#will byers x nb!reader

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S2:E6; Chapter Six, The Spy - [Pt. 3]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

will's connection to a shadowy evil grows stronger, but no one's quite sure how to stop it. elsewhere, steve and dustin forge an unlikely bond.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

The cubes of meat hit the wooden boards with a wet slap. Traveling along the abandoned tracks is Dustin and Steve, each carrying a bucket of butchered meat; their bait.

"All right, so let me get this straight," Steve sighs, looking at the boy just paces ahead of him. "You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who... who you just met?"

Dustin rolls his eyes, sighing irritably as he throws more bait on the track.

"All right, that's grossly oversimplifying things."

Steve shakes his head.

"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?"

"An interdimensional slug?" Dustin smirks. "Because it's awesome."

Steve picked up his pace, making his way to Dustin's side.

"Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, I... I just..." he shrugs, his lips forming a tight-lipped smile. "I don't know. I just feel like you're trying way too hard."

"Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?"

"It's not about the hair, man," Steve says, shrugging once more as he lazily kicks a stray pinecone from his path. "The key to girls is just... just acting like you don't care."

Dustin looks at him curiously, not expecting the insight.

"Even if you do?"

Steve nods. "Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts."

"Then what?"

"You just wait until, uh..." he pauses to throw another chuckle of bait behind him. "until you feel it."

"Feel what?"

"It's like before it's gonna storm, you know? You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh... electricity, you know?"

A spark of recognition flickers across Dustin's face, and he nods eagerly.

"Oh, like the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere--"

Steve shakes his head, an unimpressed look on his face. His head flicks to the side, sweeping away a stray lock of hair tickling his forehead.

"No, no, no, no, no. Like a... Like a sexual electricity."

A look of surprise crosses Dustin's face.

"Oh,"

The longer the day stretched on, the more Steve is bewildered at the ever-changing events he could never have foreseen. Nevertheless, he gestures to Dustin as he continues.

"You feel that and then you make your move."

There is a brief pause before Dustin asks simply.

"So that's when you kiss her?"

Steve's eyes widen, and he can't decide whether he should roll his eyes or laugh.

"No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo."

"Sorry." He mumbles.

"Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to he aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a..." He shrugs once more, looking back at the boy who had begun to lag shyly behind. "I don't know, like a lion."

Dustin hums thoughtfully, his gloved hand reaching inside the white steel bucket as he listens.

"But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a..."

His mind travels back in time for the briefest of moments, his heart warming at the memory of sneaking innocent moments with Nancy Wheeler. He finds himself smiling.

"Like a ninja."

"What type is Nancy?" Dustin asks, as if reading his thoughts.

And just like that, his smile falters.

"Nancy's different. She's different than the other girls."

"Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess."

"Yeah. Yeah, she is."

"But this girl's special, too, you know. It's just, like, something about her."

"Woah, woah, woah. Hey, hey, hey" Steve says, stopping them in their tracks and he turns to face Dustin.

"What?"

Steve studies the boy's body language, eyeing him suspiciously.

"You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?"

It is clear to Steve that Dustin has grown shocked and slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh, no. No."

His suspicious stare lingers, but he continues them down the tracks.

"Okay, good. Don't."

"I won't."

His attention returns to the tracks and laying the bait, but his thoughts continue to spill from his lips.

"She's only going to break your heart, and you're way too young for that shit."

A thick silence settles between the duo once more, a common theme so far. His thoughts now louder than ever, amplified in the silent autumn air and Steve feels his pity for the boy growing. The kid's got heart, he can tell, and despite his better judgment, Steve feels a soft spot growing for him.

"Fabergé."

It's Dustin's turn to give a quizzical look, his brow quickly quirks.

"What?"

Steve gestures to his full head of hair, failing to meet Dustin's eye.

"It's Faberegé Organics. Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair's damp... It's not wet, okay? When's its damp..."

"-Damp."

"You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray."

Steve doesn't have to see the look on Dustin's face to know the kid is grinning madly. He can hear the smirk in his voice as Dustin clearly attenps to hold back a snicker. Already, Steve is beginning to regret his decision.

"Farrah Fawcett spray?"

"Yeah, Farrah Fawcet." Steve halts once more, making sure he towers over the boy as he jabs a finger in his face. "You tell anyone I just told you that and your ass is grass. You're dead, Henderson. Do you understand?"

Dustin nods, suppressing his smile as he avoids Steve's gaze.

"Yup."

A new silence blankets the air, with it a new sense of commonality, and understanding. It's comfortable. Another smirk tugs at Dustin's lips as they continue their journey, laying slabs of meat.

"Farrah Fawcett, really?"

Steve shrugs.

"I mean, she's hot."

The tension melts away in the wake of their forming bonds of friendship, they share a smile and an occasional nod. They are each surprised by the unexpected comfort each other's company brought. Unbeknownst to the pair, the farther they ventured, the closer they got to the decaying tunnels beneath their feet. And to their right, a bright yellow flag planted in the dirt, a marking made earlier by Hopper and his team that signaled rotting earth and decay.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Hopper's fingers release the button as he lets out a defeated sigh.

The moment Hopper sensed a lull-a rarity nowadays meant to be coveted-he had quietly excused himself outside. Seeing the poor kid go through what he was going through had brought out old instincts. More accurately, it was another opportunity to stretch these protective muscles he hadn't used regularly in years. It was easy to see El had been the first to bring it back out in him. Will only fueled it.

He sits now in his truck, radio in hand as he begins the transmission he hopes will reach her. First, beeping the secret code to El, letting her know it was him before beginning. But his shoulders sag, discarding that idea completely. Hopper knows what he has to say needs to be spoken aloud, not translated. Guilt has been a heavy weight on his shoulders since their fight, his inability to mend their mistakes and all the things left unsaid. His time in the tunnels crosses his mind, and how fearful he was when he believed he wouldn't make it home to her.

Hopper quickly realized it wasn't death that scared him. Of course, it was frightening, but what really bothered him-scared him-is what would happen to her if he never saw her again. Not only the way they had left things but what would become of her? How would she stay safe and who could truly know to take care of her, nurture her? The last thing he wanted was to leave her on her own, and he certainly didn't want to risk going inside and dealing with the problem at hand, without talking to her.

Or at least letting her know he was sorry.

So here he sat, his body hunched forward as he lay against the wheel, the radio grasped tightly in his hand. His voice shakey and his heart breaking. Hopper took another deep breath and let the words spill out.

"Hey, it's, uh... It's me. I know that I've been gone too long, and uh... It's-- I just, I want you to know that it's not about you and it's not about our fight. Okay?"

His garbled voice rings out in the empty cabin, no one around to hear him but the several boxes strewn around the room.

"Something came up, and I will... I will explain it all when I see you. I just... I just want you to know that I'm not mad."

His grip on the radio and his own hand grows tighter, he clutches it tightly like a lifeline. He can no longer fight the tears that threaten to spill, and his eyes go red and puffy.

"I'm just sorry. About everything."

The hot tears sting his eyes, he has to stop to collect himself as best he can but it is almost no use at all. His heart lurches, but for the first time in a long time, it is alive. He wishes with all his might that he can be there with her, comfort her. But he knows he can't. He continues to battle the enormous lump in his throat but it's winning.

"I don't want you to get hurt at all. And I don't want to lose you."

He chokes on his tears, but he feels the soft rumble deep within his chest where a weak chuckle forms. Hopper sniffles and speaks once more into the machine, unable and unwilling to fight those parental instincts kicking in again.

"Just make sure you heat up some real food. Not just Eggos. And I want you to eat all the peas, even if they're mushy and gross. And..."

He sighs, knowing more than anything he intends to, and will, keep his next promise. Jim Hopper would move mountains to keep it, and has every intention of showing her-and himself-that he will be there for her.

"I will be home soon."

The monitor clicks off and the car-and the empty cabin-go silent.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"This is him last week."

The photo on the projector slides into place and shifts into focus. A map of Will's brain, for the most part normal, but sprinkled across the grayscale map is several flurries of activity. Patches of red.

"And there are the hippocampal abnormalities we had discussed. Nothing out of line with what we've seen from others suffering from post-traumatic. But..."

The medical team is gathered in one of several conference rooms as one member of the staff tasked to the Byers case reviews with the team, including Dr. Sam Owens. The man sighs in worry, his elbow is propped up on the wooden conference table and he massages his temples worriedly as the slide changes. It's another map of Will's brain, but there is an extra flurry of activity that frightens them all.

"this is Will from last night. And as you can see, there are now abnormalities Im the limbic and paralimbic areas. And this..."

The man grows increasingly unsettled, and with great reluctance he advances the slide. Aside from a few select spots on the brain, the picture is enveloped in red. The Brian is drowning in the virus. There is more red than black.

"is from an hour ago."

Not a soul in the room remains still, every lab coat shuffles uncomfortably. And suddenly the papers in their hands have become overwhelming captivating. Attempting to hide his own discomfort, Owens turns to his team and gestures around the table.

"I don't hear any suggestions."

A colleague of his looks up from his papers, though his fingers still nervously fiddle with the edges of the files.

"We have bigger problems than the boy."

"Do we?" The man snaps.

"We can't keep delaying the burn." Another adds.

Agitated, Owens leans forward, his palm smacking the table.

"You're talking about putting... putting a Band-Aid on this." He stutters.

The first man speaks up.

"Right now, a Band-Aid is the best option."

"It's our only option."

Owens looks around the room aghast at his colleagues. They merely stared back, silently taking a stance.

"And if it kills the boy?" Owens spits.

"Then quite frankly, Sam, it kills him."

Owens stills in anger and disgust before jabbing a finger in the man's direction. "Say that to me again." He threatens.

The doctor that stands by the projector reluctantly speaks up.

"The rate this is spreading, he'll be lost by the end of the day. What we do or don't do won't change the outcome."

"We have to start the burn." The other states.

Owens takes one last look at his team, his eyes hold nothing but disgust. Huffing, he grabs his things from the table and jumps to his feet and storms for the door.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to think." He spits.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"What the hell is taking so long?" Joyce sighs.

She and Bob sit side by side to the right of Will's bedside. Her leg bounces up and down at an almost unnatural rate and she nervously wrings her hands.

"Hey," Bob assures. "doctors take forever, always. Just try and relax. Just be patient."

He reaches forward, briefly rubbing her knee in an attempt to soothe her nerves however he can. Taking his words to heart, Joyce takes a lingering breath and she tries to calm the storm of nerves in her stomach. But with every passing second, her nerves return. With every beep of the monitor is a harsh reminder than another second has passed. Another second her boy goes unhelped.

Finally, she sighs as she shrugs the blanket off her shoulders.

"You know, I just..."

She slips through the door and marches to the end of the hall. The two guards stationed in front of the closed double doors tense as she approaches with no intention of stopping.

"Let me through. Let me through!" She orders, struggling against their arms.

"You know we can't do that."

"I need to talk to--"

"--He'll be with you shortly."

"You said that an hour ago!"

Bob soon joins her side and attempts to calm her, and across the hall staring through the door is Will. He lays perfectly still on the bed, and the heart monitor starts to race beside him. With every beep of the monitor, his vision fluctuates. He is seeing but not with his own eyes, he is a passenger in his own body and yet all he can focus on is the gun holstered in the guard's belt.

《•••》

The figure, who had been properly equipped, aimed his device and a violent spurt of fire erupted from the end.

《•••》

Anger. That's all he can feel.

《•••》

The vines writhed and shrieked violently as they shriveled up.

《•••》

Will.

《•••》

Will convulsed uncontrollably, his limbs on fire, spreading as rapidly as the flames in the hub below.

《•••》

Will.

《•••》

He saw the visions. Like he was navigating the dark and cold tunnels, they never stopped moving and he knew they were out to kill.

•••

Will was panting heavily, but he slowly turned around coming face to face with the monster. It towered over the school, looking directly at Will.

《•••》

"Will?"

A warm hand touches his arm and he falls back to earth. The spike in his heart echoes in the room with the speedy beeps of the heart monitor giving him away. He hadn't registered that Mike had been speaking to him. Will looks to the boy who is watching him, concerned.

"What's wrong? Are you hurting again?" Mike asks.

"Uh..."

Will tries desperately to speak but the things he wants to say don't come. Instead, he feels the undeniable urge to sit up. He does so, and more words come to his brain but they are not what he truly wants to say. There is a wild, demanding itch in his brain that he must extinguish.

"I saw something."

The itch subsides.

Unsuspecting, Mike listens intently with worry.

"In your now-memories?"

Against his better judgment-the small, dying voice in the corner of his brain that grows small and smaller yet-he continues to scratch the itch and he nods and leans closer.

"The shadow monster." He whispers. "I think I know how to stop him."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The sun has reached it's highest point when Dustin arrives at the familiar landscape of the old scrapyard, Steve by his side. He wears a proud grin as Steve gazes across the yard, nodding in agreement.

"Oh yeah. Yeah, this will do." Steve begins his descend down the small hill, shedding his sunglasses. "This will do just fine. Good call, dude."

Dustin's grin widens significantly, his chest welling in pride before he falls in line with Steve. The two continue to sprinkle their bait trail behind them to the center of the yard. They dump the remanents of meat in a pile when they hear an approaching voice call out to them from the hill.

"I said medium-well!"

Dustin is relieved to see Lucas, he is beaming down at them as he sends them a wave. But his stomach plummets when he sees Max standing at his side.

The two begin their descent down the hill and Steve wonders aloud. "Who's that?"

He looks to Dustin when the boy doesn't answer, spotting the concerned and disbelieving glance he wears at the redhead. Suddenly, his mind clicks.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"You told her?" Dustin hisses.

Lucas and Dustin are huddled behind one of several abandoned vehicles exchanging hushed words. After proper introductions, Max and Steve have set to work and begun to build their base.

"So what?" Lucas says.

"'So what?'" Dustin laughs dryly.

"You wanted to tell her, too."

"But I didn't, all right? You know why?"

"You're chicken?" Lucas retorts.

Dustin rolls his eyes at Lucas's weak jab, and his anger only grows.

"Because not only does that put us-and Max for that matter-in danger, but Y/n especially! You know, that sibling of mine, the escaped experiment that the government lab could snatch up on any old whim? That Y/n?"

"They agreed to leave Y/n alone, remember?"

"Like their word means shit! They faked Will's death to cover their own asses for shit's sake. They don't exactly strike me as the caring, honorable type. Who's to say they won't ever change their minds and decide they want Y/n back!"

Lucas shrinks back, regret flashing across his face as he takes in his words. He sighs.

"Look, I'm sorry about that, alright? I didn't think about it like that, but it's already done. And for what it's worth, I don't think she's gonna tell anyone."

"You don't know she won't tell, we just met her! What if she slips up? What if she's cornered and the information is forced out of her?"

It's Lucas's turn to roll his eyes, and he scoffs.

"Dude, you're spiraling. None of that's gonna happen."

Dustin sighs and shrugs his shoulders apathetically.

"Maybe I am and maybe it won't. The point is, we all agreed not to tell her and to look for Dart."

"Who you conveniently found."

"Are you suggesting that I'm lying?"

"I'm saying you have a creepy little bond with him."

"Yeah, that was before he turned into a Demogorgan."

"And you haven't heard from Y/n?"

Dustin's face scrunches up in anger at Lucas's mention of his sibling.

"No."

"Or Mike?"

"No."

"Will?"

"No."

"Hopper?"

"No! No one is around. Why do you think I'm with Steve Harrington? Something's-"

"Wrong." Lucas finishes, sighing. "I agree. Which is why need as much help as we can get."

They both hear a soft grunt from across the yard and they rise to their feet and peek through the vacant window of the car. Max is piling several sheets of metal against the bus closing off weak spots underneath.

"She didn't believe me, anyway." Lucas says.

A small smirk forms on Dustin's face.

"You probably didn't tell it right."

They share a weak laugh and rise to face each other and Lucas extends his hand.

"So, we good?"

Dustin's eyes fall to his friend's hand and he smiles weakly.

"Hey!" A loud crash behind Dustin startles them and they turn to find Steve glaring at them."Dickheads! How come the only one helping me out is this random girl? We lose light in fourth minutes. Let's go."

They only stare at him as he retreats to the bus, reluctantly following. Steve gestures for them to move, his voice increasingly rising in anger.

"Let's go, I said!"

They pick up speed and each grumble a response.

"Alright, asshole!" Dustin snaps with a whine. "God!"

"Okay! Stupid."

[b00inazkaban]

MASTERLIST #2

Navigation!

Let me know if there are any characters you’d like added and I’ll look into it! :)

MARVEL:

☆ Tony Stark

☆ Steve Rogers

☆ Bruce Banner

☆ Natasha Romanoff

☆ Clint Barton

☆ Bucky Barnes

☆ Sam Wilson

☆ Peter Parker

☆ Thor Odison

☆ Loki Laufeyson

☆ Dr. Stephen Strange

☆ Peter Quill

☆ Gamora

☆ Drax the destroyer

☆ Rocket the Racoon

☆ Mantis

☆ Groot

Poly Requests:

STRANGER THINGS:

☆ Steve Harrington: Steve Harrington x FtM reader**

☆ Robin Buckley :

☆ Nancy Wheeler:

☆ Eddie Munson:

☆ Johnathan Byers:

☆ Argyle:

☆ Billy Hargrove:

☆ Mike Wheeler: Little!Mike x GN!CG!Reader

☆ Dustin Henderson

☆ Will Byers

☆ Lucas Sinclair

☆ Eleven Hopper

☆ Max Mayfield

☆ Jim Hopper:

☆ Joyce Byers:

☆ Dmitri Antonov:

Poly Requests:

HARRY POTTER/MARAUDER:

☆ Harry Potter:

☆ Ron Weasley: CG!Ron Weasley x Little!GN!reader

☆ Hermione Granger:

☆ Fred Weasley: CG!Fred Weasley x Little!Fem!Reader

☆ George Weasley: George Weasley x reader ; CG!George Weasley x LittleMale!Reader

☆ Neville Longbottom: Sub!Neville x Dom!Reader**

☆ Draco Malfoy:

☆ Blaise Zambini:

☆ Enzo Berkshire:

☆ Mattheo Riddle:

☆ Theo Nott:

☆ Pansy Parkinson:

Marauders Era or Lighting Era:

☆ Lucius Malfoy:

☆ Narcissa Malfoy:

☆ Severus Snape:

☆ Bellatrix Lestrange:

☆ Barty Crouch Jr. :

☆ Evan Rosier:

☆ Pandora Rosier:

☆ Zahara Zambini:

☆ Regulus Black:

☆ Sirius Black:

☆ Remus Lupin:

☆ Lily Evans:

☆ Marlene McKinnon:

☆ Mary McDonald:

☆ Dorcas Meadows:

FANTASTIC BEASTS:

☆ Newt Scamander:

☆ Thesus Scammander:

☆ Jacob Kowalski:

☆ Queenie Goldstein:

☆ Albus Dumbledore (young):

☆ Gellart Grindlewald (young):

Poly Requests:

CRIMINAL MINDS:

☆Aaron Hotchner

☆ Jason Gideon

☆ Spencer Reid

☆ Derek Morgan

☆ JJ/ Jennifer Jareau

☆ Elle Greenaway

☆ Penelope Garcia

☆ Emily Prentiss

☆ David Rossi

Poly Requests:

BRIDGERTON:

☆ Anthony Bridgerton

☆ Benedict Bridgerton

☆ Colin Briderton

☆ Daphne Bridgerton

☆ Eloise Bridgerton

☆ Simon Basset

☆ Penelope Fetherington

☆ Queen Charlotte (Young)

☆ King George (Young)

Poly Requests:

Queen charlotte x reader x King George

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES:

☆ Leonardo: NSFW alphabet

☆ Raphael:

☆ Donnatelo:

☆ Michelangelo: Mikey x Reader

☆ April O'Neil:

☆ Casey Jones:

Poly Requests:

Poly!TMNT x Fem!Reader; April 4-in-1; turtles are manspreading and you want payback 😚

Poly!TMNT x Fem!Reader; Casey tries to flirt with reader but she puts down the idea and the turtles are proud

TOP GUN:

☆ Pete Mitchell "Maverick"

☆ Bradley Bradshaw "Rooster"

☆ Jake Seresin "Hangman"

☆ Natasha Trace "Phoenix"

☆ Robert Floyd "Bob"

Poly Requests:

THE HOBBIT/LOTR:

☆ Thorin

☆ Bilbo

☆ Fili

☆ Kili

☆ Dwalin

☆ Bofur

☆ Bard

☆ Legolas

☆ Tauriel

☆ Thuranduil

Poly Requests:

TWILIGHT:

☆ Carlisle Cullen

☆ Esme Cullen

☆ Emmet Cullen

☆ Rosalie Cullen

☆ Alice Cullen

☆ Jasper Cullen: CG!Jasper Hale x nb!little!reader

☆ Edward Cullen

☆ Bella Cullen/Swan

☆ Jacob Black

☆ Garrett

The Volturi:

☆ Aro

☆ Caius

☆ Marcus

Poly Requests:

THE HUNGER GAMES:

☆ Katniss Everdeen

☆ Petta Mellark

☆ Finnick Odair

☆ Johanna Mason

☆ Haymitch Abernathy

Poly Requests:

LUCIFER:

☆ Lucifer Morningstar

☆ Mazikeen

☆ Amenadeil

☆ Chole Decker

☆ Linda Martin

Poly Requests:

How To Train Your Dragon:

☆ Hiccup Haddock

☆ Astrid Hofferson

☆ Snotlout

☆ Ruffnut

☆ Tuffnut

Poly Requests:

Across The SpiderVerse:

☆ Miles Morales

☆ Miguel O'Hara

Spider thoughts!

☆ Peter B. Parker

Spider thoughts!

☆ Hobie Brown

☆ Gwen Stacy

☆ Spider-Noir

Spider thoughts!

Poly Requests:

Descendants:

☆ Mal

☆ Evie

☆ Carlos

☆ Jay

☆ Gil

☆ Harry

☆ Uma

Poly Requests:

MATCHUPS/MOODBOARDS:

☆ @thoughtfulcreatornight x Raphael matchup

☆ Anonymous x Remus Lupin matchup

꧁〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎〰︎꧂

I’ve redone my masterlist because I was vey unhappy with my first one, and I wanted to add pictures to go with it! I’ll also be adding all my new work onto here and my old work will be on the first masterlist! Love y’all! 💗

[collectionofcherries]

Develop.

Warning, don't yell at me: I was brought up with polaroid cameras so I've never really used a Dark Room. I did my best with some Googling around to get it accurate but please excuse any inaccuracies. Thank you to parallax photographic coop and invaluable for having simple guides that I've based this off of.

Synopsis: Jonathan helping out the NB!reader with developing photos as he develops a crush.

Pronouns: Gender Neutral/Nonbinary. No mention of pronouns nor bodily anatomy.

Warning: Fluff, crushing, some flaffing about, inaccuracies to camera lovers shield your eyes, Me thinking I'm funny.

