with me for free, I call him what I want.” You say, making him chuckle. “Besides, I give everyone a nickname, you know? He’s Jon, Nance is obviously Nance. Even Lucas is Luke sometimes.”
“Madmax.” Dustin adds and you grin. “What about Harrington? Got a nickname for him?”
You narrow your eyes playfully. “What are you insinuating?”
“I’m not insinuating anything.” He says, sweeping his flashlight around the place like he was still searching. “You guys just seem to be… different.”
You go to comment but think the better of it. It wasn’t something you needed to talk about right now. Everything had already been said between you and Steve. All that was left was to save Hawkins, and see what happens.
“Well, for your information, I have many nicknames for him.” You say and Dustin raises an eyebrow.
“Like?”
“Hair-head.” You smile and he laughs, “I’m serious. I used to call him Hairy. Bird-brain for a while. Now he’s just… he’s Steve.”
“And what about me?” Dustin asks, grinning. “Any names for me?”
“I don’t think anything can top Dusty Bun-”
You say it without thinking, watching the smile disappear from his face.
“Shit, Dustin, I’m-”
“No, it’s okay.” He says, staring down at the ground. “You’re right. It’s a good one.”
Dustin’s eyes were light with memory, and sunken with regret.
His girlfriend, his Suzie, his very own hotter-than-Phoebe-Cates girl, was no longer a welcome distraction to all of Hawkins’ bullshit. You only found out a month ago that Dustin broke up with her just before summer, ending it before she could visit his home and remind him of everything he still had left. He hadn’t explained himself to you, and you’re not sure Suzie knew the real reason either. It wasn’t something he had to say.
You’ve spiralled yourself into loneliness more times than you can count, plunging you into the dark. You just wished Dustin would let that light burn bright again before it was too late for him, too.
“You should call her.” You say, and that surprises him. He looks up at you with a wary expression. “After all of this. When we defeat Vecna.”
A flicker of a smirk lifts the top corner of his lips, something light flashing behind his irises. “Maybe I will.”
“Wanna check out the last room?” You point out the door. It was a pretty short trip, and you can even see from here that there was nothing of note to it.
“Knock yourself out.” He says, reluctantly nodding his head to where you came from. “Should probably check Harrington hasn’t eaten any of those marbles. Let him know we haven’t found anything.”
You shake your head in amusement. “Okay, but play nice.”
He smiles sarcastically at that, retreating back to the rainbow room as you take the few short steps down the hall, sighing.
You beamed your light through the small window on the door first, the surprisingly clean glass showing you that the tiny room was overcome with vines. You couldn’t open the door if you tried. You didn’t really have any intention to.
Once Dustin’s footsteps could no longer be heard, you take a deep breath, shoulders drooping.
Dustin shouldn’t have to be mourning. The kid you once knew was so full of joy and curiosity, his beaming smile could light up any room even in the darkest of times. You hadn’t realised how much you relied on the peace of innocence until he had to watch his favourite person die in his arms, and then dragged from his life forever.
If you had never let Eddie get so close, none of this would have happened. Eddie would be safe and sound, somewhere far away from Hawkins with his uncle, none the wiser about the town’s terrifying secrets. Dustin wouldn’t feel like his heart had been ripped from his chest and fed to those bats, the hope slowly diminishing the longer he tries to pretend he’s fine.
You should tell him the truth. Selfishly, you didn’t want to. You couldn’t bear the thought of sweet Dustin Henderson hating you.
Even if you deserved it.
“I don’t hate you.”
Your breath hitches, eyes darting up the hallway.
“No, I don’t think I could ever hate you, Y/n.”
Your feet move before your mind can tell you to stop, your body and soul aching to find the voice.
“Why?”
Your own voice bleeds into the air as you turn down the corridor, the familiar words ringing louder the closer you were.
“Because whatever the hell happened in your past doesn’t matter.”
An open door beckoned you with the conversation, the room not so far from where Steve and Dustin currently were. You should call out to them, show them what you’re seeing. If they could even see it.
“You are funny, and smart, and, like, the coolest chick I know.”
