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la-pheacienne · 4 months

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so something that I've been chewing on is how the dynamics of the Dance would have changed of Rhaenyra had been a son. Rhaenyrion, if you will (rhaenys/Balerion) I kinda realized that this concept is sort of explored already, with Daeron and Daemon down the line with the Blackfyres.

The thing is is that Rhaenyrion would still have quite a bit of beef with Alicent, tho there probably would be way more issues with Viserys insisting on remarrying the one chick that wants her own son to sit on the throne, so this would probably end up with some similarities to harem dramas (wives of the father against other sons that aren't theirs.) I suspect that in this au, Rhaenyrion would be far more assertive due to being an assured crown prince, (except daeron was an assured crown prince and still had to fight for his position), except Alicent would probably still make this boys life as miserable as she can

I'm guessing that in this au Rhaenyrion is married to Laena Valaryon automatically, but what would really be insane (because realistically they would have true born kids, but I also personally want the bastard allegations to happen because grrm didn't put that there for free) is if Rhaenyrion straight up fucking adopts kids as he likes. I mean realistically he can also have his own bastards and keep them as his own, maybe Laena doesn't fucking like him cause she's gay or cuckholds him with Daemons twins Baela and Rhaena, which would really warp the hell out of the family blood tree.

I do like the adoption thing too much because one, Romans, two, adoption isnt something explored in asoiaf. To the point that it doesn't seem like an option. It's either let the kid live with you unofficially or legalize them as your heir if their your bastard. Also if they wore adopted this would throw a lot of fuel to the greens because how could Rhaenyrion adopt his sons of vague origins and make one Viserys's gods-damned heir to the throne? Against decency, this is.

( I am aware that that option is borderline too crazy. Realistically, if we ignore the most realistic option, Rhaenyrion would just bring his bastard sons home and say they're his and Laena's ignore the logistics fuck you Im the crown prince this is my son his name is Jacaerys Targaryen.)

Probably in this au that I am cooking all over your asks Aegon and Viserys would be Daemon's bastards, graciously fostered by Rhaenyrion and Laena on dragon stone. How the fuck does Daemon's sons get the throne after Aegon II, I have no idea, but as I pick through the mush of this au, the only justification i got is that grrm's "the laws of inheritance were vague at best and when push came to shove people dp what ever they fucking want regardless." (Misquoted but basically what he said). Unless Damon has two shotgun weddings that were scandalous but legit enough in the short term. Especially since Rhaenyrion would probably designate Aegon as his heir when All the other boys are gone.

Pretty much the major thing that Rhaenyrion and Rhaenyra would share is how they make their own family. It's just that Rhaenyrion would be seen as much more insane then Rhaenyra would be. Rhaenyrion be making "promise me, Rhae" level promises to Laena over protecting her daughters and the mother of his sons and Daemon's sons.

The major thing however, in this au is that the greens would be super major usurpers all the way, since they don't have the women can't ascend the iron throne argument, and their main argument is just, Rhaenyrion has done scandal after scandal jow can we have that guy as our king? And said scandals are just, guy loves his kids and gives the greens middle fingers every time he sees them. Which would just highlight the greed of the greens big time.

Unless we go so far as to make Rhaenyrion Bisexual and unapologetic about it. Which adds more fuel to the fire since the Greens are pro Faith of the Seven.

In the case of the war probably the greens would be significantly more on the offensive early on. Like you thought Aemond was bad in canon hed probably try to torch the Erie in addition to the RiverLands.

Actually I just realized that since Laena fucking dies (don't want her to but she dies) the Driftmark episode would be so much fucking worse. Especially because...yeah this is a Rhaenyrion/Laena/Deamon poly situation Vaemond would be downright suicidal to be making comments on her funeral speech when both her gods-damned lovers who are Princes are right fucking there. And then you also have the fact that Aemond claims Vhagar, who belonged to Rhaenyrion's Just Buried Wife, the Night After Said Wife's Funeral, and then proceeds to Insult the Crown Princes Sons and Attack Them To the Point Of Said sons Needing Self Defense...Aemond got some serious balls in this au.

Also Alicent demanding Lucerys's eye and then rushing to Attack Lucerys and Rhaenryion would be fucking more insane then in the show, (considering that the show doesn't fucking get into a fraction of the realistic implications of that). Just saying that realistically, someone is going to die in this au at this moment. And it can't be Laenor since he's cool and is also the current heir. Unless of course, Viserys forbids punshment for either Aemond or Alicent which furthers the divide.

I think that if Rhaenyra was male he would not have been experiencing quite the level of casual disrespect as an adult. that happens in canon tho I did just write out why people would find him distasteful, after all, people both like and were greatly annoyed by Roberts Baratheon's whoring and drinking and they still payed him respect.

In summary of the previous shit, which I made up as I went along, in an au where Rhaenyra was male, Viserys still married Alicent, Alicent bullies and tears down Rhaenyrion as much as possible before said prince comes to a banquet with an all black suit and starts living it up by developing a martial rivalry with Criston Cole which pisses him off and being mentored by Daemon and vibing with the common people via the taverns and brothels, and hanging out with Harwin Strong and is living his best bi life is a more chill prince of the city with his beloved dragon Syrax and ends up marrying Laena Valaryon except she really really likes Daemon too and Rhaenyrion is like, damn, did I ever mentioned that i have, a very, very close friend, and she kinda asked me to promise her a major promise, Like a Promise Me, Ned type promise. And Laena's like, who the fuck is Ned. Because she has twins and Rhaenyrion is like, I gave you two freebies can I have two freebies psyche it's three because Laenor loved the last one so much.

Obviously Corlys and Rhaenys hate this sht so much but at least Laenor is alive and Laenor and Laena both want Lucerys and Baela and and Rhaenys to stay and be recognized in the family and anyone of them can be Laenor's heir and Rhaenyrion is saying me and Laena talked about it and maybe (since Alicent would rather marry a sweet girl off to fucking Aegon than my beautiful boy Jaceaerys) perhaps, Baela will be queen? Anyway a major family discussion goes down behind closed doors and Corlys just lives the rest of his life wondering why the fuck his daughter and son like fucking Targaryens so fucking much (hypocrite)

And Rhaenyrion and Laena and Daemon have a pretty good polycule going down in dragonstone and when Daemon comes back with his own "legitimate" -wink wink nudge nudge cue Otto about to have an aneurysm and Alicent getting ready to spread bitch ass rumours again - sons Rhaenyrion is like Yay more babies let me cuddle them Daemon it's my castle let me cuddle them.

And then Laena dies and Driftmark goes down and someone was 2000% going to fucking die except Viserys decided to be a long at the worst possible moment and so the Blacks go back to Dragonstone and the Greens back to Kingslanding.

And then Vaemond decides to be a little bitch (I don't know if in this au he'd straight up murder Laenor who had already desingated Rhaena and Lucerys as his heirs anyway or if hed just whine to the iron throne that this whole choosing your own heir is fucking stupid and is going against traditional law but Daemon, or Rhaenyrion, kill his ass when he calls Rhaenryions sons bastards.

The last supper thing is significantly more fucking awkward because no way in fucking hell would Alicent imply that Rhaenyrion would follow Viserys.

The main question here is how Visenya fits in this, because one, men are also capable of feeling pain over miscarriages, and also, to really temper Rhaenyrions grief and rage over the usurpers. However the only way this would happen is if he had a paramour living on dragon stone, and if he heard the news, lashed out, and was the main reason said hypothetical paramour goes into labor and stillbirth. And in typical fashion, blames the greens for what is technically his fault. But it also keeps him focused of the loss of a child that he very clearly wanted, while Daemon is doing other things, like securing Dragonstone and checking the children and grieving. But yeah he blames the greens saying that they murdered his daughter.

I think I just constructed a guy that just, really really loves his children a bit more unabashedly then Rhaenyra does. He experiences more privileges than Rhaenyra does on canon but also is like, insanely progressive as fuck for his story because, the only thing that matters is the monarch choosing their heir and Rhaenyrion took that concept to eleven. Which pissed off a lot of people but still.

There would be just a touch, a smidge, of major ass tension because people wonder is Rhaenyrion or Daemon the new king before Rhaenyrion is like oh come off it and breaks the tension. Daemon crowns his nephew obviously.

Anyway the dance goes down as it does and Rhaenyrion is remembered as that insane prince that passed off his bastards as legitimate.

Okay realistically if Rhaenyrion was real he'd probably be way smarter and a bit more capable and probably would be a year king and the dance may have taken place earlier than it did. It would be debatable if he had children or not in this au since the conflict would take place sooner tho without a doubt he is being married to Laena and it is possible that he may live longer and that Aegon II is mostly remembered as Aegon the Usurper than II. Especially because Rhaenyrion is totally going to be somewhat of a warrior if he was a guy. So he would be on the battlefield . And he'd probably have more tension with Daemon (the measuring dicks posturing kind, not the sexy kind) but i think Daemon would stick by his nephew as he did with his niece.

Also there's a good chance that Rhaenyrion would have been mentored and supported by Daemon way more because no doubt that Alicent would still bully and antagonize the shit out of Rhaenyrion but at least Rhaenyrion would have more support and been further away from Alicent then Rhaenyra got to be.

The dance potentially not changing even if Rhaenyra was Rhaenyrion just proves that the greens and everyone who supported them did for self serving ends and for greed. Not because of some women can't rule it's just that the hightowers wanted one of their own on the throne and that was just fucking it and the only entire point.

Basically Rhaenyrion would be more charming and active fellow than his great great great igaf great son Rhaegar.

And people would still ask yo what if that guy had gotten to be king maybe it would've been nice.

Anyway you did not fucking ask for this ask and to be honest this is the equivalent of me scribbling out my brain nonsense on the nearest scrap of scrap paper except it turned out to be your ask box. I was rereading some of your posts because I like rereading your posts sometimes and my brain started cooking and we basically squatted on your front porch to grill this idea. I would say a bigger sorry but I had a little too much fun writing this.

Oh wow that was heavy. You should write a fic.

This is my totally civil take about an AU where Rhaenyra is a man.

For the record I don't believe there would be a dance if Rhaenyra was a man, but it's not impossible. If there was a dance, it would be a much more clear cut situation than this though, because Rhaenyra being a woman and having sex makes her a morally grey character in the eyes of a big part of the audience. The greens would have zero support in the fandom had Rhaenyra been a man.

#fire and blood #hotd #rhaenyra targaryen #asks

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dandelions-143 · 4 days

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I Take What I Want

-Young Gods

-Master List

~Tag list open

Chan's POV

Lee know, Han, Hyunjin, and I had just finished setting up the weapons range inside and outside. Lee Know and Hyunjin were over the knives and sharp objects due to them preferring those types of weapons which left the guns training to Han and me.

Binnie and Seungmin were accompanying Mr. Yi on one of his business deals to collect on a large movement of drugs to the U.S. Felix and Jeongin were carrying out my orders to do a little recon in the mansion they were suppose to be guarding today.

"Did you see the way Binnie was just throwing her skinny ass around yeaterday? Like the girl weighed nothing." Han chuckled as he cocked back a gun and aimed it at the target we had set up outside. "I think they all went too soft on her." Hyunjin added.

The sun was shining brightly today making me squint a little as I looked over at him with a shake of my head. "We can't actually hurt the girl, Hyunjin."

Lee know walked up to me and handed me a shotgun he just finished cleaning. "Aren't we going to kill her and her snobby family at the end of this shit anyway?" He asked me seriously. "Yeah but, we can't hurt a hair on her pretty head or daddy dearest will have our heads before we get anything done." I laid the shotgun on the table and just then we all looked over at the sound of tires on gravel.

"The bitch is here" I heard Hyunjin mumble under his breath and he headed inside. A muscle ticked in my jaw as I watched her get out of the car. Long sleek legs in dark ripped jeans and a fitted Balenciaga t-shirt. If she weren't my target I may actually try to flirt with her. There's no denying she was pretty.. and innocent.

————————————————————————

Nabi, had spent half of her time here being trained by Hyunjin and Lee Know. I watched as Hyunjin with two large blades in his hands went head to head with Lee Know who also held large serrated knives. They did a few moves, nothing too hard but, still very dangerous.

Han, who was sitting next to me as we watched the two go at each other nudged me and nodded towards Nabi. I noticed the slight worried look on her face. She had only been throwing knives so far and she wasn't too bad at it. We were all a bit surprised.

The men stopped, dripping in sweat and Lee know turned towards her pushing his hair off his forehead. "Okay, your turn. Repeat what we just did with Hyunjin here. Then you can go with Chan and Han. She hesitated before walking up to Lee know and taking the knives he handed her. Nabi had obviously been paying attention despite her worried expression because she instantly held the blades appropriately in her palms.

I knew Hyunjin wasn't going to go easy on her which made me a little uncomfortable but, I wasn't sure why it mattered that much to me. Just then Hyunjin lunged at her making her jump with a soft squeak. All of us couldn't help but laugh at her. "Little mouse is scared" Han slapped his knee as he taunted her.

Nabi's face turned red with embarrassment and anger. Catching a laughing Hyunjin off guard she lunged at him moving a bit sloppily but doing exactly as Lee Know had shown her and had Hyunjins legs kicked out from beneath him. He hit hard on the ground as the knives she held were accurately pointed at his throat and his abdomen.

"There you go, princess!" Lee Know clapped and walked over to her as she stepped back so Hyunjin could get up. I couldn't help but smile at the way Hyunjin scowled as he got up and brushed the dirt off himself. He touched a spot on his neck and there was a small smear of blood there. "Looks like she's learning quickly." I spoke up as I stood, oddly feeling a bit proud.

————————————————————————

After explaining to her the safety and precautions of even having a fire arm Han and I shoot a few different guns to show her how they work and how to hold them. "Your turn, Nabi" I said, locking eyes with her and handing her the Glock off the table.

My eyes couldn't help but slide down to her pretty mouth and then back up to those soft eyes. She looked so innocent but, there was something just beneath the surface.. something dark. I couldn't wait to bring that out. "He wants you to take the gun, girl." Han said from a chair where he sat between Lee Know and Hyunjin, his arm slung around Lee Knows shoulders.

She took it slowly and mimicked my stance I had earlier but it was still off. She had no safety gear on because when you're actually shooting someone you don't have any of that. I wanted her use to it all. Nabi aims at the target we had placed feet away and pulls the trigger. She misses it completely not only once but twice more.

"Here, like this." I say as I step behind her, my chest pressed to her back. Nabi was quite smaller than me which made it easier to wrap my right arm around her. I slid my hand down her slender arm as she still had the gun raised. Gripping her hand lightly, I showed her how to hold it correctly.

My lips were less than an inch from her ear, was that vanilla I smelled from her hair? I thought as a small gust of wind blew around us. "Hold the gun firm but not too tight. Like you would hold a lover." I spoke low and gentle as to make sure she was still focused. I felt her body shiver under my touch.

"Now, when you're ready and you have your aim, slowly squeeze the trigger." I stepped back to give her space and waited. I could see the guys out of the corner of my eyes. Han was grinning like a fool but the other two were watching intently. Nabi aimed, let out a breath and squeezed the trigger. The bullet wasn't a bulls eye but it hit the target this time.

