Drabble: 12. "I'm not afraid anymore." Ronance 😭
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Somehow, even drenched in sweat, her clothes hardened with the melted goo from the lab, even laden with weapons, with one arm around Holly, even with a dozen kids and all their friends around them and a record counting down the minutes they have to get out of here alive, Nancy finds the time to stop, look sideways at Robin, and take her hand.
Their eyes meet. Nancy's fingers fold up around Robin's, just like they did the first time they stood at the threshold and walked willingly into danger.
"One last hurdle," Robin breathes. "We didn't think this one through as much."
The gate stands ahead of them, glowing and ruined. They can't see through it at this angle, but Robin can imagine the chaos waiting for them on the other side.
"We didn't think we'd make it this far," Nancy says back. And it's true, but it's still odd to hear her say it. Nancy's a ruthless optimist, always clinging to hope with the same deadly grip she has on everything else in her life.
Hope is ferocious, on Nancy. It's impossible not to believe in.
Even now, sneaking up to the edges of the gate as if it'll make any difference at all once they step through.
But that's just it. It was never going to make a difference, any of it. It was always going to end this way, from the moment the military trucks rolled into town. Maybe from those first NDAs they all had to sign all those years ago. They were never going to get away with knowing.
And yet, there's still hope. It lies in the grip Nancy has on Holly, in the confident set of Lucas's jaw, in the way Hopper rolls his shoulders back, settling into the dependable authority he held when he was chief of police. It's running off with El and Kali, slipping their way through a rift on the far side of town, away from prying eyes, so they can play their illusion and then disappear into whatever happier ending is awaiting them.
It lies in the kids, and their parents who still expect them to be coming home, safe and sound, from the MAC-Z. And in the copies of evidence Murray had mailed out months ago to every colleague he could trust across the country. It's in Suzie, lying awake halfway across the country, no idea what's really going on but ready to press a button and tell the world that the military arrested innocents in Hawkins, Indiana.
It won't do much if they end up in a firing line, of course, but Robin supposes if this was foolproof, it wouldn't be called hope.
"Are you okay?" Nancy asks.
"You're asking me that?" She isn't. Of course she isn't. She hasn't been able to breathe since Vickie cornered her in the hospital. Steve almost died. Nancy voluntarily ran toward her own death, and Robin thinks the image of her out there alone, looking absolutely tiny in the face of that thing, will haunt her for the rest of her life.
But Nancy is alive, and her arm is around Holly. Steve is alive, and he and Dustin have been clinging to each other the entire way home. They are all, somehow, alive.
"You hate soldiers," Nancy says, as simple as it is sincere.
Robin looks away. Even if they make it out unharmed, it's going to suck. The shouting, the hands on her, the cuffs and the guns and the brutal precision of military orders grabbing them and dragging them and questioning them and beating them and--
But Robin can still feel the heat of her Molotovs. Can still hear the roars of that creature, drowning out the deafening burst of Nancy's gun. She can still smell whatever vile substance coats Steve and Dustin, can still feel her heart in her throat from watching her best friend fall.
And she can still smell the sterile chemicals of the base beneath the mall. Can still feel the sting of the needle in her neck. Can still see Steve's bloodied face.
It never goes away. Maybe it never will.
But Nancy is still here, looking up at her softly, her fingers curling around Robin's.
Nancy's hope is ferocious, and her bravery is contagious. Holly looks up at the two of them, something steely in her eyes. Around them, everyone else is bracing themselves, chins high, breathing steady.
Robin holds Nancy's gaze and inches closer. "I'm not afraid anymore."
"No." Maybe it's supposed to be a question, teasing, or earnest, or proud. But it comes out as an agreement. Nancy's gaze is warm--burning, even, in the frigid air of the Upside Down.
"No," Robin echoes. And she's not. "Not when we're together."
"Not even if I..." Nancy steps forward, too, lifting her chin just enough for Robin to know where she's going.
"Definitely not," Robin breathes, and Nancy presses forward and kisses her.