Word Count: 4,840 ---

"Okay, film strip." You mutter to yourself as you try for what feelings like the 80th time. "Firmly in the slide." You nod. "Resin paper." You say as you adjust it for the millionth time but maybe this time a nudge to the left is what it needs. "Turn on the enlarger." You say taking a deep breath and flipping the switch only to be rewarded with nothing! "Kill me." You mutter as you remove your film strip to see it's ruined...again. It's now blown out and useless. "What am I doing wrong?" You whined.

As if it wasn't enough to feel like an idiot, the Darkroom door opens and closes and now you're an idiot with an audience. You look over and at least your audience is cute, he gives you a tight smile and you sent a polite one back with a nod of acknowledgement before looking back to the few strips of film you've got left. You hope maybe he's going to use the enlarger so you can figure out what you're doing wrong but as you peak over at him you don't know what he's doing but it doesn't seem to have any relation to what you need to get done and you can't help but to let out a defeated sigh. The noise catches his attention and he looks over at you to see if there's some kind of problem and he's left a little confused when you practically flinch and snap your head in the other direction away from him.

He tries to not let it get to him but he finds his eyes wandering over to you as he prepares his development mixture and stop bath to develop his negatives. He's pretty sure you're new or at least new to the Darkroom cause he's never seen you around and he practically lives in here during school hours. Jonathan really feels like you can get a feel of someone by seeing what kind of camera they shoot on and what they capture so he tries to peak around to find any clues as to what you use and he finds a clue but it only leads to more questions. A film canister that looks like it's been sawed open and your film is just laying on the counter and not in anything protective...oh, you're new in more ways than one. He knows what it's like to feel watched and how much it sucks so he tries to at least make himself look busy but he watches as you try enlarge your film and he sees your shoulders sag to the ground in defeat. Nervousness swells in his throat over the idea of talking to someone new but he does know about film and it's clear that you don't. "You need a hand?" He timidly offers.

You're both relieved to have help and incredibly embarrassed that it's that obvious you have no idea what you're doing. "That clear huh?" You try to joke looking over at him.

He shrugs a little. "Little." He admits with a small cringe.

"Yeah, I'd love a hand...I'm used to polaroid and this is not that." You explain.

He nods and puts whatever he's mixing down and comes over. "So, you're just trying to enlarge your photos?" He checks and you nod. "Maybe it's the focus, it can be a pain." He comforts.

And it's nice he's not out right calling you an idiot. "I didn't know I needed to focus...I wrote down what the dude at the CVS told me." You tell him going into your pocket to take out the notes you'd jotted down just to double check, not that you haven't been staring at this piece of paper for what feels like eternity.

"They don't always give the best advice cause they want you to pay them money to do it for you." He said shaking his head.

"Didn't think of that." You admit. "I'm so used to just taking the photo and then having it." You sigh, God why did your camera have to break?

"It takes some practice but the results are way better." He say quietly as he lets his prejudge slip and he almost freezes up as he realizes he has. He knows people can get so defensive about shooting preference and he really doesn't want to get off on the wrong foot with you. "Not that polaroid's aren't good." He quickly tacks on with an uneasy breath.

You're not bothered though, you don't know enough about film to be bothered so you just nod along so you don't make an ass out of yourself. "Your films already in there and lined up?" He checks and you again nod.

He presses the button to start it and you hope against all hope that a photo will come out but again nothing and you sigh as disappointment finds a new home in your gut, not even a cute guy can fix your problems. "Maybe I'm just cursed." You concede.

"No, it's gotta be something else..." His voice dies off as he takes your film out to inspect it to see it's entirely blown out and realization hits him about just how new to this you are. Oh...how does he say this? He looks over at you and you really do look nice enough, friendly, good looking and at that his nerves swell up his throat so hard that he has to clear it before he can speak. "Found the problem." He barely admits.

And your eyes light up, if he's found the problem maybe he can fix it and you can leave here with at least one photo, maybe a cute guy can fix your problems. "Yeah?" You encourage for him to continue.

He lifts your film between his two fingers and fidgets with them. "It's not developed." He tells you.

And you feel like a dear caught in the headlights cause..."Isn't that what I'm doing?"

He swallows down the small chuckle that threatens to bubble up and out of his mouth and chews on his lip before shaking his head. "No." Is the nicest way he can put it.

And you try to take that in and he can see the clear disappointment and turmoil on your face. "So, I've just been burning film?" It's more of a realization than it is a question.

He cringes and gives you a nod. "I-I can show you how to develop your negatives." He offers nodding as he talks almost like he's confirming his words to himself. Which is exactly what he's doing.

"I don't want to be a bother." Yes you do, you wanna bother him so bad but shy reflexes kick themselves into gear before you can stop them.

"I wouldn't offer if it was a bother." He lets you know, giving a shake of his head.

It's nice to know that not everyone at this school was a rude tool and it's almost a relief that someone has finally been nice to you, you can't help but to smile. And it earns you a small shy smile back. "Thank you." You remember to say.

He nods a little and for a moment he just stands there as something akin to stage fright takes a hold of him and he bites the corner of his lip as he fidgets with your film in his hand. Right, film. He knows film, he can do this. "Do you have another canister you wanna develop?" He asks as he goes over to inspect the strips that're laying on the counter.

"That's it." You timidly admit.

He looks at the film and it doesn't look promising and a small pit forms in his stomach at it. "We'll try and make this work, they might not come out perfect but..." He shrugs. "Who needs perfect?" He tries to smooth over.

"At this point I'll take anything." You admit and he nods. "Plus I can always go the pained art kid way and just call it my style and tell anyone who questions it that they simply don't have an artistic gaze." You jokingly pitch.

It earns you a breathy chuckle and he nods. "Pretentious route. Should work." He agrees. "Since it's only two strips I'm going to put it in with mine." He explained going back over to his supplies. "Also...uh...did you have a hard time with the cassette opener?" He asks as he grabs it.

"No I didn't." You say which confuses him as he glances over at your mangled canister. "Cause I didn't use it so can't have a problem with it if I didn't use it." You try to cover your embarrassment with a joke.

He doesn't laugh but he nods and luckily doesn't look too horrified. Jonathan is used to working close to his body, keeping himself tiny and out of sight so he has to remind himself to not come in on himself so you can actually see what he's doing so next time you don't have to gnaw your canister open. It's a pretty simple, you hook it on and then pop it off. "Huh." Makes it way out of you cause good God was that ever easier than going at with the now ruined pair of scissors you'd hidden away.

"Easy, you'll get the hang of it in no time." He encourages to try and keep your spirits up and that sweetness isn't lost on you, it makes you blush and you find yourself very thankful to be in an entirely red room. He looks around and you can see the confusion in his features. "Did you see the scissors?"

Oh fuck. Now your face is really red, probably as red as this room. "They died." You settled on and his confusion furthers as his mouth opens to ask a question but he's at a loss for words. "Sacrificed, honourable death really." You joke uncomfortable as you gesture to your canister.

He holds back another laugh by biting the inside of his cheek and nodding and while he thinks he's sparing you embarrassment you're left worried you've annoyed him, you can't tell if his sharp exhale is one of amusement or a sigh. It doesn't get much clearer to you as he moves past you to grab a spare pair that he knows is in the drawer and he once again finds himself going onto auto-pilot as he pulls out his film and cuts it free from the cassette and begins to load it into a reel. "What're you doing now?"

Your voice comes out tiny and shy, you don't want to over step but you do want to learn. "Right, sorry." Comes out of Jonathan just as shy, it's all second nature to him now so he forgets that it isn't like that for everyone. "This is a reel, you find the slit and put the film into it and twist to get it all in there." He explains gesturing as he goes.

"Maybe I could try to do that? Help out instead of just standing around?" You pitch. You really do wanna learn and you do want to let him know that you're not a disaster of a human being.

"Y-yeah, sure, of course." He nods offering it out to you and you gently take it, worried of possibly messing up or breaking anything else. "Just back and forth." He says and you do what he says and sure enough the film continues to wind into it and you feel ecstatic that something it finally going right! You can't help but to look at him excitedly and your excitement is contagious even to someone as boxed up as Jonathan can be. "You're a natural."

You know it's just a joke but it doesn't stop butterflies from fluttering around your chest. "I'm also a natural at the triangle too if you can believe that." You say jokingly confident.

It earns you a grin. "Multitalented." He agreed with a breathy chuckle. And the way your tongue peaks out between your teeth in glee sends the butterflies from your chest straight into his and he's overwhelmed with the need to make himself busy but in the same moment he knows he can't come in on himself cause he's trying to teach you something. The confliction leads to some jerky movements as he grabs the film tank. "Now that you're done with winding, you place it in this." He forced himself to explain even though his throat felt tight.

"Shouldn't I wind up my film with yours?" It almost sounds like a euphemism.

"Because it's already in strips we're gonna place it on the outside of the reel." He explained placing your strips into it to show what he meant. "Go ahead, place it right there"

Easy for him to say. You look at the reel in your hand and then at what he's holding and you pray that you can get this right. There's a hole in the middle of the reel and that's got a pole so you gingerly place it there and watch his face as you do and he nods a little when he spots your apprehension. Finally, something in photography that made sense. When you move your hands away he closes it up with a top. "I already mixed it but this is developer, it's just that bottle and some water...the standard is a fifty fifty mix." He gestures as he explains which is helpful. "You generally want it around this temperature, it's okay if it's a little hotter." He shrugs.

You step closer to him so you can place your hands to the jar the concoction is in to try and understand what temperature he's talking about and he can't help but to stare when you get close. Taking in your features, the angle of your nose, the shape of your eyes, the corners of your mouth but more importantly the way you emote. Jonathan likes to capture people in a moment, a moment where they are themselves without pretending, he likes to capture the way they express and he can't help but to think you'd be a good subject to photograph. If it wouldn't ruin all the film in this room he'd be tempted to try and get a photo of you developing your first photo because everything about your actions is so authentic, it's honest. "Got it, like the temperature of water that's been out all night." You decide.

He lets out an amused and startled breath as he's taken out from his thoughts and nods a little. "Yeah, sure." He settles on quickly. "You generally never want it to get warmer than body temperature." He sums up. "And uh--yeah you fill the container and then pop the lid on." He explains moving back from your hold and doing so, popping on the lid. "And then you shake it for 30 seconds every minute or so for a couple minutes."

And for a very awkward minute the only sound in the room in the sloshing sound of the mixture in the film tank. Nerves eat at you both as you both scramble for something to talk about but every idea that comes to mind seems to have trouble leaving your mouth. "So what kind of stuff do you take pictures--?" "--What got you into film instead of polaroi--?" Leaves your mouth and his at the same time.

It's enough to cut the tension and make you both laugh and he gestures forward with his hand towards you for you to go first. "An accident. My polaroid finally gave out after years of abuse and my mom doesn't really know a whole lot about the difference between cameras so she just bought me what she was told was really good so...now I'm into film instead." You sum up gesturing as you talk so your nerves have somewhere else to go besides your brain.

He nods along as you talk, eyes darting from you to the film tank and he sees you copy his previous gesture to let him know it's his turn to answer your question. "I uh--" God, how does he not make this sound off putting to a nice new person? "Live study." That's a word for it, sure.

"Like animals?"

He sighs a little, guess that's also a word for photographing animals. "People."

"Like portraits." You say with some confidence at your correct verbiage.

"Not really." He admits looking at the film tank. "I um--I don't really do stagnant or stoic kind of pictures of people. I like to capture a moment or an emotion."

He's thankful he's got the tank to shake to keep his hands busy, it gives him something to fidget with to work out his nerves. "That's really cool." And it's a little startling to see him suddenly entirely stop fidgeting and staring at the floor to look at you but he's been really nice to you so you offer him the same smile he's been giving you to reassure you throughout this process. "I take photos of like still life so I know what I'm capturing all the time, it's fixed in place and I can mess around with it but you see something and capture it in it's own organic and beautiful way and that's really cool." He's given you a lot of comfort and confidence throughout this whole film ordeal so you want to offer that back.

Your offer is incredibly accepted as unbeknownst to you Jonathan's face turns red at the praise and he's left speechless in the nicest way possible, all he can do is smile. He thinks about brushing off all the compliments but every time he opens his mouth too a breathless flustered chuckle comes out. "Thanks." He settles on.

It's pretty cute to watch unfold and you have to hold back you own laugher as his bashfulness. "It also takes a lot of talent to do, I tried to capture my mom laughing and it just looked like a demon was being exorcised." You laugh.

He does too. "That happens." He chuckles out as he nods.

As the laughter dies down the room is once again quiet but not so uncomfortably. "Is there anything I can do to help?" You offer.

"Uh, sure, here." He says offering you the film tank which you take. "I'll get the stop bath, fixer and bath ready." He says as he grabs a few things from the shelves. Oh that seems like a lot of things. You nervously shake the film tank and try to get your brain focused off the cute boy and onto taking in what he's going to tell you. "You can go ahead and drain out the film tank into the sink." He tells you.

You cautiously make your way over to the sink and fiddle with the cap you'd seen him put on but you're apprehensive to take it off because if that's wrong you could ruin not just your film but more importantly his film. You look over at him unsure. "Take the cap off?" You check. Better to sound potentially stupid than to be a potential saboteur.

He nods at you and you're reassured enough to take it off and carefully pour the liquid down the sink. "Great, hold it up." He instructs and you do what he says, he comes over and pours something into it and he's getting a little better at remembering you don't know as much as he does. "This is a stop bath, sounds like what it is. Stops the film from over developing."

You nod along, that does make sense cause you've gotta stop something at some point. "Right." You agree easily to let him know you're listening.

He puts the cap back on. "You just give it a shake and then dump it."

"That fast?" You ask as you shake and he nods.

"The developing solution is the longest part. Everything else is pretty quick." He says as he gestures towards the sink.

You take the que and dump out that mixture with a little more confidence than the first time and turn back towards him to wait for more instructions cause so far it feels like you've got a handle of what's going on so you're ready for what's next, it's exciting! Just like before your excitement is contagious and Jonathan catches himself once again staring at you and smiling. "What's next?" You ask.

"Fixer." He says as he focuses back on the task at hand. He grabs the chemical solution and pours it into the top of the film tank in your hands. "It stabilizes the film so you can expose it to light without ruining it." He sums up, he doesn't want to overwhelm you with information and he doesn't want to chance talking too much and making a fool out of himself.

"And lemme guess...I shake it?" You ask as he pops the cap back on.

"Like I said, a natural." He jokes.

You smile as you start to shake it. "Another pump and dump?" You joke. A bark of a laugh makes it way out of him before he covers his mouth but it doesn't do much to stop his snickering. The tip of your tongue finds it's way out between your teeth as you beam with glee. "Or wine and dine?"

"Somewhere in the middle, 3 minutes." He says around his hand.

"Oh okay, so like a movie date." You continue to joke.

"Sure." He gives in with a chuckle, letting his hand fall and nodding along. "So, while you movie date the film tank I'm gonna make a the final bath." He tells you.

"Sounds like a horror film. The final bath, coming this summer." You say in your best announcer voice.

It's so dorky, it's so stupid but he lets out a small laugh and shakes his head as he prepares the bath and as he gets into his rhythm he mentally reminds himself to explain what he's doing. "This is going to help our film dry." He explains.

And he's lost you. "The-..." You pause looking at him filling up a plastic container and nothing gets clearer. "The wet solution is going to dry the film?" That wasn't a joke but it sounds like one.

He knows it does sound a little odd but he nods at you. "It's a little complicated but the easiest way to explain it is it goes on and then once it dries it helps with no water streaks or droplets." He tries to simplify.

You'll just remember the step, even if you don't fully understand why it's there you'll just remember to do it. "Got it." You lie.

The look on your face gives you away but he nods anyway. "Go ahead and..." He pauses shaking his head a little as an amused breath comes out. "Dump the liquid." You laugh a little and do as he says. "Open the film tank, we're gonna rinse the film in cold water."

You remember how he closed it so you're hoping it opens the same way and thank God it does. No more gnawing open film equipment for you. "I can touch it without ruining it?" You check before putting your hand into anything.

"Yours are gonna need some extra care since they aren't in the reel but I can get those and you can just run the cold water through the reel." He says coming over.

He's careful to not touch the actual photographs and just the edges of your film as he takes them and heads over to a sink to rinse them off. It's not too hard for him to do and he's curious as to what still life you capture and he thinks it's nice. It's tiny and a little degraded but what he can make out he likes, he never really takes the time to stop and look around at mushrooms or trees. There's just something about that that resonates around his chest, something about finding the little moments in simple things that endears you to him even more. He finishes up with your film and places it in the wet bath solution and all his movement goes unnoticed by you because you're so focused on just doing your best to rinse his film, you want to do such a good job that you're zeroed in on it and nothing else. That is until he gently taps your shoulder, that startles you out of zoned in focus. "Hey." He gently says. "You did great." He can't possibly know that but he wants to make up for startling you. "Shake out the water and put it into the bath." You've gotten pretty good at shaking this film by now, you do that and then as gently as you can place it into the bath where your film also is. "Usually there's more baths already set up but sometimes people are just forgetful and don't refill once they empty." He lets you know with a sigh and roll of his eyes.

"Right, dark room courtesy, I'll have to learn that too." You make a mental note.

"It's not too complicated." He tells you and you know he's trying to be nice but just the idea of someone else in the room makes your stomach churn, what if it was someone who wasn't nearly as nice? "Plus I'm in here all the time so I've got your back." He tells you ducking his head a little to try and catch your eyes that were unsurely staring at the floor. It works cause that really is a reassuring comfort that he'll likely be here the next time you are. "Okay?" He asks softly with a nod.

And just like that the churning in your stomach turns to butterflies. "Okay." You agree with a nod and smile.

He smiles back, he's just as thrilled as you are to have a friend in the dark room and he once again finds himself staring and he knows he's going to have to do something about that before that becomes a habit. The only thing he can do right now to break his gaze is work on film. Right the film he nods to himself, he turns to the plastic container and takes out the reel. "Last step, take it out, cut it up and hang it to dry." He explains as he makes sure to hold the reel away from his body so you can see how to open it.

"Well, looks like I'm ahead of you in that department." You joke as you grab your cut up film.

He chuckles a little and nods. "Look at you go." He jokes back.

You go over and you can see from looking around that the film is clipped from the top and bottom with clothes pins so you give it your best guess and follow suit. By the time you finish Jonathan is already hanging up his film and you can't help but to notice just how much faster he is at it. "So after this we can enlarge them?"

"Yeah, once they dry then we can enlarge them." He nods as he works.

"Rad, how long does it take to dry?" You ask enthused to finally get to why you came here in the first place.

"8 to 12 hours."

"Oh." You sigh with a nod but you try to stop yourself from getting into a funk over it. "I'll see you tomorrow then right?" You ask.

If you see him tomorrow it wouldn't be so bad, it'd actually be great to see him two days in a row, like having a little ray of sunlight in your school day. Jonathan is more thankful than ever that he's got something to do with his hands because he's ecstatic and that really shows when he's got nothing to fidget with. "For sure." He gets out with a nod. The bell rings to sound that lunch is over but you decide to stick behind with him. "Don't you have to get to class?" He asks.

"I'm new, I've got the excuse of getting lost." You shrug with a smile. "Plus you can use the excuse of helping the new kid too so no rush." You add.

He lets out an amused breath and nods. Even with the excuse in pocket he's still quick to finish up and you follow his lead by quickly ducking out of the dark room. "See you tomorrow." He says looking at you and taking a step backwards towards his next class.

"See you tomorrow..." And you realize. "I never got your name." You muse.

He's also hit with the same realization. "Oh, right, uh, Jonathan." He says gesturing to himself.

"Y/N." You let him know. He nods silently repeating the name to himself. "See you tomorrow Jonathan." You say again with a small laugh.

"See you tomorrow Y/N."

--- ~Admin Coral🍒 Buy Me A Coffee?

[hellfireswhore]

Jonathan Byers would definitely take Polaroid pictures of you during sex. Tell me I’m not wrong.

[berry-loves-yandere]

Stranger things master list:

(Side note, any characters not on this list are unrequestable as I do not feel comfortable writing for them but I may add them in the future)

Mike Wheeler:

A knight needs his princess

Saccharine pt.1

Kidnap or other tactics?

Hate can be subjective

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Will Byers: 

Saccharine pt.1

But I love you!

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Platonic Yandere Byers family with youngest Byers child

Eleven (Jane) Hopper:

Saccharine pt.1

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Lucas Sinclair:

Saccharine pt.1

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Max Mayfield:

Saccharine pt.1

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Steve Harrington:

Saccharine pt.2

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Nancy Wheeler:

Saccharine pt.2

Yandere Nancy Wheeler x Autistic! darling headcanons

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Jonathan Byers:

Saccharine pt.2

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger Things with attractive and popular (AFAB) darling with an angry, popular and rich boyfriend

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Platonic Yandere Byers family with youngest Byers child

Billy Hargrove:

Saccharine pt.2

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Robin Buckley:

Saccharine pt.2

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger Things with attractive and popular (AFAB) darling with an angry, popular and rich boyfriend

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Eddie Munson:

Saccharine pt.2

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger Things with attractive and popular (AFAB) darling with an angry, popular and rich boyfriend

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Chrissy Cunningham:

Saccharine pt.3

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Jason Carver:

Saccharine pt.3

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Gareth Emerson:

Saccharine pt.3

Yandere Stranger things if their darling was targeted by Vecna

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Gareth Emerson x Bullied!reader headcanons

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger Things with attractive and popular (AFAB) darling with an angry, popular and rich boyfriend

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Jim Hopper:

Saccharine pt.3

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Joyce Byers:

Saccharine pt.3

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

Platonic Yandere Byers family with youngest Byers child

001/Henry Creel/Peter Ballard:

Saccharine pt.3

Kidnap or other tactics?