She turned with a wide grin on her face and everyone was clapping except Hyunjin of course. Nabi put the gun to her lips and blew at the barrel of the gun which caused us all to yell and I stepped forward quickly grabbing it from her. "Don't do that! Are you stupid!" I raised my voice. "You could blow your head off like that." She jumped and looked at me with a furrowed brow.

I sighed, "sorry" I bowed quickly. "Just don't want you getting hurt. You never point a gun at yourself or anyone. You only point a gun at someone or something you want dead." Just as Nabi opened her mouth to probably insult me her cell phone began to ring for the millionth time today. She pulled it from her back pocket and rolled her eyes. "Jesus, why won't he leave me alone." She mumbled to herself.

"Is that daddy checking up on his little princess?" Hyunjin said as he walked closer to me but, kept his eyes on the girl. She huffed and walked over to us both, "actually, that's my ex who had a who're recently attached to his cock." She took the gun back from me, confidently aiming at the target again and emptied the rest of the rounds. Not all hit but the ones that did were a bit closer to the bullseye.

————————————————————————

Nabi and I left the guys to clean up so I could accompany her home for the day. It was late afternoon by now and the sun was hanging low in the sky causing an orange glow. My favorite time of day. I glanced over at her as she sat as far away from me as possible watching the sky as well.

"Butterfly." I simply said to break the awkward silence. She turned to me confused at first. "What?"

"Your nickname means butterfly." I licked my lips and noticed her eyes flick down then back up and she swallowed. "Yeah but, it's spelled different." She said turning her attention back to the window. "It suits you. A beautiful caged little butterfly." I said turning my head back to my own window.

I could feel her eyes on me and then she began to laugh. A sweet giggle that actually sounded good to my ears. "You're actually coming on to me?" She laughed a little harder. The car was just pulling up to her enormous home.

Just as she was about to get out I moved to lean over her, not quite touching her but still mere inches from her pretty face. Causing her to shut up real fast. That subtle vanilla sent invaded my senses. "Little mouse, i don't come on to anyone. That would be giving you a choice." I leaned closer to her, mumbling in her ear, "I always take what I want..there's never a choice."

Just then one of her father's men opened her door for her. Nabis cheeks turned a shade of pink I had yet to see and I loved it. I wonder if that pink matches the inside of her. My dark thoughts couldn't be helped. I watched as she scrambled to get out of the car. I could tell she couldn't get away from me fast enough but, I also noticed how she squeezed her thigh's together when I was inches from her.

"See you tomorrow butterfly." I gave her my best smile just before the door was shut and the car drove off.

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dulcewrites · 1 year

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adding more to the idea of modern!fmo reader and aemond: aemond is jealous af of the relationship his gf got with his brother and her boy bff (ser quinton my sweet lil meow meow) while simultaneously being the one that’s actually cheating😃

Ok now I’m just gonna do headcanons for modern!fmo bc I’m bored and love the idea (sorry this is long 😭)

-reader and Aemond meet through their moms rather through reader befriending Helaena (let’s say Alicent and reader’s mom are Pilates babes and go to the same studio)

-reader’s mom gushes about how her daughter goes to [insert rich people school], and Alicent is like shut up! one of my boys goes there (meanwhile reader’s mom knows this bc she religiously stalks Alicent’s Facebook)

- Aemond is a English major, with a minor in marketing, reader is studying biochemistry with a focus on plants/plant reproduction.

- they meet at a party Alicent throws for helaena getting her masters or something like that

- the first year of their relationship actually goes well. It’s basically the honeymoon phase, and both their moms think they are geniuses for making this happen

- in this universe, reader knows alys exist from the jump. And she’s like “oh your bestie is a pretty older woman yay 😃😃😃”

-reader is certain something is going on, but Aemond gaslights and lies to her. It isn’t until she finds some ummm.. intimate garments that she knows she does not wear. She’s almost positive alys left them on purpose. This is break up number one

-Aegon and reader become close after aemond, ever the coward, sends his brother to get back some of his stuff. They bond over liking the same obscure rock band

- funnily enough, quinton and reader meet through Helaena in this universe. The entomology major (hel) and the geology major (quinton) work closely at their school

-Aemond and reader get back together at a Christmas party. Aemond promises he’s not even in contact with alys anymore (another lie).

-quinton can’t stand Aemond. Thinks he’s so pretentious with the hair and the poetry (yes he writes it for reader). Aemond thinks quinton is just kind of stupid lmao

-Aegon is the one to tell reader that he def is still fooling around with alys again. Second break up

-this causes a bit of tension between Aegon and aemond.

-reader is certain she is done with Aemond. Then she finds out she’s pregnant :/. She honestly goes back and forth between keeping the baby

-eventually she breaks down and tells him bc she’s scared. Aemond, despite reader’s wishes, tells his mom. He’s scared too :(. Alicent, our queen, is like I’ll take you to the clinic if you want 🤷🏽‍♀️. She loves her kids but she had Aegon young and gets it’s not for everyone

-in the end, reader decides to keep the baby. Daella Targaryen is born 9 months later. Aemond and reader have a very beautiful, expensive sort of shotgun wedding. They have it when daella is a little over a year

-quinton, very drunk, confesses his love for reader in a voicemail she gets during her bachelorette party. Things get awkward for them after that :(

- things are actually kind of good considering the circumstances. They’re young but they also have way more resources than people in their peer group. By this point, reader is working part time at a laboratory trying to cure different illness through plants. Aemond works for his dad’s company

-eventually Aemond convinces reader to stay home with daella. Hints at maybe wanting another baby

- everything is fine, till reader finds texts. She’s not one to snoop but she sees heart emojis and is like “since when does my husband use emojis”. Texts going to and from a “A ❤️”.

-she starts to wonder if all those work trips are actually for work.

-reader takes daella while Aemond is away one weekend. They visit Aegon or uncle egg to daella. Aegon, a practicing defense attorney, is like “babe I can get you a good family divorce lawyer. We will milk him for everything.” 😭😭

- reader hires a p.I immediately, gets all the proof she needs. Pictures, calls, emails. This has started back up since daella was born.

-things get really messy when their half sister, Rhaenyra wants to do a merger deal with another company and their family one. As viserys declines in health, there becomes a struggle for power between Aemond and nyra

-Aemond begs reader to hold off on the divorce till they handle things. She agrees but they start to live in different houses. She plays the waiting game… but through all this craziness she realizes she hasn’t had her period

-alaric targaryen is born, and reader struggles with ppd. She feels a bit trapped. Her parents are telling her to stick through it and give Aemond another chance

-in the end, they end up separating for some time. They coparent, and things are pretty tense. Reader tells Aemond that alys is not allowed to be anywhere her kids or she will go back to get sole custody.

-one of the weekends they are doing a swap, Aemond breaks down and tells her that alys cheated on him. He actually apologizes and for a moment reader thinks that door is still open

-BUT.. she gets an text from a number she doesn’t recognize

Hey it’s quinton. Long time no talk. I was thinking we could get coffee the next time you are in town x

#this is was so long winded I’m sorry soemdkemfm #fool me once asks #fmo headcanons

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callixton · 6 months

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Ooooh how about 🎭💔🧸🎶 for barba and/or bobby??? Noone gets these guys the way you do.

omg that's such a compliment <3 i will do both of them

barba

🎭(a headcanon about what they lie about) - honestly i would not put it past him to preserve his private life by just making shit up. as he got to know the squad better, it stopped mattering so much, but it's become a bit of a game that only he knows about. it's also usually so innocuous that no one would even bother to check - someone asks him what he's doing this weekend? he's going to that string trio performing at the lincoln center. (he has actually set aside time to read the latest pulp thriller he got from the library while eating too much take out and he is not going to be disturbed.)

💔(an angsty headcanon) - rafael deals with depression and self-hatred frequently, but it rarely/never comes in the form of suicidal ideation, so he dismisses how serious it is. it's why he throws himself into work so wholly; at least if he's helping people, he can justify his existence. it also means he's too busy to have time to think about all of the problems he's ignoring.

🧸(a headcanon about their childhood) - oh there's so much i could say. well i don't think it was Good. but for a shotgun-blast-let's-see-what-we-hit of childhood hcs..... he spent every sunday with his grandmother, and almost all of his happiest memories are around her kitchen table. this is alluded to in october surprise but this kid got in FIGHTS oh my god he could not keep his mouth shut. thank god for eddie or he would have had his shit kicked in so fast. sorry to make this sad too but he dealt with the same problem at home with his dad, and eddie wasn't there to protect him. he read voraciously but almost exclusively in private; he wanted people to know he was smart, but he didn't want to get made fun of. he tried exactly one basketball summer camp before realizing he was too short and scrawny to compete.

🎶(a headcanon about music) - not to let actor bleed influence this too much, but i do think barba probably takes after raúl when it comes to music taste; i think "the music he loves best is the Cuban songs he learned from his grandmother." that said, other artists that i associate with him: frank ocean, bruce springsteen & 80s ballads

bobby

🎭- unfortunately bobby is lying to himself at basically all times as a baseline and therefore incidentally to the people around him. but for something more specific, i think he lies about how quickly he gets drunk. he doesn't like actually giving up control over himself and what he says, but he does like the social justification of being able to relax and open up, so he meets it somewhere in the middle and lets everyone else think he's gone before he actually is. it's pretty rare that his friends see through this, which both suits him fine and makes him lonelier.

💔- oh baby. well. tbh it's kind of hard for me to find a headcanon bc so much of what i consider heartbreaking about his character is very much text. However. i do like to play with the idea of his first encounter with a guy in college going so poorly that it contributes to him shoving his sexuality deep down and the subsequent repression we see in show. which is so sad for him bc he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't questioning right like. it might not have been an answer he liked but even that would have been an answer. and then he is just so completely in his head (and he's not even Into the other guy he just offered) that the whole thing goes terribly and he feels so broken bc if he's not gay then what is Wrong with him that he feels like this. (he does discover, some ten-odd years later, that he doesn't mind sleeping with men as much as he thought, but he's spent such a long time of convincing himself that it's not for him that it takes a Lot of pressure to break through that worldview)

🧸- did not have many friends :( on the one hand he really didn't mind that much bc he was absolutely the sort of kid who enjoyed playing on his own, but on the other hand that isolation of not feeling like there's anyone who understands him set in early. he was set up on lots of playdates by his parents where neither kid wanted to be there. he was an observer and a listener though. sooo much of the personality he presents over the years is drawn from copying the behaviors of people he likes.

🎶- this is such a good question bc his character playlist is So fully music i think about him to, not like. songs i think he would listen to. i don't actually think he seeks out music that often? i think he likes the noise of the city and whatever's playing on the radio; it makes him feel more connected to everything in an indirect way. if i had to choose a band i'm weirdly getting they might be giants. that said if he ever really listened to conan gray or mitski it would be so over for him.

#literally the urge to type bobby baby for every answer. he is so. bobby baby :(#i think bobby is autistic actually. have realized that just now #these guys make me crazy. every time i think i don't have more to say abt them. well #also adding birdhouse in your soul to my bobby playlist brb #ALSO on music. literally both of them are SOO take your mama by the scissor sisters core. that's where the overlap lives #ted talks #rafael barba #svu #company #@alex

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matchamilkislover · 5 months

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In The Darkest Corners, 8.

pairing: vi x fem!oc (reader with a name)

warnings: mature themes, just an overall minors beware, violence, just general arcane-ness.

word count: 1538

synopsis: it always gets better before it gets worse.

author’s note: i put in a small bit of happiness in this one. as a treat. you’re welcome :)

don’t forget to read the other parts first!!

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ

Vi and Olive ventured into Piltover as quietly they could, Olive biting her lip and swallowing cries of pain from her leg. The farther they walked, the more she began to falter, and each step felt like it may be her last before she finally collapsed. Vi kept sending her worried glances from where she supported her.

“Ol, you’re hurt, we need to stop,” Vi urged, trying to slow them to a stop. Olive gritted her teeth and kept moving.

“No, we can’t. We’re almost there, and stopping would be too risky,” she replied, hissing when she took another step but not stopping. Vi sighed but kept with her, supporting as much of her weight as she could without fully carrying Olive — she had a feeling her companion would resist that as well. Finally, they turned onto a lamplight street lined with giant gated homes, and Olive took an audible breath.

“This is it. Her house is right over there,” Olive said, pointing to what looked like the largest house on the block. Vi wasn’t sure whether to laugh or roll her eyes. “We’ll have to go around the back and climb onto the balcony. Something tells me her mom won’t be all that happy to see me,” she continued, picking up the pace. Vi was taken aback.

“Climb? Seriously?” She raised an eyebrow and looked Olive up and down. Olive shrugged.

“I’ve done it loads of times. It can’t be that hard,” Olive replied. “Come on, we don’t want anyone to spot us.”

Olive was wrong. As it turns out, it was very hard to climb a balcony after getting slammed to the ground and your leg slashed with explosive bits of metal and glass, even if you’d done it a hundred times. After watching Olive try over and over again to launch herself onto the wall, Vi sighed and walked over to stop her. Without a word, she grabbed the shorter confidently and threw her over her shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes. Ignoring Olive’s hushed cries and protests, she casually scaled the wall with one arm while the other held Olive securely against her. When they reached the balcony, Vi hauled them gently over the railing and set Olive down on her good leg. Olive immediately turned and whacked her on the arm, glaring with her eyebrows furrowed.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! Why would you do that?!?!” She accused in what seemed to be some sort of whisper yell.

“You were taking too long,” Vi replied with a shrug. “Would you rather I not help you and have us get caught?”

“There is a difference between helping me and throwing me ov-“ Olive’s rant was cut short by the sound of the glass balcony door being kicked open. Olive spun around to see just who she was looking for standing there, aiming a shotgun at the pair of them.

“Caitlyn?”

“Olive?” Caitlyn’s face went slack, and she lowered her weapon. She sputtered for a moment from shock, looking Olive up and down wildly like she couldn’t believe it was really her. Her face broke out into a smile. “Olive!” she gushed, dropping the gun to run over to Olive and squish her into a hug. “I thought I might never see you again!” Olive immediately sank into the tight hug, a smile she hadn’t felt in a long time spreading over her face. After what Olive was sure must have been quite a while, the two finally pulled apart.

“Where have you been? I kept thinking I would see you again eventually, but…” Caitlyn trailed off. Olive sighed.

“I couldn’t come back. Not after what happened. We’re actually here because, well…we need your help.”

—

After Olive explained the whole situation to Caitlyn, the latter sat silently on her bed for a good few minutes, contemplating.

“So you want me to go through my mom, the great iceberg, and convince her to let you have an audience with the council, to bargain with the gemstone that we can’t tell anyone about beforehand?” She asked, seeming to question the scenario. Olive and Vi looked at each other, a grimace on Olive’s face.

“Look, we know it sounds ridiculous, but unless we want everything to go up in flames, there’s nothing else we can do,” Olive pleaded, reaching out to touch Caitlyn’s hand.

“Silco’s done enough already. Without interference from Piltover, he’ll destroy anyone left in his way. Including topside,” Vi cut in. “There’s no other choice.”