Your fingers gripped onto the edge of the doorframe with so much vigour you were sure it would crumble beneath your touch. In the room, the voices echoed off the walls, enveloping you in their warmth. And just in the corner, you saw a light illuminating your past like a movie scene.
A younger you laughed through your tears, your hand grasped firmly in another’s.
You switched off your flashlight, gently placing it on the grey table opposite, and felt the tears fall as you can only stand and watch Eddie Munson remind you of everything you lost.
“Seriously. I… I really hate Hawkins. I’ve wanted nothing more than to get out of this hellhole, but… but I met you. And-and now I couldn’t imagine leaving now I know you exist.”
Your back hits the wall, the vines of your soul weaving tighter and tighter around your heart as you watch yourself pull him in for a kiss, averting your eyes like the memory was far too intimate for your future self to see.
The light disappears as you slide down the wall, eyes blurry, yours and Eddie’s figure vanishing like it was never even there.
Were you just seeing things now? Has your grief finally taken over?
All you could think now was how much better this would all be if you had done so many things differently.
“You would just love that, wouldn’t you?”
Dustin’s voice carries into the room, making you pause.
“No, I’m just stating a fact.” Steve says this time, and you purse your lips. Wiping your eyes as they roll. Your moment of pity is officially over.
Men, you think as you gather your things and trail back after the unhappy couple.
“No, you’re gloating!” Dustin sounds angrier than you’ve heard him, and you think you should quicken your steps. “Despite the fact that if I am wrong, we don’t reach past the wall, and don’t find Holly. Do you understand how selfish you’re being?”
Not good, not good, you chant as you spot the wavering beams from their flashlights sticking out of the room up ahead.
“Me? Selfish?” Steve scoffs, “You wanna talk about selfish? How about when we finally reach Hop and El, we promptly ditch them to pursue this bullshit theory of yours? Not to mention, you’re the reason that we lost contact with them in the first place because of your no-show at the crawl. So, this whole mess is actually your fault, and I haven’t heard so much as a sorry.”
You’re almost at the doorway now, your flashlight still off and strapped to your hip, digging into your side as you walked.
“Shit. Again, it’s not like I just didn’t show up, Steve. I was attacked.”
“No, you wanted a fight, and that’s what you got. Just look at your face. You’ve done some stupid shit in the past, but this? Man, this takes the cake.”
“You wanna talk to me about dumb shit?! We both know you’re not pissed at me for- for walking away from Hop and El, you’re pissed because Y/n’s with us and you can’t do anything about that!”
You stop. Your boots are a step away from revealing yourself in the doorway, and yet you can’t seem to move.
“Bullshit.”
“No, no- you’ve not been telling the truth. I heard you and Jonathan. I know it wasn’t just Hopper or Y/n’s idea to keep her off the crawls, you specifically requested it.”
“She- she’s ill, man, and I’m not in charge of her! She does what she wants!”
“You talked to Hop before she ever even started having heart problems!”
The sole of your boot squeaks against the white floors, and both of the boys snap their heads to you. The colour in Steve’s face drains when he sees your hurt expression, your hands curled at your sides.
“What?” You manage to force it out of your mouth, quiet enough to avoid the echo lingering between four walls.
Steve can only stare at you, struggling to answer.
“He did his usual bullshit and assumed he knew best.” Dustin spits, glaring at him. “Friends don’t do that to each other.”
“Friends? What do you know about friends, Henderson? Have you talked to any of them recently?” Steve counters, hands on his hips, avoiding your eyes like they were the plague to all of his bad decisions.
“I remember what it was like to have a good friend, a real friend who actually believed in me, and who was actually kind to me.”
“Aha!” Steve points an accusing finger at him.
“What?”
“There we go. That’s what this has all been about, really, is Eddie.”
Both you and Dustin physically recoil from the name like it burned you, and your voice cracks with a whisper.
“Steve, don’t-”
“No, we need to finally talk about it.” Steve dismisses you, eyes still set on Dustin. “All your bullshit, pushing everyone away, it’s because no one could ever be as perfect as he was.”
