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ghostspideys-moved · 4 years

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We’ll Have Tomorrow

Chapter Five

A/N: Somehow this ended up being the longest chapter, and I’m not sure how, but hopefully you guys enjoy more content.

Word Count: 5.7k

Pairing: Steve Harrington x OC, Jonathan x Nancy x OC (eventually)

Summary: Pretty much wrapping up the last bit of the actual canon plot before we get into the extra stuff of the aftermath.

River had quickly gathered that the random girl that so easily killed a Demogorgon was El. Honestly, she was pretty impressed. Even more so when she said she’d be able to close the gate.

Hopper was more than willing to take her back to the lab. As soon as they took off, that left her, her brother, and Steve to look after the kids in the meantime.

They tasked themselves with shoving the Demodog into the fridge. River hoped Joyce wouldn’t freak out too much when she discovered it after the ordeal. She’d feel a little bad if she did. For the few moments that she’d seen Joyce, she seemed nice despite her frantic state.

"God, these things are freaky," she mumbled. "They look like Audrey the plant or some shit."

"What are you talking about?" Dustin asked.

River gave him a shocked look. "You know. Audrey? Plant that eats people? From Little Shop of Horrors?" She sighed. "It's a great movie, and you guys suck for not knowing that. Heard it got turned into a musical a few years ago, or something."

Clearly, they weren’t understanding, probably because she just had too much free time and watched lots of movies. She gave up on them and sat on the couch, waiting for something to do.

River hated sitting around and doing nothing, but it was all they could do for now. She was almost hoping for something exciting to happen, as much as she probably shouldn’t be.

As if she’d been given a sign, the roaring of a car engine alerted everyone, and Max scrambled to the window to look. She seemed a little worried. While River was by no means popular, she was observant, and knew a lot more than people might give her credit for.

The car sitting out in the driveway could only belong to Billy Hargrove, which would explain Max’s fear. He hardly seemed like a decent person, from what she’d seen.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Billy stepped out, and Steve went outside to deal with him. Whatever he was saying clearly wasn’t satisfying Billy. It didn’t help that the kids were all gathered at the window. They ducked as soon as he spotted them, and she had to keep them from freaking out too much.

Billy pushed past Steve, causing him to topple to the ground. He took a kick to the ribs before Billy barged in, slowly approaching Max.

River eyed him for a moment, hoping he wouldn’t try anything stupid. As luck would have it, he grabbed Lucas by the collar, trapping him. As he went off on the poor kid, she held the kids back for now, unsure what to do. She couldn’t just let him pick on a kid like that.

Lucas kicked him on the groin and escaped. River pulled him close, glaring at Billy. If looks could kill, he’d already be dead ten times over.

Impressively enough, Steve stumbled back in and decked him right in the face. It was creepy how Billy laughed and egged him on, as if he was enjoying this.

Steve tried to be civil and gave him a chance to leave, but he didn’t take it. It escalated quickly when Bill swung at him, turning into a full-blown fight. The kids were cheering on Steve, especially Dustin.

“Kick his ass, Steve!” he cheered.

Unsure what else to do, River stepped in, trying to tear them apart. Billy was a lot stronger than she had hoped, and it didn’t seem like he was going to give up. It didn’t help that River was still in pain, her leg protesting with every step she took.

As much as she didn’t really like Steve, the guy was losing horribly, and at least he was trying to protect the kids. She’d give him that much. River managed to pull them apart for a second, landing a hit on Billy. She’d at least busted his nose judging by the blood trickling towards his lips. He’d shaken it off pretty quickly and shoved her aside, her leg giving out under her.

The only thing she registered for a moment was Hawthorne rushing over to make sure she hadn’t been hurt more than she already was. Despite the fact that the room was spinning a little, she was fine. Or so she claimed. Her whole body was in way too much pain.