Yandere Stranger things react to their darling coming out at NB

Yandere Stranger things with a sweet autistic darling

[froggywritesstuff]

character list

the title is self explanatory. this is a list of the characters i'll write for. it'll probably change over time, and if you see a character you'd like but don't see them on the list, just ask cause i might've forgotten about them

Hamilton

Eliza Schuyler

Angelica Schuyler

Peggy Schuyler

Maria Reynolds

Alexander Hamilton

John Laurens

Philip Hamilton

Lafayette

Hercules Mulligan

James Madison

Thomas Jefferson

Aaron Burr

Umbrella Academy

Viktor Hargreeves

Diego Hargreeves

Klaus Hargreeves

Allison Hargreeves

Luther Hargreeves

Five Hargreeves

Ben Hargreeves (Umbrella or Sparrow)

Sloane Hargreeves

Jayme Hargreeves

Stranger Things

Will Byers (non female readers only)

Mike Wheeler

Lucas Sinclair

Dustin Henderson

Eleven Hopper

Max Mayfield

Robin Buckley (non male readers only)

Nancy Wheeler

Jonathan Byers

Steve Harrington

Eddie Munson

21 Chump Street

Justin Laboy

The Goldfinch

Boris Pavlikovsky

Theodore Decker

Marvel

Peter Parker (any actor)

Steve Rogers

Bucky Barnes

Sam Wilson

Makkari

Sersi

Sprite (platonic only)

Steven Grant

Marc Spector

Layla El-Faouly

America Chavez (non male readers only)

Kate Bishop

Yelena Belova (platonic only)

Shuri

Namor

Riri Williams

X-Men

Mystique

Kitty Pryde

Peter Maximoff

Rogue

Logan Howlette

Wade Wilson/Deadpool

Scott Summers

In The Heights (movie version)

Usnavi de la Vega

Vanessa 

Nina Rosario

Benny

Sonny de la Vega 

Heathers

Veronica Sawyer

JD (Jason Dean)

Heather Chandler

Heather McNamara

Heather Duke

John Doe

John Doe

Ride The Cyclone

Noel Gruber (male or nb readers only)

Ocean O'Connel Rosenburg

Mischa Bachinski

Constance Blackwood

Ricky Potts

Hatchetfieldverse

Paul Matthews

Emma Perkins

Ted Spankoffski

Bill Woodard

Ruth Fleming

Pete Spankoffski

Richie Lipschitz

Max Jagerman

Grace Chasity

Lex Foster

Ethan Green

Hannah Foster (platonic only)

Heartstopper

Charlie Spring (non female readers only)

Nick Nelson

Tara Jones (non male readers only)

Darcy Olsson (non male readers readers only)

Elle Argent

Tao Xu (non male readers only(headcanoning him as bi or pan is disrespectful and transphobic))

Tori Spring

Imogen Heaney

Isaac Henderson (platonic only)

Do Revenge

Eleanor Levetan (non male readers only)

Drea Torres

Wednesday

Wednesday Addams

Enid Sinclair

Bianca Barclay

Xavier Thorpe

Ajax Petropolus

Eugene Otinger

(young) Morticia Addams

(young) Gomez Addams

Beetlejuice

Lydia Deetz

Tomorrow When The War Began

Ellie Linton

Lee Takkam

Fiona Maxwell

Homer Yannos

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse/Across the Spider-Verse

Miles Morales

Gwen Stacy

Pavitr Prabhakar

Hobie Brown

Margo Kess

Miles G Morales (earth 42)

Miguel O’Hara

Maze Runner

Thomas

Newt (non female readers only)

The Broken Hearts Gallery

Lucy Gulliver

Nadine (non male readers only)

Nick Danielson

Treasure Planet

Jim Hawkins

Enola Holmes

Enola Holmes

Lord Tewkesbury

Turning Red

Mei Mei

Miriam

Abby

Priya

Raising Dion

Nicole Warren

Tevin Wakefield

Dion Warren (platonic only)

Julie and the Phantoms

Julie Molina

Luke Patterson

Reggie Peters

Alex Mercer (non female readers only)

Flynn

Carrie

Abbott Elementary

Janine Teagues

Jacob Hill (non female readers only)

Gregory Eddie

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Jake Peralta

Amy Santiago

Rosa Diaz

Love Victor

Victor Salazar (non female readers only)

Benji (non female readers only)

Felix Weston

Pilar Salazar

Lake Meriwether

Lucy

Mia Brooks

Andrew

In Treatment

Eladio

Laila

Spree

Kurt Kunkle

Once Upon a Time

Emma Swan

Regina Mills

Killian Jones

Mary Margaret Blanchard

David Nolan

Henry Mills

Mulan (non male readers only)

Graham

Neal Cassidy

Peter Pan

Jefferson

Dash and Lily

Dash

Lily

Boomer

Juno

Juno MacGuff

Paulie Bleeker

Summer Days Summer Nights

Debbie Espinoza

Frankie Espinoza

Scream (1 through 6)

Sidney Prescott

Billy Loomis

Mickey Altieri

Roman Bridger

Jill Roberts

Charlie Walker

Sam Carpenter

Tara Carpenter

Amber Freeman

Chad Meeks-Martin

Mindy Meeks-Martin

Quinn Bailey

Venom

Eddie Brock

Honest Thief

Ramon Hall

Beth Hall

Wild Child

Poppy Moore

Kate

Drippy

Freddie Kingsley

Monsters and Men

Manny Ortega

Marisol Ortega

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Trevor Spengler

Phoebe Spengler (platonic only)

Error 143

Micah Yujin

Community

Abed Nadir

Troy Barnes

Annie Edison

Jeff Winger

Britta Perry

The Obession

Logan

Delilah

The New Girl

Lia Setiawan

Stacey Hoffman

Mythic Quest

Poppy Li

Brad Bakshi

Adventure Time

Finn

Princess Bubblegum

Marceline

Marshall Lee

Prince Bubblegum

Flame Princess

School Spirits

Madison

Simon

Charley (non female readers only)

Wally

Rhonda

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves

Simon Aumar

Disventure Camp

Aiden (non fem readers only)

James (non fem readers only)

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

Jane Facciano

Olivia Valdovinos

Nancy Nakagawa

Cynthia Zdunowski

Richie Valdovinos

Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso

Roy Kent

Jamie Tartt

Keeley Jones

Sam Obisanya

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Noah Diaz

Elena Wallace

Mirage

Helluva Boss

Blitzø

Stolas (non female readers only)

Loona

Millie

Moxxie

Octavia

Verosika Mayday

Fizzarolli

Asmodeus

Hazbin Hotel

Charlie Morningstar

Vaggie (non male readers only)

Angel Dust (non female readers only)

Husk

Alastor (platonic only)

Vox

Lucifer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (rise + mutant mayhem + tmnt 2007 + tmnt 2012)

Donnie

Mikey

Raph

Leo

April

The After Party

Yasper Lennov

Space Force

Tony Scarapiducci

Renfield

Teddy Lobo

Robert Montague Renfield

Undercovers

Bill Hoyt

Amazing Digital Circus

Jax

Parks and Recreation

Leslie Knope

Ben Wyatt

April Ludgate

Andy Dwyer

Jean-Ralphio Saperstein

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja

Randy Cunningham (18+ people DNI unless requesting platonic stories)

The Earliest Show

Josh Bath

House of Lies

Clyde Oberholt

Mean Girls (movie + musical + movie musical)

Cady Heron

Regina George

Gretchen Wieners

Karen Smith/Shetty

Janis Ian/Sarkisian/Imi'ike (non male readers only)

Damian Hubbard (non female readers only)

Warm Bodies

R

Peep World

Nathan Meyerwitz

Your Boyfriend

Peter Dunbar

Invincible

Mark Grayson

Shapesmith

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Sabrina Spellman

Harvey Kinkle

Nick Scratch

Rosalind Walker

Theo Putnam

Prudence Blackwood

Ambrose Spellman

High School Musical: the Musical the Series

Gina Porter

EJ Caswell

[theyraylovehate]

Wheel of Fan Fiction Masterlist

Smut 🔥

Fluff 🌸

Angst 💧

*This is like brand new so most of the characters won't have anything just yet*

•Stranger things

-Billy Hargrove

-Steve Harrington

-Eddie Munson

-Robin Buckley (Fem/NB only)

-Argyle

-Johnathan Byers

-Nancy Wheeler

-Jim Hopper

-Joyce Byers

-001/Henry

-Will Byers (No smut)

-Mike Wheeler (No smut)

-Max Mayfield (No smut)

Hateful Cuddling - Female reader 🌸

-Dustin Henderson (No smut)

-Lucas Sinclair (No smut)

-Eleven (Jane) Hopper (No smut)

•Marvel

-Iron Man/Tony Stark

-Captian America/Steve Rogers

-Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff

-Hawkeye/Clint Barton

-Hulk/Bruce Banner

-Thor

-Loki

-Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes

-Black Panther/T'challa

-Doctor Strange/Steven Strange

-Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff

-Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff

-Starlord/Peter Quill

-Gamora

-Spiderman/Peter Parker

-Falcon/Sam Wilson

-War Machine/James Rhodes

-Valkyrie (Fem/NB only)

•X-Men

-Professor X/Charles Xavier

-Magneto/Erik Lensherr

-Wolverine/James Howlett

-Quicksilver/Peter Maximoff

-Rogue

-Jean Grey

-Storm/Ororo Munroe

-Cyclops/Scott Summers

-Mystique/Raven

-Beast/Henry "Hank" McCoy

-Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner

-Havok/Alexander Summers

•DC/Young Justice

-Batman/Bruce Wayne

-Superman/Clark Kent

-The Flash/Barry Allen

-Aquaman/Authur Curry

-Cyborg/Victor Stone

-Joker/Jack Oswald White

-Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel

-Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

-DeadShot/Floyd Lawton

-Kid Flash/Wally West

-Nightwing (Robin #1)/ Dick Grayson

-Red Hood (Robin #2)/ Jason Todd

-Robin (#3)/ Tim Drake

-Beast Boy/Garfield Logan

-Superboy/Johnathan "Jon" Kent

-Artemis/Artemis Crock

-Red Arrow/Roy Harper

-Green Arrow/Oliver Queen

-Black Canary/Dinah Lance

-Miss Martian/Megan Morse

-Aqualad/Kaldur'ahm

•Umbrella Academy

-Luther Hargreeves (#1)

-Diego Hargreeves (#2)

-Allison Hargreeves (#3)

-Klaus Hargreeves (#4)

-Five Hargreeves (#5)

-Ben Hargreeves (#6)

-Viktor Hargreeves (#7)

-Marcus Hargreeves (#1)

-Fei Hargreeves (#3)

-Alphonso Hargreeves (#4)

-Sloan Hargreeves (#5)

-Jayme Hargreeves (#6)

-Lila Aryu

-The Handler

•Harry Potter

-Harry Potter

-Ron Weasley

-Hermione Granger

-Fred Weasley

-George Weasley

-Ginny Weasley

-Draco Malfoy

-Sirius Black (Older)

-Cedric Diggory

-Oliver Wood

-Neville Longbottom

-Luna Lovegood

-Remus Lupin (Older)

-Nymphadora Tonks

-Lucious Malfoy (Older)

-Narcissa Malfoy (Older)

-Severus Snape (Older)

-Bill Weasley

-Charlie Weasley

•Marauders

-James Potter

Friendly Love - Male reader 🌸

-Lily Evans

-Sirius Black

-Remus Lupin

-Severus Snape

-Regulus Black

-Lusious Malfoy

-Narcissa Black

-Peter Pettigrew

•Greek Mythology

-Zeus

-Hades

-Posideon

-Apollo

-Hera

-Persephone

-Ares

-Athena

-Demeter

-Aphrodite

-Artemis

-Dionysus

-Hermes

•Divergent

-Beatrice "Tris" Prior

-Caleb Prior

-Eric

-Peter

-Christina

-Will

-Tobias "Four"

-Zeke

Zip line of Love - Nonbinary Reader (Requested) 🌸

-Uriah

•Star Wars

-Anakin Skywalker

-Luke Skywalker

-Leia Organa

-Han Solo

-Obi-Wan Kenobi

-Kylo Ren

•Supernatural

-Dean Winchester

-Sam Winchester

-Castiel

-Crowley

-Lucifer

-Rowena MacLeod

-Gabriel

-Charlie Bradbury (Fem/NB only)

-Chuck Shurley

-Jody Mills

-Ellen Harvelle

-Kevin Tran

•The Walking Dead

-Rick Grimes

-Daryl Dixon

-Glenn Rhee

-Carl Grimes

-Maggie Greene

-Negan

-Michonne

-Shane Walsh

-Rosita Espinosa

-Carol Peletier

-Paul "Jesus" Monroe

-Abraham Ford

‐Tara Chambler (Fem/NB only)

-Enid

-Ezekiel

-Aaron (Masc/NB only)

•The Walking Dead Game

-Clementine

-Lee

-Kenny

-Luke

-Javier

-Gabriel

-Kate

-Louis

-Omar

-Ruby

-Mitch

-Marlon

-Violet (Fem/NB only)

IT (2017)

-Richie Tozier

-Beverly Marsh

-Eddie Kaspbrak

-Bill Denbrough

-Stanley Uris

-Ben Hanscom

-Henry Bowers

-Mike Hanlon

-Patrick Hockstetter

-Victor Criss

-Belch Huggins

��Desendants

-Mal

-Evie

-Ben

-Jay

-Jane

-Chad

-Doug

-Lonnie

-Carlos

-Uma

-Harry Hook

-Gil

•Maze Runner

-Newt

-Minho

-Gally

-Teresa

-Alby

-Chuck

-Brenda

-Aris

-Thomas

-Frypan

-Jorge

[finnzhal]

Sometimes Cis straight women/men who f3tishize MLM / NBLM / WLW / NBLW and calls themselves a fujoshi makes me wanna yk . . . C0mm¡t a crime

Same goes to cis straight women who complains to or attacks the MALE/NB blogs for just writing fanfics. Y'all have everything stfu and leave those poor gay twnks alone 😭

People who won't even respect a fictional character 's sexuality and continue on making canonically gay character x FEM!reader. Example , Will byers from stranger things . "let me live my dreams" NO.

People who ships underage and fully grown adults together OR I1NCEST . I don't even have to explain . "It's my coping mechanism" FIND A BETTER COPING MECHANISM .

I just rant about this because I just found out about an online friend acting like one of those Andrew Tate's discord kittens and my Irl friends being just as bad .

[hawkins-pd]

i want to get back into writing so, requests are OPEN!

below, is a list of characters i am happy to write for & a list of rules for requests!

as of right now, i only want to write for stranger things but i will expand this.

characters!

- joyce byers

- jim hopper

- enzo / dmitri

- nancy wheeler

- steve harrington

- robin buckley

- eddie munson

rules:

1. as of right now, i am only writing x reader fanfic & imagines. although i aim to keep it gender neutral, i will specify if it is x f!reader, m!reader, nb!reader, etc.

2. i will only write robin x f!reader as i think it is very important to ensure there isn’t any erasure of robins sexuality.

3. i will be writing mature themes, such as smut, gore and violence but the appropriate trigger warnings will be present where needed.

4. this is an 18+ blog. i am 20 years old, and i intend my work for mature audiences and i don’t feel comfortable with minors interacting with my blog.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S2:E7; Chapter Seven, The Lost Sister - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

In their search for answers, psychic visions draw Eleven and Y/n to a band of violent outcasts and an angry girl with a shadowy past.

↬ previously ↫

"Mama? It's me. Jane. I'm home."

"No."

"RUN!"

"Breathe."

"RUN!"

"Three to the right, four to the left."

"Breathe."

"Sunflower."

"Rainbow."

"Three to the right."

"RUN!"

"Four fifty."

"RUN!"

"Rainbow."

"Three to the right."

"RUN!"

El rips the blindfold off her eyes in panic, her breathing heavy and uneven. As she is brought back to reality she looks up at her mother in her rocking chair. There are tears in her eyes and she is sadly uttering the same words.

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Three to the right. Four to the left."

As she feels a pair of arms wrap gently around her, she finally notes the trembling down her spine-the rapid rise and fall of her shoulders. She feels a hand grab hers and immediately recognizes it as Y/n's. It is a comforting gesture for El to squeeze their hand and Y/n shows their support by gently tracing circles with their thumb.

El savors the warmth of Y/n's embrace and the security of their interlocked hands. It helps to still her quaking body and soothe her anxiousness.

She sits in silence, embracing the support presented to her as she tries to calm her racing heart. For a while, no one speaks, and only her mother's murmurs are heard.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"And it just kept repeating?" Becky asks.

The three had returned to the kitchen, Becky and El sitting across from one another while Y/n stood leaning against the counter behind El, a glass of water in hand. El frowned at the foreign word.

"Repeat?"

"Like a circle?" Becky answered. "Just showing you the same image over and over?"

El thought about this, and her eyes glanced in Y/n's direction without moving her head.

"She kept showing the woman. And the girl in the room."

"The rainbow room?"

El nodded, flinching ever so slightly at the invasion of the flashback. A memory that wasn't hers, trapped in her mind.

Becky thought about this. Her fingers drummed lightly against the back of her hand, lost in thought. She shrugged, her hand waving slightly before falling back onto the table.

"I guess that makes sense. Terry always believed you weren't the only..." Becky trailed off, her eyes fixed on the other young child in her kitchen.

Y/n had their eyes locked on the tile floor, a glass of water gripped tightly in their hand and clutched against their chest. There had been a faraway, somber look in their eyes throughout El's story. But Becky's sudden silence brought them out of it. They looked between her and El, curiously as if they had missed something.

But then they noted that Becky's eyes had fallen on their glass. Y/n looked down at the cup to find that the water had begun to bubble. Y/n's eyes widened, and they cursed under their breath. Quickly they set the cup down on the tile counter and the bubbles disappeared within moments. They cleared their throat. Uncomfortable with the attention, their eyes fall to the floor once more, except for a few glances at Becky, who still eyed the glass with a knowing look hidden in her gaze.

The older woman must have decided it best to carry on with El's story. Though not without the occasional glance at her niece's friend.

"The woman she kept showing you, what did she look like?"

In the time between El's departure from her mother's mind and their current discussion at the table, she had briefly filled her friend and aunt in on each image she was shown. And while they had gotten the picture, it was still out of focus, details were fuzzy and nearly impossible to identify.

Until now.

El thought about the question carefully. She had seen it fully fleshed out, but only once. It didn't help that the woman had been at such a distance. But this didn't stop El from trying. She spoke slowly with a frown on her face as she reached farther and farther into her memory.

"She was pretty." She began, smiling sadly.

"She had... short, h/c hair," El touched a lock of curls growing wildly on her head. While it was the longest it had ever been, she understood now that it was considered short by the world's standards. "She... her face... She looked like Y/n."

El met her aunt's gaze and nodded, confirming her suspicions.

"I think..." her sympathetic eyes burned into Y/n's tearful ones. "it was your mom."

"My-- My mom? She showed you my mom?"

El nodded sadly, and Y/n fell silent. The knots tightening in their gut were easily noticeable in their shifting feet and wringing hands.

The air around the three was thick and demanding as the truth sank in.

Y/n took a deep breath and attempted to swallow the lump hardening in their throat. "So, my birth mom, she's...?"

El nodded again, and for a moment she studied the body language of her friend. El didn't quite have a solid grasp of body language, but she knew enough to know her best friend was in deep distress. Tentatively, she reached out her arm over the back of the wooden chair and extended her hand, offering what Y/n had offered her countless times in their friendship; a lifeline.

"I'm sorry," El croaked, pained both by the tragedy she had witnessed and the heartbreak it caused in someone so very dear to her.

Y/n eagerly accepted El's offer and sniffled, squeezing her hand in thanks. No one judged them when they stepped forward, grabbed a napkin from the center of the table and blew their nose before joining them at the table. Both El and Becky had shed their fair share of mournful tears, if not in the last hour alone.

"Why did they take her?" Y/n couldn't help but ask, though they realized El's guess was as good as their own. "Why did they, you know... What did she do?"

Again, El thought carefully on this. She ran through her mother's memory with a fine tooth comb, disappointed to come up with so many blanks.

"I'm not sure," answered El, slowly. "She said Mama 'could still make it.' That she knew where to go."

Becky's sudden sigh drew the children's attention. They were both a bit shocked to see the woman so uneasy. Becky planted her face in her hands and rubbed tiredly. It was clear to them that Becky was already regretting the words she had yet to speak.

"You two have to realize, I only did what I thought was best for Terry. I really thought it was all some trauma response or something, okay? I mean, after everything she was put through, I wouldn't blame her... That's why I didn't believe her."

The two friends looked at her curiously, having already understood this. It made it all the more difficult for Becky. To see the spitting image of her sister in this little girl, it brought back so much guilt and anguish.

"There was something else she tried to tell me about, something else I should have believed before," Becky faltered, and meekly gestured to her sister in the other room. "Terry thought she could have gotten you out. Terry thought she could have gotten you out because someone else did."

"For the longest time, she kept telling me about someone else in the program. Y/m/n, I think. I didn't really believe her, but according to my sister, another woman had a baby." Becky paused, eyeing Y/n who was hanging onto her every word. "A special baby. Like you, El. And the big 'They' Terry claimed was after her, They wanted this other baby, too. And, I guess, based on what you saw, she really did it."

All attention gradually crept over to the Henderson child who sat frowning at the intricate patterns of the wooden table. While they still looked shocked, a closer look at their stillness revealed it wasn't. It was clarity, and a profoundly sad one at that.

"I was found." They muttered.

El and Becky shared a glance.

"My mom, she was still pregnant with Dustin, I think, and... She was in town, visiting family. And Mom said she had found me. Just off..."

They shook their head and laughed bitterly at themselves in disbelief. Tears brimmed as the realization fell fully on their shoulders. Y/n felt nothing short of ridiculous for not putting it together sooner.

"My mom found me near the edge of Wright's farm. That old pumpkin patch. It's not that far down the road from Hawkins National Lab."

Their whole life, Y/n had never had any reason to possibly associate the two. For twelve years of their life, it was known as the place they were found, not 'that farm down the road from the lab'. It was always the general assumption that Y/n had come from somewhere closer to Forest Hills, or even a short way north of Mt. Sinai. Some old government building that few knew existed wasn't exactly an obvious candidate.

Even throughout the week of Will's disappearance, the discovery of the lab and the dark truths hidden within had felt not like the missing puzzle piece it was, but a different puzzle altogether.

Now, the picture had been completely reshaped. What once was a reflex thought had been completely flipped upside down. It suddenly didn't make an ounce of sense for them to have come from any other place. The truth of it all was now a searing hot weight crushing them down.

"On her way into town. Just off the edge of the property. She always told me she nearly crashed her car trying to go back for me. I guess she passed me and slammed on her brakes when she realized," Y/n blubbered, reciting the story they had heard countless times. Hastily, Y/n wiped their nose with the napkin again and took several deep breaths. "She said she nearly didn't see me, I was so small, and... Well, she asked all around, filed it with the police -even quit her job and found something part time in town just so she could stay longer and make sure I was safe and the whole thing was sorted out. Reunited with whoever I might have been separated from, even."

Becky's sympathetic frown deepened, touched by the story.

"When it was decided I didn't have anyone-that I would have gone into the system-my mom, she..." Y/n laughed tearfully. "Well, apparently she had jumped through every hoop she had to just to be the one I came home with."

"I guess it all makes sense, her always saying it was a miracle I survived as long as I did." Y/n added, more to themselves than anything.

El tilted her head, clearly confused. "Miracle?" She asked softly.

Becky answered absentmindedly, "Something unnatural or unlikely. A good something."

Y/n nodded halfheartedly, and a small sniffle tore through the quiet. Their lips cracked the tiniest of smiles as they spoke, "I guess that answers that question."

El smiled weakly. Becky didn't understand but Y/n quickly explained.

"It wasn't until last year that I found out I had, erm," they quickly shrugged, embarrassed. After all this time, Y/n still felt a little ridiculous saying it. It didn't help that they almost never spoke it aloud but they guess, in this instance, they could. "Well, that I'm like El."

"To be perfectly honest, I'm still finding things I didn't know I could do." They added.

"That doesn't really surprise me," Becky said. "Then again, it's getting kinda hard to surprise me at the moment. Terry went on about you a lot. She said they were after Y/m/n's kid because they-you-were supposed to have--"

Becky stopped, the same words from last year popping back into her mind. The very same she had shared with that Byers woman and the Chief.

"Supposedly had some 'untapped potential for the greater good.' Some real pseudoscience shit."