“He wasn’t perfect, but at least he knew that, unlike you.” Dustin fires back, and Steve shakes his head. You’re trying to muster up the words to get them to stop, but they barely make it out of your throat. “He was never fake! He didn’t care about what other people thought about him. He was just himself. And you know what?”
You watch Dustin’s eyes tear up, and the guilt starts twisting back into your stomach, bleeding through the cage you’ve been trying to lock it in like wildfire.
“He was the smartest, kindest person I’ve ever met. And he would’ve solved this in 30 seconds flat.” Dustin gestures to the rubix cube in his hand, glaring at the older boy with such hatred, you don’t think you can recognise him anymore. It makes you feel sick.
Steve’s expression falters into a spiteful scowl, “If I’m such a goddamn idiot, how come I’m the one still standing here?!”
Dustin stalls, mouth parting in hurt. He goes to say something, but you’re breath hitches, reminding them both that you’re still in the room.
Your voice is cold as you step forward. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Y/n, you know-”
“No, Harrington.” You say, his name tasting bitter. He flinches at the way you say it. “Tell us how you really feel.”
“You’re both tearing yourselves up inside over a guy who chose death!” He argues, shaking his head in disbelief at your matching frowns of grief. He looks back at Dustin. “That night, I told you not to be heroes. I told both of you. What did Eddie do? He charged into a swarm of killer bats.”
“To save my life!” Dustin yells, and you grab his arm, still trying to control the situation even if the conversation pained you in so many ways.
“It didn’t matter that you were there, Y/n. If he hadn’t done what he did, the government would never have found him.” Steve says, meeting your eyes, trying to make you listen. “He still died, for nothing. He didn’t save anyone.”
“He saved everyone!” Dustin is struggling against you, voice breaking.
“You can keep telling yourself that, Henderson, but deep down, the reason you’re so goddamn pissed is because you know the truth.”
“Steve, shut up!” You try, trying to keep hold of the younger boy in your arms, hating the way he shakes against you.
“Eddie wanted to play hero, and he made a dumb call, and he got himself killed. In the Upside Down and on the surface.”
“Shut up!”
Dustin finally breaks free with a scream.
The rubix cube launches from his grip, straight into Steve’s temple, and he flies at him, tackling him to the ground.
“You haven’t had my back this entire time!” Dustin yells as he slams him back into a wall. You’re screaming at them to stop, unable to put an end to it without catching a fist yourself.
“You haven’t let anyone have your back!” Steve defends, grabbing onto the chair he was currently being hit with. “Hey, stop it, man!”
“You don’t give a shit about Eddie, you don’t give a shit about me!”
Dustin shoves Steve away hard enough for his body to slam into a table, a grunt echoing from Steve’s lips.
“Henderson, stop!”
Steve manages to grab onto him the next time Dustin comes flying, locking his arms around his torso in an attempt to stop him. His back hits the wall, and you can only stand there helplessly.
“You’re gonna hurt yourself, man, calm down!”
“Screw you!” Dustin screams as he throws himself away.
The both of them suddenly go through the shattered window, rolling over the frame and colliding into one another on the ground with a thump. You rush over, gripping the edge and looking down at them.
“Guys, please-”
“Y/n, stay out of this.” Steve says, gritting his teeth. He looks over at you with a look you’ve only seen a few times. Remorse. Dustin sees it instantly.
“That’s why you’re so mad, huh?” Dustin growls, crawling away from him. “You hate Eddie because she always liked him more than you.”
Steve’s eyes darken. “Shut your fucking mouth, Henderson.”
Dustin punches him, and you jolt with the shock of it. Steve catches the next throw, pulling him to his feet.
“Enough, man, enough!”
Both of them hit another wall, separating, slamming into the ground once again.
“Please, Dustin, stop.” You’re crying now, and you’re not entirely sure why. Maybe you’re mourning the boy you once knew.
“You don’t deserve her.” He says, wiping his face with his sleeve. “She’s the one who’s actually been there for me. She isn’t some liar who couldn’t give a shit about her friends."
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Steve glances your way, and your heart breaks.
“Dustin-”
“You went to his funeral, man! You pretended like you cared. But I bet you were glad his body showed up.” Dustin continues, hot tears streaming down his face at the memory. “We all know she would have picked him over you.”