Caitlyn sighed. “Alright. I will have a talk with her. In the meantime, you need to get that leg fixed up and some rest,” she said, eyeing Olive’s leg. She had been so distracted, Olive had nearly forgotten the searing pain going down her calf. Nearly. “I’ll bring you supplies. Can you do it on your own or…” Caitlyn trailed off, looking back and forth from Olive to Vi. It was clear from her body language that she still didn’t trust Vi, but trusted Olive enough to not outright question her judgment — at least not at the moment.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it,” Vi replied. She was talking to Caitlyn, but she only looked at Olive.

“Ooohkay…?” Caitlyn said, raising an eyebrow before gently getting up off the bed and exiting the room to assumably grab a first aid kit.

“I think your friend doesn’t like me,” Vi said to Olive, only half joking.

“It’s not that, she’s just…never met someone from the Undercity before. Especially living with a council member for a mom, you can imagine she doesn’t exactly have the best impression,” Olive said, sighing. “I didn’t…before.” She looked at Vi with a gentle expression, like she was waiting for Vi’s reaction.

“I’ve always thought the same thing about topsiders. Look where we are now,” Vi replied, shrugging. “I guess we were both wrong.” A soft smile appeared on her lips.

“Maybe.” Olive replied quietly. Before either of them could say anything else, Caitlyn loudly reentered the room, carrying hoards of medical supplies.

“I took whatever I could find,” she said nervously. Olive held back a giggle.

“Thanks Cait, really,” Olive said, smiling. Caitlyn nodded, shot another uncertain look towards Vi, and then turned and walked straight out of the room — presumably to go sacrifice her ass to her mother for the two of them. Once she was gone, Olive and Vi looked at each other in sync and both laughed.

Olive was no longer laughing once Vi was picking debris out of her leg. She winced and let out a sharp hiss of pain when Vi got a particularly stuck shard of glass out.

“I’m almost done,” Vi said in a surprisingly soothing voice. She looked up at Olive when she spoke, her eyes filled with something Olive hadn’t seen before. Olive bit her bottom lip and nodded, closing her eyes when another piece was pulled out. By the time Vi was done cleaning and fixing up her leg, Olive was out of breath, and her eyes were red from the tears she had been holding back. Vi looked up worriedly, looking like she was about to move or say something when the door suddenly opened again.

“I don’t know how, but I convinced her. We’ll be at the next council meeting!” Caitlyn exclaimed, a shocked smile on her face. Olive returned the smile.

“You’re amazing, Cait,” she said, about to stand to hug her again before thinking better of it.

“Anyways, I’m assuming you two will be staying here because…well, you know. The only guest room we have ready right now is the one next door to mine, but-“ Olive cut her off with a wave.

“We’ll be fine. Don’t even worry about it, you’ve done enough,” Olive said. “Vi, why don’t you go on ahead. I think Cait and I have some catching up to do.” She turned to Vi and smiled expectantly. Vi nodded and stood to leave, her hand grazing over Olive’s as she moved. As soon as the door closed behind her, Caitlyn’s interrogation began.

“Tell. Me. Everything.”

—

“…and I think that’s everything!” Olive finished her lengthy explanation of the last year of her life with a heavy sigh. Caitlyn gawked.

“That is most certainly not everything! What is going on with pinkie over there??” Caitlyn said, quieting herself as if Vi could hear them through the thick, grand walls.

“What do you mean?” Olive replied, trying to seem clueless. Her blushing face betrayed her.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Olive Whitlock. I have never seen two people with so much tension in my goddamn life!”

Olive laughed nervously. “We’re just friends, really,” she continued, trying to convince herself as well as Caitlyn.

“Bullshit.”

“I-“ Olive cut herself off with a sigh. “She could never see me like that. As long as I get to know her, I don’t care,” she continued, looking down at her fumbling hands.

“You’re so clueless, Ol,” Caitlyn replied with a sigh.

“Cut it out!” Olive couldn’t help but start giggling. Before long, the two girls had dissolved into laughter.

And even if it was just for a moment, Olive felt like maybe everything could be okay again. Like it used to be.

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shipskicksandgiggles · 1 year

Text

Under the Protection of Heaven also on ao3

When Steve was young, his parents had a habit of dropping him off at his nonna’s house.

His father’s mother, someone who had seen too much in her life, who disapproved of how much her son traveled, but loved her only grandchild more than anything.

Steve loved going over to her apartment as a child. It was small, their family could have afforded to put her in a larger place, but it was what she wanted. After her husband died, she found she didn’t need much space.

She had her small TV, a couple shelves full of her favorite books, and cabinets full of photos. Photos she loved to show Steve when he asked.

Photos of his father when he was young, his grandfather. Her wedding photos along with his parent’s. Memories frozen on film, looked upon with laughter and tears.

Richard Harrington hadn’t been a religious man since Steve couldn’t remember when, another thing his nonna disapproved of. She was a devout Catholic, something she made Steve aware of even if he wouldn’t step foot in a church until a week after she died.

She told him Bible stories about a man who forgave no matter what, about miracles performed for those who listened, about angels who delivered messages to those who needed to hear them.

There were also the angels who were protectors.

“You are loved by heaven, Steffi,” she said to him once. “Do you know how I know?”

“How?” he asked.

“Do you see this?” She poked at a mole on his arm. “Or these?” His hand, his ankle, his nose.

He was giggling. “They’re moles, nonna.”

“They’re angel kisses, bambino. Someone in heaven is watching over you, keeping you safe.”

She died when was twelve years old. Steve was old enough to not forget her words, but not old enough to understand what her loss would mean just yet.

He thought about her all the time.

There were a few years where, when he thought about her, it was in the context of how much he missed her and her photo albums that his father insisted on putting in storage rather than displaying them.

At least he didn’t throw them away.

Then came the Upside Down. There came heartbreak and fire and monsters, and Steve thought about her more and more.

About what she said about angels protecting him.

Steve had moles all over his body. His favorites were the ones on his nose, cheek, and ankle, but then there were some along his shoulders and near the bottom of his back. A cluster at the base of this neck. Two in a line under his jaw. Even scattered across his torso, arms, legs, and hands.

Someone really wanted him to survive all of this.

He never mentioned it to anyone else. Most of the party would have brushed it off as superstition anyways, always needing to have a scientific explanation for things, so he kept it to himself.

Until one day, he didn’t.

Nancy, Robin, and Dustin stood at his side in the Upside Down during a fateful spring break in 1986.

There had been three mysterious deaths, with a fourth on the way if their suspicions were correct.

The kids were on the run since their D&D club was suspected of the killings. Three of the older members were already behind bars.

This was it. Their last chance to prove it wasn’t their fault.

Steve sent the girls ahead to kill Vecna, shotguns and Molotov cocktails loaded and primed. He stayed behind with Dustin, a distraction, the bait, to make sure they could get the job done.

With his nail bat at the ready, he was prepared for anything to go wrong.

And of course, something did go wrong.

The trailer they set up camp at, the location of the first murder, had been overrun by demonic bats. Steve had jumped into the fray, pushing Dustin back to the other side of the gate and took off running. He got the attention of the bats by banging his bat against the lid of a trash can, effectively drawing them out.

He’d be surrounded at any second, but needed Dustin to be safe, needed Nancy and Robin to kill the bastard once and for all.

If he needed to die for them? So be it.

Steve accepted his fate, turning to fight with what little energy he had left. He swung his bat left and right, taking down dozens of bats, but it didn’t seem to be making a dent in the swarm.

There was no way out. He prayed for the first time in years.

He prayed that his friends would make it out alive. He prayed that Max would be okay. He prayed that this would all be over soon, and everyone could go back to living their lives without the Upside Down and its monsters interfering.

Hopefully his own end would be quick, his angel kisses having been spent on keeping the people he loved safe until the end.

Suddenly, there was a flash of silver.

It was in stark contrast to the black wall of bats all around him. He almost thought he imagined it until he felt someone pressed up against his back.

There seemed to be a light holding the bats at bay.

Had he died? Was this Death come to escort him away from this plane of existence?

No, that couldn’t be it. He would have remembered dying.

He turned to see the figure, and was met with large, black wings.

Wings that were attached to a man, roughly his size, with long, curly hair and dark eyes.

An angel, Steve thought wildly.

“Stefano Harrington?” the angel asked.

Steve nodded, unable to produce a sound.

“I’m your guardian angel. My name is Eden, but you can call me Eddie. Carlotta Harrington sends her love.”

“It’s true,” he whispered. “Angels-”

“You are deeply loved by heaven, Stevie,” the angel, Eddie, assured him. “And you are under my protection.”

The flutter of wings became a comfort rather than the source of nightmares as Eddie wrapped his wings around the both of them. He pulled him close, and kissed him, long and hard on the lips.

The bats fell dead around them, but Steve hardly noticed. He was being kept safe for something larger than himself, and Eddie made sure of it.

#ellis writes #steddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson #guardian angel au #as in eddie is an actual angel

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mrswhozeewhatsis · 2 years

Text

Leave Unsaid Unspoken

A/N: This is the last of the requests I got when I put out the call. My brain went a weird way as it does, and this is the result. Special thanks to @idreamofhazeleyes and @negans-lucille-tblr for the beta help!!

Prompt: (from @fandomoniumflurry) "Chestervelle - baby daddy."

Summary: They don't talk about it.

Pairing: Sam x Jo, Dean x Jo

Warnings: I will put warnings in the tags because they will be spoilers. This is angsty as hell, though.

Word count: 958 words

They didn’t talk about it when Dean threw scissors, letting Sam win the battle for who got to share the massive king-sized bed with Jo. Maybe Sam hadn’t figured out that Dean always throws scissors when he’s willing to lose. Or maybe he had and just didn’t want to look at it too closely. Either way, the whole thing had been performance. All three of them could have slept in the thing without touching each other, it was that big, but Dean refused to jam himself into Jo’s space. Sleeping next to her was just a bad idea all around. Taking the loss would mean privacy, too. No worries about who might notice where his eyes rested if there was no one to rest them on and no one to notice. Besides, Sam would probably complain endlessly about his Gigantor body being stuck in either the teeny loveseat or ultra-modern, kind of stiff recliner. Better for Dean to take the hit.

They didn’t talk about it the next morning when they all looked the worse for wear because no one got much sleep. Sam and Jo had a certain glow about them, of course, but Dean was just miserable and muttered something about noise-canceling headphones if this was going to be a regular thing between the two of them and went out for breakfast. He kept the ache in his chest to himself, knowing that Jo chose the better brother. He stood by his decision. He didn’t even bitch about his sore back and achy knees.

They didn’t talk about it when the damn ghost took Jo and stashed her somewhere in the goddamn walls. There wasn't even a joke about how Sam’s girlfriends had a greater-than-normal chance of dying even without a serial killing ghost. There was a job to be done and they weren’t going to waste time standing around talking about feelings or whatever. They needed to get Jo back, and they needed to do it before Ellen found her way from Nebraska all the way to Philadelphia and kicked all their asses.

They didn’t talk about it when the ghost was finally trapped in his own cellar of horrors in the sewer below the building and cement was flowing down the chute into the tunnels below. It took a good half hour of standing around and watching the mixer spin, but no one mentioned the way Sam was looking at Jo when Jo wasn’t looking at Sam. There was a worry that someone would see them doing it and call the cops, and they chatted about that, but no one saw them, and no sirens approached. They sealed the trap door shut with the dregs from the mixer and Dean called it a job done well.

They didn’t talk about it when Jo launched herself at Dean after Sam left to ditch the cement truck. Dean tried, but Jo only mumbled words like “scared,” “safe,” and finally, “need you.” Damn him, but Dean was too weak to deny her when her lips were sucking on his neck and her hands were under his shirt, much less when she put his hand down her pants and moaned with him when he felt how much she wanted him. In the short hour they had, Jo made Dean feel like he was worthy and good for the first time in his life. The feeling ended soon after their clothes were back on and Sam returned, pausing to give Jo a sweet kiss before packing his duffle.

Nobody talked about anything during the long, silent drive from Philly back to Nebraska, with Ellen sitting shotgun and filling the car with her anger and fear. When they got back to the Roadhouse, there were suddenly other, more surprising topics of discussion, even if Jo hadn’t told them both to just go.

A couple of months later, after the demon riding Sam tortured Jo and shot Dean, the two of them had a few minutes to talk. Of all the things they talked about, though, what had happened between them was not one of them. Dean didn’t tell Jo that he still dreamed about it, replaying every moment almost every night. Dean decided that not talking about it with each other meant they certainly didn’t need to talk about it with Sam. However, Jo talked about how she’d been feeling a bit under the weather recently and that the other servers in the bar had started laughing at her for not having a drink or two with the gang each night. Dean paused, staring into Jo’s quietly terrified face, his eyes briefly dropping to her stomach, and sighed. He then told her that he was sure Sam would be thrilled to hear and talk about her nausea, her cravings, and what foods give you the most vitamins and minerals per serving or whatever – you know, once he was himself, again.

Jo stared at Dean for a long time, not speaking. With her eyes, she begged Dean to step up and fight for what she was trying to give him, even if it would be an unholy mess, but Dean didn’t have the words to explain why it was better this way. Dean just gave her a sad smile, told her he’d do whatever he could to help them through what was to come, and left to go save his brother.

When Sam never talked about it, Dean sent a text to Jo, just to check in.

Dean: Sam hasn’t mentioned hearing from you. You okay?

Jo: Had a bad hunt. Was in the hospital for a while. I’m good, though. All back to normal, killing what needs killing.

Dean: Shit. You want to talk about it?

Jo: I really don’t.

Ye olde forever tags list: @datfandombitch @manawhaat @sammit-janet @littlegreenplasticsoldier @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @iwantthedean @growningupgeek @feelmyroarrrr @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @chelsea072498 @helvonasche @rizlowwritessortof @wheresthekillswitch @sandlee44 @icequeen1371 @tistai @pie-and-pudding @thelittleredwhocould @supernaturallymarvellous @ellen-reincarnated1967 @notnaturalanahi @salt-n-burn-em-all @fumar-et-flores-blog @chalicia @smalltowndivaj @littlefreakingfangirl @straightestgay-voice @percywinchester27 @vanessa-monique-blog @lynn1712 @gallxntdean @antares1980 @hunterpuff @beffyblueeyes-blog @sammiesamness @cassieraider @emoryhemsworth @speakinvain @andkatiethings @latetothewinchesterparty @winchesterprincessbride @drakelover78 @calaofnoldor @idreamofplaid

#chestervelle #dean x jo #sam x jo #jo x dean #jo x sam #dean angst #mrswhozeewhatsis writes #tw: cheating #tw: pregnancy #tw: miscarriage

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countrymusiclover · 1 year

Text

10 - What Am I To Him?

Part 11

Other Hoyt's Off Limits

Tag list- just ask to be added @stoneyggirl2 @dragonixfrye

5 years ago

John Wayne was off helping his father with something, leaving me to sit out on the front porch of the caretaker's cabin by myself until he came back. Hugging my knees to my chest I was wearing one of his spare jackets since it was cold tonight. “What’s a pretty thing like you doing on our property?”