She bit her lip before she could say the words and Y/n's frown hardened. They leaned forward, urgently. "What?"

Becky looked at the child before her. Those doe eyes of theirs were pleading and Becky's guilt doubled. But she also couldn't dump such a heavy load on a child, especially after they had learned what they had just learned.

Becky sighed and looked at Y/n.

"Potential. Apparently, whoever was after you had plenty a' reasons to believe that you can do a whole lot more than boil some water. Let's just leave it at that." She said, gesturing with her eyes to the forgotten glass of water sitting on the counter. Y/n gave her an incredulous look in return.

"What do you--? That can't be right. I mean, sure my birth mother must have been, well you know, experimented on when she was pregnant with me, but I didn't grow up in a lab like El. I wasn't trained, or--"

Y/n stopped, choosing their next words carefully.

"I never learned how to use my powers. How could I have as much potential as El?"

Becky shrugged her shoulders and looked between the children before her, wincing. "I really don't know, sweetheart. To be honest, I'm still getting used to the fact that all this stuff is real."

A defeated sigh escaped Y/n's chest and their chin came to rest on their arms that lay folded on the surface of the table. There was a brief silence apart from the mumbles of the television and El allowed herself to dwell on the loop of borrowed memories playing over in her head.

"The girl," she reminded the two tentatively. "She also kept showing me the girl."

Y/n turned to her, quizzically, the gears turning in their head.

"What about her, El?"

"I think Mama wants us to find her."

A frown found its way onto Y/n's face, but they gave their friend the benefit of the doubt. Y/n was still unsure about all of this. Not unlike El's aunt, they were still in the process of swallowing all of this new information themselves.

El looked at Becky who nodded in thought before rising from the table. El and Y/n followed curiously as she led them into the next room, the small office space adjoining the living room. Becky bent over and pulled open a drawer from a steel filing cabinet. It was filled with several manilla folders and littered with sticky note bookmarks sticking out from the dividers.

"When Terry was looking for you," Becky began, her fingers riffling through the dozens of file folders. "She kept these files of other missing kids. Kids she thought were like you."

Still lost in her search, Becky grabbed small handfuls of files as she combed, dropping them at Y/n and El's feet should they want them. Immediately, the pair of friends knelt down to the ground and began pouring over the folders.

"Maybe that girl is in here somewhere." Becky finished, grabbing the last of the folders before joining the two on the carpet.

Everyone had taken a few folders each. Every photo Y/n came across, they would show El. But she would only shake her head. Y/n found the act of hope silly and daring, but they kept a careful eye out for any possible leads as to their possible birth mother. They had a first name and a description. That was something.

"Does anyone look familiar?" Becky asked.

She was met with silence as El continued to rifle through her folder. El had nearly reached the end when she unexpectedly froze, grabbing the attention of those in her company. Before either her friend or her aunt could attempt to sneak a glimpse of the photo, El grabbed the photocopy and closed the folder. It was another newspaper article, featuring a photo of a very young girl with dark braids and checkered overals. The caption read, "VANISHED! Indian Girl Missing in London".

"Is that her?" Becky asked softly.

El looked up, her heart racing, and nodded.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

El found herself in the void for the third time that day. Her toes sank into the imaginary water, and she was greeted by the usual chill. Like a visible mantra, she repeated the image of the girl her mother had shown her, not the picture she held in her hands. The girl in the rainbow room, the girl playing with blocks, and before she knows it El can hear a small crackling behind her.

She turns and her heart leaps with hope. In the distance, she spots a figure standing before a rising cloud of smoke. The figure had their back turned to El and the closer she approached, the easier it was to make out the source.

This figure was standing over a large metal barrel with fire bubbling over the top. It was a very strange sight for El, but in a way, it was quite rewarding. She had finally found some luck, this being the first sign of the girl El had found since her first attempt.

After finding the article, she had set out to search for the girl but had no luck. Night had fallen by then, and Y/n had thanked their past self for packing an extra set of clothes. Y/n was wary of staying the night but ultimately agreed they both needed more information.

Becky had been more than accommodating. She had pulled out a futon for the two to share. This was where they now lay. Few words had been exchanged, given the tremendous load the friends had been through. Though they had still managed to crack a smile when El had learned from Y/n what the term sleepover meant.

"Thanks for bringing me along, El," Y/n mumbled. They had wrapped themselves under their shared blanket, their head sinking into their pillow.

El had turned her head to look at her friend and nodded simply. Between the two, Y/n was slightly better at holding a conversation. But it was nice. Y/n never pressured her to talk.

"I'm sorry it wasn't under better circumstances, but, at least we get to have a sleepover," they had whispered sleepily.

Y/n quickly noted the confusion on their friend's face. Grinning weakly, Y/n fought the weight of their heavy eyelids.

"A sleepover is something best friends do. They stay at each other's houses for a night-usually, they watch a movie or play a game or something but," Y/n trailed off, a yawn escaping them. "Well, you know. But you get to talk after dark, and even see each other in the morning. Anyways," they yawned into their blanketed hand and nestled further into their pillow. "I know it's not a traditional spleepover, but I still think it's nice that we get to spend some time together."

El found herself smiling at the words and her spirits soared for the first time since their arrival. It gave El a spark of hope. Hope that, when all of this was figured out, and everything had smoothed over-maybe she could have a normal life.

El, in that moment, could see a normal life for herself with her aunt. She could have a real chance at seeing Mike, and have sleepovers with Y/n, and play outside. El could be a kid.

But that was on the back burner.

She needed to find this girl. She had done what she had set out to do, she had found her mother. Now that she had, El couldn't help but feel like her mother was telling her something. El needed to find this girl.

And that's exactly what she did.

It hadn't been long until Y/n had turned over on their side, mumbling a soft goodnight before they were fast asleep. But El was still wide awake. Her mother's memories haunted her and she felt restless. El picked up the picture of the girl from the newspaper. She had kept it in her pocket and decided to try it again.

So here she was, creeping cautiously towards her fate with bated breath. Guardedly, she called out to the figure, smoke billowing into the air from where the makeshift firepit stood before them.

"Hello?"

El approaches the figure and as she gets closer and closer her suspicions are quickly confirmed when she recognizes them. The girl, from her mother's memories. The article. She was here, and noticeably older than herself.

El noticed the girl was dressed in dark shabby clothing, and her hair looked... purple? El isn't sure, but her heart is pounding too hard in her chest to worry about it. Before she has time to glance at her face she is gasping for air, back in reality. Back in bed.

Excitedly, she turns to Y/n. Her toothy smile falters when she realizes her friend is lost in sleep. So El allows her friend a few more minutes. Like El, Y/n had been through a great deal and it seemed to have taken a toll on them. But she could tell her aunt.

El bursts up from the mattress and out into the hallway, running for the stairs. Fighting the urge to shout, she calls out to her aunt when she reaches the top of the stairs.

"Becky! Becky, I found her!"

When she reaches the kitchen, she looks around excitedly for the woman. Surely she would know what to do next.

Only seconds pass until she tunes into her aunt's voice echoing in from the porch.

"I just-- I didn't know who to call."

El stepped further into the kitchen, her head peeking around the corner to find her aunt Becky, pacing on the porch. She held a lit cigarette to her lips, and the long cord from the kitchen phone stretched out behind her. Whoever she was talking to, she sounded anxious. She also seemed focused on a small slip of paper she held in her other hand.

"He gave me this number, and he came here looking for her. I thought maybe he could help me."

El felt a sick feeling bubble up in her stomach, and a dark and heavy weight settle on her heart as she watched the all too familiar exchange. Suddenly she was back with the nice man, Benny. He had been the very first to take her in after her escape. He gave her food, and what clothes he could find. But El desperately tried to banish that memory from her mind given how it ended.

"Yeah, Jim Hopper, he came here with some woman named Joyce Byers?"

El watches disgusted and hurt as her only remaining family turns her in. Their own private conversation from before plays mockingly over in her head. Of when she was invited to stay. In the lovely and comforting room that was supposed to be hers. And although her mom wasn't the same, she could still be with her.

Just as soon as it had been offered, the dream life she had conjured for herself just minutes before evaporated into thin air. A normal life with no rules, where she could go outside, or at the very least, look out of a single window.

Visits with Mike, sleepovers with Y/n. A normal life. Gone. Just like that.

"Well," sighed Becky, her figure temporarily stepping out of view. "that's a little hard to explain. Uh..."

El shifted uneasily, the dark sludge in her stomach swelling in volume at what Becky said next.

"There's another kid, uh-yeah, a different one. They're some friend of hers, I think? I don't know much, but it sounds like this kid comes from the same side of the tracks as the first. But as far as I know, they've got a family. Said they were adopted..."

"No, I did not," Becky says after a moment's pause. "I did not catch a last name, but they go by Y/n. Look, I don't know if they're a runaway, or what, but they showed up on my doorstep with the girl. I just put the two to bed... No, mam, it's just those two, but I think another girl is missing. Oh, it's all so confusing. I just-- I just didn't know who to call... Thank you, thank you. And you are?"

"Florence," Becky repeated, though she paused when she heard the distant sound of the front door opening.

"I'm gonna have to call you back." She mumbled nervously into the phone.

Quickly, she scuttles back inside, discarding the phone and the slip of paper. She looks on in disbelief as she finds the contents of her purse spilling out across the counter. And in the center, wide open and empty, was her leather wallet.

Picking up her speed she races through the front room and towards the front door. Becky stops when she sees it. The sight of it makes her stomach drop.

As Becky Ives stands before her wide open front door, she feels the cold autumn air seep in. It's harsh and brisk like the reality she faces. And like the dreams El had conjured, the two children were gone as quickly as they came.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S2:E5; Chapter Five, Dig Dug - [Pt. 4 - FINAL]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘯-𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺/𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴. “𝘣𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯” 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮.

Warnings: canon racism, long chapter, small mentions of reader's birth mother/parent and is described to look like reader (for the sake of El recognizing her/them)

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

The Byers house had come alive once more. Since Bob's discovery, every able body in the house had gotten their hands on a tape measure and had gotten to solving the next aspect of the puzzle Will had unknowingly left; a map of Hawkins wherein lay an 'x' in dire need of finding.

"Alright," Bob calls out. "I got 2.5 inches. What'd you got?"

"I'm not sure" Mike calls from Joyce's room. "Mrs. Byers?"

"Hold on!" She calls, stretching the measuring tape around the corner.

Unfortunately, they had yet to find the spot where Hopper was. Bob was at the kitchen table, mapping out coordinates while Mike and Joyce measured the distances between marked areas.

"Twenty-one feet, four inches."

"What about Tippecanoe to Danford Creek?" Bob asked.

Joyce's face scrunched up as she thought of where she last saw it.

"Da-Danford, Danford?"

"Dining room!" Will answered excitedly.

Joyce joined him with the measuring tape. She turned to face Bob who was in the other room.

"Sixteen feet, ten inches."

"What about Danford to Jordan?"

Joyce sighed, hurrying across the room to Bob's side.

"That's gotta be enough?"

Bob began sputtering, shaking his head sadly.

"It's not. It's really not."

"Can't you f-figure it out?"

By now, everyone was regrouped around the table. Everyone was watching Bob hopefully. He shrugged.

"Well, it's hard. The ratio isn't exactly one to one. I-I mean, if you're twisting my arm, and you're twisting my arm, I would say the x is" he drew a few lines on the map with his ruler, double-checking his math. "maybe, a half-mile southeast of Danford?"

A beaming smile found its way onto Joyce and she exclaimed happily.

"Thank you!"

She leaned down and planted a big kiss on Bob's cheek, bringing a smile of his own to his lips.

Grabbing the map, she took out of the room, Mike, Will, and a confused Bob behind her.

"What? Are we really going?"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Dustin pulls his bike into the Wheeler driveway. Hopefully, Mike was home. And hopefully, he'd have a pretty damn good explanation as to why he wasn't answering his coms! He stood at the front door, repeatedly ringing the doorbell, and waited impatiently. He could have sworn he heard a muffled voice call out.

"Ted, can you get that please?"

When Mr. Wheeler opened the door, Dustin tried to remain as cool and collected as possible though it was difficult. He looked Mr. Wheeler in the eye and spoke carefully.

"Your line has been busy for over two hours, do you realize that?"

With the same unimpressed look painted across the man's face, as it always was, he nodded simply. "I do realize."

"Is Mike home?"

"No."

"No?" Dustin repeated, his composure cracking. "Well, where the hell is he?"

Mr. Wheeler's usual plain and tepid voice raised suddenly as he looked behind him into the house.

"Karen, where's our son?"

"Will's!" Came Mrs. Wheeler's voice from inside.

Mr. Wheeler calmly and disinterestedly looked back at Dustin.

"Will's," he said simply.

Dustin sighed heavily. "No one's picking up there. Nancy, what about Nancy?" He tried.

"Karen, where's Nancy?"

"Ally's!" She answered shortly.

"Ally's," Mr. Wheeler said and he shrugged. "As you can see, our children don't live here anymore. You didn't know that?"

Dustin felt all his hope evaporate as he looked at the dull man.

"Now, are we done here?" He asked pointedly.

Dustin sighed heavily, all efforts to be polite were long gone.

"Son of a bitch, you're really no help at all, you know that?" He said over his shoulder, as he walked away.

Ted called out lazily after the boy, his heart not entirely in the fight.

"Hey, language!"

Dustin had returned to his bike. He picked it up hotly, now feeling completely on edge. His ears perked when he saw a car pull up near the sidewalk. He watched in curiosity until he saw someone unexpected climb out: Steve Harrington. He was lazily carrying a bouquet of roses that hung at his side and he was nervously muttering to himself as he made his way across the lawn.

"Listen, I've been thinking, love you, I'm sorry. 'Sorry', what the hell am I sorry for?"

"Steve!"

Steve was equally surprised to see the Henderson kid eagerly making his way towards himself. He stopped as the kid approached him, and he gestured to the flowers in his hands.

"Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?" Dustin asked.

Steve gave the boy an odd look and shook his head. "No, they're for--"

"--Great," Dustin ripped the bouquet from his unsuspecting hands and headed for Steve's car.

"Hey, what the hell? Hey!"

"Nancy isn't home," Dustin answered simply.

"Well, where is she?"

"Doesn't matter. We have bigger problems than your love life. You still have that bat?"

Steve watched as Dustin opened the passenger side door and looked at him expectantly.

"Bat? What bat?"

"The one with the nails." He replied, obviously.

"Why?"

"I'll explain it on the way."

Dustin climbed into the passenger seat and only then did Steve snap into action. Breaking into a jog, he couldn't help but ask.

"Wh-? Now?"

"Now!"

With that, Dustin closed the car door and watched impatiently as the boy made his way to the front seat.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Hopper groans as he swipes yet another handful of dirt behind him. He stops for another break though he knows he shouldn't. If it hadn't been for his watch, he surely would have lost all sense of time. And all he had managed to show for it was a hole in the wall two feet long that barely fit his torso. An overwhelming sense of defeat blankets the man and he feels himself slide down the wall of dirt and onto the floor.

He could feel the tickle in his lungs grow stronger and he coughed weakly. Despite the tightness in his chest, he does what always brings him false feelings of comfort. He pulls out his pack of cigarettes. In his weakened hazy state, Hopper fails to notice the small but thick tendrils of vines snaking their way towards his legs.

Before he can do anything to stop them, he sees the thick ropes curl around his ankle and he jolts at the sudden contact. He scrambles to his feet in a panic, momentarily losing his balance.

"Son of a bitch!"

He bends down and begins to claw frantically at the vines. Stopping himself before he can waste more time, he searches his pockets until his fingers land on the cool metal of his knife. Quickly, he pulls out the tool, unsheathing the blade, and brings it to the vines that are now up to both his knees. Unfortunately, he is so focused on the vines at his feet, that he fails to notice the one making its way up to his back and around his neck.

Hopper grunts as his back hits the ground, knocking the air out of him. Hardly any time passes for him to be completely ensnared in the sentient undergrowth and his cries for help are quickly smothered and snuffed out, buried underground with him.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"And that was the last we ever saw her. After that, she was just, gone. I can't believe it's been that long, it feels like yesterday." Lucas finishes.

Max nods, a concentrated frown on her face.

"Yeah, I mean, I bet," she says, lifting Lucas's hopes. "Wow,"

Lucas nods, a sense of relief washing over him at how the skeptic was taking it. She had, for the most part, remained silent during his story. She didn't show any effort to hide her confusion but seemed to go along with it.

"It's crazy, I know."

"It's crazy, but," she shrugged. "I really liked it."

It was Lucas's turn to be confused. "You like it?"

"Yeah," she frowned slightly, a tight smile on her face. "Well, I mean, I had a few issues?"

"Issues?"

"I just felt it was a little derivative at some parts."

Lucas was flabbergasted, and his high hopes came crashing down to the ground.

"What are you talking about?"

She shrugged simply, tucking her palms in her lap as she looked at him with irritation.

"I just wish it had a little more originality, is all."

Lucas could feel anger bubbling up in his chest. He leaned forward, a frown etched into his brows.

"You don't believe me?"

Max chortled and gave the boy a pathetic glance. Her voice began to rise steadily, her own anger taking over her false intrigue.

"Lucas, come on, seriously? How gullible do you think I am?"

"Why would I make this up?" Lucas shot back.

"I don't know! To impress me, or something? Or, you're just like, insane."

"I tell you all of this," Lucas declares hotly, rising to his feet. "I mean, top-secret stuff, risking my life, and this is how you react?"

Max scoffed, still not allowing herself the possibility of believing what he had told her to hide the small seedling of fear that had burrowed itself inside her. She did as she had learned to survive. Brush it off.

Instead, Max looked at him with an amused expression painted on her face."'Risking your life?'"

The frustration festered inside of Lucas at the girl's unwavering amusement at the traumatic experience. "Oh, so this is funny to you?"

"Yeah, I mean, kinda funny?"

Lucas only glared at her, and a smug smile finds its way onto her face as she rises to her feet.

"Stupid, but funny."

Shrugging him and the properly burrowed feeling of fear off her shoulders, she waltzed towards the door, her board in hand.

"Where are you going?"

She stopped and gave him a passing look. "Story time's over, isn't it?"

Lucas feels the harsh sting of her words and decides he wants to put in a few of his own. As she strides out of the arcade, he stays on her heels.

"What is wrong with you? I gave you what you wanted."

"I wanted to be a part of the group, not a part of some joke."

Her mask of anger had begun to crack, and shining through was genuine hurt. Lucas did his best to convey his seriousness, though at this point he didn't know how much good it would do.

"It's not a joke," he said again slowly.

"You did a good job, okay?" She said, nodding though Lucas could still detect a hint of sadness. "And you can go tell the others that I believed your lies and get your little experience points, or whatever."

Quickly, she turned on her heels, her red hair whipping over her shoulder and he quickly followed, grabbing her arm gently. She turned to look at him shocked, but he quickly released her and spoke softly once more.

"We have a lot of rules in our party, okay? But the most important thing is, friends don't lie. Never, ever, no matter what."

"Is that right?" She said confidence dripping from her words knowing she had caught him. "Then how do you explain this?"

This time, she gestured for him to follow her. They turned the corner and into the aisle of games. She swiftly ripped the piece of paper from the screen that read, OUT OF ORDER, and stuck it on Lucas's chest with the remaining bits of tape that resided on the back.

Lucas sighed, ripping the piece of paper off his shoulder and sent her a pleading look.

"I had to do that, to protect you."

Max snapped once more, her anger and her own frustrations getting the best of her.

"Protect me from who, exactly?" Max's voice began to rise in volume. "The big government baddies at Hawkins Lab?" She rested her board against the machine, and she angrily stuffed her hands into her pockets for coins before inserting them into Dig Dug as she yelled at the boy.

As calmly and discreetly as possible, he spoke to her as his eyes darted around the arcade.

"Keep your voice down."

Her demeanor shifted too quickly to that of exaggerated understanding. "Or maybe to protect me from the Demogorgon from another dimension."

"Max, I'm serious, shut up!"

Ignoring him, and his voice still rising, she turned to him, this time speaking with exaggerated excitement.

"No, no, no. I know, it was Y/n and their other superpowered friend, what was it? Eleven-"

Max's eyes widened when Lucas suddenly threw his hands over her mouth. His eyes were pleading and he whispered under his breath, begging her.

"Stop. Talking." He glanced over her shoulder worriedly. "You are going to get us killed. Do you understand?"

Only then did it click for Max when she saw the desperation, the fear, in Lucas's eyes. It was enough to chill her to the bone. She pulled his arm away from her face and looked at him seriously for the first time since he tricked her. Desperately, she searched his eyes. For anything, any sign of humor, any hint that he was putting up an act to convince her. But to her horror, she saw only fear.

"You're serious?"

He stepped back, his voice still low. "I really wish I wasn't."

She quickly recovered, and while she had begun to believe, her skepticism was quickly trying to convince her otherwise. "Prove it."

A defeated look washed over Lucas. He shrugged lightly. "I can't."

"So what? I'm just supposed to trust you?"

He nodded solemnly. "Yes."

She shifted on her feet lightly and something clicked.

"Can't Y/n show me their little trick or whatever, just--"

A car engine roared to life outside, cutting her off. She sped to the window and much to her chagrin, it was exactly who she had suspected.

"Shit, I gotta go."

Pulling yet another surprise from her sleeve, she faced Lucas and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She looked deeply, but briefly, into his eyes, giving him a pleading look of her own. A look begging him to trust her.

"Don't follow me out. Okay?" She whispered gently.

She released his hand and opened the door, heading out. Lucas couldn't stop the words that left his mouth in desperation.

"Do you believe me?"

She never answered, and he watched solemnly as she scurried to the blue Camaro and scrambled inside. Someone pushed past his shoulders trying to get by, the door still cracked open unknowingly giving away his presence to Billy Hargrove.

Max scrambled inside the car, tucking in her feet and her board just before closing the door. Billy, who had his head resting on the headrest and looking out of the window, was seething.

"The hell I tell you?" He growled.

Max gave him an odd look. "I'm not late."

"You know what I'm talking about."

Swallowing her fear, she quickly recovered and masked her face with confusion. "Oh, Lucas?"

Billy scoffed in disgust, his brows furrowed under his sunglasses as his anger rose. "So he has a name now, huh?"

She cursed herself for stammering, knowing he would pick up on it but prayed he didn't.

"It's a small town, okay? We weren't hanging out." She assures him.

Billy shrugs lightly, and his voice lowered. "Hmm. Well, you know what happens when you lie."

Max shook her head.

"I'm not lying."

For the first time in their exchange, Billy looks at Max. His head lazily rolled over to his other shoulder and he searches her face quickly. Thankfully, he seems to buy it and returns his gaze to the road, his left arm still hanging out of the window and the car speeds off. After the car is gone, Lucas deems it safe to exit and he scurries to the parking lot, watching the car disappear.

Worriedly, she looks out the window behind her before quickly looking forward in fear of being caught.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

El and Y/n watch patiently in the kitchen as Becky cuts an old towel in two. She holds it up to them, the cloth now the perfect size and shape for a makeshift blindfold. "Like this?"

El nodded, her chin still resting gently on her palm. "Yes."