“Dustin! Stop it!”
You climb over the frame, standing in front of Steve as he pushes himself off the ground. Dustin shakes his head at you.
“Why? I’m just proving Steve right. I am looking for a fight. Because I’ve lost anything and everything I had to keep fighting.” He cries, avoiding your eyes. “I don’t know how you do it. I really don’t. How can you keep going knowing he’s dead?”
His fists start to form again, and Steve sighs into the space, readying his body for another attack. This has to end. They can’t fight like this forever.
“You want something to punch, Dustin?” You crouch down, the flashlight digging into your thigh. “Then fight me.”
His head whips to you, frowning. “Why would I-”
“Because I did lie to you.” You say, biting your lip.
“Y/n-” Steve starts, but you hold your hand up.
“I’m still looking for Eddie. I have been ever since they found his body. Because… because I think he’s still alive. And I’ve been gathering proof.”
It’s suddenly silent. Steve has stopped moving, possibly awaiting the consequence of your admittance to come barreling directly for his throat. But Dustin stays still, his glossy eyes never leaving your face, overcome with the feeling of betrayal.
“Leave me alone.” He finally whispers, and your breath hitches.
“Come on, man.” Steve tries, but Dustin shoots him a deadly look.
“I said, leave me alone!”
“Fine.” Steve surrenders, standing up and tapping your arm. You silently climb back over into the room, staring at the floor, feeling like a disappointment. “I’m done, Henderson. You happy? I’m done.”
“Alright, yeah!” Dustin yells through his sobs, “Just go! You dumb, fake, asshole! I don’t wanna see either of your faces!”
The tears are falling vigorously down your cheeks as you flinch against the pained echoes of his voice disappearing into the air the further you went.
You just keep walking, heading back down the hallway and towards the staircase, your hands scrubbing at the tear stains on your cheeks, your heartbeat loud against your eardrums.
You had maybe climbed one flight before a sturdy tug on your arm stopped you from continuing, pulling you towards the corner with a gentle plea.
“Y/n, please, just stop a second-”
“Why?” You pull away from Steve and he lets you go, face worn with lament. “So you can keep talking about Eddie like he’s a dumb fucking idiot?”
“I wasn’t trying to-”
“Well, you did.”
You stomp up the next set of steps, Steve hot on your tail.
“Look, I was just angry, okay? I don’t think Eddie’s an idiot, I just think he did something stupid.”
You pause, and Steve knows he’s fucked up.
“Okay.” You say, turning around and looking down at him from your higher stair. “Steve. Do you actually feel that way, or are you just sick of hearing about him?”
His eyes dart across your face, features overcome with confusion.
“Dustin loved Eddie. He meant everything to him.” The tears start bubbling up again, willing you to stop. You were never smart enough to listen. “And you’re- you’re just pissed because you think he looked up to him more than he ever did you. That’s just not fucking true, Steve.”
Steve’s anger had depleted entirely, the words caught in his throat, fingers shaking with the hope he could just reach out and hold your hand.
“Maybe Eddie didn’t save the world, but he fucking tried to do something.” You try to hold back the sting of tears once again, but you’re painstakingly unsuccessful. “That's all I've been trying to do, Steve. I want to help and I'm just so fucking bad at it.”
Steve’s face drops from his frown, eyes wide as he looks up at you with so much guilt you might as well be looking in a mirror.
“You're not-”
“So you wanting me off the crawls had nothing to do with my spectacularly horrific track record?”
He sighs out a shaky breath, and moves up the staircase by just a step, meeting your eyes.
“I’m scared that-” He pauses, closing his eyes, gulping. “I’m terrified that the next time we see Vecna, I’m going to lose you forever.”
You frown, holding onto the railing like it was the last thing keeping you upright. “What does that have to do with Eddie?”
“You two are pretty similar, you know?” He says, his gaze lowered to the floor. “Both giving too much of yourselves and ultimately paying the price.”
“I’m not going to die, Steve. In case you forgot, I’ve done that twice now and somehow I’m still standing here.”