Lifting my head up from my knees I saw a figure in the dark until my eyes adjusted seeing it was his brother Rand. “You’re brother invited me over but got called to help by your daddy.” JW said he preferred to be out here by himself late like this.

“Well if that’s a lie then you’re a trust passer on our land.” He smirked, swinging his ax around in his hands. “Here I was thinking’ Blake already had a girl. I guess I can’t blame him for wanting two at a time.”

Rolling my eyes I didn’t want to talk about my sister with him. I could care less who she dated and what she did with them. Blake was good from what I had seen but he wasn’t going to make his father happy unless he took over the ranch. “It’s not Blake, I’m here with JW actually.”

“So you’ve got a thing for cowboys huh. Well I bet I can rock your little world better than he can.” He smirked quickly running up the stairs, securing his arms around my waist. I stumbled backwards, getting trapped in between him and the wall.

Struggling against his grip he had me caged in while he started to remove my jacket. “Rand, let me go!” I grunted not having as much muscles as him so he was able to remove my jacket but before he could tear my shirt he smirked, shoving his lips onto mine.

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy this. I’ll call you darlin’ if you like that.” He teased in my ear whispering low with me squirming underneath him until a gunshot rang behind us.

Rand slightly pulled away from me allowing me the chance to see his brother standing in the headlights of the rover holding his shotgun. “Get off her, Rand or I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

“Awe come on, bro. I was showing your girl a good time.” He slumped his shoulders watching JW slowly walk up the stairs aiming the shotgun at him until he separated from me.

John Wayne glared at his brother until he headed off back to where he came from. He slowly sat the shotgun down staring at me. “You alright, Mal. He didn’t hurt you too bad did he?”

Wrapping my arms around myself I noticed my shirt was slightly torn but other than that he didn’t really do much. “He didn’t hurt me, JW. Thank you for protecting me though. I didn’t think you’d be back.”

“I got done early and then I heard your screaming coming this way.” He responded by pulling me into a hug. Wrapping my arms around his neck I laid my head on his chest sighing in relief. “Don’t you worry, Mallory. A cowboy will always protect you.”

Starting to enter the sheriff station my phone rang off in my pocket. Answering it I didn’t bother looking at the caller ID just pressing it to my ear. “This is detective Mallory, who is this?”

“Oh and here I was thinking you wouldn’t have forgotten your girlfriend, Mal.” I recognized the voice of the last living Kleinsasser child, Cheyenne.

Leaning against the stone wall I held my phone up to my ear with my shoulder. My hair was completely loose down my shoulders not expecting her to be calling me or heck even have my number still. We haven’t talked since she killed JW. “Hey a hey, what exactly are you calling about this time? Also how did you get my number? I thought you and I agreed to not talk to each other anymore.”

“I kept your number in my phone and there’s something we need to talk about at the ranch. Are you free to come by today?” She asked me through the phone.

Throwing my head back I sighed heavily not wanting to get into whatever drama she was wanting today. Ever since my sister and I had met her family it always came with trouble shortly afterwards. “I don’t know. I have a busy day at work and then a date later tonight.” It would just be easier to hang up the phone then go back to that ranch.

“I promise it will be quick. It’s just something that I found and I wanted to know if it was true.” She pleaded with me where I finally caved entering the old address which felt strange. The drive was a lot longer than I remember it to be before I climbed out of my truck seeing her leaning against the front door.

“So what is it you need to tell me, Kliensasser?” I asked shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans standing at the edge of the steps.

Cheyenne opened the front door and I followed shortly afterwards. The two of us walked through the living room until she opened the door to the office handing me a paper. “I found this in my daddy’s office. It says that it is a wedding contract meaning if JW got the ranch. Then you and your children would get the ranch.”

“Cheyenne, I don’t understand. We never married and we certainly didn’t have any kids. I am still a virgin.” I spat not believing what she was trying to tell me. Throwing my hands up seeing her sternly looking at me.

“I know you didn’t sleep with him, Mallory. But I just need you to tell me if you want anything to do with the ranch. According to this contract my brother was going to give you this place when he died.” She huffed, flipping her hair over her shoulders. “But I guess you don’t care now what with you hanging around that new sheriff in your town. Did my brother mean nothing to you!”

Turning around on my heels I didn’t need to hear anymore of this. “Of course he meant something up until the moment he killed his own brother and then Rosie. You know it’s because of this family that I am terrified someone may not like me ever again. So goodbye Cheyenne. You can have the ranch to yourself just like you wanted!”

Slamming my truck door closed I just hit the steering wheel a couple of times out of frustration. Why would she think I would come after her family’s ranch. Is that all I ever was or will be to someone. Someone they have to worry about taking what they want out of life. Maybe Beau is just using me to get to my sister. Driving out to his place it was dark by the time I got out of the truck seeing him sitting in a lawn chair with another one pulled up next to him. “Hey Mallory. I didn’t see you at work today. Is everything alright?”

“My past came back to accuse me of something I never wanted in the first place.” I scoffed feeling some nervous tear’s starting to slip down my face at the thought of my next question. “Beau, are you just using me to get close to my sister….because honestly everyone in my past has used me or lied to me and I just need to know.”

He sat his beer bottle down on the ground quickly rising to his feet drawing me in for a hug. “Mallory, no way would I ever do that to you. I care about you a lot. So don’t think for a second I would ever cheat on you or do anything to hurt you.” Wrapping my arms around his neck I sobbed into his shirt feeling him wrap his arms around my waist.

“Thank you, Beau. I….I’m just afraid to open my heart so easily again like I did. I don’t want to get hurt again like with John Wayne.” I mutter breaking the hug still letting his hands rest on my waist staring down at me with those green eyes of his.

The Texas sheriff smiled, raising his right hand to my cheek, tucking hair behind my ear. “Trust me, Mallory. I won’t break your heart. In fact I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“Beau I, “ I was truly at a loss for words at what he just said. We hadn’t been dating that long. A couple months at best I would say. Yet here he was standing in front of me saying he might be in love with me.

“You don’t have to say it if you’re not ready. I totally get that given what you have been through. I just wanted you to know-“ I cut off his ramblings leaning up on my toes suddenly and slowly crashing my lips onto his. He gasped stumbling a little before I felt his other hand come to cradle my face in his hands, deepening the kiss.

We were so focused on the kiss with me gripping his shoulders and one of his hands gangling itself in my hair that we didn’t hear a car pull up. A car door slammed shut and someone gasping is what drove us apart seeing my sister standing there stunned holding a case of beer in her freehand. “Mallory, Beau. Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on because it looks like you’ve been lying this whole time!”

Beau and I just froze in our places as I muttered under my breath wishing we had a way out of this. “Oh where’s Cassie with a phone call when you need her?” Because I knew my sister would be furious to hear our little secret.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

Hey readers, to be honest I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to happen in this chapter except for another flashback of John Wayne and Mallory. Then I also wanted the ending with Jenny. So please send in ideas of what should happen in the next part because that would be super helpful

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multifandomrandomgirl · 9 months

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The Ropes That Bind US -Peter Tork x female!reader PART 12

Masterlist:

Taglist: @strawberry-sunset-skies

A few days had passed since Y/N and the boys had gone to the beach, they’d spent most of the time messing around the Pad. Davy gave Y/N a few of his old t-shirts which she hitched to fit better, Peter and Mike found a couple of theirs too which she could use as a dress top. Y/N, Peter and Micky had spent a lot of time playing music together, they had convinced her to sing ‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis which had made Peter fall for her more, her voice was velvet-like whilst singing that song and he couldn’t help but be in awe of her.

They were all currently sitting at the kitchen table, Y/N had made them all breakfast, which despite having been made from whatever scraps they had left, tasted better than anything any of them could have put together. While they were eating, an envelope fell through the letterbox at the front door, Davy had gone to pick it up, and his eyes widened when he realised it was addressed to Y/N.

“Hey, Y/N. This came for you.” He passed the letter to the girl as he sat back down and dug back into his breakfast. Mike and Peter glanced at each other nervously. Y/N thanked Davy and then slid her finger under the seal of the envelope, she pulled out a piece of paper, she read it in silence before throwing it down and fleeing the Pad via the backdoor which lead straight to the beach. The boys looked at each other in confusion, Mike who had sat to the left of Y/N picked the letter up before either Davy or Micky could stick their noses into it.

Mike scanned the letter, and sure enough, he found what he had feared he would. It was a simple and plain letter, nothing much had been said.

Dear Y/N.

Nice to know you’re alive.

It’s also nice to know you’ve found friends as you may need them.

We no longer have space for you, we moved on after a month as we knew we had no hopes of finding you. Sorry, but we don’t need you back in our lives. Stay where you are if they want to keep you, but don’t come home or write here ever again.

Mom and Dad.

Mike frowned at the half-arsed note he was holding in his hand, he glanced out the windows by the bandstand to see Y/N storm across the sand, towards a rock.

“I think, we should give her some space, let her come to us when she’s ready to talk. None of you are to touch this, okay?” Michael gave his three bandmates a stern look as he put the letter back into its envelope, placing it back on the table. “I mean it if I find out one of you three so much as even breathed near it, there’ll be trouble. Now, let’s eat and wash up. I don’t want to hear anything about the letter. Don’t even ask her, let her speak first.” Michael picked his fork up once more, eating what was left on his plate. The four Monkees finished their food and cleared up in silence, Peter went to stand on the bandstand once they were done, staring out of the window in hopes he could see Y/N, Mike looked at the bassist sympathetically and walked over, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sure she’ll be back up here soon, Shotgun. Just, don’t push her when she comes back, give her time, but just make sure she’s okay, I think she may need one of your hugs.” Michael stood with Peter a while longer. Half an hour of pacing around the Pad later, Y/N returned, and all four boys’ heads snapped to look at her. Peter walked over to her slowly, not wanting to overwhelm her or scare her off. Y/N made eye contact with Peter and began to sob, the blond ran over to her and scooped her up bridal style, holding her close to his chest as he made his way over to the sofa and sat down still cradling her.

“Shh, hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m here, I’ve got you.” Peter rocked her back and to whilst stroking her hair. The other three sat down cautiously on the other sofa, they decided that leaving Peter to it was the best idea. “Hey, Y/N, deep breaths, okay? Come on, I’ve got you, you can talk to me. You’re going to be okay.” He rubbed circles on her left hand, her breathing became less rapid and eventually after ten minutes of Peter trying, she calmed down slightly.

“I’m sorry, I’m- I’ve- they’ve moved on. They don’t want me to come home, they don’t want me to ever contact them again.” Y/N burst out into tears again, Peter tried to comfort her but this time, it was no use. The poor girl was heartbroken, none of the boys quite knew what to do.

“Hey, wanna see my impression of the inimitable James Cagney?” Micky left no room for an answer as he began to put on his little act. “Okay, you dirty rat, I’m gonna get you, you dirty rat.” Y/N did not stop crying.

“C’mon man, she just isn’t in the mood. You already used that on me in that episode where I got ripped off with my song.” Mike rolled his eyes at Micky’s terrible attempt at making the girl stop crying. Micky sat back down defeated, he thought it was funny.

Davy stepped up next, he tried a dance, which didn’t work. He sang Blue Suede Shoes in a strange voice, it didn’t help either. He sat back down and folded his arms. This left Mike. Mike stepped up from the sofa and crouched down in front of Peter and Y/N, he place a hand on Y/N’s shoulder. “Hey Y/N, look, I’m sure you don’t want to talk about it, but I’m going for a walk if you want to come, see if that helps, yeah?” Michael said softly, Y/N twisted her head and nodded. She detangled herself from Peter’s arms and followed Michael to the door, the pair grabbing their shoes before making their way out of the door.

Peter’s face fell as he realised that he had failed in making Y/N feel better, his lip trembled slightly. Micky and Davy realised this and rushed to his side, hoping to prevent the boy from crying.

“I messed up, didn’t I? How is it Mike can calm her down but I can’t? Did I say something wrong?” The tears spilt from the bassist’s eyes, Davy pulled Peter into a side hug and Micky rubbed patterns on his back.

“You’ve not done anything wrong, Peter. She’s having a hard day is all, you did great earlier, and you completely calmed her down, but I think she’s struggling right now babe, she’s just been told that her family don’t want her back. I know you’re upset, but you’ve done such a good job, okay? I’m sure that once she and Mike get back, she’ll come and talk to you again, but for now, let’s leave Mikey to play the role of a father.” Peter calmed down slightly at Micky’s words. Pete nodded and snuggled into Davy more, tucking his head in between the shorter man’s head and shoulder, Davy wrapped his arm around Peter and held him as tight as he could. Micky slotted into the gap between Peter and the arm of the sofa and leant his chin on Peter’s shoulder, Peter slid his arm behind Micky’s waist in response.

-----

Mike and Y/N walked along the beach in silence for a good ten minutes before either of them spoke up.

“I’m guessing that you got me here to talk about the letter?” Y/N twisted her head to look at the Texan who had been concentrating on the sand. Mike’s head snapped up and his face flushed slightly, that had been his intention, but not in a bad way.

“Y/N, look. I’m really sorry. I read the letter this morning before you came back, the boys were probably going to pick it up had I not, and I know what them three are like. They’re sweet but a bit much sometimes. Anyway, I decided to move it, I’m sorry for having read it, I know I made a mistake in that. I was just worried about you when you ran out.” Mike rambled, Y/N shook her head and giggled.

“Mike, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you read it rather than one of the others. You’re right, they are lovely, but I know Pete wouldn’t panic and I don’t even want to think about how the other two would have reacted.” Y/N smiled at him. “Thank you for keeping it away from them.”

“I mainly brought you out here because I wanted to ask you if you’d like to stay? You’re more than welcome to stay, we’d love you to stay, I mean it. All of us, not just Peter. It’s nice having another mature adult around the house, and obviously, we know that Peter loves having you around. Micky and Davy love you being here too, I’d rather not question why. Just, if Micky offers you any dodgy-looking drinks, don’t take it. He likes to experiment if we have to put it into a word. Just stay away from it for your safety. Anyway, I digress, what I mean is, we’re more than happy to keep you if you want to stay. The four of us boys are like an adopted family and I’m more than happy to adopt you into our strange little family. When we were writing that letter, I kept telling myself, that I had already adopted you into our family, but I knew it was selfish to think that when you were hopeful of going home. But no matter what Y/N, we’ll always have space for you, we want you here, okay? We really do, so, if you’d like, you’re more than welcome to stay with us.” Michael had stopped now, he had a look on his face which showed how serious he was about Y/N living with him and his boys for good.

“Wait, really? You’d be willing to let me stay?” She gasped, Mike nodded, trying to not giggle at her reaction. “I mean, of course! I’d love to stay, if you’re really willing to put up with me! I love living with you guys, I know it’s not been long since I came here, but it’s so great! Miky and Davy are hilarious, and I will avoid any dodgy drinks from Micky, thanks for that heads up! You’re really great, especially when it comes to wanting to have more mature conversations? I love the other three, but I don’t think they know the definition of mature sometimes. Anyway, then there’s Peter. He’s helped me so much, both here and when we were being held hostage. Peter’s so sweet, he’s hilarious and I love spending time with him, I really do.” Mike pretended that he didn’t see the blush that decorated her cheeks as she spoke about Peter. “But, I would love to join your strange little family, I’m sure you’d love another mature adult in there, take some stress away from you.” Y/N blabbered, which made Mike laugh.