It was Steve she was worried about. Billy had him pinned down and was beating his face in. River watched as Max pushed past the boys and went over to her stepbrother. While he was occupied, she jabbed a syringe into his neck, taking him by surprise.

Billy stumbled back, a shocked look crossing his face. He pulled the syringe from his neck and threw it aside before falling to the floor with a thud.

River stood up, her lightheadedness nearly getting the better of her, and watched in awe as Max grabbed Steve’s bat. This kid was a hell of a lot braver than she seemed, and River really admired it. In Billy’s position, she would feel intimidated by her, even if she was a kid. Her threatening tone was just that; threatening, and surprisingly intimidating.

Max took Billy’s car keys, and it was then that River passed out from the pain. The last thing she remembered was Hawthorne picking her up, and then she was out like a light.

River wasn’t sure how long she’d been passed out, but by the time she came to, they were stopped outside in a field. Steve was freaking out, and from what she could tell, Max had attempted to drive Billy’s car while they were out.

“Maybe next time let someone else drive,” he exclaimed, looking at Hawthorne.

She watched as her brother’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “Uh, actually I have a confession,” he stammered. “I don’t know how to drive.”

Steve gave an exasperated sigh. It was then that River noticed just how bad his face looked after taking so many hits. His face was horribly bruised, and it made her wince just thinking about how much it must hurt.

“Hey, what are you doing?” The kids were setting up, what for she wasn’t sure, and ignoring him. “Are you deaf? Hello!”

Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose and went over, limping a little. “Yeah, hey. Hate to be a buzzkill, but I’m with Steve on this one,” she cut in.

None of the kids seemed to be listening, and Dustin had a rather convincing argument of his own.

It didn’t take long before she was geared up with the goggles and bandanna he’d handed her. Sharing a look of dismay with Hawthorne, she followed after them, carefully climbing down into the tunnel.

There were spores drifting in the air like dust, but a hell of a lot grosser. She wasn’t much of a germaphobe, but it kind of grossed her out more than she cared to admit.

River wasn’t far behind Steve. Mike tried to lead them ahead, but Steve wasn’t having it. He made them stay behind him in case anything happened. Figuring it was the smart thing to do, she brought up the rear, in the event that something attacked them from behind.

Feeling a little more than grossed out the more they pressed on, she limped behind, failing to notice Dustin fall behind her. An oversight she would definitely notice as soon as she heard him screaming bloody murder.

As soon as he claimed he was fine, she let out a sigh of relief and helped him up.

“God, don’t give me a heart attack, Henderson.” River patted his back and pushed him forward again, where she could keep an eye on him.

They finally stopped where the tunnels converged into a central area. They quickly got to work, covering as much as they could in gasoline. They had to cover a lot of space for this plan to work. The more fire, the more it would hurt the Mind Flayer. And that was the most important part of the whole operation.

Steve gathered everyone behind him again, flicking open his lighter before tossing it. Flames erupted, consuming the walls of the tunnel immediately. They rushed out, sprinting back the way they came.

Mike tripped, his leg getting caught as he screamed for help. River took his arm, pulling him away as Steve hit whatever was holding him down. Worse yet, a Demodog found them. It snarled, bearing its many teeth.

Dustin realized this was none other than Dart. How the hell did this kid keep a creature like this in his room? It really was as big as a dog, and that alone was pretty terrifying.

River watched in horror as he approached Dart, and she readied her weapon in case he needed help. She had to give it to him; the kid was brave as hell for trying to talk to it. These kids were all braver than she previously assumed. It gave her a heart attack, but she admired it, really.

Dustin continued to reason with Dart as he pulled out a candy bar. It was insane that it even worked. He motioned for them to go on ahead while Dart was busy eating the candy bar.

After saying his goodbyes, a look of sorrow on his face, Dustin joined them again as they headed back to the entrance. As they were approaching, the ground rumbled, causing River to stumble back, her leg flaring up again from the fall.