The three returned to the living room, and Y/n, per El's request, had turned the volume up on the television set so the static echoed throughout the room.

El sat on the carpet, legs folded beneath her as she folded the cloth into a proper blindfold. Becky sat to the left of Y/n, who sat criss-cross just a foot or two away from El, giving her space.

"It's okay if I sit here, right?" Becky asked.

"Yes," El said, securing the blindfold around her eyes.

"And I won't mess it up or anything?"

"No," El answered, growing short.

"Okay." Becky licked her lips nervously, looking longingly toward her sister.

"If you talk to Terry, will you tell her that I love her very much? And that I'm sorry that I didn't believe--"

"Stop talking," El said crossly.

"Okay, sorry," Becky mumbled.

Y/n caught her eye, and they mouthed a 'sorry'. Becky's lips pressed into a firm line, shrugging, implying she didn't take it too seriously. Her attention was mostly concentrated on her sister, and Y/n had begun to feel the same as Becky did. In the aspect that they felt out of place while El communicated with her mother.

"Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow." Terry mumbled, her fingers twitching and lips twitching. "Run. Breathe. Sunflower."

El awoke in the familiar dark landscape, her toes curling slightly in the imaginary water.

Her mother sat before her, just as she looked moments ago in the living room.

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow."

El timidly made the journey forward, growing closer to her mother with each step. She only hoped this would work.

"Three to the right, four to the left. Four fifty. Run."

"Mama?"

"Sunflower. Rainbow."

"Mama, it's me..."

"-four to left. Four fifty."

"...Jane."

Her heart was hammering in her chest, but she did her best to remain calm. Her mother was only feet away, she was upset with herself for being nervous, she had wanted this her whole life. Yet, the closer she got the more nervous she became.

"Breathe. Rainbow."

"I'm here now,"

"Four fifty."

El took the final step, now only inches away from her mother. After the words left her tongue, everything happened quickly. "I'm home."

The woman's head snapped in her direction, her eyes boring into El's, desperation clouding them.

"No."

Terry reached for her daughter, her hand snatching El's, startling her. El was jerked forward and before she knew it, she felt her eyes open on the black landscape. Instantly she had been transported further into her mother's mind, but she had yet to figure that out. To her, it felt as if everything was rebooted, like she had only just now woken up in the void and the last few moments hadn't happened.

But she was alone.

"Mama!"

Her wails were interrupted by uneven footsteps scurrying behind her. El whirled around to see a woman in a long orange dress running to the right. Eagerly, she followed and she watched in horror as the woman she now recognized as a younger version of her mother, had begun to slow. She was grasping her very pregnant belly and panting heavily, seemingly trying to catch her breath and continue on. Before she could reach out to her mother -- to try to talk to her -- El found herself watching curiously as her mother looked worriedly over her shoulder.

Her eyes were filled with sorrow and she whimpered, her lip quivering as she tried not to cry. Curiously, El turned to see what her mother was looking at and her eyes widened at the sight. El noticed she was wearing a hospital gown similar to the one she wore back in Hawkins lab. Her [m/b/t] (mother's body type) figure wobbled tiredly across the landscape, heading straight for them. She was panting heavily like she had been running a great distance, and her speed was rapidly decreasing. Behind her, a swarm of angry men in uniform -- bad men, El realized -- hot on her heels.

"Terry!" She cried. "Go! Now! You can still make it! You know where to go-!"

The woman was tackled to the ground, and she wailed in pain. El jumped back in fear even though she wasn't too close. El got a better look at her, and she watched in sorrow and guilt as the woman was grabbed roughly and yanked to her feet. She was dragged away, screaming and kicking, fighting for her life.

"Terry, what are you waiting for?! RUN!"

El watched aghast as the h/c-haired woman was pulled farther and farther away, her screams never ceasing. Unlike anything she had ever seen in the void, she could make out the bad men turning a corner and they disappeared around an invisible corner. Before El could make out what happened, a loud bang was heard and the screams stopped. El stumbled back in fear, tears streaming from her eyes. Her ankle caught something and she fell backward into the thin pool of water. She hid her face in her hands, the panic rising in her chest and she realized she was hyperventilating. The sound of her mother's wailing brought her out of her panic, or at least it redirected it.

Her mother had similar tear streaks running down her cheeks and El knew her mother was in the same boat. But her eyes fell to her mother's large stomach and she finally noticed the emerging bloodstains running down her dress. Throughout the whole ordeal, El wondered why her mother didn't take the woman's advice, why did she stop? And where was she telling her mother to go? Millions of questions like these had bounced around her brain as everything unfolded, too caught up in the horror of what just unfolded to try and answer them. But now El knew.

She knew why her mother stopped. She was in pain and she was bleeding a great deal. She scrambled to her feet to help her mother but she did not know what to do.

"Mama? Mama!"

Just as soon, her mother groaned in pain and stumbled to the ground, grasping her stomach. El immediately and tearfully knelt beside her sobbing mother, laying a shaky hand on her mother's arm.

"Mama! Mama!"

The woman wailed, clutching her stomach, completely unfazed by El's presence.

"Oh, my baby!" She cried worriedly.

"What do I do?" El asked frantically. "Mama, what do I do? Help me!"

A familiar voice echoes out, calling out fearfully.

"Terry? Terry!"

"Mama, what do I do? How do I help you?"

"Terry, where were you? Oh, my God!"

El looks up in the direction of the voice, only for everything to blur. El is transported outside, nothing she can identify but she sees the face of the familiar voice. It's Becky, she's younger and she is looking right at El.

"Oh, my God," she sniffles, looking around worriedly. "Okay, breathe. Just breathe, alright? Breathe."

She sees her mother lying on the grass yards away from a house, and now she knows she is not seeing through her own eyes. She is reliving her mother's past.

"They're on their way, okay?"

El sees her mother's hand reach for her bleeding stomach and looks back at Becky.

"They got her. [y/m/n], they got [y/m/n]. I have to go, I have to leave! I have to get her out, I h-have to get her out-" Terry wails in agony, clutching her stomach. "She did it. She got... them out... I need to go- AAHH"

Becky shakes her head, reaching out for her as she takes Terry's hand in comfort.

"Terry, no! Just breathe, alright? You need to breathe, I've told you, no one is coming for her, alright?"

"They wanted them, and they're gonna want Jane! Don't make me do this," she wailed, shaking her head.

She lets out another wail of agony and everything begins to fade.

"Terry!"

Everything goes black and the next thing El knows she is being wheeled through a hallway, two nurses looking at her.

"Stay with us, darling. Stay with us."

El sees her mother writhing in pain on the moving bed, clutching her stomach.

Big lights swarm her vision, and she looks around as several people in green clothing and latex gloves stand and move around her. El sees her mother groaning on the table in pain, and slowly a gloved hand brings a mask of some sort to her face.

El sees a small blade glide across her mother's skin, blood dripping from the cut and the next thing she sees is a tiny infant come into view. It cries with its small high voice, visibly animated in movement. El realizes it's her, and her mother is fighting to stay awake. A set of eyes, all too familiar to El, come into view. The man's face is mostly covered by his mask, but El knows all too well it's the face of the man that tortured her for years. Confirming her suspicions, the man pinches the white mask and pulls it down to his chin revealing Papa's sinister scowl.

Everything goes black once more. It is quiet, and for a moment El thinks the vision is over. But a bright light reveals itself, and the first thing El can identify is a vase of sunflowers.

Her vision pans over to see a tearful Becky. She gives the weakest of smiles and speaks, El can hear the lump in her throat as she is holding back her tears.

"Hey, there."

Her mother stirs awake on the hospital bed. She groans and looks around worriedly.

"Jane? Where's Jane?"

Becky shakes her bowed head, tears clouding her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She croaks, reaching forward and taking her hand. "Honey, she didn't make it. I'm so sorry, Ter, I'm so sorry."

Terry shakes her head, anger and panic rising in her.

"No, I saw her!" She said simply.

Becky shook her head.

"No, no, she wasn't breathing."

"She was crying!"

"No."

"Oh, God." She breathed, the memories swarming back to her. "Becky, it happened. I saw her, an-and he was there! He was there! He had her and-!"

"No," was all Becky could muster, sniffling.

Becky took a deep breath, still shaking her head, unable to meet her sister's eye right away.

"Terry, no, I'm sorry, I wish that were true--"

"--It is! Becky, I'm telling you, I saw it! We have to get her! He took her!"

"Who was there, Terry?" Becky asked, trying to calm her through her own tears.

"He took her!" She said, growing more frantic.

"Terry--" Becky warned.

But Terry had already begun to sit up despite her sister's efforts to keep her in bed.

"No, no, no! Don't take it out! Terry!"

She had ripped the IV out of her arm, and seconds later a nurse came in, holding her down.

"No, no! I need to get her! Becky, I told you!"

"Terry!"

"--I told you this would happen! I need to get her!"

Terry was soon restrained, several members of the hospital staff were pinning her down and El watched as a syringe was plunged into her skin. The scene quickly changed, she could see several papers and file folders strewn all over the floor. She could hear her mother's voice nearby.

"Three to the right. Four to the left." She mumbled.

She sees the dial of the safe click to zero, and her mother opens the safe. Inside, sitting atop several papers and envelopes is a gun. Shakily, her mother picks up the gun, she sighs as she stuffs several bullets inside.

Her mother is now in a car. She takes a deep breath, collecting herself before exiting, purse clutched tightly in her hand. She closes the car door and El sees her mother cross the parking lot to the very building she escaped from. Trailing behind a few similarly dressed women, she blends in effortlessly with them. That is until she was stopped by a security guard.

"Ma'am, can I see your badge?"

Terry stops, taking a deep breath. She turns around, pulling the gun from her bag. She aims it at the man and anybody that tried to approach.

"Stay back. Stay back!"

She sees the guard reach for his gun and she panics, pulling the trigger. The last thing she sees is the guard falling back before everything goes black once more. She can hear alarms blaring, and Terry is now rushing down a hallway, several people in lab coats jumping aside. She hops from door to door, peering inside and asking for her daughter.

"Jane? Jane?"

She looks over her shoulder and that's when she spots it. The rainbow room. A door across the hall with a small rainbow painted on the inside of the doorframe.

Eagerly, she opens the door. Inside, she finds two young girls playing, one of them she knows to be her daughter. She steps forward cautiously, but happily. Each of them gives her an off look and she smiles, leaning down to her daughter.

"Jane... No!"

She is pulled away from Jane before she can grab her. She fights and kicks to the best of her ability but the men's hold on her is too powerful. The girls watch curiously as she is dragged away and Terry only fights harder.

"No! No! She's my child! No! She's my child!"

The sight of the tiny rainbow painted on the walls is the last thing in focus as she is dragged far away.

The next thing she sees comes in flashes. Hands struggling and hair whipping around as Terry struggles in the grip of several bad men.

"No! No."

El watches helplessly as her mother is roughly pinned down again once more, several straps fighting around her form. As she struggles, her head falls to the side, and there before her is Papa. Standing still, watching as she is restrained.

Her cries of protest are muffled when they place a rubber mouth guard between her teeth. A pair of gloved hands bring two metal rods to her forehead, Terry becomes increasingly frightened, like she can guess what comes next but El does not.

"Four fifty," Papa says.

One of the men nods, reaching over and setting the dial on a silver and black box. A low hum grows louder as he sets the dial, she can hear it in the rods and she knows what's coming. Terry's muffled screams cry out in protest, but it does not stop the man from flipping the switch. Her mother begins to convulse, her muscles go stiff and she writhes and shakes in pain. Her hands lose grip on the metal poles of handles at her side and she goes limp, tears in her eyes and she pants heavily.

Everything starts over in quick flashes as she stares at the ceiling. All of it, happening in short spurts.

"Terry, what are you waiting for?! RUN!"

BANG.

"Oh, my God! Okay, breathe. They're on their way."

She's wheeled through the hallway.

"Stay with us, darling."

Jane crying.

Her eyes open and El can hear her mother's voice.

"Sunflower"

"He was there!"

Nurses restrain her.

"Three to the right. Four to the left."

She unlocks the safe and shoots the gun.

She sees the room.

"Sunflower."

The dial turns.

"Four fifty."

"RUN!" A gun goes off.

"Breathe." Jane cries.

Flowers at her bedside. "Sunflower."

Gunshot, she approaches the door. "Rainbow."

The dial turns. "Four fifty."

She convulses.

"RUN!"

"Breathe,"

"Three to the right. Four to the left."

"Breathe"

"Sunflower."

"Rainbow"

"Three to the right."

"RUN!"

"Four fifty."

"RUN!"

"Rainbow."

"Three to the right."

"RUN!"

El rips the blindfold off her eyes in panic, her breathing heavy and uneven. As she is brought back to reality she looks up at her mother in her rocking chair. There are tears in her eyes and she is sadly uttering the same words.

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Three to the right. Four to the left."

El feels a pair of arms wrap gently around her and she can feel her own shaking, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly. She feels a hand grab hers and she knows it's Y/n. She squeezes their hand for comfort and Y/n gently runs their thumb over the back of her hand, showing their support.

No one says anything for a while, and apart from her mother's mumbling, she sits in silence embracing the support given to her as she tries to calm her racing heart.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"There's nothing. There's nothing here." Mike says worriedly.

Mike, Will, Joyce, and Bob were all packed inside Joyce's Ford Pinto in search of where they believed Hopper's location to be.

Worriedly, Joyce spares a quick glance at Bob who holds the map in his lap. "Are... Are we close?"

"We're in the vicinity," Bob replies.

"What's that mean, the vicinity?" She asked worriedly.

"It means we're close. I don't know. It's not precise." Bob sputters, feeling the guilt and pressure weighing on his chest.

"But we did all that work!" Joyce exclaims, exasperated.

"I told you, the scale ratio is not exactly one-to-one. We needed to take--"

"Turn right!" Will shouts suddenly.

Unbeknownst to the group, Will had closed his eyes. Taking Mike's advice to heart, he took advantage of the information, his now memories, stored in his brain. Quietly, he had sat, his eyes darting back and forth sporadically under his eyelids as he searched the tunnels in his mind.

"What?"

Everyone looked to Will, even Joyce, but she made sure to return her attention to the road.

"I saw him!" Will answered.

"Where?"

Joyce began looking around, squinting around the vicinity and Will felt the panic boiling in his chest. He leans forward urgently, his words turning to a quick panicked shout as he tries to convey his words without missing the turn.

"Not here. In my now-memories"

A knowing gasp falls over Mike and Joyce, while Bob whirls around to look at Will, flabbergasted. "In your what?" Bob asks.

"Turn right!" Will yells again.

Everyone is thrown to the side of the car, Will bumping into Mike, and Bob nearly falling on Joyce as the car violently jerked to the side. A horrible screech filled everyone's ears as the tires flew across the pavement. Everything happened in a matter of seconds as the car took down a sign attached to the wooden fencing, as well as several clumps of hay that temporarily covered the windshield. Before they knew it, they were thrown forward when Joyce slammed on the brakes, stopping only inches away from the back of Hopper's car.

Joyce whirled around to look at Will, then Mike.

"Are you okay?"

Will nodded and she faced the front once more. Everyone was panting heavily still, collecting their breath.

"Superspy," Mike confirmed between breaths.

"What's Jim doing here?" Bob asked, recognizing the car in front of them. "Joyce?"

Ignoring his questions, Joyce returned her attention to the back seat and looked between Will and Mike.

"Boys, I need you to stay here."

Will shook his head frantically as she climbed out of the car.

"No. Mom, Mom, Mom, it's not safe." He called desperately, leaning over to look at her.

"That's why I need you to stay here! Stay here!" She ordered.

Slamming the car door, the boys sat in silence as they felt the car shake slightly. Bob and Joyce trudged across the field, careful not to step on the many rotten pumpkins.

"Hopper!" Joyce's worried and shrill cries echoed across the field and into the night.

Easily spotting the small crater in the dirt, Joyce descended the hole Hopper had dug and Bob followed cautiously. His arms were outstretched after Joyce who held her arms out for balance as her feet slipped across the unstable dirt.

"Hey, be careful." He shook his head, nervously spewing commentary in disbelief. "Just going down the hole."

At the bottom of the pit, a large circle roughly the size of her dining room table had caught her eye. Bridging the gaps over what normally would have been a hole in the ground, was what looked like several worms the size of large snakes. But they weren't, they were a dark purple-pink and they did twist and move, constantly interlacing themselves, seeing themselves together in a big lump, it soon became clear to Joyce what these were. Hopper's last few words to her echoed in her mind.

"Vines." She gasped.

Hesitant to break her gaze away for too long, she gestured to the shovel that stood near Bob's feet.

"Give me that."

"The shovel?"

"Yes, give me the shovel!"

Compliantly, he handed the shovel to Joyce who eagerly grabbed it tight in her hands. With all the strength she could summon, she brought the metal spade down into the vines. They shrieked and hissed. Her contact had hurt several of them. Unfortunately, this came with a splash of dark smelly goo sprayed from the vines and painting Joyce and Bob's clothes.

Cringing, but quickly recovering, Joyce began to repeatedly stab at the small colony. They hissed and squealed once more but one by one they hastily recoiled back into the dirt. Deciding enough room had been made and enough vines were gone, she threw the shovel to the side and whirled around to face Bob, a determined look in her eye.

"I need you to help me get down there." She ordered.

Growing frantic and increasingly worried, Bob hunched over slightly and waved his arms.

"Joyce, what are you talking about?"

"Bob! Now!" She roared, extending her arm.

Joyce gasped in horror when her feet hit the ground, her eyes had adjusted to the dark almost at once, and she was panting heavily at the sight around her. Not allowing herself any more time to waste, she stepped further into the tunnels.

"Hopper!" She called. "Hopper! Hopper!"

Frantically, she looked between the two directions the tunnel stretched in. She didn't know how much time she had, but she knew it wasn't much and she certainly couldn't risk checking each path. She heard a thud behind her, and she turned knowing Bob had descended. Sure enough, she wobbled slightly, catching his balance from the long drop and he collected himself.

"Joyce, what is going on? Where are we?"

Stammering, she reached out to Bob and looked him up and down, making sure he had safely made the drop. "Bob, are you okay?"

Bob's attention was pulled to his surroundings once his eyes had adjusted.

He looked around in amazement and shock.

"Tunnels. Is this Will's map?" He asked.

She had reached into his jacket pocket, knowing he always kept a small flashlight for emergencies.

"Hopper!" She called, scanning the tunnels for any sign of the chief.

"Are we in Will's map?" Bob asked once more.

Biting the bullet and picking a direction, she began navigating the tunnels, calling out for the missing man.

"Hopper! Hopper!"

"We're in Will's map!" Bob mumbled excitedly, following Joyce close behind.

"Hopper!"

"We're actually inside Will's map!"

"Hopper!"

"How did he know all this?"

They both quieted when they reached a fork in the path. Glad Bob had kept his flashlight on him, and glad she had used it, she stepped forward when the light caught a broken cigarette on the ground in front of the left tunnel.

"Bob! Over here!"

She knelt down by the cigarette, she picked it up and showed it to her boyfriend.

"It's his! He's gotta be this way! Come on."

Before he could respond, she took off down the left tunnel, mindful of her steps and the large ridges protruding from the ground. Giving one last uneasy look from where they came, trying his best to memorize the details of the path, he quickly fell back in line after Joyce.

Just outside above the entrance, Mike and Will had exited the car and slowly approached the edge of the crater.

"Do you see anything?" Mike asked. "I mean, in your now-memories?"

Will shook his head, watching the ground uneasily. The sound of several engines captured the boys' attention and they turned around to see several vehicles flood onto the field from where they had come. To his horror, Mike recognized the white vans labeled HAWKINS POWER AND LIGHTING as the very same ones that had chased him and his friends the previous year. It was a fleet from Hawkins Lab. He was suddenly grateful Y/n had left, wherever they were, they would be safe from them. At least, he hoped.

The tunnels below their feet were filled with the echoes of Joyce's cries for Hopper. The pair had reached a cavity in the tunnels, the walls had pooled out into a wide space that Bob silently identified as the x from Will's map. Joyce was much too preoccupied with the task at hand, the beam of the flashlight scouring the ground and she felt her heart leap into her throat when she caught sight of a large arm poking out from underneath a pile of vines. The pile of vines, she realized, had almost completely covered the man.

"Oh! It's his arm!"

She scrambled forward, Bob close on her heels and they collapsed to the ground beside him. Handing the flashlight to Bob, she began clawing at the vines around him, several of them breaking and snapping. Bob pointed the flashlight to Hopper's neck, the man lay fighting consciousness and Bob began tugging with his free hand at the thick stem surrounding his neck.

"It's choking him!"

Joyce redirected her efforts to the vine that struggled to tighten itself around Hopper's neck. Much to their surprise, Hopper spoke in a strained voice. "Knife!"

Joyce looked around desperately for the tool, but Bob was quick to answer. The beam fell across Hopper and next to Joyce. "It's over there!"

Sure enough, just inches away from Hopper's grasp, was the man's pocket knife.

Quickly, she got to work and it wasn't long until the vine around his neck snapped, Hopper gasped for air, and looked to his hands.

"Hands!"

Joyce cut his arms free next and he was able to fight back. He took the knife from Joyce's hands, cutting himself loose from the tendrils surrounding his chest while Bob and Joyce continued clawing at the remaining restraints. Finally, Hopper broke free with a maddened cry.

"Bastard!"

He sat up, swiping the blade across the restraints on his ankles, once more the goo erupted from the screeching vines, by now he was covered in it but he didn't give two shits. Bob and Joyce helped the man to his feet and Joyce hurriedly checked him for injuries, and she took his face between her trembling hands.

"Oh, my God. Hopper, are you okay?" She panted.

"Joyce."

"Are you okay? Are you okay?"

Hopper nodded, patting her on the arms gently and she released him. He swung his arm behind him and patted the man beside him.

"Hey, Bob."

"Hey, Jim."

The trio huddled together, backing away from the advancing vines. Joyce turned and jumped in fear when she saw a figure next to Bob, dressed in a hazmat suit.

"Oh, my God!"

"Go! Go! Go! Clear the area!" The figure ordered.

The trio did not hesitate to evacuate, heading back through the tunnel each of them had ventured. When the three were out of range, the figure, who had been properly equipped, aimed his device and a violent spurt of fire erupted from the end. The vines writhed and shrieked violently as they shriveled up.

At that exact moment, Will -- who had been waiting worriedly outside as the army of men surrounded and descended after his mother and Bob -- collapsed to the ground. Mike dropped to the ground quickly after him, grasping his friend trying to get him to calm. But it was no use. Will was now lying on the grass, his entire body felt like it was on fire. His vision was as white as the white-hot searing pain running through his veins.

"Will, what's wrong?" Mike wailed, feeling helpless.

Will convulsed uncontrollably, his limbs on fire, spreading as rapidly as the flames in the hub below. As the vines screamed in agony, Will screamed too. He was now on his back, screaming violently into the night. Mike jumped back startled, watching helplessly in horror as his best friend writhed in the grass, his mouth wide open and his eyes rolled back into his head as shrieked in agony.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S2:E5; Chapter Five, Dig Dug - [Pt. 3]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘯-𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺/𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴. “𝘣𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯” 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"Alright, this is it. Five-one-five Larrabee, right?"