“Where’d you get the idea that I’m the acting dad?”

“Well, from how you act around the boys, and from the stories Peter told me about you guys, for example, he told me about the time he was forced to copy a really famous painting and then got tied up, he told me about how you helped him, or when he got kidnapped when trying to help that Professor, he said it was all you in plotting to save him. You’re a right dad, Mike.” Y/N shook her head, laughing at the frown on Mike’s face.

“Perhaps I am. Anyway, it’d be great to have another mature adult, as you put it, around the house. But no, I am extremely serious about keeping you, you have no choice! You have to stay with us.” Mike laughed, Y/N pulled him into a hug, he hugged her back equally as tight as she was hugging him.

“Thank you, Michael. I really appreciate it, I’d love to stay with you boys!”

“It’s really not a problem! I haven’t actually discussed it with them because I knew they’d be all in your face begging you to stay, but I know they’re going to be happy. Actually, maybe we shouldn’t tell them and see how long it takes for them to clock onto the fact that you’re staying. It’d probably take them several months to realise because they’re idiots.”

“Michael! Those are our kids you’re talking about, be polite!” Y/N laughed, jokingly elbowing the Texan in the ribs, Mike rolled his eyes whilst laughing like a maniac.

“I’m not wrong though! I’m not taking it back!” Mike grinned.

“I can’t believe you! Those poor boys, what did they ever do to you?” Y/N pretended, and failed, to frown at Mike, but she was laughing way too much at this point.

“Hmm.” Mike scratched his chin, pretending to think about things the boys had done that made them idiotic. He could give many answers as they did tend to get themselves into a lot of trouble, but he didn’t answer.

“See! Our boys did nothing wrong.” Y/N really lost it at this point, she had to sit down because she couldn’t stop laughing and it was taking all the air out of her. Mike joined her, as his stomach began to hurt from the hysterical laughing he was doing.

“Mike?” Y/N managed to calm herself down.

“Yeah?”

“You really are the best dad to them, even if you’re mean about them behind their backs.” Y/N burst into a new fit of giggles, setting Mike back off.

“Oh screw you.” Mike managed to choke out in between giggles.

They slowly made their way back up to the Pad where Peter had fallen asleep on the sofa, he was still sandwiched between Davy and Micky who were still rubbing circles on his back and hands.

“We didn’t have the heart to wake him.” Micky explained when Mike and Y/N entered the room, Mike had given them a funny look. “He was a little upset and thought he’d done something wrong when you left the Pad with Mike.” Micky looked at Y/N. Her face fell and she crouched down in front of the sofa and stroked Peter’s cheek.

“I am so so sorry Pete. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just needed fresh air. I am sorry, and I hope I didn’t hurt you too much.” She whispered just loud enough for the three awake Monkees to hear. They all smiled to themselves, she’d felt so bad when she realised that Pete had been upset, and even though she hadn’t been at fault for it, she had been so quick to panic and apologise, even though it really wasn’t her fault. They could all see she did really care for him and it made them all happy.

“It’s okay.” Peter’s sleepy voice piped up, the added pressure on his skin had woken the man up, he pulled himself out of Davy’s side and sat upright, he gave a lazy smile to the girl.

“Hey Y/N, how’s about you tell the boys the good news?” Mike put a hand on Y/N’s shoulder and gave her a small nod.

“So, Michael and I talked when we went for a walk and he asked me if I wanted to stay here, and I accepted his generous offer. So, now you guys are stuck with me!” She grinned, this gained Peter’s attention, his eyes were still droopy but he clumsily tried to hug Y/N but fell onto her as she sat on the floor, she managed to stay sat upright and grabbed Peter to steady him as he landed on her knee.

“Yay! We’re keeping you!” Peter nuzzled into the crook of her neck and fell back asleep, Y/N shook her head affectionately at him. Mike moved forward and lifted him up so Y/N could move onto the sofa, he placed Peter back down so that his head was laid across Y/N’s knees and the rest of his body was laid across the rest of the sofa. Y/N ran her fingers through his hair and smiled down at the sleepy boy.

“Welcome permanently to the Monkees family!” Micky and Davy said at the same time, giggling as they hadn’t planned that to happen.

“I think you’re right Mike, they seem to share a single brain cell.” Y/N laughed.

“Hey!” The two youngest Monkees exclaimed.

“They really do.” Mike shook his head.

“Hey!” They said again, louder this time.

“Shh, don’t wake Peter up!” Y/N waggled her finger at the two boys who were now sat on the floor pouting at her.

#peter tork #davy jones #michael nesmith #micky dolenz #the monkees #peter tork is so adorable omfg

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cheerfulmelancholies · 9 months

Text

Mysterious New Member-Chapter 11

As was becoming the norm, Diana found her father in the garage yet again, toiling away in his work area. The Firebird she'd spied several months ago looked brand new, the once weathered frame restored to its former glory. The overhead lights gave it a luminous finish, the pearlescent white paint glistening. Of course, no Firebird was complete without a screaming fiery chicken on the hood.

As much as his near-obsession got on her nerves, she had to admit: he'd done a damn good job.

"Knock, knock," she said, rapping her knuckles against an old Volvo. His next project, most likely. She received a grunt in return. Not surprising, considering they hadn't spoken much lately. She let out a snort at the realization of where her 'determination' came from. "You spend too long like that, and you'll have a hump like a camel," she said to his hunched form, currently leaning over the engine.

"I take it you're only here to piss me off?" he asked without looking.

"No," she sighed, trying not to let her stubbornness kick in. "I came to check up on you. You... know you've been in here for like, three days, right? I only ever see you when you're going to the bathroom or grabbing something from the fridge." Nothing but the sound of him working. "Do you need any help?" she tried.

"Diana..."

"What? I'm just trying to help. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I'm worried?"

He stopped working and stretched, back and joints cracking. "About what?"

"You and Mom fight like cats and dogs now. I'm not saying she doesn't get her licks in, but..." She steeled herself. As much as she didn't want to do it, he needed to hear it. It was her last resort. "Honestly? You've been kind of an asshole lately, and that's putting it nicely." She jolted when he slammed the hood.

They both stood in tense silence. Diana debated turning around and leaving. She watched her father's shoulders rise in time with a deep breath before he let it out.

"How about a ride?" He stared at his reflection in the windshield. He looked like he'd spent more than three days in a dingy garage. He had deep circles under his eyes, pale skin and his dark hair looked as greasy as the rags he'd used to sop up excess oil.

It took her a few moments to realize that nothing else was coming. "Um... what?" She didn't know what to say. His posture wasn't giving anything away and his strange new behavior was still unfamiliar to her. She couldn't pinpoint what he might've been thinking.

"The two of us haven't gone for a good, long drive in a looong time, kiddo. You used to have so much fun when you were little. You'd stick your head out of the window like a dog when you could. We wouldn't tell Mom how fast we were really going, it was our little secret." A ghost of a smile formed in the glass.

Diana blinked, finally understanding where this was going. It was his way of trying to apologize. Still unusual, but at least there was some part of her dad in there. She felt a faint smile pull on her lips. "Can I drive?"

"No."

A beat passed before they both chuckled, Diana climbing in to ride shotgun as he cleared away the tools.

--------

Diana jolted and sat up in bed, throwing the covers off in the process. She wasn't sure what had startled her, just that she was thankful she couldn't remember. She sat in the dark with her legs pulled against herself, waiting for the shivers to stop. When her nerves settled and the shadows of the room stopped churning she chanced a peek at the time.

Quarter after three. The worst possible time to wake up in the middle of the night. Too early to start, too late to be able to fall back asleep. Her only choice was to lie awake in bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to keep her clouded thoughts from becoming too clear. She wondered if the Battle Force often got woken up in the middle of the night to fight off their enemies. She'd much rather be dealing with aliens right now.

With a deep breath, she lowered herself onto the mattress and folded her arms behind her head. She felt the veins in her neck pulsing from the momentary panic and spent several minutes focusing on her breathing. When the thudding faded she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

Opening them again she stretched a hand towards the nightstand and swiped the worn leather journal off the surface. Maybe now she'd finally be able to get some clarity on its contents. She might even get an answer or two. She sat up and turned the light on to read. As usual, the only things that stood out to her were the increasingly frantic scratches that were notes and a few vague mentions here and there.

It was still just as much a mystery as always, only now, somehow it was even murkier. She gave up and placed it back on the nightstand.

As angry as she still was with Tezz and the others, she knew she needed to go back. This was a once in several lifetimes opportunity and she would not let herself throw it away because of one misdeed on their part.

Chapter 12: TBP

Chapter 10: here

#writers on tumblr #creative writing #my writing #mysterious new member #mnm #hot wheels battle force 5 #bf5 #fanfic

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skywlking · 1 year

Note

idk if you'd still be willing to do old ships lol but throw me karanahita and let me live with my memories lol

OF COURSE I WOULD 😭

gives nose/forehead kisses: karan and its always the holds the back of the head leans down a little type of forehead kiss ESPECIALLY when anahita's stressed or deep into work

gets jealous the most: KARAN. well .. both actually but karan is so angry and obvious and pouty about it he will sulk like a little child if she gives more attention to anyone

picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive: anahita's had to do this more times than she can count and she's tired of it probably

takes care of on sick days: karan tries but it ends up being him hovering stressed out by the bed while the staff handles it but when karan's sick anahita drops everything to do the cold compress and feed him soup and check his temp :(

drags the other person out into the water on beach day: first of all getting karan in flip flops and out of his louis vuittons is a task in itself but he'll do it for her, and even then he's gonna whine about ruining his hair in the water so she HAS to drag him

gives unprompted massages: karan. constantly. no its not just for sex ( ok like 60% of the time it is )

drives/rides shotgun: he ALWAYS drives if its not the driver, he loves it and he loves it Especially when she's riding shotgun

brings the other lunch at work: karan regularly forgets to eat but if they're working on set on the same movie and his pa gets him food he'll take it straight to her. otherwise in general she probably brings him food more often

has the better parental relationship: he has no parental relationships 😭 so anahita?

tries to start role-playing in bed: karan every fucking time and its always sooooooooo cheesy, like will literally bring up roles they've done in the past in movies like every single time

embarrassingly drunk dancer: karan's a table dancer when he's drunk and anahita can actually dance so yeah ... karan

still cries watching titanic: not the titanic but he'll cry during k3g every time

firmly believes in couples costumes: honestly none of them, they do enough of that in their work lives but if its a fun concept i can see them both being equally into it

breaks the expensive gift rule during christmas: BOTH THEY'RE SO BAD AT NOT GOING OVERBOARD WITH EACH OTHER

makes the other eat breakfast: anahita. karan doesn't know how to turn on the stove 😭

remembers anniversaries: anahita, he only remembers the main one ( 80% of the time, the other 20% is cause arjun reminded him ) and her birthday

brings up having kids: karan is terrified of being a dad because of his relationship with his own father but if anahita brought it up and was something she wanted i think he'd be willing to have the conversation

#s. karan & anahita.#i rly rambled here 😭

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xxcrazygoodxx · 1 year

Text

INTO HELL WE WALK

A Season Four Rewrite—10k Words [+ 10k]

——————————-

The next chapter of the Stranger Things Season 4 Rewrite

——————————-

Chapter Two

——————————-

Nancy had them go through the plan one last time and agree not to diverge from it before they set off. After she got confirmation, she opened the door, stepping out. Eddie took a deep breath in and followed the others out of the RV that they had parked on the side of the road, the trailer park just on the other side of the trees. They had dropped off Max, Lucas and Erica at the Creel Mansion a while ago and the sun had since set, plunging them all into darkness. It was exactly what they needed, but Eddie couldn’t help but feel as though the shadows were reaching out for him, clawing at his jacket, trying to settle deep within his heart.

He stayed close behind to Dustin, scared that he might lose the kid in the dark with all the camo they were all wearing. Eddie couldn’t even see Nancy, who was leading the charge. The only time he was able to see her was when there was enough parting in the trees to allow the moon light to shine down, before she was once again swallowed by the darkness. It was unsettling.

The trailer park slowly came into view, dim orange lights shined through some of the windows, but the majority of the park was asleep. They ran behind Max’s trailer, the soft sound of a t.v. could be heard and Eddie wondered if Max’s mother even knew her daughter wasn’t home.

Nancy looked around and nodded, letting them know the coast was clear, before darting across the yard to Eddie’s front door. She opened it, turning on the lights and everyone silently ran inside. Eddie closed the door behind him and looked over in time to watch Steve grab the makeshift rope from last time and begin to climb up it.

He tried not to watch too intensely as Steve reached the top, pausing briefly before falling down on the other side, landing on his feet despite his injuries. Steve looked up, meeting four sets of eyes and shrugged before walking off.

“What does he want us to do, applaud?” Robin whispered, rolling her eyes.

Eddie snickered, allowing some of the tenson he felt to roll away before he focused back on the task at hand. Steve had gotten his less stained yet somehow more dirty mattress and placed it under the portal. One by one, they each climbed up and fell on the other side. Eddie tried not to think too much on the fact that they were passing through the exact place Chrissy died. He didn’t need that image in his mind right now.

Dustin was the last one through, both Eddie and Steve had grabbed onto him to lift him up and stood him up. There was a lot of quiet shuffling as everyone recollected their weapons. Steven handed Eddie his shield, who took it without a second glance, and made his way over to Dustin to make sure the younger teen had all of his things.

Eddie watched the scene with a small smile when Robin walked up next to him, making sure the Belfour vodka bottles were secure in her pack. She stood with him as they both watched Steve pull on Dustin’s pack, making sure it wouldn’t fall off while the other rolled his eyes in annoyance but let Steven do his thing.

“Steve the Mom.” Robin muttered, earning a chuckle from Eddie.

“It fits him. Still has the hair thing though.” Eddie pointed out.

“Can’t people have more than one title?” Robin shot back, grinning. Eddie hummed, nodding.

“Alright, you got me. I guess his title is Steve “the Hair Mom” Harrington.”

“Hmm, sounds like a barber.”

Eddie opened his mouth to reply but Nancy had stepped forward, done checking over her sawed-off shotgun, clearing her throat. Eddie’s mouth snapped closed and Steve stopped fussing while Dustin brushed himself off, turning his attention to Nancy.

“Everyone ready to go?” She asked, making eye contact with each person. They all nodded in agreement and she turned towards the door, throwing it open. Robin gave Eddie a shaky smile before following Nancy out, Steve right behind them. Eddie clasped Dustin's shoulder, giving the younger a light shove towards the door before walking out following him out into the cold, darkness of hell.

He and Dustin walked down the stairs, closing the door behind them when Steve suddenly stopped, turning around and approaching the two of them.