“I’m not ready to take that risk again.” Steve takes another step up, the two of you as close as you can be in the small stairwell. His voice only gets quieter, eyes glazed over with confession. “When we found you in that attic, that was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. In the hospital, I watched you flatline, and I relived it all again. I can’t lose you, Y/n. Not like this. Not like him.”
Your hand twitches against the cool metal, wanting nothing more than to place it on his cheek and wipe away the stray tear. But his words weave their way around your bones, the memory of the spite in his eyes when he told you Eddie Munson died a fool.
“Don’t worry.” You finally say, moving back, biting your lip. “I’ll make sure not to make an idiot of myself and die for nothing.”
He squeezes his eyes shut and runs a hand through his hair, unable to watch your figure disappear up the staircase and far away from him.
Nancy spotted your reddened eyes before you had even reached the top of the staircase, immediately reaching out to pull you into a hug you most certainly didn’t deserve.
“What happened?” She asks as she steps back, glancing behind you as if the other two would appear.
You don’t respond. You just grip the banister tighter, tilting your head, and she offers a sympathetic smile. You’d rather pretend nothing happened.
“You guys have any luck?” You ask, and Jonathan sighs.
“Nothing. We’re about to check the roof.” He points to the white block of a door in front of them and you frown.
“Yeah, uh, what’s with all the goopy stuff anyway?” You pat the solidified melted metal beneath your hand.
“No idea.” Nancy says as Jonathan kicks down the blockade.
It shatters instantly, and you all step out into the cool air.
“Whoa!” Jonathan exhales, turning around.
The melting curse had its worst effect here. The building looked like chunks of concrete had been left out in the hot sun too long, dripping and drooping around you. None of it made sense. What could have possibly done this?
“Should we be up here?” You finally voice, looking at Jonathan. “Like, are we gonna randomly melt as well?”
“We found a body in one of the hallways.” He shudders, peering over the edge of the building. “Everything around him was like this. But he was still in pretty good shape.”
You tilt your head, frowning. “Apart from being dead.”
“Yeah, there’s that.”
You wander further from the entrance, toeing at the puddles to ensure they truly were solid.
“Anything of note?” You ask no one in particular, keeping your flashlight on your hip. There’s enough light from the clashes of red lightning above to help you see, looking around you like the answer would be obvious.
“Just more of this melted shit.” Jonathan responds.
You follow Nancy to the centre of the roof, peering down at the intentional square gap in the middle.
“Remind me not to fall.” You say and she smirks.
“Don’t worry, I’ll catch you.” She replies and you pretend to swoon, making her laugh.
There was a time where you and Nancy spent every waking moment together. You miss those more than she’ll ever know.
“Wait.” She suddenly says as you continue exploring. You turn around, frowning.
“What is it?”
“Do you see that?” She waves her flashlight into the air.
At first you don’t see anything, just the beam of light from her hand wafting in the space around you. And then you caught it. A small glint of light.
“What is that?” You ask, walking a little further from her and around the gap to get a better look from the other side. “Do it again.”
She nods, holding her flashlight back up.
The light was reflecting off of something that resembled… a dome? A ball?
“Jonathan.” Nancy calls out behind her, and her boyfriend trails over, frowning inquisitively.
“Why’s Y/n over there?” He asks, and you give a small wave.
“My light. Watch.”
Nancy demonstrates the same thing again, and Jonathan does the same. You watch as the second flashlight extends the volume of the invisible object, your breath hitching.
Whatever it was, it was massive.
“If anything’s gonna be a shield generator, my money’s on this thing.” You call from across the roof, and Nancy shrugs the shotgun off from her shoulder.
Jonathan finds something to throw, and the thing reacts to it. Small flickers of what looked to be electricity ripple along its surface, shining blue against the dark night. You take a step back, gasping at how tall it was compared to you.
The amount of energy this thing must have…
You can hear Jonathan trying to contact Steve and Dustin, shaking his head.
“What did they say?” You ask, your voice echoing.
“They’re out of range!” Jonathan explains as Nancy raises her gun.
Destroy the shield generator. That was the plan, or rather, the theory. Nancy’s gun would surely do the trick, and the wall would be weak enough to break through.