The truck had pulled to a stop and El leaned over to take a peek out the window past Y/n. They had sat stiffly the whole ride, barely muttering a word unless it was to cover up a thing that El might have let slip about her identity. The man seemed to understand Y/n's weariness and he didn't pry too much. He had only asked necessary questions, like if their parents were looking for them, or if they were alright.

El answered most of the questions, all relatively short answers. Before they knew it, they had crossed town and Y/n was glad they had thought to go back and hide their bike in some bushes back on Mirkwood.

"Yes," El answered. "Thank you,"

Y/n gave a curt nod towards the man and eagerly opened the door. The man's words made their stop and the two kids looked at him.

"You kids make sure to apologize, alright?" He looked to El kindly. "Your Mama must be scared half to death. How long's it been?"

"Long time," El answered thoughtfully.

After a small pause, Y/n piped up, "Alright," and exited the car, planting their feet firmly on the ground. They reached a hand out to El to help her down, one El gladly took. Not before looking over the man they had been so wary of and tossing him a weak smile.

"Thank you again, sir."

He smiled and nodded in understanding. "No worries, I get it. You kids be careful alight?"

Y/n mimicked the man and nodded with a genuine smile.

"Will do, take care."

He nodded once more and put the car in gear, and Y/n closed the door behind them. The truck came to life once more before taking off down the road. Y/n looked to El, readjusting the bag on their shoulders and they frowned when they saw a small smile forming on El's lips.

"What?" They asked.

"See? A nice man."

Y/n rolled their eyes, hating the smile that betrayed their mask of annoyance though they couldn't deny the relief that washed over them.

"Yes, he was nice. But for real, we were pretty lucky. Young kids don't usually fare well when it comes to strange men. Or-- well, I guess just strangers in general."

El shrugged and headed down the muddy path in the leaves, Y/n quick to follow. Both of them missing the mailbox labeled Ives. The kids followed the path of the driveway and they saw a small two-story house behind the trees. It wasn't until they reached the porch that El showed a hint of hesitation.

Y/n saw the familiar symptoms of anxiety in their friend and they reached over, grabbing her hand and giving it a light squeeze. El smiled weakly in return, reciprocating with one of thanks. El then released their hand and took a deep breath, tempted to wipe her palms on the side of her overalls despite the absence of actual sweat. She reached out and slapped the door instead, not quite understanding the concept of knocking just yet. Y/n fought the urge to politely correct her, knowing it was a sensitive time.

They waited patiently, but no one answered. So El reached out and hit the door a little harder. A strained and irritated female voice responded almost immediately.

"Go away, I'm not interested!"

The two kids frowned at one another and returned their attention to the door. El leaned forward and began pounding on the door, not stopping until the door opened. Soon enough, it was lurched open, restrained by a chain lock. The face of a woman - no older than Joyce - could be seen behind the gap. She looked between the two kids, her irritation never waning.

"Look, I don't want any thin mints, alright kid?"

El tilted her head in a frown.

"Thin mints?"

"Or your religious mumbo jumbo, or whatever you kids are trying to sell, I ain't buying."

Before either El or Y/n could respond, she slammed the door in their faces. Y/n sighed sharply and looked at El.

"I could try?"

El shook her head. Y/n had learned a long time ago that El was better with her actions than her words, preferring the former to the latter. Y/n watched in silence as El focused all her attention on the door, her head tilted in a familiar fashion. Y/n heard a few soft clicks on the other side if they strained their ears enough, and seconds later the doorknob turned and the door creaked open.

Becky Ives meanwhile, looked on with a mixture of horror and fascination as the chain lock undid itself on her door. The door itself swung open to reveal the two young kids, side by side, one of them had blood dripping from her nose.

El never blinked, staring the woman down, speaking in a tone that left no room for negotiation.

"I want to see Mama."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

After proper introductions, Becky welcomed the kids inside. Not many comprehensive things were said on Becky's behalf, considering the woman was still completely baffled and awestruck that the child her sister had risked her life for was here in her own house. Alive. And very much gifted with abilities Stephen King could spin quite the impressive yarn. Quietly, and somberly, she led her niece and her niece's friend down the hall and into the living room. She did not know how to explain her sister's state to these children - to her own niece.

Y/n watched from the sidelines with Becky as El saw her mother for the first time. The woman was in a rocking chair, slightly unkempt and trapped within her own mind.

"Mama?" El croaked, stepping forward into the living room.

Y/n stayed behind with Becky, their fingers finding their way to their lips as they watched the reunion in heartbreak. They felt as if they didn't have the right to bear witness to this exchange.

The woman was muttering something under her breath, obviously oblivious they to what was happening. Y/n thought she could make out some of the words.

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow."

"Mom? Can you hear me?" El asked, her voice cracking.

She crept forward, knowing logically her mother wouldn't disappear like last time, but it didn't prevent the memory from creeping up in her head.

El knelt across from her mother as she felt the first tears sting her eyes.

"Mama?"

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower."

El wasn't used to being the talkative one, but she didn't care if it meant she could interact with her mother.

"It's me, Jane."

Y/n blinked through the tears that clouded their vision, surprised to hear the name leave El's lips. El gently laid a hand on her mother's.

"I'm here now."

The woman broke eye contact with the TV for the first time since their arrival and looked over at El. The smallest spark of recognition in her eyes filled everyone with hope. But it quickly died out when she continued her mantra.

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow."

El looked tearfully behind her towards her newly found aunt.

"What's wrong with Mama?"

Becky, who had been watching as tearfully as Y/n had been, looked at El, clearing aching with pity and somber. All she could muster was choked back a sob and she swiped her nose with her sleeve, not knowing how to explain the difficult situation.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Outside the Palace Arcade, Billy Hargrove's car came to a halting stop. Max grips her board tighter as she opens the door, and her attention is brought back to Billy when he speaks up in a harsh order.

"If you aren't out in an hour," he began.

Max stepped out of the car and leaned down, giving him an eye roll.

"I'm skating home. Yeah, I know."

"Hey!" He snapped, glaring at her through his sunglasses. "Watch the attitude, shitbird."

Max sighed and straightened up, itching to get inside and away from Billy. She slammed the car door behind her, just as soon, he sped away and she threw her middle finger up in the air after his fleeting car before stomping inside. Max pushed her way through the crowded arcade and to her favorite machine only to come to a halting stop when she saw the three words every arcade-dwelling kid despised:

'OUT OF ORDER'

A squeaky voice came from her right that made her want to roll her eyes.

"Sorry about that, Rogue Warrior."

She turned to see Keith as he always was; greasy and munching on a bag of chips. Today's choice was Cheetos, and she could see the orange dust staining his fingers.

"What happened?" She asked angrily.

Keith stepped forward and slapped his Cheeto-dusted hand on the top of the machine.

"Short circuit in the motherboard. Real bummer. But fret not, I got another machine up and running in the back."

Hesitantly, she followed Keith to the back. She wondered to herself why in the hell he was going out of his way for her. It wasn't hard to guess that he hated his job and all the kids that accompanied the arcade so why was he bothering to help?

Everything was answered when he unlocked a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY, and there standing in the room smiling weakly at her, was none other than Lucas Sinclair.

Angrily, she stepped inside, knowing he would just follow her if she left. She whirled around to glare at Keith who looked at Lucas pointedly.

"You better get me that date, Sinclair."

"I told you I would."

Keith shushed him, pointing his orange fingers at Lucas.

"And keep things PG in here, alright?" He looked between the two kids in disgust before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Lucas winced at Keith's words, and Max whirled around and stomped towards the boy.

"What is this shit, stalker?"

Lucas stood to his feet quickly.

"I'm sorry," he eased. "I just need a safe place."

Unfortunately, his choice of words did not ease her in any way.

"A safe place to what? Be creepy?"

"Listen, I'm gonna tell you the truth about everything that happened last year, but if anyone finds out, you could be arrested... Possibly killed."

Max scoffed, visibly taken aback by his severity.

"Killed?" She asked incredulously.

"I'm serious. Do you accept the risk?"

Max threw her head back in exasperation and huffed. "God, this is so stupid!"

But Lucas only grew more grave. He looked her in the eye and spoke slower, unable to stress any more the seriousness of the situation.

It was enough to make Max shrug in defeat, giving up and deciding to humor the boy. Whatever got her out of here faster, right?

"Yeah. Sure. Fine," she set down her board and took a seat, waving him off. "I accept the risk."

Lounging in a chair, arms crossed she looked at Lucas expectantly. He had taken a seat across from her, knowing he was in for a rough ride with his friends.

"Well, let's hear it."

Here goes nothing.

"Last year, Will didn't get lost in the woods. He got lost somewhere else."

Max shifted uncomfortably when she heard finally accepted his unwavering tone. He was deeply concerned and no matter how hard she searched, she couldn't find even a hint of humor. Max was finally beginning to feel concerned herself.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Will continued scribbling away on another parchment of paper. Miraculously, his arm had not yet grown tired despite his feverish strokes and the fact that this picture was one of hundreds.

He stopped suddenly, looking at his work, disturbed. Joyce, who had been waiting over his shoulder with Mike, leaned down pointing to the drawing.

"Is this where you saw him? Hopper?"

Will sat back, looking at the drawing and he nodded.

"Mm-hm, I think so," he mumbled.

Joyce grabbed the drawing and began searching the house for its rightful spot, Mike joined her. She was in the kitchen, holding the parchment up to a gap on the wall, but it didn't quite seem to fit, she heard Mike's triumphant cry.

"Over here!"

She crossed the kitchen to where Mike stood by the fridge. Sure enough, there was a gap between one large tunnel and two thinner ones splitting off. Joyce kneeled to place the missing piece.

"Okay, so Hopper is here."

Mike nodded.

"Yeah, we just need to find out where 'here' is, right?"

Joyce nodded, her brows furrowed in thought.

"Right."

"Did he say anything? I mean, before he left?"

She sighed, trying to make sense of Hopper's departing words before he disappeared through the door.

"Uh, something about vines?"

They both paused when they heard the rumbling of an approaching car. Joyce and Mike ran to the front room, hoping by some miracle Hopper was okay and he had returned. Their hopes fell when they saw a red Toyota Camry Liftback belonging to none other than Bob Newby.

Joyce quickly stepped out onto the porch where Bob was carrying a small stack of puzzles. He smiled widely upon seeing her.

"Surprise! I would've called but you said not to clog up the line."

Joyce smiled weakly, leaning against the beam of her front porch.

"We're fine, we don't need anything." She eased nervously.

"When I was a kid - and I was sick all the time as a kid - nothing made me feel better than focusing on these brain teasers."

She smiled nervously. "Those are great," Bob looked hopefully at Joyce and she forced a normal smile. A strained smile Bob, unfortunately, picked up on. "He's sleeping"

Bob tried to hide his disappointment and he nodded.

"Okay," Bob perked up, bouncing on his heel ever so slightly. "I could wait with you?"

Joyce sighed, and shook her head, giving him an apologetic look

"Now's just not a good time. But you know what, I'll call you." She placed a hand on his cheek bringing him closer and gave a gentle peck before pulling away. "Thank you,"

He couldn't stop himself from smiling and he nodded. "You sure?"

"Yeah,"

"Well you have him call me, they don't call me Bob the brain for nothin," he said, stepping off the porch and heading back to his car.

Joyce nodded and began to head back inside when suddenly she paused. A light bulb went off in her head.

"Bob!"

Bob stopped outside his car and smiled, extending his arms out in a goofy mock introduction.

"That's my name!"

But how would she explain this without giving everything away?

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Needless to say, Bob was very much caught off guard when he stepped inside the Byers' home. He tried his best to ignore his judgemental thoughts. After all, the family was going through a troubling time and what they chose to do to keep their minds off of it was their business. It was curious though.

"Huh"

Bob turned to Will who had been standing behind him.

"You drew all these, yourself?"

"Mm-hm."

Bob returned his attention to the tunnels, processing everything. Though he could not hold back his curiosity any longer.

"Can I ask why?"

Joyce shook her head.

"I told you the rules, no questions."

Disappointed but understanding, Bob nodded showing his compliance. Joyce continued as she walked through the house, expecting him to follow.

"We just need your help figuring out what it is,"

Bob was still lost in thought until he heard Joyce's urgent calls.

"Bob, come on, over here."

Handing the stack of puzzles to Mike, Bob followed Joyce into the kitchen. He found kneeling on the ground drawing a large red 'x' on one of the pieces of paper.

"Can you tell me what this is?"

Joyce stepped back to allow Bob to examine the tunnels, Mike joined them gesturing to the 'x'.

"That's the objective, find the 'x'," Mike added.

"Yeah?" Bob asked, leaning down to examine the picture. "What's the 'x', pirate treasure?"

Bob chuckled and Joyce was quick to redirect his attention.

"Bob, no questions." She reminded him firmly.

"Okay," Bob sighed, and he gently pulled Joyce aside. "Joyce, you can talk to me. You know that, right?"

Joyce became visibly uncomfortable, trying to play off her avoidance.

"Uh, yeah, of course. What's the problem, exactly?"

"What's the problem?" Bob laughed nervously, gesturing around the decorated room. "Will doesn't look well, you don't look well. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" She said defensively. "Nothing."

"Is this another episode? Is this another one of Will's episodes?"

"No, no. No!"

Bob sputtered, a hand resting on his forehead, rubbing it nervously.

"I'm sorry, I j-just don't see how any of this is good for Will, or for you? And even if I wanted to play along, I mean, I don't know if I can figure anything out if I don't understand the context of the game! Or..."

Bob had trailed off, and Joyce noticed something had caught his eye and attention just over her shoulder.

"What? What is it?" She looked from Bob back to the window where he had been staring.

"I know that shape."

Around the window, a trail of tunnels had created an oddly twisted circle that almost looked like a heart.

"That's Lovers Lake," He smiled triumphantly, and everything began to click. "That's Lovers Lake!"

Excitedly, Bob turned around and back into the kitchen leaving their past discussion.

"I get it! Okay, I get it! That's Lake Jordan,"

Bob gestured to the shape formed on the walls out in the hall, continuing through the house, Joyce on his tail. He reached the living room and pointed excitedly to more tunnels.

"And if that's Lake Jordan, then that would mean- yup! Settlers Quarry!"

Bob's eye line trailed to the floors, now fully immersed in the puzzle. Everyone was quick to follow.

"And if you just follow it naturally, it moves to Eno River!" Bob stood across the corner of the living room, pointing to the corner before continuing his explanation.

"And there it is! That's the Eno, do you see it? Okay, so the lines aren't roads but they act like roads" Bob made his way back into the kitchen. "And they act like roads cause if you follow them you'll see they don't go over water! And that's the giveaway. That's the giveaway!"

Bob made circles around the table, ending up in front of the fridge while everyone else listened intently, their hopes rising.

"Hah! Don't you get it? It's not a puzzle, it's a map! It's a map of Hawkins!"

He looked on in amazement, baffled by the creativity and the ability. Will and Mike looked at each other in surprise, and Joyce was looking at Bob in shock. Bob looked at Will and smiled.

"Right Will?"

Will found himself speechless, shocked at the revelation. Though he couldn't quite dismiss the feeling of disappointment and anger deep inside himself.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Hopper caught the movement from the corner of his eye and was quick to bring his foot down, squashing the vines that had come alive at his feet.

"Does anybody copy?"

Hopper had been trying his radio all night, and while there were no signs of a response, he continued to call for help.

"Look, if anybody copies this is Jim Hopper, Hawkins chief-"

His finger left the button and static echoed off the walls. He was looking on in shock as he found himself in a wide-open space, with several tunnels connecting. The beam of his flashlight traveled the walls and onto the ceiling where large spores, bigger than his head, were breathing and puffing out spurts of more flakes. He jumped to the side, startled when something had come alive by his feet, another vine that had tried to grab at him.

Hopper squinted in the darkness. Although his eyes had adjusted, and his flashlight still worked, it had begun to dim and he could have sworn he saw branches on the wall move. He reached for his lighter, flicking it on with the same old sleight of hand. He brought the orange flame to a wall of vines and branches, his eyes were quite pleased to see a change of color than the suffocating deep violets all around him.

The branches, he noticed, twitched and writhed under the heat. His hopes rose as the underbrush withered, and a plan formed in the cogs of his mind. He retraced his steps to the center of the hub, where he had stepped on a pile of bones earlier. The revolting find was now a godsend. Swallowing his previous disgust, he plucked the largest bone of the bunch and discarded his outer shirt altogether.

Eagerly, he wrapped the grimy cloth around the end of the large bone and lit the makeshift torch. His uniform quickly went up in flames just as the man had hoped and he quickly returned the tangle of branches. It didn't take long for the vines to retreat, they hissed as they recoiled, peeling back to reveal the grime of the tunnels' side.

He planted the torch in the ground, keeping the flame intact should he require it again. Quickly he got to work, surprisingly it took little effort to break the surface of the tunnels. It was the same slimy webbing of the Upside Down and it split easily. It was only a matter of time before he was out.

At least, he hoped so.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Dustin has gotten used to the sight of bloodied fur by now though he couldn't say he wouldn't be traumatized from the encounter. Mews' body and the majority of her injuries had only just now been covered. It had taken him longer than expected to dig a small cat grave, though now at least he could finally put her to rest.

Exasperated, he dug the shovel in the newly lain dirt and sighed, activating his comms once more.

"Guys, this is Dustin again. Does anyone copy? This is a code red. I repeat, a code red!"

No answer.

"I really need someone to pick up here,"

He had tried yet again, only now he was far more perturbed. And not just because he was under the kitchen sink, where it always reeked of bleach.

Yes, he shouldn't have kept Dart a secret. He knew this, and now he was paying for it. For christ's sake, he just buried his cat and if that didn't already come with a boatload of trauma and guilt that he would be repressing for years to come, trying to deal with Dart alone would surely do the trick. But Dustin was tired of the radio silence, it was driving him nuts and it was really starting to worry him.

And now he couldn't find his freaking gloves! Oh, there they were. Dustin plucked them from the back of the cabinet where they had been hiding, and he slipped them on, glad to have his head out of the stinky cabinet space.

"Hopper's MIA," he continued into the headset. "and I've got a code red. Code red!"

"All right, it's Dustin again," he eased, shoving down all his rising anxieties. "Seriously, I have a code red."

"Can you please shut up?"

Dustin perked, temporarily forgetting his task of scrubbing his bloodied carpet. It was Erica, Lucas's sister.

"Erica? Erica, is Lucas there? Where is he?"

"Don't know. Don't care."

"I-is he with Mike or Y/n? Anybody?"

Erica, meanwhile, paced around her brother's room, his walkie in hand as she half-heartedly examined his so-called toys. She always found them less than interesting for her taste but she deemed his He-Man toy interesting enough for her to fiddle with for the time being.

"Like I said, I don't know and I don't care."

Didn't this kid have ears? He sure did have a mouth, that was for sure.

"Please tell him it's super important. Please tell him I have a code--"

"Code red?" She asked annoyed.

"Yep, code red. Exactly."

"Mm-hmm. I got a code for you instead. It's called code shut-your-mouth."

With no more time to waste, she switched the walkie off, happy to rid herself of the broken record. All Dustin was left with was the familiar company of silence that fell over the air.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"I just need a little help understanding, sweetie, okay?"

My arms still folded on top of my chest, I return my gaze to El. I haven't said much since our arrival, given it was such a sensitive time and place.

The three of us sat at the kitchen table, Becky - El's aunt, I guess - is still trying to get El to talk. I look to my right, where El sits. She is still watching her mother in the other room, where she remains sitting, eyes still glued to the TV. I feel much like her in that regard; I feel stuck, not able to fix the situation in any way. I'm forced to watch El long for her mother, unable to comprehend what she must be going through right now.

Becky continues to try and persuade her. She has asked me a few times but I've made it clear that I'm not going to share anything on El's behalf.

"Can you tell me where you came from? Where you've been all this time?"

I've remained relatively silent during the whole ordeal, only watching the exchange, speaking only when necessary. That is until I hear what Becky says next.

"A policeman and a woman came looking for you last year. Did they find you?"

Becky noticed my attention was captured, and she directed her question at me.

"Do you know them?"

I nodded, looking briefly to El whose eyes were still fixed on her mother. I looked back at Becky.

"Yes, I think so. Was that Joyce Byers by any chance?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so, that sounds right. Is she your mom?"

"No, I just- I didn't realize they were ever here," I mumble.

My eyes fall back to my glass. She offered us food and water. I gratefully accepted an apple she had leftover - which now occupied the trash can as of about half an hour ago - and now I sat across from my water glass. For the past fifteen minutes, I've been watching the droplets of condensation race down the outside of the cup.

El broke the small moment of silence, directing attention back to her.

"She won't get better..." she mumbled sadly, eyes still fixed across to the living room. "will she?"

I looked to Becky, a somber mask covered her features. Her fingers drummed over her other hand, her arms folded across one another on the table, and I could tell she was struggling with the emotion of it all herself. Not knowing how to explain it to us, especially El.

"They don't think so, no." She whispered sadly, she sniffled. "She's not in any pain. She's just stuck, they think. Like in a dream. A long dream."

El finally broke her gaze and returned her attention to Becky. There was a great, understandable, sadness in her eyes that made my heart ache.

"A good dream?" She asked hopefully.

Becky responded in an equally soft voice, and I could tell her heart was breaking all over again.

"I hope so."

El sighed and looked back wistfully at her mother.

"Is it the same dream?"

"We don't know," Becky answered. "Sometimes she says different words. But usually those."

El whimpers softly and I feel my heart break all over again. I guess Becky and I have the same instinct seeing as we both reach out to comfort her. My hand finds its way on her arm, and I rub it soothingly. Becky had reached across the table, extending her arm out in solace.

"She always believed you were out there." I could her voice breaking. "She always believed you'd come home one day."

El looked back to Becky, her eyes dampening.

"Home?" She asked hopefully.

It occurs to me that El has never really had a place to call home. I guess it's easy for me to forget how easy I've had it.

"Yeah," Becky sniffles. "home."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

I watch the water circle the drain, I take advantage of the white noise it provides, allowing me to quell the buzzing thoughts and feelings threatening to overwhelm my system.

Becky was showing El where her room would have been. I politely excused myself from the private moment and I was now hiding out in the bathroom. I miss Dustin and I miss my mom. I'm glad I came, and I'm more than willing to take a step back during this time and wait for the answers I came here for. But I guess I just didn't comprehend the actual intensity of the situation. Of course I knew it would be intense, and it was already hard enough deciding to come here with her to see her mom. But I guess, no matter how much I anticipated would happen, neither of us could have comprehended the state her mother was in.

My thoughts are disrupted by the small hum of flickering lights. I look up at the bulb above the sink in curiosity. I'm used to bad things happening after such occurrences. Curious, I kill the water and step out into the hallway, the door opening with an unhelpful chilling creak. It seems the bathroom wasn't the only faulty light. I cross the hallway and return to the kitchen, the source of the next flickering bulb.

What the hell?