“Hey guys, listen.” He said stopping in front of Eddie, his face betraying his worry, “If anything goes south, I mean at all, you abort. Okay? Draw the attention of the bats, keep them away for a minute or two, we’ll take care of Vecna. Don’t try to be cute or heroes or anything, you guys are just-”

“Decoys.” Dustin interrupted with a loud sigh, “Don’t worry Steve, you can be the hero.”

Eddie found it sweet that Steve was worried. He supposed he sort of expected it, after all he was worried for the others as well, the only difference is that Steve voiced that concern. He was brave for that.

“Absolutely, I mean, look at us,” Eddie said, looking down at Dustin before turning back to Steve, their eye’s locking “We are not heroes.”

Eddie chuckled and Steve nodded, looking at Dustin then Eddie one last time before turning away. Eddie hesitated, flexing the hand that held his shield before stepping forward.

“Hey, Steve?” He called. The other group that had started walking stopped and turned around, Steve waiting patiently as Eddie approached, stopping a few inches away.

“Make him pay,” Eddie's voice cracked at the end and Steve nodded, “and please be careful. I don’t think I could parent Henderson by myself.”

He let out a nervous chuckle after that but found himself pleasantly surprised when Steven snorted, a grinning spreading across his face.

“I promise I won’t leave you to raise six kids on your own. As long as you promise the same thing.”

Eddie paused. The idea of him and Steve standing close together, children running around their legs squealing with joy, the two of them leaning in closer while the sun fell behind the trees flashed into Eddie’s mind and he quickly pushed it way, praying that it was dark enough in the Upside Down for Steve to not notice the blush that he was sure was appearing on his face. He quickly smiled back and nodded, rubbing the back of his head as the warm feeling coursed through his body.

“Of course,” he said, letting his hand drop. Steve flashed him another smile and turned away once more, walking up to Nancy and Robin before the group of three stride down the street, heading towards the main road. Eddie watched them until they disappeared before he headed back to Dustin who was also watching their friends walk away.

They had made it to the Suffer Boy Pizza and started to set up El’s salt bath for her piggyback plan. What Will hadn’t expected was for Johnathan to start talking to him about what had happened in the van. He didn’t say the words exactly, but he didn’t need to.

“Alright, kid,” Eddie said, earning a scowl from Dustin from the nickname, “let’s fortify this base.”

-------

“You’re my brother, and I love you.” Jonathan was saying, “And nothing will change that. Absolutely nothing. You got that?”

“Yeah,” Will’s voice quivered, on the verge of tears for the third time that day. “And I’m always here for you too.”

“I know you are. Come here.” Jonathan opened his arms, stepping forward and Will let out a little croak. He could allow himself to cry once more. Jonathan smelled like he had just spent the entire day in the desert, which he did, but it was comforting in a weird sort of way. Will closed his eyes, letting his tears fall freely from where he hid his face in Jonathan’s shoulder. Somewhere behind the brothers the sound of laughter coming from the other three seemed to invade the air around them.

“I like him too much.”

It was barely a whisper, but Jonathan heard it. It was a secret shared in the wind of joy and hidden within the darkness of cloth. The arms that surrounded Will tightened just a bit more. An acknowledgement. A promise.

There was a squeal and Will pulled away, wiping his face and turned around. El was holding Mike at an arm’s length, the teen boy trying to shove a pizza into her mouth. Argyle had distracted himself by eating one of the pizza slices in the table across from the other two, lazily staring off into the distance while slowly chewing the slice.

Jonathan watched Will closely, occasionally looking over to the others. Finally he pulled away completely and walked up to the window, keeping a hand on Will’s shoulder to make the younger follow.

“Mike,” Jonathan called out, making the teen stop his endeavors and turn towards the brothers, the smile on his and El’s face still wide, “It’s your turn to help stir the bath.”

Mike groaned but stood up anyways, shoving the slice of pizza that he was holding in his hands into his mouth and frowned at the taste of the sweet pineapple mixing with the pepperoni.

“Go eat,” Jonathan said softly to Will, patting his back lightly before turning away, Mike following close behind.

“Don’t eat the pineapple pizza. It’s poisonous.” Mike made a choking noise, holding his throat and pretended to play dead, his head falling limply to the side. Will gave him a quiet laugh but it felt fake. The conversation he just had with Jonathan is mixing with the fight he had with Mike in the van. Will brushed past his friend, ignoring how his chest seems to constric, and sat across from El, who was already on her third slice.

She looked up acknowledgement, giving him a smile and pushing what was left of the pizza towards him. Will smiled and accepted the greasy food, picking up a slice and taking a bite. His face twisted up, making Eleven laugh.

“Oh, I do not like that.” Will said, talking around the food in his mouth.

“It’s not bad.” El says, taking another bite of hers.

“Maybe it’ll grow on me, but for now I think I'm just gonna…” Will trailed off, plucking the pineapple off of his pizza and placing it on the pizza tray. El’s hand shot out and picked them up and dropped them into her mouth.

“Gross.” Will laughed and El snorted in reply, her face growing red from embarrassment. She quickly covered her mouth to avoid spilling the food out, which in turn made Will laugh harder. Their giggles trailed off and they continued to eat their pizza in silence. The only noise was from Argyle, who was done with what he was complementing, as he got up muttering a ‘what's up dude?” to Will before entering the kitchen.

Will’s eyes flitted around the room. He didn’t know why, but he was starting to feel a bit nervous. He glanced at Eleven. She wasn’t paying him any attention but somehow she must have known he was looking at her because she looked up and met Will’s eyes. He swallowed thickly, knowing that the question he was about to ask would ruin the joyous mood they were in.

“How are you feeling about all this?”

Eleven stopped eating, her eyes dropping down to her pizza before she slowly lowered it and set it on the plate.

“I’m scared.” She whispered and Will reached his hand out across the table. El smiled at the gesture and took his hand lightly, giving it a squeeze, “I’m more scared about what would happen to Max than me.”

“And that’s what I’m scared about.” Will said softly, his tone lowered to match El’s. “I don’t want to lose you both. Promise that you’ll be safe.”

El sighed and leaned forward, tilting her head to the side.

“I will-”

“Promise me El.” Will interrupted, squeezing her hand harder, “You have to promise.”

Eleven was silent for a moment, her eyes searching Will's face before she nodded, giving his hand another squeeze, a bit tighter this time.

“I promise.”

It was like a weight had been taken off of Will’s chest and he could breathe again. He let out a sigh, giving El a tired smile. He couldn’t do anything for his friends in Hawkins, but he believed that El could, he just couldn’t lose her again. The thought of it was terrifying and Will briefly wondered if Mike was feeling the same thing.

“Okay El, you ready?”

“Hey! Watch out for the vines! Hive mind, remember?”

Mike’s voice broke through the silence and the two siblings flinched, turning towards Mike who was leaning through the kitchen window. El looked back at Will and smiled, her hand slipping out of his as she stood up, walking towards the kitchen. Will took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves before following her into the kitchen, praying that they weren’t about to send El to her death.

-------

“Thank you!”

Steve watched as Robin leapt over one of the said vines, her flashlight beam dancing up and down the trees as she dashed forward, leaving the other two behind. He laughed, looking over to Nancy who looked both irritated and worried, and bumped their shoulders together.

“Eh, don’t worry about her.” He said, dipping his head to watch his feet as they walked, “She’s just stressed, you know. Scared.”

“Yeah, I know, it's just…” Nancy trailed off, waving her hand to where Robin had disappeared, her light fading in the distance.

“She’s a super klutz?” Steve supplied, grinning widely. Nancy barked out a laugh, covering her mouth as if to hold it in, looking around the woods for any potential danger that might have heard her. After a moment, she looked back at Steve, a grin still playing on her face before she finally spoke.

“She did tell me it took her longer to walk than most babies so…” she trailed off. It was Steve’s turn to laugh. It was a soft and airy laugh, after all, he was still worried about attracting unwanted attention. He shook his head, taking in a deep breath to hopefully drown the series of giggles that threatened to pour out.

“I really shouldn’t laugh.” He said, stepping around a tree, rejoining Nancy in a few steps, “When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards.”

“Crawled backwards?” Nancy looked a bit skeptic, pausing briefly to step over a vine.

“You know, I pushed with my hands like this. Beep Beep Beep.” Steve raised his hands and pretended to push an invisible force, shuffling backwards. Nancy laughed again, quieter this time and nodded, still looking like she didn’t believe him. Steve shrugged and continued on, “Always in reverse. Come on, it makes sense. You push to move, right?”

“No, it doesn’t make sense.”

“Well it did in my tiny Harrington brain. That is until I reversed my baby butt down a flight of stairs and thumped my head pretty good.”

“Wow. That explains so much.” Nancy smiled, nodding her head. Steve stumbled, making Nancy look over to him, and she saw that his smile had turned a bit forced. Instantly, her gut clenched up with guilt and her own smile faded away, her eyebrows furrowing. She opened her mouth to speak but Steve beat her to it, not looking in her direction.

“I think it kinda does.” He said softly, “Like, right out of the gate, I’m super confident, but I'm also like an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot, Steve.”

Steve scoffed.

“Yeah, I am.”

“No, you’re not.” Nancy said a bit forcefully. Steve was refusing to look at her, so she stopped walking, grabbing his arm and made him turn around to face her. “It was wrong for me to say that you were in the first place. You were just being kind and really sweet and I thought you would just distract me, which you did, by the way, but you being a normal boyfriend doesn’t make you an idiot.”

“But what if that’s just like,” Steve sounded exasperated, waving a hand in the air, trying to pull words into his mind, “ I don’t know, my character trait-”

“Stop it Steve.” Nancy shook him slightly, making his jaw snap close, “You were a good boyfriend.”

“I definitely wasn’t.” He laughed bitterly, “I did a lot of things I regret.”

“And you made up for them!” Nancy’s voice raised and Steve blinked at her, surprised by how angry she sounded, “We’re not about to have this pity party out in the middle of these woods. Plus, you’re not the only one. I said a lot of horrible things to you, so count us as even. Okay?”

The air stilled around them and Steve found himself relaxing, despite just getting yelled at. He smiled, reaching a hand up to pat Nancy’s, which was still clenched tightly onto his jacket. Nancy smiled back and released him.

“Okay.” He said, nodding, looking down at his feet, shuffling them in place.

“We’ve changed, haven’t we?” Steve finally asked, looking back up, a bit more hesitant.

“In what way?” Nancy asked, curious but still caution creeped up her spine in reaction to Steve’s sudden nervousness.

“In everything.” He groaned, waving his hand around. “I mean I never would have thought Nancy Wheeler would even own a gun or be even willing to commit a felony, but here we are.”

“I suppose.” She hummed, “And how have you changed?”

“Well I became the personal chauffeur to a bunch of kids. But I also realized I don’t want what I'm used to any more. Nancy, I-”

“Steve…” She started. Nancy already had a defense in her mind, ready to combat whatever Steve had begun to say. She didn’t want to hear what she thought he was going to say. The last few days were, while nostalgic in a way, wrong. Nancy had a lot of time to think when she first got Vecnaed, but it wasn’t until Steve’s rant inside the RV that Nancy realized what she wanted.

She just wanted her family to be safe. Whatever had been going on with her and Steve, hell, even with her and Jonathan, it has just put unwanted stress on her shoulders with everything else going on. Nancy just couldn’t see herself in the future Steve wanted and going back to what they used to be seemed too cruel for the two of them. Not to mention, Nancy felt a bit sick flirting with Steve while Jonathan was gone. Nancy sighed, running a hand through her already knotted hair.

“Steve, I’m-”

“No, no. I need to say this.” Steve rushed, his words stuttering a bit. Nancy winced but complied, her lips pressed close together, “I don’t think we could go back to the way we were. Once, I might have thought that, or maybe thought we could change but still end up together, but I don’t think I want that anymore. Am I making sense?”

Nancy blinked, Steve’s words finally catching up to her brain and she let out a sigh of relief. Immediately, she relaxed, letting her defenses down and nodded.

“I understand.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I feel the same way. With Jonathan getting more distant, I guess I wanted some of that normality back, but we can’t ever have that anymore, can we?”

“No, I guess not.” Steve said, swallowing thickly. His hands couldn’t seem to sit still, patting loosely against his jeans. Steve let out a rush of air that he seemed to be holding, reaching a hand up and running through his hair several times as he thought about what to say next. After a moment of silence, with Nancy watching her feet kick the dirt around them loosely, Steve took in a deep breath, squaring up his shoulders.

“Nancy Wheeler,” He announced, Nancy’s head snapping up from the use of her full name, “I love you. Can we stay friends?”

Steve then held out a hand. Nancy looked down at the outstretched hand then back up to Steve who still looked nervous, but she got the feeling it wasn’t the same as before. Nancy stifled back a laugh, biting the inside of her cheek to keep it in, and smiled, taking his hand into hers.

“Yes, Steve Harrington, we can stay as friends.”

“Hey guys! You guys, I got some awesome news!” Robin’s sudden voice ripped through the air, making the others jump from her sudden approach, their hands gripping each other tightly before they both dropped them like it burned. Robin stumbled over to Steve and Nancy, the other two looked at each other and Steve rolled his eyes, making Nancy chuckle while Robin stopped in front of them, panting slightly, “Looks like we weren't going the wrong way. Come on.”

“Alright, hold your horses. We’re coming.” Steve grumbled, falling in step behind Robin as she took off again. Nancy took a second, a smile still on her face, and followed soon after. She felt lighter, more free. Nancy could live staying friends with Steve. The two of them couldn’t really offer each other something new and Nancy had a feeling if they did get back together, it’ll be like it was her Junior year after Barb and Nancy didn’t want to go back to that.

She frowned, Robin and Steve talking quietly ahead of her, Robin still energetic from her run. Now Nancy had to do something about Jonathan. Recently, the two of them hadn’t been connecting like they once were and it was really starting to bother her. For a brief moment, Nancy thought that Jonathan could be dating someone else behind her back but she quietly scoffed at herself. Whatever was going on with Jonathan, it definitely wasn’t that.

The three of them reached the edge of the woods, the Creel manor was dark and covered in inky, black vines. The run down and decrypted building reflected the one back in Hawkins. Steve leaned against the tree, watching the bats that guarded the house nervously, his neck and side still throbbing slightly from the damage done yesterday. Robin shuffled next to him, her eyes also drawn to the dark cloud when Nancy reached out and grabbed both of their shoulders, making the two jump in surprise.

“There.” She hissed quietly, pointing to the rusty rocket that rested across the street from the mansion. There inside the metal rig was a shimmering gold light. Before Steve could tell Nancy to wait, she slowly stepped out of the tree line, Robin inhaling sharply behind him. Steve at this point could hear his heart beating loudly in his ear and he briefly wondered if the demo-bats could hear it from where they swarmed the sky.

The bats never moved. Nancy continued on with slow cautious steps, watching the sky intently for a change in the bat's demeanor. Nothing happened. After a while, Steve took in a deep breath, following Nancy across the lawn, holding his breath for the rest of the way.

Robin groaned quietly, still within the trees, and took a step out, walking a bit faster than Steve to get to Nancy, who was safely by the rocket, watching her two friends approach. Steve glared at Robin as she tiptoed passed him, giving Steve a grin that looked more like a grimace, and kept walking. Robin grabbed at Nancy’s pack when she arrived, almost hiding behind her, and continued to watch the sky. As soon as Steve arrived he turned to glare at Robin so more, who just shrugged in response.