So why did you feel so uneasy about all of this?
You had a smaller radio attached to your jacket, one of Dustin’s specialties when trying to make communication easier. You had forgotten about it, used to the handheld bricks you once carried around. It crackled now, snippets of what you could only assume to be Dustin’s voice trailing through. He designed the radio to be a more secure connection, meaning he was reaching out to you specifically.
Considering what he learned in the rainbow room, he can’t just be trying to talk to you to catch up.
Something was wrong.
“Not… destroy…”
You stare at your friends through the clump of iridescent smoke, feeling your insides twist with doubt.
“ …you… die!”
Your blood runs cold. Nancy was bracing herself.
“Nancy, wait!”
You scream at her, moving forward like you’d be able to run over before she pulled the trigger.
The shot rings out into the air… and nothing happens.
Nancy frowns at you, lowering her gun. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, thank god.” You murmur, hands on your knees as you breathe in relief. Everything was fine, it wasn’t-
You heard it before you saw it. Crackling beams of light start echoing off from one another, stripping away the translucent dome piece by piece until you’re left with a fiery ball of angry, red mass.
It wasn’t like anything you’ve seen before, and it was beaming brighter than it should.
“Y/N!” You hear them call out from the other side, unable to see their figures through the crimson heat. “RUN!”
You couldn’t even if you tried.
The condensed energy suddenly bursts, throwing you backwards. You can hear Nancy scream, a violent rumble as the whole building shook from its force.
A building you were no longer on.
The blast threw you off your feet, pushing you away from it. There wasn’t much more roof from where you originally stood, nothing left to catch you as you fell.
The energy started to pulse out slices of pure light, vibrating the air around you. You could feel the heat of it against your skin, raising goosebumps and blurring your eyesight. You didn’t recall how tall the building was, if the impact would be instant instead of agonising. You hoped the former, at least, if this was how you were to die.
You didn’t feel the weight of your body crash into the ground. It was strangely painless. And it wasn’t because you were dead.
You try to move your neck, barely able to crane it to look down at your body. You wished you hadn’t.
None of your limbs were laying as they should. Bones were separated, parts of you broken and bloody. You should be dead. Why weren’t you dead?
Like the dreaded grim reaper, your answers call to you in a flurry of black particles, hovering above your body. You struggle to breathe for a moment, winded. There was liquid pouring from your mouth, but you couldn’t taste it. You couldn’t do anything.
The Mind Flayer settles into you, and that’s the only time you feel. Each blur of dust felt strange as it seeped through your skin. You can only watch in horror and intrigue as it starts piecing you back together, your bones snapping back into place, the cuts and blood moulding together like nothing ever happened.
you are ours
At the first flinch of your fingers, you scramble to your feet, desperately brushing the dust away from your body. The dust simply followed, the same words repeated over and over and over. You slam your hands over your ears when it gets louder, stumbling towards the trees behind you.
You could have escaped if it weren’t for the pain returning to your body. You suddenly felt it all, the crash of the fall, the snap of your bones, like a delayed effect. You could have screamed from it all. Maybe you did.
You couldn’t recall anything after that.
It was an uncomfortable sting to your cheek that brought you back to reality.
Words were muffled with the ringing of your ears, your breaths hissing through the grit of your teeth. Your whole body ached with the memory of the fall, and your mind swarmed with questions.
“Major, she’s awake.”
Red flashing lights fell in tune with your pounding headache, tired eyes training as the soldier stood near the door. Great, you think, I’m back here again.
Except, this wasn’t the police station, not in the Upside Down. The blood in your veins ran cold.
“Miss Mayfield. What a shock it was to find you down here.”
Dr Kay’s hoarse voice broke through the room. You tilt your head to find it, but she was hidden in the darker corner of the room, arms crossed, face featureless in the shadow.
You squirm in your seat, sharp metal biting into your wrists, ankles tied tightly to the legs of the chair. The military found you down here, outside the Lab. They found you, and you led them straight to your friends- Your friends.
“Who else is down here with you?”
The question sparked hope. They hadn’t found them.