The bulb returns to normal, and for a moment nothing happens. That is until a soft hum in the other room catches my ear. I turn my head and see the lamp next to El's mother. I felt uneasy about going into the other room alone with her mother, luckily timing was on my side as I soon heard two pairs of footsteps descending the stairs. I quickly turned around and gestured over my shoulder.

"I think there's something..."

I trailed off when I saw the light pooling in from the stairway had been flickering. El fixed her attention past me, where the tiny lamp had begun to flicker once more. She came forward and I stepped aside allowing El to examine it while my attention fell to Becky.

"The lighting in the bathroom was faulty. I came outside and it was like that out here too. It was weird, almost like a trail."

Becky nodded knowingly at me.

"We were having it too. The house, it does that from time to time, but sweetie," she returned her attention to El, still focused on the lamp. "really, it's just faulty wiring."

"No." She stated, looking across the room towards her mother and the flickering lamp.

Without another word, she sped into the living room. Becky and I followed her, more than confused. El took a knee beside her mother. Her mother was muttering more than before, I could have sworn.

"It's Mama," El concluded.

I heard Terry's mumbles, still the same phrases over and over, just as Becky had told us. But she did sound more urgent.

"Run. Breathe. Sunflower. Three to the right, four to the left. Rainbow. Run."

It isn't until El brings her finger to her mother's nose that I notice blood is dripping from her nostril. At the sight, a powerful chill runs up my spine and sends a wave of goosebumps rippling over my skin.

Becky looks from me to her sister and niece. "I don't understand."

"She knows I'm here," El said softly.

I jump when the TV switches channels and watch with bated breath as it all unfolds. The knob on the set moves in sudden spurts as if an invisible hand is turning it. In a way, I guess, it is. The channels began speeding up, each clip shorter than the last until finally, it stopped on a screen of static. El rose to her feet as it all happened and she stood before the screen of static before finally speaking up.

"She wants to talk."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S2:E5; Chapter Five, Dig Dug - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘯-𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺/𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴. “𝘣𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯” 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

El opens her eyes, finding herself in the familiar dark and damp setting. In the distance, she sees a bed. The covers are hanging off the mattress and grazing the water only she can see. She walks forward towards the bed cautiously, unsure if the figure lying in it is awake. As she approaches the bed she can make out more details.

The comforter is dotted with leaves and vines, intricate and faded flora in various hues sprinkle the vines, and there at the head of the bed are a few embroidered pillows that look older and handed down. The figure on the mattress is lost in sleep, their limbs splayed out in many different directions. The figure is still dressed, clothes El has seen at least once before. The kid wearing them is hugging their pillow, a small frown etched on their face as they are troubled and tired.

El is in front of them now, just at their bedside and she can't help but take note of the drying circles on their pillow where the kid had been crying.

What could have happened? And would she be making it worse if she were to wake them and share with them what she had to share? El couldn't help but wonder.

But she also knew she would want to know. And she did miss her friend terribly. After all, they were from the same place and Y/n had every right to know about their own past as much as El did.

Not waiting any longer, she reached out and laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. Nothing happened and so she gently shook them. Much to her delight, Y/n moved slightly, which meant it was working. She shook again and only then did she allow herself to speak.

"Y/n? Y/n!"

Their eyes fluttered open and they caught sight of El. They peered up at her through their lashes, a groggy and confused look on their face.

"El?"

She nodded, a weak smile flickering across her lips.

"What are you doing here? Am I dreaming?"

She shook her head no.

"No. But I am real."

"I-I don't understand."

"I found my Mama."

There was a significant beat of silence as Y/n fought the losing battle with their heavy eyelids and the disbelief attempting to coax them back to sleep. "Wait... what? Y-you're saying... you found your mom? That's great," Y/n mumbled. They could feel themselves slipping back under, more and more convinced their dreaming mind had conjured their friend.

Yet something within them told them to keep fighting. To tread desperately against the waves of sleep and maintain conversation with the El they were somehow seeing before them. But something about the devastating events of the previous night had left them so tired and Y/n couldn't be sure what they were seeing or hearing was real.

"There's something else." said El.

Y/n applied all the strength they could muster to keep their eyes open, they felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds. They hummed a 'what' in response, unprepared for the glint it summoned in their best friend's eye.

"Proof."

"I don't understand. What proof, El?"

That glint in her brown eyes grew, and more than ever Y/n was sure what they were seeing was real. Nothing else could have given their heart such a hopeful shiver. Nothing else but the words El spoke to them next.

"Where you come from."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Will bolts up straight in a cold sweat, gasping for air. His bangs cling to his forehead and he is gasps for breath.

"Will?" Mike sits up startled from his nest on the floor, looking up worriedly at his best friend. He is still dressed in his clothes from the previous day, his hood perched on his head. "What's wrong?"

Will turns to Mike with a sudden and eerie calm, a single and sharp look of fear that managed to drain all remaining light in his eyes.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Joyce was sat in the middle of her living room, lost in a trance as she gazes at the maze of paper tunnels. The small calls for her from Will are lost to her, and it is not until she feels a light touch on her shoulders that she is pulled from this trance.

"Mom?"

Joyce gasped in surprise but readjusts quickly for her son. "Yeah?"

Will was crouching down, concern etched in his features and Mike stands just a few feet away. "I saw him," Will says gravely.

"You saw who, baby?"

"Hopper," Joyce frowns slightly, and she can feel her blood run cold at her son's words. "I think he's in trouble. I think he's going to die."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Hopper gasps for air as he is ripped from unconsciousness. His bulging eyes frantically take in the details of his surroundings as the memories of what had happened came flooding back. He collects himself to the best of his ability and scrambles to his feet. The man knows he can't last long without fresh air and the particles floating amongst the smog would do him no good. His senses overwhelm him and already his body is rejecting the environment and toxic air. He doubles over as his body ejects the contents of his stomach.

Hopper grunts in disgust, the bile burning his throat and tongue. Though he doesn't allow himself any more time to waste, knowing he had to find the exit. He grabs his hat, returning it to his head before finding the flashlight beside him and climbing to his feet. Hopper's free hand finds the ceiling of the slimy dank tunnels and allows the pads of his fingers and palm to trace the flora as he speeds down the familiar path. Just as he had feared, he found no breaks, the hole he had dug had in fact closed up. Hopper was now standing at a dead end.

"Shit!"

He reminds himself to steady his breathing. He knows now he has no immediate way out. No source of fresh oxygen and he knew he must save his breath. He is able to subdue the sporadic thoughts of panic racing in his mind, and he all he allows himself to think about is his oxygen intake. Even if he slowed his breathing he was still at risk of the toxic spores hanging in the air.

A little light bulb goes off in his head and he takes out his pocket knife, opening it up and raising it to his shoulder. He has to place the flashlight between his teeth in order to make a clean cut, but he is able to create a rip in the fabric. With one swift movement, Hopper tears the left sleeve off his uniform. Removing the flashlight from his mouth, he ties the sleeve over his face crafting a crude air filtration, somewhat safe from the deadly spores around him.

Calming his racing heart he treads on in the direction he had come. But he comes to a reluctant stop, the beam from his flashlight shifting uncertainly between a fork in the tunnel. He could not remember where he had come from. Hopper does not know why but his mind takes him to El. The familiar feeling of warmth and joy she brought to his dull life sparks in his chest and a terrible thought strikes him.

What if he never saw her again?

Their last interaction would be the terrible words exchanged and the mess left behind. And worst of all, she would be alone and in danger. He couldn't let that happen, and he promised himself he would get himself out. And apologize, work things out like he should have the prior morning. They would play games together again, do puzzles and even fix up the TV and continue their western marathons. He would read to her again every night, hell maybe he could find some more of Sarah's old books and--

Hansel and Gretel. He chuckles lightly under his breath. Half in relief and a half in disbelief for not thinking of it before. Hopper reaches into his left breast pocket and retrieves the stash of cigarettes. He's thankful he had grabbed a fresh pack. He took a single stick in his fingers and broke it in half, discarding the piece on the path, beginning his trail.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Mrs. Henderson shivers as she steps into her front room. She had spent all morning looking for Mews, she had even brought the feline's favorite toy, shaking the bell attached knowing she usually came running. Her spirits perked when she saw Dustin on the phone.

"Dusty, baby, you're sure she's not in your room?"

Dustin gulped, thankful his back was to his mother and she could not see his widened eyes. He holds a finger out for a pause, mindlessly mumbling an 'uh-huh'.

He does his best to ignore the operator on the line as he pretends to be taking a phone call. He hoped it was enough to fool his mother.

"Thank you so much, Mr. McCorkle. Thank you so much. You are a true life-saver. Thank you... All right. Have a good one. Bye-bye, now... All right... you too."

Mrs. Henderson felt a wave of relief wash over her hearing her son's words.

"Alright, great news," Dustin said, turning to her and hanging up the phone.

"They found her?" Her voice shook as she spoke.

"No," he said gently, stepping towards her mother. "But they saw her, wandering Loch Nora,"

Even her breath was trembling as she fought back sobs of relief.

"How did the poor baby get all the way over there?"

"I don't know, lost I guess," Dustin cooed. "But they're gonna look for her and I'll stay here, just in case they call again. And you're gonna go help look? Yeah?"

He tried to ignore the clenching feeling of guilt around his heart, giving his mother false hope like this. She smiled through her sobs and nodded eagerly.

"Give me a hug, give me a hug," She gratefully hugged her son, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. "You're gonna find her, alright?"

Mrs. Henderson backed away eagerly, nodding her head trying to convince herself that they would find her beloved cat.

"We can find her." He said reassuringly.

"We can find her." She repeated eagerly.

Mrs. Henderson grabbed her keys off the counter and headed towards the door.

She looked to her youngest child and sniffled, her voice was still slightly shaky.

"Dusty," another sniffle. "Honey, check on your sibling, sweetie. They came home awfully upset again, and-and you let them know where I'm going, okay?"

"Of course, yeah, uh-huh."

"C-cause, I'm sure they'll be glad to hear they saw Mews. You let them know, okay baby?"

"Of course. I will go check on them right now. Okay. Hey,"

She paused at the front door, looking back at her son.

"I love you." Dustin blew a kiss at his mother, a fake smile plastered on her face.

She reciprocated, unknowingly the only genuine.

"I love you,"

"I love you"

"I love you,"

"Alright go, alright," He eased her out the door with encouragement and a thumbs up.

His smile did not falter until she had closed the front door.

Now to get Y/n out of the house.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

I nearly lost my balance as I slip the left shoe over my foot. I grabbed my bag and rifled through it once more making sure I had everything I needed.

I still can't believe I'm doing this. I just hope it was truly real, and I'm not just doing this for nothing. But it had to be real, it had to be.

"Meet me at nine-four-five. Outside Mirk-wood."

"El?"

"Don't tell. Anyone."

She vanished before I could say anything else. I vaguely remember seeing her in my room, but at the same time, she wasn't completely real. She almost looked transparent. The only thing convincing about all this was what she had said to me at the school. She had a way of contacting me. This must be it.

Everything was in my bag, by now I have triple-checked, but I still don't feel quite ready. Then again, I don't know if I'll ever be prepared to find out what happened to me, but I don't want to let that stop me.

I took a deep breath, willing away the nerves bubbling in my stomach to the best of my ability. My bag over my shoulder, I turned the doorknob and the door swung open. I flinched when I saw Dustin on the other side with a look of surprise. His fist was hung in the air, as if he was about to knock. He dropped it just as soon.

My eyes dropped to my bag nervously before fleeting back to his, hoping he didn't notice the grip on my bag-strap tightening.

"I'm going to Will's. Mike and I are gonna stay the night with him, and make sure he's alright."

Dustin seemed to process this but he blinked soon enough, shaking himself from shock. I could have sworn he seemed relieved, and I could feel relief myself. Until he gently grabbed my shoulders as if I were a bomb about to explode and speaking to me with a really weird look in his eye. Now I'm just disturbed.

"That's great, you should do that. You should definitely do that. He really needs you,"

As if this morning wasn't already perfectly strange, Dustin began guiding me down the hall and towards the front door, still talking in that creepy, "soothing" spa tone. I didn't linger on it too much before I started worrying about what I was about to do. I was so excited at the possibility of seeing El again, but where are we going and how long am I gonna be gone?

I realized we were nearing the door and I hadn't even registered that he had been talking to me.

"...at Loch Nora, looking. And don't worry, I'll man the phones. You just worry about Will, alright?"

I mindlessly mumbled an "uh-huh" and I turned to home when I reach the door.

"Dustin?"

He blinked lightly and continued in that weird soothing voice. I shrugged it off, too wracked with guilt that I was basically leaving my family, who loved and cared for me to find someone I didn't even know.

I looked him in the eye, and I felt something rare. Rare for the two of us at least. Genuine admiration. I thought of all the fun and harmless little pranks we'd pull on Mom together. The late nights monster movie competitions to see who would get scared first (more specifically, who could scare the other first). Or the times he looked out for me, and how much he genuinely cared about me despite how much he drives me up the wall.

"I love you,"

Before I could acknowledge any odd looks from him I wrapped him in a hug. I fully expected a snarky response or an awkward pat or even something in between. But to my great surprise, he reciprocated.

"I love you too," he said. "And don't you worry, we'll find her."

My eyes opened, still locked in an embrace with my brother as I frowned.

What?

"What? Find who?"

We both pulled away and it was his turn to look confused.

"Mews."

"Mews is missing? Since when?"

"I just-- I just told you." He blinked several times but shook his head, slowly gesturing me out the door once more. "It's no big deal. Mews got out the other night and long story short, someone saw her wandering around in Loch Nora but Mom is headed there now. Don't even worry about it, okay?"

I nodded, my mind still racing with far too many thoughts. My eyes and hand fell to the doorknob and I gave my brother one last glance before I disappear out the front door.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Unbeknownst to the two of them, the Henderson children stood on either side of the door, simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief.

Y/n tightened the grip on their bag and began walking towards the garage out of habit until they saw their bike laying in the grass where they had left it the previous night. They sighed and grabbed their bike only to realize the rubber around the handlebars had melted down. A rough and messy shape of where their hands had been was now clear underneath it all on the metal core of the bike's structure. They gasped, examining the odd sight until their mind wandered to the previous night.

They realized now why the handlebars of their bike had felt so slippery. They had inadvertently melted the rubber handled off of their bike. Their eyes fell back to the grass as fast as the memory came flooding back to them: the perfect handprint singed into the grass remained at the dead center of a single dead patch of grass about two feet in diameter. Their heart leapt into their throat as they looked all around for prying eyes. When they found none, they grasped the handles with care and casually buried the handprint with a layer of scattered autumn leaves. It wasn't a permanent fix. Maybe not even a temporary one. But it made them feel better if not for the few seconds it took them to refocus on her task.

Y/n managed it with a small shake of their head. Nine twenty, they had to get moving. Mounting their bike, they cast one last longing glance at her home, reassuring themselves that what they were doing was right. Not a moment longer they disappeared around the corner and into a path amongst the trees.

Dustin lay on his hands and knees below the front window. He winced at the slight prickling feeling of rug burn that had managed to get to him through his jeans. As Y/n had retrieved their bike from the grass, he sped to the window, waiting for confirmation that they had finally left.

Unfortunately for him, they turned and looked back at the house, and he cursed himself for allowing himself the vulnerability. He had to drop down onto the floor to avoid being seen by his sibling, but luckily they had just missed him. Moments passed and when he couldn't hear their soft but identifiable footsteps nearing the porch he knew it was safe to peek. Sure enough, he saw them disappear around the corner down the road, a small cluster of leaves flying off the ground at her climbing speed.

He jumped to his feet and ran outside through the back door. He ripped open the cellar doors and retreated into the house. He didn't stop running until he reached the hall closet and ripped them open. He turned on the light, the metal chain swinging back and forth, even hitting him as he bent down to retrieve his gear.

He was grateful he kept his and Y/n's old baseball stuff. He remembered the day he and Y/n saw a program on TV and the kids were playing baseball. That same day, the pair begged and pleaded with their mother for the gear and when she finally caved, Y/n and Dustin spent all of summer break out in their backyard. Granted they were new to it and barely managed to hit the ball more than five times between the two of them but they had a blast. Of course, they usually played with the rest of the party, and Dustin was almost always the umpire, given he had gear for it. As for Y/n, they had a pretty decent arm, they made the best pitcher out of the group. Naturally though, school rolled around again and the following summer was when their little group officially became the Party in what became their very first campaign.

Dustin was thankful he and his sibling had been so damn stubborn and he was certainly very thankful his mother had gotten them what they had so desperately wanted. He always had been, truthfully. Especially considering all they could afford before was half a set of hockey equipment from a garage sale the year before ( yet another treat their mother spoiled them with as an early holiday gift). It had entertained them for years. Now, more importantly, he had protection from Dart.

He tossed everything in the living room and went to the kitchen. Ripping open the fridge door he grabbed every variety of meat he could find. His confident urgency wavered only slightly when he approached his closed door. He began the trail of meat stretching from outside his bedroom door to the cellar in the outside. He closed every other door in the house as a precaution and suited up. His usual hat lay discarded on the living room chair in exchange for his umpire helmet. To top it all off, his mother's (second) nicest pair of oven mitts covered his hands. Not ideal for the situation but was the best he could find.

Now completely geared up, he grabbed his hockey stick just for short measure. He stood outside his room, careful not to step on the trail of bologna, and got ready to run.

"Alright, Dart," He called. "Breakfast time,"

Not allowing himself to think about it any longer he ripped open the door and started running. A mantra slipped from his mouth as he wobbled through the house, his gear restricting his speed.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

He was outside now, and he had already heard light thumps of wet feet behind him. He did his best to speed up and before he knew it he was safe in the shed.

Panting heavily and still trying to calm his racing heart, Dustin stepped towards the shed walls. He peered through a slit in the boards and waited for the slimy figure to emerge from the open door.

"Come on, I know you're hungry" he mumbled.

Dustin gasped when he saw Dart trudge down the steps. Just as he had predicted, Dart was happily gobbling up every slice of bologna and ham in the trail Dustin laid out.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," he mumbled.

He had to move around the shed to see Dart approach the open cellar doors. Everything had been going so smoothly. Up until Dart whipped around and looked Dustin dead in the eye. He knew it was impossible, given the critter had no face and all that. But he could just feel it.

His eyes widened and he gasped in fear, hoping Dart hadn't seen him. Like with Y/n, he waited a moment. There was no sign of movement and Dustin stepped forward. Only to find Dart just outside the shed. He jumped back, his own back to the wooden wall as he gripped the hockey stick closer to his chest.

Dustin could now hear the pitter-patter of Dart's small webbed feet and he knew it was now or never. It was his fault for bringing Dart into the house, and it was his fault for ignoring the other's logic and lying about Dart's whereabouts. And it was time to fix it. Taking several deep breaths, Dustin ripped open the shed door, startling Dart in the process, and charged after said critter he had once believed so fiercely to be good.

Dart retreated frightfully, an image that instilled more guilt in Dustin's heart. Nevertheless, with a scream tearing from his throat, Dustin gave the hockey stick in hand a great swing. His eyes hadn't been open to see it, but he felt the jolt of the strike hitting Dart. The next thing he knew Dart went flying, miraculously hitting the open cellar door and tumbling inside.

Dustin ran to the cellar, and just as he began closing the doors, an angry and betrayed Dart charged up the stairs after him. Feeling guilty, frightened, and utterly exhausted, Dustin collapsed on the closed cellar doors. He could feel his body jerk and move as Dart attempted to break the doors down but it was no use. Dustin was grateful he was wearing leg padding, he could feel his shins digging into the steel edge of the cellar entrance.

"I'm sorry," he said, ignoring the chitters from the cellar and dropping his chin on the metal with a pout. "But you ate my cat."

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

My eyes scan the trees as I breeze down Mirkwood. I feel a chill run down my spine but I can't quite tell if it's from the cold autumn air or what's to come. I almost miss it, but I break on my bike quickly when I see a small figure standing amongst the trees. Its El. She's dressed in a mix of browns and grays and her dark hair blends in with the bark of the trees.

My bike makes an awful screech as the tires skid across the pavement and I cringe. So does El, I notice but she's happy all the same. She steps forward out of the trees and I dismount the bike, propping it up on its kickstand.

We meet in an embrace and I smile at the contact. It was real. She was real and I was actually getting to see her again. I don't fail to appreciate the tight squeeze she gives the hug just before we separate.

"I'm so glad you're here. I was worried I dreamt it all. How are you? Is everything okay?"

She nodded, and the smallest of excited smiles tugged at her lips. "I found Mama."

"So you really did find your mom, huh?" I ask hopefully, tugging anxiously at the hem of my sleeves.

El's smile grew only slightly and she nodded once more.

"I also found something else."

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"The 'Missing Experiment'."

A silence hung in the air sharper than any autumn wind currently biting at my skin.

"Is that... ?" I felt the words die on my tongue and I try again. "So, I really am...?"

El looked at me, sympathy in her eyes and she nodded again.

"Yes," she croaked.

I wasn't quite sure what to say. Of course I knew on some level I was connected to that place in some way, ever since everything that happened the previous year. That wasn't what was so shocking. What was shocking was just how hard it was hitting me, now more than ever. Something about those three words made everything more real. Cause sure, blasting people with heat waves, healing wounds, and popping popcorn with my bare hands when no one is looking for practice isn't reality enough it's this that gets me. The Missing Experiment.

I guess everything about it drives home exactly what I was intended to be--what El was for most of her life and still technically is: an experiment. It's what almost was. And it's horrifying.

"Y/n?"

I felt a gentle hand on my arm bringing me out of my spiraling thoughts and it's not until I'm caught in the overwhelming look of sympathy I see in El's eyes that I realize just how scared I must seem. But I feel it melting away the more El holds my gaze. I'm suddenly reminded of our conversation last year on the tracks and just how much she had helped. It was no different now. Something about the look in her eyes and the comforting touch that came from a deeper understanding was enough to subdue any lingering unease.

And part of her must have known it. A hopeful, almost nervous smile of sorts replaced the lost look to have been growing in her eye and she pulled her hand away. Apprehensively, she shuffled back and forth once or twice on her feet, and her hands kept falling to her shoulder bag hanging at her side.

"I think," she continued. "Mama could tell us more. Maybe."

That feeling in my gut solidified. The one that had been growing since this morning. But for once I wasn't scared of it. This was it. The question of who I was and how I found myself to be another target of the bad men--the bad man, the one who almost caught us, the one who El called Papa. The one who called me Nine. The Missing Experiment...

"Well," I said, taking a breath to collect myself. "We better go then, huh?"

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

El nodded, and Y/n returned to their bike, El following noiselessly behind. Y/n perked up at the memory and they looked back to El, patting their bike.

"After I lost my bike in the chase last year, my mom got me a new one for the holidays. I have an extra seat, just like Mike's!"

El smiled and stepped forward, and Y/n turned their bike around so it was facing the road. They looked at El once more.

"So, where are we headed?"

"Five-One-Five, Larrabe"

"Um," Timid confusion crossed Y/n's features. "Do you by any chance know what part of town that is?"

El thought about it for a moment but shook her head. Y/n pressed their lips into a firm line as they thought about it aloud.