“I think we can talk,” Nancy said softly, making Robin’s and Steve’s eyes almost bulge out of their heads.

“Quietly.” she added on a second later, watching Steve open his mouth to scold Robin, who was nodding but not trusting herself to speak. The three turned to the light, Erica’s grumbles could be barely heard, warped from the ashy air that surrounded them.

The three of them paused, all looking at each other. Robin looked at Steve and gave him a little shove, nodding towards the lights. Steve rolled his eyes and reached a hand out, passing it through the light. Compared to the cold air of the Upside Down, the light was, unsurprisingly, warm and tickled Steve’s hands.

“Oh thank god, took you long enough.” Erica’s voice waved in and out, sounding as though she was right there and yet ethereal at the same time. “Alight, giving them the signal.”

Steve watched as the light flickered, fading almost to nothing before springing back to life, the particles of light floating around like little fireflies.

“Come on, come on.” Erica’s urgent whispering worried Steve. For a split second he thought that Lucas and Max had been caught and that everything they had done until then was pointless but then he heard Erica take in a sudden breath and she quickly whispered.

“Ok, the lovebirds have copied, Max is moving into phase two: distracting Vecna.”

“So far, so smooth” Robin said, rubbing her hands up and down her pants, looking around the tree line.

“Yeah, we’re not even at the hard part yet.” Steve replied, letting out a quiet sigh. Nancy separated from the other two, walking a little bit past the rocket towards the house, the demo-bats squealing making Steve flinch and he swallowed thickly, remembering the teeth that bore into his sides. Being eaten alive wasn’t a fear he had before, but he differently did now and he would rather not face it again. Steve frowned looking back towards the way they had come. He didn’t want to face the bats again, but he would rather face them than let Dustin and Eddie.

Steve could almost see it. Dustin and Eddie, laying on the ground, their stomachs ripped open, blood pooling around their lifeless bodies. The only movement would be the bats, swimming in and out of the holes they had created, carrying away parts of his friends until only their bones remained. Steve shook his head, earning a strange look from Robin and he just gave her a small smile and looked away towards Nancy, her back facing them.

“Take the bait you son of a bitch.” She whispered, more to herself than to the others, but Steve still heard it. That's right. Max, Dustin and Eddie are just the bait.

El opened her eyes to see a bright world, the sound of laughter and wheels against concrete filled her ears. She looked around, eye adjusting to the blindingly white concrete, a cool tunnel in front of her, leading her towards the joyous noise.

“Take it.”

-------

“What's happening now?”

Mike’s voice filled her head and she blinked, walking forward, the heat of the sun disappearing as she entered the tunnel. Before then she had told them about some of what Max had said, up until the point she slipped into Henry’s hallucination. The entire time El wished she could hold Max’s hands, let her know that she was there, but in the end Max was left with no comfort in that dark void other than Lucas sitting nervously by her side, holding Max’s limp hand tightly.

“I think I am in a memory. A Max memory.”

The sound of skating grew louder and when El walked out of the underpass, she was watching a large group of teens rolling up and down the concrete ditch, weaving between each other. Up, down, up, down. It was dizzying.

“Do you see her?” Will rushed out, urgency in his voice.

“No.” Eleven replied simply, waiting for a young boy to zoom past her before she continued walking forward.

It didn’t take long for El to find Max. She intensely watched each person, searching for the bright red hair her friend sports when she heard a yelp and the sound of someone crashing to the ground, board rolling away. Eleven turned around and saw a young Max, maybe 8, sitting on the ground, glaring at it.

“Just leave, this isn’t a sport for girls anyways.” the boy said, shaking his head. He kicked off with his board, his small outargue following with. Max watched them go silently, but El could recognize the anger on her face from anywhere. Max huffed, standing up and stomped to her board. She stepped on it and hesitated, slowly looking up until she and El made eye contact. Eleven froze, eye wide, and took a small step forward, reaching a hand out to Max’s small face.

“Look, the baby fell over,” a loud voice assaulted El’s ears and she looked to her left to see a boy around her height, his helmet straps hanging unstrapped to his chin “She can’t even stay on her board.”

He was talking to a small group of boys, all younger than him. They all nodded, some laughing at the pathetic insult, but laughing all the same.

“Max?” El whispered softly. Whatever magic that had allowed the two of them to see each other seemed to melt away instantly. Young Max looked away to her board before kicking off, wobbling slightly as she tried to keep herself balanced. El watched her fade away into the crowd and sighed, looking around for a clue on where she could find her Max.

El walked around, frowning, weaving past kids trying to find a path that would take her to Max when she spotted her exit. She wondered briefly how she had missed it before, a single, white wooden door was placed against the concrete of the ditch.

“There’s a door.” She said quietly to the real life people that surrounded her and the freezer she was in.

Eleven speed walked to it, the memory of the kids seemed to avoid her, almost as though they could see her, but El knew that it was Max’s memory protecting itself. She got to the door, reaching out for the plain door knob and opened it slowly.

It opened to a small kitchen, the morning sun shining through the window and a woman could be seen moving around the kitchen, humming softly. Eleven walked in and closed the door behind her. The woman stopped and turned around, her red hair looked like a soft flame in the light.

“Took you long enough to wake up. I made breakfast.”

El frowned, confused, before she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. It was Max, though she was no longer the 8 year old she saw from before. This Max was closer to her current age, maybe 11 or 12, her normally long hair was cut a bit shorter and was frizzy from sleep.

Max walked up to the kitchen island, pulling a plate that had eggs, pancakes, and orange slices on it, while a glass of milk was placed in front of her. She immediately started eating and her mom stopped and stood right next to her, hand on one hip, looking pointy down at Max.

The young girl swallowed and smiled sheepishly, posing her fork for another bite.

“Thank you.” She said and placed the eggs in her mouth. Max’s mother smiled back and brushed Max’s hair out of her face, bending down to kiss her forehead.

“You’re very welcome.”

“What was through the doorway?” Mike asked, his voice seemed to destroy the peaceful moment and El snapped out of her daze watching Max and her mother.

“It’s another memory.” El replied, turning down the hall. She ignored the giggles coming from the kitchen and paused at one of the closed doors in Max’s childhood home. It didn’t look out of place, but Eleven’s gut told her that it was another memory.

She opened the door slowly peering inside, but not stepping in. It was a wedding. Max was standing in a puffy light-green dress, frowning as she wiggled around in it, the white flowers in her hair threatening to fall out.

“Stand still, Max.” Max’s mother was standing next to her in a white dress, her vail thrown over her head and down her back. The room they were in fit the theme of flowers and white veiled curtains. Max, still the same age as before, sighed, standing up straight. Her mother tusked, reaching out to fix the flowers in Max’s hair.

“You look beautiful.” She whispered.

“I feel like a clown.” Max replied, crossing her arms. Max’s mother rolled her eyes, but still smiled.

“Well, we look very well dressed for clowns.”

“You don’t look like a clown.” Max mumbled, biting her cheek. Her mother laughed softly and opened her mouth to speak when the sound of rushing footsteps could be heard and a man that El remembered very clearly walked in.

“You ready Susan?” Billy’s father, Neil, said, looking slightly irritated.

“I believe so. Ready Max?”

Max didn’t answer, instead she turned to look at Eleven. Their eyes met and Eleven felt her eyes go wide in shock, wondering once again if this Max could see her and if she did, was it her Max. Young Max continued to look at her like she was contemplating something, before she turned away and looked up at her mother.

“Yes.”

At that, the party of three walked away and El stood still watching as the door closed slowly, until the memory was gone and she was back in the hallway. There was a moment of silence before the sound of yelling ripped through the air, making Eleven jump.

“You ok?” Jonathan’s voice was quiet, but El could still hear the concern in his voice. She just nodded and assumed that they were able to see her nod due to the silence that greeted her. There was another yell and the sound of something breaking, and El turned towards the noise, walking up to a door that said ‘Max’s Room.’

Eleven hesitated, the sound of angry cries could be heard behind it. When she opened it, the sound of yelling vanished and there was a cold silence. Max was standing in her room, shoulder hunched over, crying softly, her skateboard laid broken on the floor. The bedroom door creaked and Max froze, whipping around angrily.

“Get out!” Max screamed and the door slammed in El’s face, making her gasp in shock, stumbling back. There was once again the sound of angry conversations, threats of harm swirling in the air and pouring into Eleven’s ear. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, doors lined the walls, some open, others closed. El turned and followed the sound of yelling. Max was fighting with her mom, the door to the angry memory closed quickly and another door opened next to it, showing Max and her mother on a picnic laughing in the summer sun. Doors were opening with a bang and closing violently, like mouths trying to consume El as she ran down the hall. It was chaotic and Eleven began to feel the start of panic rise up in her throat.

She no longer wanted to be here. She just wanted to find Max and drag her home and never let go until Max stopped blaming herself for Billy and stopped trying to sacrifice herself. El had already done that once before and it had hurt the people she cared most about. Doors continued to open and close, the more angry ones closed and remained so while ones that were a bit more joyful opened wide. Slowly, Eleven’s panic reduced to a small hum having noticed the pattern of the opening and closing door. It was Max.

Somewhere in here, Max was trying to keep the bad memory locked and far away, focusing only on the good ones. El smiled, proud that her friend was still fighting even though she was under Henry’s curse, and continued to run down the hall, looking for a way to get to her friend.

Then there was music. Music that El recognized. She stopped, panting slightly and looked around for the source. One of the doors was slightly ajar, the music from the Snow Ball seemed to take over her mind, pulling her towards it. El’s gut told her that Max was just past that doorway.

Jonathan gripped the cooler tightly, his knuckles were white and shook slightly. Mike was talking to Eleven, her breathing having turned ragged from the fight with an invisible demon, though Jonathan assumed that One, or Henry he supposed, had a physical form somewhere. For a second his mind drifted to Nancy, worried that she would get hurt in the Upside Down, but that thought was quickly tossed away when El let out a cry and went eerily still.

“I found her.” El said out loud to the others. She didn’t hear anything from them but she knew that they heard. El took a deep breath and strode towards the door, throwing it open. She was this close to finding and saving Max, she wasn’t about to give up now.

-------

“El, can you hear me?” Mike asked, leaning forward. The other didn’t reply, just quietly groaning to herself. “Eleven?”

There was a moment of silence while El caught her breath, then she started mumbling to herself, some of the words were almost impossible to hear.

“She’s trying to talk to him.” Will whispered and Jonathan saw him shiver. Mike pressed his lips together, listening to both El and Will, and sighed, running a hand through his hair. Will wrapped his arms around himself, refusing to look away from El. Jonathan’s eyes darted between the two of them, not saying anything and just looked back down at El.

Her nose has been bleeding for a while. From what he remembered, Will had said that he should only have to worry about the blood when it starts to pour out of her ears and eyes. The image of El lying in the freezer, the water having turned pink from her over using her powers and slowly killing herself. Jonathan swallowed, closing his eyes tightly, hoping that the image would vanish if he closed his eyes hard enough.

Then there was splashing, making Jonathan flinch as droplets hit his face, his eyes flying open. Eleven was trashing in the pool, gasping and reaching out while Mike grabbed her shoulders, calling out to her.

“El! El, wake up!” he yelled while Will started to hyperventilate, the panic evident on his face.

“She can’t breathe!” Jonathan said, reaching out to grab one of El’s flailing arms.

“Shit, El wake up!” Mike yelled. He then dunked his arms into the water, his sleeves from his shirt turned a dark blue from the water. “Help me, help me!”

Jonathan also plunged his hands under the water, Will and Argyle hovering around them in case Eleven jerking about would cause the two of them to drop her. They shuffled over to the preparation table and laid her down as gently as possible. Mike grabbed her hand, clenching it tightly, tears having started to run down his face.

“El can you hear me? El?” His voice revealed his panic, Will also having not calmed down from his initial panic was close behind him. Jonathan licked his lips, the salt from the water gave him enough of a shock to calm down, and turned his attention to finding a way to help Eleven.

“El, I don’t know if you can hear this, but I’m right here.” Mike said, leaning down as if he was trying to get someone who was deaf attention. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re not going to leave your side, you hear me?”

“Eleven. Jane, you can do this.” Will’s voice was shaky and he was gripping tightly onto Mike’s shirt, his eye’s red from the amount of crying he’s been doing. “We- I can’t lose you. I don’t know what I would do if I came home and you just weren’t there anymore.”

“Jane,” Jonathan rushed out, reaching out to grab her other hand, his fingers nearly getting crushed by Eleven’s own. “I had already lost a brother and it sucked, I can’t have you disappearing on me as well. We need you.”

“No one is scared of you here.” Mike said, smiling through his tears. Eleven seemed to be calming down in her struggle, Jonathan just hoped that it was because she was winning and not because she couldn’t fight anymore.

“I’ll toast to that amigo.” Argyle said, nodding. “I mean, it’s absolutely crazy to hear about a girl that can make things float with her mind, but to see it? Man, that shit’s cool as fuck.”

Mike blinked at Argyle who nodded and gave a thumbs up, and shook his head, turning back to El. Jonathan looked up at his friend. As soon as Mike had turned away, Argyle’s smile disappeared and he raised a hand to cover his mouth, breathing out slowly and calmly. The two eyes met and Argyle dropped his hand to place it on Jonathan’s shoulder, giving him a light pressure that seemed to help ground both of them.

“You can do anything. You can fly and move mountains and I believe that. But right now, I just need you to fight. Please don’t give up.” Mike’s voice wavered near the end and Will closed his eyes, still holding on tightly. Jonathan refused to let go of his sister’s hand, now clasping it in both of his. It was hard enough to lose Will and ever since Eleven started to live with them, she somehow found a place in their family as a Byer.

Everything they had planned went completely wrong and Max wasn’t sure if she was going to make it. Even though she was with Vecna and El in this mindscape version of hell, she could feel her bones snapping. Even though she was visually fine in this place, she knew what she looked like in the real world.

“Come on, you got this Jane.” He muttered to himself. “Don’t stop fighting.”

-------

She dropped to the ground, the hold Vecna had on her was gone and El’s scream could be heard but Max couldn’t see her. All she knew was that her entire body felt like it was on fire, burning with sharp, hot pins. It was enough to make her vision blurry. Max took in stuttering breaths, rolling her head around, trying to see what was going on, but the fight had moved out of her vision.

Max tried to sit up and screamed. Her body felt wrong and her brain knew it. It was like a fucked up illusion. She saw herself completely fine but it still fought against her and told her that it was broken, but how can it when she looked normal? Max let out a whine, trying to keep images of her own mangled body away from her thoughts.

She groaned to herself, letting her head fall back against the stone. It hurt but it was a pain she welcomed more than the ones in her arms and legs. Max closed her eyes. Maybe she was already far away enough from El and Vecna that she didn’t even need to move. She definitely didn’t hear the two of them anymore, maybe she could rest a bit.

“It doesn’t hurt me.”