Steve was nice enough to help her up and make sure she was okay. They were cut off by the sound of Demodogs roaring. Before they could waste any time, they were all running to the entrance again.

Sadly, River was falling behind, but Hawthorne pulled her forward, more worried about getting her out. The kids were the first to make it up, Steve made sure of it. Of course, Dustin was the last kid left when the roaring grew closer. Steve and River bother pulled out their weapons as soon as they could hear the Demodogs approaching. They were more than ready to protect him in case of an attack.

River braced herself, expecting an attack. She was shocked when they ran past them, as if they weren’t even there. Like they were running away. El must have closed the gate.

Taking this as their chance to escape, River helped Dustin up again, making sure he got up safely. Steve insisted she go up next, and she heaved herself up the rope, dusting herself off once she was above ground. Hawthorne joined them, and Steve was the last one out.

Just like that, it was all over. River hardly knew how to process the fact that they’d won, at least she hoped so.

Dealing with the aftermath wasn’t any more fun, either. After everything, River’s leg was causing her an excruciating amount of pain. And as much as she tried to hide it, there was no escaping the concerned looks from her brother. Naturally, he insisted that she sit down and keep off her leg, and he made a point of checking on her quite often. At some point, he tasked himself with changing out the dressing on her wound.

“You really need to be more careful,” he fretted. “I can’t believe I even let you walk around with your leg this bad.” Hawthorne sighed as he wrapped her leg again. By now, there really wasn’t as much blood, but it was very painful.

“It’s really not that bad.” The last thing River wanted was to burden anyone when she probably didn’t even have the worst injury by comparison.

Hawthorne paused and glanced up at her. “Like hell it isn’t. One of these days, you’re going to push yourself too far, and it’ll be a lot worse,” he said. “Especially because you never tell anyone out of, what? A sense of self-preservation?”

“I just don’t need people fussing over me when, in all reality, I'm fine and there are other people with a lot worse.” She thought about how much of a beating Steve had taken, and Will had been possessed literally about an hour ago. So was it really worth spending all the energy worrying about her?

He shook his head and finished. “Maybe, but I’m not concerned about other people. It’s you I’m worried about, and I hardly know enough about first aid to keep up with how reckless you are,” he said. “I’m not a doctor.”

River scoffed. “Gee. Thanks, McCoy.”

Hawthorne gave her a playful push and rolled her eyes. She laughed and sat back for now, letting her leg rest. After all they’d been through, she definitely needed it. Her leg would take time to get better, but it was nice knowing she had her brother looking out for her.

Now that everyone was trying to return to their normal lives (if they could even call anything about their lives normal), River and Hawthorne had to deal with going home.

Except they’d actually taken everyone’s advice and talked to Hopper about their situation. It was hard to talk about, and River didn’t really want to do it. Her brother had been far more eager to vent and open up to him. She only wished she could open up that easily.

Of course, he had to question them in order to get an investigation going, which was undoubtedly the hardest part for her. It was one thing to vaguely tell him the basics, but quite another to go into detail.

River sat at a table, the only other person in the room was chief Hopper. She wasn’t intimidated by him. He didn’t seem very scary, but maybe that was just her. Really, she just wasn’t the best with authority figures, especially the police.

“Has he ever hit you? Or your brother?” Hopper asked cautiously.

River looked down, her lips pursed and her anxiety at an all-time high.

“Yes.”

“Is it a daily occurrence?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Anything else you need to tell me?”

So far, she’d had an easy time, but this was where she started having some difficulty talking about it. Up until now, she’d always justified her father’s abuse. Maybe it was to make herself feel better, but she knew deep down nothing about it was okay. That he shouldn’t have hurt them in the first place.

She went on to explain how he verbally abused them, though it was mostly focused on her brother. He’d had too many expectations for Hawthorne, but he could never live up to them. She’d always defended him. It wasn’t his fault he was more interested in practical things. Sewing, gardening, other things that weren’t conventionally “manly.” It was all just a bunch of bullshit in her opinion.