"Well, we could always ask for directions, I mean I would, so you could stay hidden. I think there's a--"

"Hitch-hike!" El said suddenly as the idea came to her.

"What?"

"Hitch-hike! Like TV,"

Y/n blinked several times, searching their brain for one of millions of ways to begin as to why that was such a bad idea. All they could do was shake their head, sputtering with a nervous laugh.

"El, we can't--"

But El was too focused on her mission, and much to her delight - and Y/n's chagrin - she heard the deep rumbles of an engine growing louder. She walked past Y/n to stand on the edge of the concrete road and stuck her thumb out.

"El, what are you doing? They'll see you, never mind that, do you know how dangerous that is for us?"

Her thumb still out, El turned to look at her best friend with a deeply confused look on her face.

"Why us?"

Once again, Y/n was at a loss for words. Without a response, sbe returned her attention to the road where a large truck came to slow. Y/n's heart began to pound faster and in a desperate attempt to save their friend and themselves, they dropped their bike and stepped forward to stop El. But El was one step ahead and Y/n's eyes widened when they stopped abruptly, their feet rooted to the ground.

They looked to their feet in fear, and back to El, gaping.

"Hey! What the hell?!" Y/n tried to remain calm, but it was a challenging feat seeing the truck grow closer, words tumbled out of them in a hurry. "El, I promise you we can find another way but this is not a good idea, trust me. He could hurt us,"

El turned back to look at Y/n and gave them an incredulous smile.

"Y/n," she eased. "We can defend ourselves, remember?"

Y/n felt the invisible hold on their legs release and they tried her best not to stumble forward in an awkward fashion. Before they could get another word in, the truck pulled to a stop in front of El and the passenger window rolled down. It was a man with a beard and a trucker hat. He looked at the pair with genuine worry for them, which put Y/n's mind at ease in just the slightest.

"You ladies alright?"

El was quick to answer before Y/n could protest.

"We need a ride home. Five-one-five Larrabee"

The man seemed taken aback, and he looked around for any sign of the kids' parents.

"Well, uh, sure I guess. You guys a long way from home?"

El nodded and stepped forward. She felt a hand on her wrist and she looked to find Y/n giving her one last pleading look.

El lowered her voice and spoke to their friend gently (and quietly).

"It will be okay, we can protect ourselves. But I'm going Y/n, you can come if you want."

With that, she stepped forward and stood on the tips of her toes to open the passenger door. Y/n felt the surge of anxiety in their stomach, everything warning them against this. But El was getting into a big truck with a strange man, they knew they couldn't stop her, but they had to make sure she was okay. Y/n kicked themselves for what they were about to do, never more angered by any decision they have ever made.

And against their better judgment, Y/n climbed into the truck after El.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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[collectionofcherries]

Time-zone Reblog my dudes.

Develop.

Warning, don't yell at me: I was brought up with polaroid cameras so I've never really used a Dark Room. I did my best with some Googling around to get it accurate but please excuse any inaccuracies. Thank you to parallax photographic coop and invaluable for having simple guides that I've based this off of.

Synopsis: Jonathan helping out the NB!reader with developing photos as he develops a crush.

Pronouns: Gender Neutral/Nonbinary. No mention of pronouns nor bodily anatomy.

Warning: Fluff, crushing, some flaffing about, inaccuracies to camera lovers shield your eyes, Me thinking I'm funny.

Word Count: 4,840 ---

"Okay, film strip." You mutter to yourself as you try for what feelings like the 80th time. "Firmly in the slide." You nod. "Resin paper." You say as you adjust it for the millionth time but maybe this time a nudge to the left is what it needs. "Turn on the enlarger." You say taking a deep breath and flipping the switch only to be rewarded with nothing! "Kill me." You mutter as you remove your film strip to see it's ruined...again. It's now blown out and useless. "What am I doing wrong?" You whined.

As if it wasn't enough to feel like an idiot, the Darkroom door opens and closes and now you're an idiot with an audience. You look over and at least your audience is cute, he gives you a tight smile and you sent a polite one back with a nod of acknowledgement before looking back to the few strips of film you've got left. You hope maybe he's going to use the enlarger so you can figure out what you're doing wrong but as you peak over at him you don't know what he's doing but it doesn't seem to have any relation to what you need to get done and you can't help but to let out a defeated sigh. The noise catches his attention and he looks over at you to see if there's some kind of problem and he's left a little confused when you practically flinch and snap your head in the other direction away from him.

He tries to not let it get to him but he finds his eyes wandering over to you as he prepares his development mixture and stop bath to develop his negatives. He's pretty sure you're new or at least new to the Darkroom cause he's never seen you around and he practically lives in here during school hours. Jonathan really feels like you can get a feel of someone by seeing what kind of camera they shoot on and what they capture so he tries to peak around to find any clues as to what you use and he finds a clue but it only leads to more questions. A film canister that looks like it's been sawed open and your film is just laying on the counter and not in anything protective...oh, you're new in more ways than one. He knows what it's like to feel watched and how much it sucks so he tries to at least make himself look busy but he watches as you try enlarge your film and he sees your shoulders sag to the ground in defeat. Nervousness swells in his throat over the idea of talking to someone new but he does know about film and it's clear that you don't. "You need a hand?" He timidly offers.

You're both relieved to have help and incredibly embarrassed that it's that obvious you have no idea what you're doing. "That clear huh?" You try to joke looking over at him.

He shrugs a little. "Little." He admits with a small cringe.

"Yeah, I'd love a hand...I'm used to polaroid and this is not that." You explain.

He nods and puts whatever he's mixing down and comes over. "So, you're just trying to enlarge your photos?" He checks and you nod. "Maybe it's the focus, it can be a pain." He comforts.

And it's nice he's not out right calling you an idiot. "I didn't know I needed to focus...I wrote down what the dude at the CVS told me." You tell him going into your pocket to take out the notes you'd jotted down just to double check, not that you haven't been staring at this piece of paper for what feels like eternity.

"They don't always give the best advice cause they want you to pay them money to do it for you." He said shaking his head.

"Didn't think of that." You admit. "I'm so used to just taking the photo and then having it." You sigh, God why did your camera have to break?

"It takes some practice but the results are way better." He say quietly as he lets his prejudge slip and he almost freezes up as he realizes he has. He knows people can get so defensive about shooting preference and he really doesn't want to get off on the wrong foot with you. "Not that polaroid's aren't good." He quickly tacks on with an uneasy breath.

You're not bothered though, you don't know enough about film to be bothered so you just nod along so you don't make an ass out of yourself. "Your films already in there and lined up?" He checks and you again nod.

He presses the button to start it and you hope against all hope that a photo will come out but again nothing and you sigh as disappointment finds a new home in your gut, not even a cute guy can fix your problems. "Maybe I'm just cursed." You concede.

"No, it's gotta be something else..." His voice dies off as he takes your film out to inspect it to see it's entirely blown out and realization hits him about just how new to this you are. Oh...how does he say this? He looks over at you and you really do look nice enough, friendly, good looking and at that his nerves swell up his throat so hard that he has to clear it before he can speak. "Found the problem." He barely admits.

And your eyes light up, if he's found the problem maybe he can fix it and you can leave here with at least one photo, maybe a cute guy can fix your problems. "Yeah?" You encourage for him to continue.

He lifts your film between his two fingers and fidgets with them. "It's not developed." He tells you.

And you feel like a dear caught in the headlights cause..."Isn't that what I'm doing?"

He swallows down the small chuckle that threatens to bubble up and out of his mouth and chews on his lip before shaking his head. "No." Is the nicest way he can put it.

And you try to take that in and he can see the clear disappointment and turmoil on your face. "So, I've just been burning film?" It's more of a realization than it is a question.

He cringes and gives you a nod. "I-I can show you how to develop your negatives." He offers nodding as he talks almost like he's confirming his words to himself. Which is exactly what he's doing.

"I don't want to be a bother." Yes you do, you wanna bother him so bad but shy reflexes kick themselves into gear before you can stop them.

"I wouldn't offer if it was a bother." He lets you know, giving a shake of his head.

It's nice to know that not everyone at this school was a rude tool and it's almost a relief that someone has finally been nice to you, you can't help but to smile. And it earns you a small shy smile back. "Thank you." You remember to say.

He nods a little and for a moment he just stands there as something akin to stage fright takes a hold of him and he bites the corner of his lip as he fidgets with your film in his hand. Right, film. He knows film, he can do this. "Do you have another canister you wanna develop?" He asks as he goes over to inspect the strips that're laying on the counter.

"That's it." You timidly admit.

He looks at the film and it doesn't look promising and a small pit forms in his stomach at it. "We'll try and make this work, they might not come out perfect but..." He shrugs. "Who needs perfect?" He tries to smooth over.

"At this point I'll take anything." You admit and he nods. "Plus I can always go the pained art kid way and just call it my style and tell anyone who questions it that they simply don't have an artistic gaze." You jokingly pitch.

It earns you a breathy chuckle and he nods. "Pretentious route. Should work." He agrees. "Since it's only two strips I'm going to put it in with mine." He explained going back over to his supplies. "Also...uh...did you have a hard time with the cassette opener?" He asks as he grabs it.

"No I didn't." You say which confuses him as he glances over at your mangled canister. "Cause I didn't use it so can't have a problem with it if I didn't use it." You try to cover your embarrassment with a joke.

He doesn't laugh but he nods and luckily doesn't look too horrified. Jonathan is used to working close to his body, keeping himself tiny and out of sight so he has to remind himself to not come in on himself so you can actually see what he's doing so next time you don't have to gnaw your canister open. It's a pretty simple, you hook it on and then pop it off. "Huh." Makes it way out of you cause good God was that ever easier than going at with the now ruined pair of scissors you'd hidden away.

"Easy, you'll get the hang of it in no time." He encourages to try and keep your spirits up and that sweetness isn't lost on you, it makes you blush and you find yourself very thankful to be in an entirely red room. He looks around and you can see the confusion in his features. "Did you see the scissors?"

Oh fuck. Now your face is really red, probably as red as this room. "They died." You settled on and his confusion furthers as his mouth opens to ask a question but he's at a loss for words. "Sacrificed, honourable death really." You joke uncomfortable as you gesture to your canister.

He holds back another laugh by biting the inside of his cheek and nodding and while he thinks he's sparing you embarrassment you're left worried you've annoyed him, you can't tell if his sharp exhale is one of amusement or a sigh. It doesn't get much clearer to you as he moves past you to grab a spare pair that he knows is in the drawer and he once again finds himself going onto auto-pilot as he pulls out his film and cuts it free from the cassette and begins to load it into a reel. "What're you doing now?"

Your voice comes out tiny and shy, you don't want to over step but you do want to learn. "Right, sorry." Comes out of Jonathan just as shy, it's all second nature to him now so he forgets that it isn't like that for everyone. "This is a reel, you find the slit and put the film into it and twist to get it all in there." He explains gesturing as he goes.

"Maybe I could try to do that? Help out instead of just standing around?" You pitch. You really do wanna learn and you do want to let him know that you're not a disaster of a human being.

"Y-yeah, sure, of course." He nods offering it out to you and you gently take it, worried of possibly messing up or breaking anything else. "Just back and forth." He says and you do what he says and sure enough the film continues to wind into it and you feel ecstatic that something it finally going right! You can't help but to look at him excitedly and your excitement is contagious even to someone as boxed up as Jonathan can be. "You're a natural."

You know it's just a joke but it doesn't stop butterflies from fluttering around your chest. "I'm also a natural at the triangle too if you can believe that." You say jokingly confident.

It earns you a grin. "Multitalented." He agreed with a breathy chuckle. And the way your tongue peaks out between your teeth in glee sends the butterflies from your chest straight into his and he's overwhelmed with the need to make himself busy but in the same moment he knows he can't come in on himself cause he's trying to teach you something. The confliction leads to some jerky movements as he grabs the film tank. "Now that you're done with winding, you place it in this." He forced himself to explain even though his throat felt tight.

"Shouldn't I wind up my film with yours?" It almost sounds like a euphemism.

"Because it's already in strips we're gonna place it on the outside of the reel." He explained placing your strips into it to show what he meant. "Go ahead, place it right there"

Easy for him to say. You look at the reel in your hand and then at what he's holding and you pray that you can get this right. There's a hole in the middle of the reel and that's got a pole so you gingerly place it there and watch his face as you do and he nods a little when he spots your apprehension. Finally, something in photography that made sense. When you move your hands away he closes it up with a top. "I already mixed it but this is developer, it's just that bottle and some water...the standard is a fifty fifty mix." He gestures as he explains which is helpful. "You generally want it around this temperature, it's okay if it's a little hotter." He shrugs.

You step closer to him so you can place your hands to the jar the concoction is in to try and understand what temperature he's talking about and he can't help but to stare when you get close. Taking in your features, the angle of your nose, the shape of your eyes, the corners of your mouth but more importantly the way you emote. Jonathan likes to capture people in a moment, a moment where they are themselves without pretending, he likes to capture the way they express and he can't help but to think you'd be a good subject to photograph. If it wouldn't ruin all the film in this room he'd be tempted to try and get a photo of you developing your first photo because everything about your actions is so authentic, it's honest. "Got it, like the temperature of water that's been out all night." You decide.

He lets out an amused and startled breath as he's taken out from his thoughts and nods a little. "Yeah, sure." He settles on quickly. "You generally never want it to get warmer than body temperature." He sums up. "And uh--yeah you fill the container and then pop the lid on." He explains moving back from your hold and doing so, popping on the lid. "And then you shake it for 30 seconds every minute or so for a couple minutes."

And for a very awkward minute the only sound in the room in the sloshing sound of the mixture in the film tank. Nerves eat at you both as you both scramble for something to talk about but every idea that comes to mind seems to have trouble leaving your mouth. "So what kind of stuff do you take pictures--?" "--What got you into film instead of polaroi--?" Leaves your mouth and his at the same time.

It's enough to cut the tension and make you both laugh and he gestures with forward with his hand towards you for you to go first. "An accident. My polaroid finally gave out after years of abuse and my mom doesn't really know a whole lot about the difference between cameras so she just bought me what she was told was really good so...now I'm into film instead." You sum up gesturing as you talk so your nerves have somewhere else to go besides your brain.

He nods along as you talk, eyes darting from you to the film tank and he sees you copy his previous gesture to let him know it's his turn to answer your question. "I uh--" God, how does he not make this sound off putting to a nice new person? "Live study." That's a word for it, sure.

"Like animals?"

He sighs a little, guess that's also a word for photographing animals. "People."

"Like portraits." You say with some confidence at your correct verbiage.

"Not really." He admits looking at the film tank. "I um--I don't really do stagnant or stoic kind of pictures of people. I like to capture a moment or an emotion."

He's thankful he's got the tank to shake to keep his hands busy, it gives him something to fidget with to work out his nerves. "That's really cool." And it's a little startling to see him suddenly entirely stop fidgeting and staring at the floor to look at you but he's been really nice to you so you offer him the same smile he's been giving you to reassure you throughout this process. "I take photos of like still life so I know what I'm capturing all the time, it's fixed in place and I can mess around with it but you see something and capture it in it's own organic and beautiful way and that's really cool." He's given you a lot of comfort and confidence throughout this whole film ordeal so you want to offer that back.

Your offer is incredibly accepted as unbeknownst to you Jonathan's face turns red at the praise and he's left speechless in the nicest way possible, all he can do is smile. He thinks about brushing off all the compliments but every time he opens his mouth too a breathless flustered chuckle comes out. "Thanks." He settles on.

It's pretty cute to watch unfold and you have to hold back you own laugher as his bashfulness. "It also takes a lot of talent to do, I tried to capture my mom laughing and it just looked like a demon was being exorcised." You laugh.

He does too. "That happens." He chuckles out as he nods.

As the laughter dies down the room is once again quiet but not so uncomfortably. "Is there anything I can do to help?" You offer.

"Uh, sure, here." He says offering you the film tank which you take. "I'll get the stop bath, fixer and bath ready." He says as he grabs a few things from the shelves. Oh that seems like a lot of things. You nervously shake the film tank and try to get your brain focused off the cute boy and onto taking in what he's going to tell you. "You can go ahead and drain out the film tank into the sink." He tells you.

You cautiously make your way over to the sink and fiddle with the cap you'd seen him put on but you're apprehensive to take it off because if that's wrong you could ruin not just your film but more importantly his film. You look over at him unsure. "Take the cap off?" You check. Better to sound potentially stupid than to be a potential saboteur.

He nods at you and you're reassured enough to take it off and carefully pour the liquid down the sink. "Great, hold it up." He instructs and you do what he says, he comes over and pours something into it and he's getting a little better at remembering you don't know as much as he does. "This is a stop bath, sounds like what it is. Stops the film from over developing."

You nod along, that does make sense cause you've gotta stop something at some point. "Right." You agree easily to let him know you're listening.

He puts the cap back on. "You just give it a shake and then dump it."

"That fast?" You ask as you shake and he nods.

"The developing solution is the longest part. Everything else is pretty quick." He says as he gestures towards the sink.

You take the que and dump out that mixture with a little more confidence than the first time and turn back towards him to wait for more instructions cause so far it feels like you've got a handle of what's going on so you're ready for what's next, it's exciting! Just like before your excitement is contagious and Jonathan catches himself once again staring at you and smiling. "What's next?" You ask.

"Fixer." He says as he focuses back on the task at hand. He grabs the chemical solution and pours it into the top of the film tank in your hands. "It stabilizes the film so you can expose it to light without ruining it." He sums up, he doesn't want to overwhelm you with information and he doesn't want to chance talking too much and making a fool out of himself.

"And lemme guess...I shake it?" You ask as he pops the cap back on.

"Like I said, a natural." He jokes.

You smile as you start to shake it. "Another pump and dump?" You joke. A bark of a laugh makes it way out of him before he covers his mouth but it doesn't do much to stop his snickering. The tip of your tongue finds it's way out between your teeth as you beam with glee. "Or wine and dine?"

"Somewhere in the middle, 3 minutes." He says around his hand.

"Oh okay, so like a movie date." You continue to joke.

"Sure." He gives in with a chuckle, letting his hand fall and nodding along. "So, while you movie date the film tank I'm gonna make a the final bath." He tells you.

"Sounds like a horror film. The final bath, coming this summer." You say in your best announcer voice.

It's so dorky, it's so stupid but he lets out a small laugh and shakes his head as he prepares the bath and as he gets into his rhythm he mentally reminds himself to explain what he's doing. "This is going to help our film dry." He explains.

And he's lost you. "The-..." You pause looking at him filling up a plastic container and nothing gets clearer. "The wet solution is going to dry the film?" That wasn't a joke but it sounds like one.

He knows it does sound a little odd but he nods at you. "It's a little complicated but the easiest way to explain it is it goes on and then once it dries it helps with no water streaks or droplets." He tries to simplify.

You'll just remember the step, even if you don't fully understand why it's there you'll just remember to do it. "Got it." You lie.

The look on your face gives you away but he nods anyway. "Go ahead and..." He pauses shaking his head a little as an amused breath comes out. "Dump the liquid." You laugh a little and do as he says. "Open the film tank, we're gonna rinse the film in cold water."

You remember how he closed it so you're hoping it opens the same way and thank God it does. No more gnawing open film equipment for you. "I can touch it without ruining it?" You check before putting your hand into anything.

"Yours are gonna need some extra care since they aren't in the reel but I can get those and you can just run the cold water through the reel." He says coming over.

He's careful to not touch the actual photographs and just the edges of your film as he takes them and heads over to a sink to rinse them off. It's not too hard for him to do and he's curious as to what still life you capture and he thinks it's nice. It's tiny and a little degraded but what he can make out he likes, he never really takes the time to stop and look around at mushrooms or trees. There's just something about that that resonates around his chest, something about finding the little moments in simple things that endears you to him even more. He finishes up with your film and places it in the wet bath solution and all his movement goes unnoticed by you because you're so focused on just doing your best to rinse his film, you want to do such a good job that you're zeroed in on it and nothing else. That is until he gently taps your shoulder, that startles you out of zoned in focus. "Hey." He gently says. "You did great." He can't possibly know that but he wants to make up for startling you. "Shake out the water and put it into the bath." You've gotten pretty good at shaking this film by now, you do that and then as gently as you can place it into the bath where your film also is. "Usually there's more baths already set up but sometimes people are just forgetful and don't refill once they empty." He lets you know with a sigh and roll of his eyes.

"Right, dark room courtesy, I'll have to learn that too." You make a mental note.

"It's not too complicated." He tells you and you know he's trying to be nice but just the idea of someone else in the room makes your stomach churn, what if it was someone who wasn't nearly as nice? "Plus I'm in here all the time so I've your back." He tells you ducking his head a little to try and catch your eyes that were unsurely staring at the floor. It works cause that really is a reassuring comfort that he'll likely be here the next time you are. "Okay?" He asks softly with a nod.

And just like that the churning in your stomach turns to butterflies. "Okay." You agree with a nod and smile.

He smiles back, he's just as thrilled as you are to have a friend in the dark room and he once again finds himself staring and he knows he's going to have to do something about that before that becomes a habit. The only thing he can do right now to break his gaze is work on film. Right the film he nods to himself, he turns to the plastic container and takes out the reel. "Last step, take it out, cut it up and hang it to dry." He explains as he makes sure to hold the reel away from his body so you can see how to open it.

"Well, looks like I'm ahead of you in that department." You joke as you grab your cut up film.

He chuckles a little and nods. "Look at you go." He jokes back.

You go over and you can see from looking around that the film is clipped from the top and bottom with clothes pins so you give it your best guess and follow suit. By the time you finish Jonathan is already hanging up his film and you can't help but to notice just how much faster he is at it. "So after this we can enlarge them?"

"Yeah, once they dry then we can enlarge them." He nods as he works.

"Rad, how long does it take to dry?" You ask enthused to finally get to why you came here in the first place.

"8 to 12 hours."

"Oh." You sigh with a nod but you try to stop yourself from getting into a funk over it. "I'll see you tomorrow then right?" You ask.

If you see him tomorrow it wouldn't be so bad, it'd actually be great to see him two days in a row, like having a little ray of sunlight in your school day. Jonathan is more thankful than ever that he's got something to do with his hands because he's ecstatic and that really shows when he's got nothing to fidget with. "For sure." He gets out with a nod. The bell rings to sound that lunch is over but you decide to stick behind with him. "Don't you have to get to class?" He asks.

"I'm new, I've got the excuse of getting lost." You shrug with a smile. "Plus you can use the excuse of helping the new kid too so no rush." You add.

He lets out an amused breath and nods. Even with the excuse in pocket he's still quick to finish up and you follow his lead by quickly ducking out of the dark room. "See you tomorrow." He says looking at you and taking a step backwards towards his next class.

"See you tomorrow..." And you realize. "I never got your name." You muse.

He's also hit with the same realization. "Oh, right, uh, Jonathan." He says gesturing to himself.

"Y/N." You let him know. He nods silently repeating the name to himself. "See you tomorrow Jonathan." You say again with a small laugh.

"See you tomorrow Y/N."

--- ~Admin Coral🍒 Buy Me A Coffee?