#and then there's Andy who's low key being a simp lol

[barclaysangel]

THIS WAS SO GOOD OMFG!!!!

I love the hints of BarclayPierce, it's so *chefs kiss*

And Junior being a lil shit to Andy by smirking, along with being eager to grab a knife to test the blood theory, it just fits with this chaotic gremlin

I love this sooooo damn much, I already can't wait for the next part!!

Strangeness and Charm - Part Three

Word Count: 2.2K

Summary: Season 1 AU where Andy and Kyle arrive at Charles Lee Ray’s old house before Tiffany leaves with Junior and Nica and ultimately save them. Set in 2017, two weeks after Cult since that’s when the show was originally mentioned to be set and in my opinion, makes the most sense.

Notes: Yay! Nica’s awake, I love her and I loved exploring her thought process in this part as well as Kyle and Andy’s since someone *cough cough* Don Mancini *cough cough* seems to neglect their feelings. Also I’m a complete sucker for BarclayPierce, so there are hints in this part and finally, happy birthday once again to Alex Vincent.

Tags: @streets-in-paradise @losersclubisms @silvershewolf247 @cornerofhell​

The first thing Nica was aware of was a feeling of comfort. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt that, it must have been what? Four years? Closer to five, actually. 

But, oh God what does that mean? She let out a soft whimper as she tried to remember what happened before she passed out. She just hoped that this was her waking up and not her regaining control. 

That’s when fear struck her, after the first time she regained control she knew there was nothing she was safe from. She slowly began to open her eyes against the sun rays on her face, dreading the sight of the blonde psychopath she expected to be greeted with. 

“Andy, Kyle! It looks like Nica is waking up." 

Andy? Kyle? And that voice definitely wasn’t Tiffany’s but Nica couldn’t bring herself to get her hopes up. 

She fully opened her eyes, squinting against the light and began to push herself up to sit. That’s when she met eyes with the 6 people in front of her, four teens, two she could remember from before, the others she didn’t recognise. And then two adults, a blonde woman, but not Tiffany. Definitely not her and a man, close to her age. Possibly a few years older and something about him seemed familiar, she couldn’t quite place what.

Wait.

Andy, Andy Barclay?

She supposed it could be possible but she knew the dangers of getting her hopes up. The last time she did that she was faced with Tiffany telling her that Alice was gone before gleefully dumping her killer in her lap.

"Where am I?” Nica asked, doing her best to keep her voice steady. She couldn’t afford to show weakness, not when she was already at a disadvantage.

“Uh, Hackensack. We brought-” Junior started, taking a step forward before stopping when he saw Nica flinch. “I’m sorry, I should have thought about that.”

Nica remained tense, eyes darting from one person to the next. Andy was becoming more alert now and slowly moved closer to the sofa bed.

“Look, we’re not going to hurt you, you’re safe. Okay, Nica?”

She made no attempt to move again but kept her eyes fixed on the man in front of her. She was doing her best to read his emotions, to find some form of malicious intent that she had grown so used to seeing in people but she couldn’t find it.

“How do you know who I am?”

“It’s kind of a long story but I’m Andy-”

“Andy Barclay?”

“Yeah…”

At this point Kyle put her guard up, Andy had said they needed to be cautious, that Chucky could trick them and she already had to get her brother out of a padded cell because of this one.

“You hear that from Chucky?” She asked sternly, if it was Nica she didn’t want to scare her but she just couldn’t risk it.

“Wha- No. I did some research the night he killed my family. I had been suspicious about where the doll came from and came across an article from ‘88. But, you know what he did don’t you?”

“You mean possessing you in an asylum?” Jake responded.

“Yeah, that.”

“Look, I’m sorry about this,” the blonde woman. Kyle? Began, “ but how do we know this isn’t Chucky talking now?”

“Believe me, if it was Chucky he’d be up and moving by now. The most I can do is drag myself around.” Nica responded bitterly, that was one of the facts she resented the most. That he could walk in her body when she had always been considered as less by people because he took that from her.

“How did I get here?”

“Oh um, Andy found both of us in Tiffany’s car and him and Kyle got us out before she came back.” Junior started, he made sure to stay where he was and kept his hands in plain sight. He had never wanted to hurt Nica in that house but he knew Nica really had no way of knowing that, the last thing he wanted to do was scare her again. “Look, what happened at the house. I, I didn’t, wasn’t going to hurt you. I just didn’t know what to do or what they would do.”

Nica looked at the boy, she could see the same nervousness in his face as she did in that house. She was still hesitant but she knew she couldn’t hold what happened against, Junior? As far as she knew, he could have ended up just like Alice if it hadn’t been for Andy and Kyle. 

“It, it’s okay,” Nica began, “believe me I know how manipulative Chucky can be.”

“We’ve got pizza if you’re hungry, it’s pretty cold now but-” Jake then cut Lexy off, “Or we have other food in the kitchen." 

"The pizza will be fine.” Nica responded quickly, she couldn’t remember the last time she ate and she imagined Chucky isn’t one to take care of himself, especially in her body.

“Here, take your pick.” Devon passed her a pizza box containing all of the leftover slices. 

“Thank you.” Without further discussion Nica took the first piece she saw, without even acknowledging the toppings. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a meal that wasn’t God awful hospital food, let alone pizza.

“I’m guessing you still have a lot of questions." 

Nica, looked up at Andy and slowly nodded. She finished off the slice of pizza before responding.

"Uh, yeah. Honestly, I’m not really sure where to start.”

“How about we tell you what we know and then you do the same for us?” Kyle suggested as she entered the room again with a glass of water, “I thought you might be thirsty.”

“Thanks.” Nica responded, reaching for the glass with a small smile.

The others proceeded to explain everything they knew about the current situation as Nica finished off the pizza, grateful to have anything close to a decent meal. 