Max’s eyes snapped open and she turned her head, trying to look around without making herself nauseous.

“Do you wanna feel how it feels?”

She rolled over onto her side, crying out as her entire body burned with protest. It felt impossible. If this was an auditory hallucination, then god it was a merciful one.

“Do you wanna know that it doesn’t hurt me?”

“Lucas?” Max mumbled out, her voice sounded scratchy in her ears. She’d recognize his voice anywhere, but what it was doing here confused her. Max blinked, trying to get rid of the fuzziness in her eyes. She could barely make him out. Just like last time, off in the distance, the red sky was torn open, the edges blurring like a dream. Lucas was still sitting in the attic, his face was wet with tears and he was holding Max close to him, hands shaking.

“It’s you and me.”

“Lucas!” Max called out louder but he showed no signs of hearing her. Max took in a shaky breath and reached out, her arms shaking as she gripped the edge of the step and dragged herself forward, teeth clenched together tightly.

“And if only I could, I’d make a deal with God.”

His voice was shaky, he gasped loudly in her ear, which was weird to experience. His bottom lip was quivering, face bloody, from what Max didn’t know, but it muddied her relief of seeing him to dark waters of fear. Lucas took in a gasping breath, shifting their positioning while he looked around. The edges started to creep closer, the image fading and Max felt her panic rise.

“No!” She screamed, her legs trailing behind her through the cold water, her body growing more num, “Lucas please!”

He turned back down to look at her and smiled sadly, continuing on.

“And I’d get him to swap our places. With no problems.” he sang softly, sniffing.

Max kept crawling, the sound of Lucas singing and her own gasping breath was all she heard. She was going to get out of this hell, even if she had to claw her way out.

“Be running up that road, be running up that hill, with no problems.”

This might not have been the smartest idea.

No problems.

-------

Eddie yelled, swinging his spiked shield around him, pushing the demo-bats back. At the time it felt like a good plan. The bats were finding their way into Eddie’s hell trailer and with that gate open, those little monsters were sure to get out and terrorize the park residence. But now he was surrounded by a swarm of demon bats from hell.

Eddie yelped, whipping around to bash the bat that snuck up behind him and bit his side. He reminded himself that if he continued to attract the bat’s attention then he would not only prevent them from entering the real Hawkins, but Dustin was also safe. The little shit’s safety was top priority, fuck everything else.

Another bat dived in and broke Eddie’s defense, attaching itself to his side. As Eddie twisted to rip the bat off, two more latched to his other side making him scream and stumble. That was all it took.

Every time Eddie would rip one of the bats off him, two more would dive in, and pretty soon Eddie’s sides were on fire and his throat was raw from his screaming. His vision blurred with every bite, the pain sending white hot flashes throughout his body. Slowly, his arms started to get heavier, his shield grazing the ground, blood now soaking into his pants and ran down to his socks. One bat wrapped its tail around his neck, just like they did with Steve, and pulled hard, making Eddie drop his gear. In a brief second of thought, Eddie realized he was going to die.

Eddie crashed to the ground, kicking his legs, trying to get back up, but the bat that had wrapped him up was cutting off his air, making Eddie’s already fading vision blur even more. He reached up to claw at the bat’s tail but two more grabbed his wrists, pinning down his last defense. Then the swarm began to feed.

Warm tears ran down his face and pretty soon all of Eddie’s senses were blind with pain and the taste of metal and salt was all he could focus on. Even his hearing had gone, leaving Eddie in a shroud of white-noise and shrill screams.

Then it stopped.

The world was still and quiet.

Eddie took in staggering breaths, lazily blinking the tears from his eyes, and suddenly he was very tired. The hot pain that had filled his side was now a numb buzzing sensation, breathing became more difficult. With each push from his lungs, he could feel his blood bubbling up his throat, making him gag. The sky looked so much clearer without a swarm of bats encircling the dark, gray skies. Eddie’s breath staggered and then he smiled.

Steve and the others did it. Vecna was gone. Eddie laughed, his chest burned with the sensation and he silently scolded himself for it, but it was hard to contain his joy. The demo-bats were connected to Vecna and now the bat’s laid dead around him like a fucked up field of flowers. Eddie laughed again, this time not stopping himself, and closed his eyes, grinning.

He did it. They won, Chrissy was avenged and Dustin made it out unhurt.

“Eddie!”

Eddie’s eye’s snapped back open. He better be hearing things.

“Eddie!”

“Dust-” Eddie choked, flaring up a coughing fit causing blood to splattered against his cheek with each jerk. He barely heard Dustin approach him over the sound of his coughs. He felt him though as the teen crouched next to Eddie and gripped his arm, pulling slightly on his shirt, causing Eddie to suck in a pained breath as the fabric lightly moved across the holes in his sides.

“Oh god, Eddie.” Dustin muttered, shifting the two of them around so Eddie was slightly propped up on his legs. Eddie grinned, vision swimming, and let out a wet chuckle.

“Bad, huh?” He said, letting his eyes fall close.

“No, no, you’re going to be fine.” Dustin said, his grip on Eddie tightening. “Just got to get you to a hospital, okay?”

“Okay.” Eddie said, opening his eyes back up. Dustin took in a shaky breath, looking over his friend’s bloody body, and grabbed hold of his jacket sleeve, pulling up.

“Alright” he muttered, shifting his weight to support Eddie more as they tried to stand. “Alright, come on-”

“I think-” Eddie started, his tongue feeling like lead and his sides screamed with every move. “I think I just-”

“Come on- '' Dustin continued on, talking mostly to himself than to Eddie, still trying to pull the man up to his feet. Eddie closed his eyes again

“I think I just need a second okay?” Eddie rushed out, his voice wavering.

“Okay.” Dustin said softly and Eddie hated himself because he could hear how sad the kid was but he was so tired and he just needed to close his eyes for a moment and breathe. The two fell back down to the ground and Eddie hissed sharply from the movement. When he opened his eyes back up, he could see Dustin silently crying holding Eddie’s jacket in a death grip and Eddie just smiled. Because how else can he comfort the kid? If Eddie had it his way, Dustin would still be back on the other side of the portal and he wouldn't have to sit here and watch Eddie as he slowly died.

Because that's what’s happening, isn’t it? He’s dying.

“I didn’t run away this time, right.” Eddie said, trying to hold back his tears. He needed to be stronger. Unafraid. If not for Dustin, then for himself.

“No. No, no,” Dustin said, his voice cracking slightly from unshed tears. “You didn’t run.”

“You’re going to have to look after those little sheep for me, okay?” Eddie reached up, something he didn’t think would take so much effort, and grabbed Dustin’s arm.

“No,” Dustin sobbed, shaking his head. The tears finally fell and Eddie hated himself even more. “You’re going to do that yourself!”

“Naw, man. Say ‘I’m gonna look after them.’”

Dustin shook his head again, turning away from Eddie to look at his wounds. Eddie grinned sadly, knowing that it wasn’t a pretty sight, and squeezed Dustin’s arm.

“Say it.” He said horsley.

“Im-” Dustin choked, tears falling non-stop now. He lifted his hand up and let it fall back down on Eddie’s chest, a sign of resigned defeat.

“I’m gonna look after…” He sobbed, picking at Eddie’s jacket, no longer looking at his mentor’s face.

“Good, ‘cause I think I’m actually going to graduate.” Eddie said seriously, chuckling weakly. He didn’t feel the pain as much anymore, but the numbing tiredness was creeping closer.

“I think it’s my year, Henderson.” The tears were finally spilling over and running down his cheek. He hoped Dustin didn’t see him as a coward. The other smiled thinly and nodded.

“It’s finally my fucking year.”

Eddie let go of Dustin’s arm and gripped his hand instead. The teen instantly held on just as tight, but Eddie couldn’t really feel it anymore.

“I love you, man.” He said, smiling. “You’re a great kid, you know that?”

“I love you too.” Dustin replied softly. Eddie let out a cough, making the teen jump, his head falling limply back. He was really exhausted. Life threatening shenanigans and emotions really takes a toll.

“Eddie?” Dustin asked, but Eddie was too tired to answer, in fact, he didn’t think he could answer if he wanted to, so he simply closed his eyes

“Eddie?” Dustin called again, shaking the man lightly. Eddie wanted to tell him to knock it off and let him sleep for a bit, but his tongue was too heavy and the air in his lungs was too short.

“Four chimes.” Robin said, watching as the grandfather clock silenced itself.

“Come on!” Dustin yelled, his voice sounding further away. Eddie slightly registered that he was being shaken, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care at the moment. Wayne will have to pull him off his bed and onto the floor if he wants him to get out of bed. Eddie let out a sigh, letting himself fall deeper into sleep and eventually Wayne stopped yelling at him to wake up.

-------

“Max…” Nancy breathed out, making eye contact with Robin, fear reflecting in both of their eyes. The air seemed to hold still and the world was silent.

Then the ground beneath them shook, knocking Nancy into Steve who grunted uncomfortably, and braced himself against the wall. They should have won. This was supposed to be a win. Nancy pushed off of Steve, reaching for the front door. Robin followed after her, Steve taking the end as the three of them stumbled onto the porch.

The world looked like it was on fire. The skies were a blood red, lighting cracked like a whip and there in the clouds, Nancy saw it. The Mind Flayer. Its long neck swived through the clouds, only visible by the crackling strikes of light in the sky. It seemed to look over at the trio, boring it's unseen eyes into theirs, before vanishing back within the clouds.

Steve gasped at where the monster once was, cold sweat rolling down his back, remembering his encounter with it last time and silently prayed that this was some kind of joke. That Max was actually fine. Steve’s eyes then went wide, a sense of dread filled up his chest as he remembered something important they had left behind.

Steve broke out into a run, the girls yelled out his name, trying to stop him. The ground was still shaking and it rattled his bones to the point it hurt, but he had to make sure that Dustin and Eddie were fine. That Max was fine. From the sound of twigs snapping behind him and the faint call of his name, Steve knew that Robin and Nancy weren’t too close behind him.

It didn’t take them long to get to the park. Steve had tossed all sense of caution and judging by the fact he wasn’t surrounded by demogorgons, he assumed that it was fine if they made a bit of noise. Steve entered the trailer park, breathing heavily, looking around. The first thing he noticed was the large red scar in the ground. Eddie's side of the trailer was blown up, the metal red and black with corruption and scorch marks.

Steve ran to the trailer, avoiding the portal that was now a lot bigger and threw open the door, looking around. He noticed that the portal that they had climbed in from was still there but the rope had been cut and Steve can barely make out Eddie’s and Dustin’s bags on the other side.

“Eddie!” Steve called up. “Dustin!”

There was silence then a weak “Steve” was heard but it was not from the portal. Steve turned around, exiting the trailer and headed towards the sound. Nancy and Robin emerged from the woods, panting heavily and watched as Steve ran deeper into the park, away from the large burning scar. Nancy couldn’t stop staring at it, going back to what Vecna had shown her. Promised her.

“Come on.” Robin said softly, grabbing Nancy’s arm and pulling her to where Steve had disappeared too.

As Steve ran he heard a sound of someone crying and his heart dropped to his stomach and somehow he knew what he was going to see before his eyes did. Steve ran around one of the trailers and nearly stopped, body freezing out of fear and horror.

Two figures could be seen in the middle of the street, the still body of demobats encircled them, all within the dark. Then the scene was lit up in a flash of red light and Steve couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe anymore . Dustin was curled over the body of Eddie, the younger was holding on tightly, sobbing into Eddie’s bloody shirt. Eddie’s eyes were closed, head lolled off to the side, and he laid as still as Dracula sleeping in a coffin.

Dustin looked up as if he felt Steve’s presence and let out a weak cry as the two made eye contact, one of his cheeks was smeared with blood.

“Steve…” Dustin said weakly and that was all it took to break Steve out of his spell. The man broke out into a run, not caring if he stepped on the bodies of the bats, and slid next to his friends, grabbing onto the back of Dustin’s neck and reaching up to wipe the blood off of the kid’s face.

“Are you alright?” Steve asked, trying not to let his panic take over and focus on making sure the teen wasn’t hurt before moving on to the next thing.

“I’m fine! But Eddie-” Dustin said, pushing Steve’s hand away from his face, tears still running down his face.

“Okay, I need you to move.”

“But I can’t I-”

“Dustin, I need you to move so I can help Eddie. Understand?” Steve asked, shaking the teen lightly. Dustin blinked then nodded, letting go of Eddie’s jacket and leaned back slightly but not away from the man entirely.

Nancy and Robin came around the corner that second, the two of them barely pausing at the scene before running up to the others.

“Oh shit.” Robin breathed, looking down at Eddie while Steve went through the motions of checking on his breathing and wounds.

“Dustin.” Nancy said, her voice soft but firm as she approached Dustin’s side, “Come here.”

She reached down and grabbed his arm, pulling up gently. Dustin shook his head, not looking up, and refused to move.

“Come on kid,” Robin said, walking around to Dustin’s other side. “We have to give them space.”

“Please, Dustin,” Nancy said, shooting a worried look at Steve while he applied pressure to Eddie’s sides. “We have to let Steve help Eddie and he can’t do that if we are in the way.”

At that Dustin finally caved and stood up, wincing as he tried to stand on his twisted ankle. Nancy let him lean against her to relieve some of the weight, and walked the two of them to the dead grass.

“Can you walk?” Nancy asked, looking down at the teen’s leg worriedly. Dustin just shrugged, head ducked down and Nancy shot a look to the other three adults. Robin had taken Dustin’s spot next to Eddie and was silently listening to Steve’s orders about applying pressure.

“Did you kill him?”

“What?” Nancy asked, looking back at Dustin, eyebrows furrowed.

“Vecna.” Dustin said, his voice devoid of any emotion. “Did you kill him?”

Nancy licked her lips nervously, her throat closing up because the truth was they didn’t. They didn’t kill Vecna and now Max is gone and Eddie might soon follow her. If she had been quicker, if she hadn’t gotten tangled in the vines at the house, if they had ran out of the house sooner to finish the job, then she could have prevented all of this. Now they lost two friends and the Upside Down now has a direct line to Hawkins. Dustin looked up, staring at her, clearly waiting for an answer. Nancy blinked and realized that she started to cry. Slowly she shook her head.

“I'm sorry Dustin-” Nancy choked and turned her head away, looking back at Eddie’s pale face, Steve lightly tapping it to wake him up, to get anything out of him. “I wasn’t quick enough.”

Dustin just nodded and turned away. Steve and Robin were talking hurriedly, arguing over something. The two of them seemed to have come to some agreement because Steve bends down low, slipping his arms under Eddie, and lifting him up.

“We need to get out now.” He said sternly, talking to Dustin and Nancy. Without waiting for a response, he turned and strided back to Eddie’s trailer. Robin sighed, making eye contact with Nancy, who just gave her a short nod. Robin nodded back, turning around and running after Steve to help with Eddie.

“Come on.” Nancy started to walk, keeping in step with Dustin’s hobble, ignoring how his hands shook as they clenched at Nancy’s jacket.

“He’ll pay.” Dustin said it so softly that Nancy almost thought she made it up. “He’s gonna wish he was never born.”

Nancy completely agreed.

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