“Just me.” You reply, mouth dry. A sudden dread arose. You didn’t even know if your friends were still alive.
“Strange.” A small movement of her hand sent two men over to you. One stood behind, and the other in front, neither speaking or moving. You swallow nothing. “We had a quick visit from Eleven, and the man currently keeping her hostage.”
You bite your tongue. Hostage, right.
“So, I should believe that you and her were on the other side at the same time for… no reason?”
You try to shrug, wincing. “What a coincidence.”
Kay merely tilts her head, and a gloved fist flies at your jaw. The force splits your lip, making you cry out with the shock of it. The soldier in front of you flexes his fingers, and the one behind grabs your head to keep you upright.
“We’ve been kind thus far, Miss Mayfield.” Kay responds from her corner, unmoving. “But after the breach tonight, I’m losing my patience. Don’t make this harder for yourself.”
“I didn’t come with her.” You spit the blood from your mouth, licking your lips and wincing at the metallic taste on your tongue. “I already told you, I came here by myself.”
“And why would you do that?”
Dr Kay moves from the shadows and leans over to face you now. In the blinking red lights, you can just make out the bruise forming on her cheek, a tear in her lip she wore with a scowl. Judging by the rage of defeat on her features, you assumed El and Hopper had done a number on their operation, and the thought made you want to smile despite it all.
“I wanted answers.” You state, your fingers intertwining, trying to find a way to stay calm.
“Hm.” She studies you, standing straight. “Answers.”
Kay gestures to the soldiers beside you, and they move without hesitation. You brace for the impact, stomach tensing in anticipation. You start to frown when you feel the rope being pulled loose from your ankles, a firm hand on your shoulder.
“Follow me.”
You’re pulled to your feet without a choice, almost stumbling when your legs weren’t sturdy enough to stand by their own. One of the soldiers pushes you through the hallways of the base, the red lights still blinding you with their glare. You caught sight of a room, the contents thrown about, bullet holes denting the surfaces, marking the aftermath of a fight.
You wished you had paid more attention to everything in here, but your head was throbbing, and your chest was filled with fear. You weren’t sure you were making it out of this one. A final door opens and you’re manhandled inside, discarded beside Dr Kay.
There was no point in running. Two men were at the door, another two already in the room, standing beside a set of shutters.
Kay turns to you with a nod. “I’m feeling extra generous today, Miss Mayfield. I’m willing to make a deal.”
“Let me guess, I give you Eleven and you won’t leave my sister to die.” You say, already prepared for the threats, but Kay raises her eyebrows.
“You don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Max Mayfield is awake.”
Your heart skips. “...What?”
“Or, at least, that’s what I’ve been told.” Kay shrugs, nodding to one of her men by the door. He glances at you and leaves the room, shutting the door. “She wasn’t in her hospital bed when the nurses last checked. Nasty incident there.”
You’re unsure how to feel. Relieved, worried, or outright terrified. What if she wasn’t alive?
You would have felt it if she died. Regardless of your connection to the Mind Flayer, to Vecna, you would have felt a part of you die just like you did in that attic. That wasn’t supernatural, it was sisterhood. A pure bond formed at her birth.
“The deal I want to make is one I know you won’t refuse.” Kay smiles then, but it never reaches her eyes. It didn’t seem malicious, either. More… knowing.
You feel the goosebumps already start to rise, a nervous breath shuddering through your lungs, “What makes you say that?”
“Because it’s everything you’ve wanted.”
She presses a button on the wall behind her, and the shutters in front of you slowly rise. You are almost blinded by the pale white of the room on the other side of the window slowly revealing itself to you. From what you could gather, this is where they conducted experiments. Inside, there were various tools on metal tables, and a long chair with straps to hold down the victim of their choice.
No one was in the room yet, and your heart began to hammer against your chest.
“Show her.” Kay says to the officer beside her. He nods, speaking something into his radio.
A door from the other side opens, and a body is thrown in. They look weak, dishevelled from the manhandling, their long locks covering their eyes. You didn’t need to see their face. The six bats inked into their forearm were never easy to forget.
Tears stream down your face as Kay gives you a knowing smirk.