“Well that explains why Chucky wanted me to kill, I knew there had to be something in it for that bastard." 

"Chucky tried to make you kill? When?”

“Just before he possessed me at Harrogate, one of the doctors.”

“Foley?” Andy asked hesitantly. The mention of that man’s name made Nica shudder before turning to Andy. 

“How’d you know that?”

“It’s kind of a long story but I had spoken to him a few times.”

“Why?”

“To, um, to try and visit you or prove you innocent I guess." 

Andy’s eyes kept flickering down to the floor, too shy to watch Nica’s reaction to what he just told her. He made the mistake of taking a quick glance at the others only to be met with Junior with a much bigger smirk on his face than before, almost identical to the one Kyle was pulling next to him. The same one she pulls when she thinks she knows better, or when he says he’s not a bad driver. Which he isn’t.

Meanwhile, Nica wasn’t sure what to do. She was still trying to comprehend what Andy said, and why would he do that? Genuine kindness had been such a rare thing for her since Chucky, it felt alien to her. She wanted to ask more about it, but she could see Andy nervously looking at the floor and decided it was best to ask them with less of an audience.

"Sorry,” Kyle began, “but going back to the subject of possession, I guess we should ask how often you’ve been in control.”

“Um, about two or three times I think. I think there have been some moments where I’m slightly aware of what was going on but I didn’t have control.”

“Well, when were the times you were in control?”

Nica hid her face in her hands for a second, trying desperately to fight the headache that began whenever she tried to think about past moments she was in control over Chucky.

“The first time I remember was November 8th so that was, what’s the date today?”

“November 13th” Jake pitched in.

“Right. 5 days ago, okay. Then it happened again, I think a day or two later? Then again when you two were there.” Nica gestured over to Junior and Devon before directing her next question to the latter. “Actually, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how did you get to that house?”

“Oh, I had gone to investigate.” Devon responded quickly, anxious to go into further detail after seeing the confusion Nica had faced since being possessed. Although, the attempt was in vain. Nica could tell something was wrong and then it hit her.

“Oh God!” She began, “I was the one that hurt you, wasn’t I? I’m so sorry, are you okay n-”

Devon immediately cut off her apologetic rambling,  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine now. Honestly, it’s alright. I know it was Chucky, it’s not your fault.”

Nica, looked over at the boy and gave him a smile and a small nod of thanks.

“So, do you have any idea what makes you change?” Lexy questioned.

“Um,”

“Tiffany slapped her when we were there,” Junior cut in, “that’s what made her switch back to herself. Don’t know how much that helps though.”

“Actually, it might. When I woke up the first time there was a guy that was tied up, I tried to free him but he ended up hitting me, which makes sense I guess but that’s the last thing I remember from that.” 

“What about the other time? Is there anything else that could have an effect?” Kyle pitched in, leaning closer.

“Uh, Tiffany hit me in the back of the head with something, that’s the last thing I remember from the second time. As for other things, blood maybe? That always seems to be near Chucky and Tiffany, I’m not sure if that affects anything though.”

“We could always test it!” With that Junior got up and made a move for the kitchen, Andy jumped up in response. “Woah, Kid what are you doing?!”

“Getting a knife.” Junior then clocked the concerned expressions of the others in the room. “Not like that. Just a small one, you know? To make a little cut and see if the blood works. No big deal.”

“Hang on,” Nica responded, looking around the room. “Someone tie my legs first, that will at least stop Chucky a little,  if this does work.”

Kyle swiftly picked up the rope on the ground that had bound Nica’s hands previously before moving towards Nica, who moved the blanket to one side. Kyle made quick work of tying Nica’s ankles together, double and triple knotting the rope just to be sure. That was when Junior returned to the room with a small vegetable knife, the sight of it caused the nerves to begin to sink in for Nica and she turned to her right to see Andy giving her a small reassuring smile.

“You ready?” Kyle asked, taking the knife from Junior and putting her own gun on the table next to her as Andy held his own, suddenly avoiding all eye contact with Nica. Nica took a deep breath, “Yeah.”

Kyle made a small cut on the palm of her hand before turning it to Nica, her gun now in the other hand. It only took a second of looking at the blood before the dreaded sinking feeling washed over her again and she let out a small whimper of fear before falling back.

The others kept their eyes fixed on her form, a gun in each of the adults’ hands. That was when Chucky let out a groan, pushing himself up and clicking his neck. 

“Kids, stand back.” Andy warned them, they didn’t need to be told twice, Devon had already begun to move back, grabbing Jake’s hand to make sure he followed. Next to them, Lexy and Junior did the same. 

Chucky opened his eyes, legs struggling against the binds and looked around before he landed on Andy pointing the gun pointed at Nica’s body. Chucky let out a smug chuckle before speaking, “Well, this is familiar. Ain’t it, Andy?” All of them remained silent, Andy seemingly frozen in place, refusing to take his eyes off of Chucky. “What? Ya not gonna shoot this time? No, of course ya won’t, not now you know she’s still in here.”

“Shut it, fucker.” 

“Wouldn’t want to shoot a pretty girl, r- agh!” Chucky was cut off as Kyle fist collided with Nica’s face, causing Chucky to fall back once again. Nica let out a gasp as she regained control before slowly sitting up again. “I’m guessing it worked.” she said weakly as she raised a hand up to her jaw.

“Uh huh,” Lexy responded, slightly bewildered. “At least we know how to get you back now.” Nica smiled at that, it was nice feeling as if she had some form of control again, and it seemed the others were reassured by that as well. Well, all except Andy, who seemed to be avoiding looking at her at all costs. 

Kyle decided to take over before things got awkward, “Right, so now that theory has been proven right, What’s the plan?”