“My father. He, um, used to be a soldier before we moved here,” River explained. “That was a long time ago, but I think it changed him for the worse. He was probably the best father ever, but once mom died, it was like he suddenly changed.”

More than anything, she knew how much he loved her mother. She’d passed away from illness, back when they’d been stuck in Hawkins Lab, so they never got to say goodbye. And when they’d escaped and found him again, he was like a completely different person.

“Not that it justifies anything, but I don’t think mom passing away really helped,” she continued. “He tried to teach Hawthorne things he saw more fitting for a boy to learn, I guess. As bullshit as that sounds. It was like he was hellbent on making us as miserable as he was.

“When he was mad, dad really had a thing for punishment. He liked to lock us in the closet until he felt like we learned our lesson. Sometimes, that meant hours of being holed up in a dark closet alone.”

“Did he do that often?” Hopper interjected.

River nodded and refused to meet his eyes for a moment. “And since he didn’t think he could get through to Hawthorne, he had to move on, of course.” Her voice caught in her throat for a moment, and he gave her a reassuring look.

“I suppose, in a way, I was a project to him. Something he could have control over.” She hated thinking about all the days she spent training like he wanted her to. And when she wasn’t doing that, she was practicing whatever activities he wanted her to. Violin, ballet (like her mom used to teach), whatever he deemed a fitting use of her time. He wanted her to be perfect at whatever he chose for her. Complete control over everything she did.

He never even let her out of the house unless he knew where she was going, and even then, he forbade things like parties or meeting with friends (not that she had many), especially if boys were involved.

She explained all of this to Hopper, doing her best not to lose her cool. There was just so much to explain, and she felt like she could hardly cover it all.

"How long have you guys lived in Hawkins?"

"Six years, almost seven. Since I was about ten," River answered. "We, uh, moved her from Russia, believe it or not. I've spent so much time learning English, and let me tell you. It's not easy."

"Why did you move?" Hopper inquired.

River shrugged. "A lot of reasons. Mom was sick, and there wasn’t much good in keeping her there, where she couldn’t get help. Dad also thought we’d have better chances living our lives out here, for whatever reason.”

There were a lot of reasons they left, and sometimes she greatly missed it.

By the end of her explanation, she was near tears. She wasn’t one to cry in front of others, so she held back as well as she could. Hopper gave her a pat on the back, and she flinched just a bit before relaxing and trying to pass it off as nothing.

“Hey, I’m gonna do whatever I can to get you out of this,” he assured her. “You and your brother. I know this is a lot for you both, but I’ll do what I can to make things at least a little better.”

River nodded, getting out of her chair and rubbing her eyes. Technically, they couldn’t go back home, so River and Hawthorne needed a place to stay. Apparently, Dustin had explained the situation enough to his mother, and she’d been more than happy to let them stay with them until everything was sorted out.

While she’d been hesitant to accept, Hawthorne urged her to give in, so now they were staying with the Hendersons.

River was walking back, her leg still a bit sore, and she finally letting loose a few stray tears. The wind blew harshly, red strands of hair obscuring her vision. She had a winter jacket on, but it was only doing so much to keep the cold from biting at her skin. Despite the cold, she found herself lost in thought, the few tears she let fall feeling even colder as they tried to freeze over.

This whole situation she was in really sucked. She was grateful for the help, but having to admit to the horrors of her home life for the past four years took a lot out of her. She was so absorbed in her sorrow, that she hardly noticed Steve pulling up beside her.

“I swear, you people need to get your ears cleaned.” She turned, raising an eyebrow.

“Can I help you, Harrington?”

He had a grin on his face, and she almost hated it. She couldn’t quite bring herself to feel even passive aggressive towards him, though. It felt too unwarranted at this point.

“Look, I can tell you're trying to hide it, but clearly you’re not having a good time,” he said. “At least let me help. You don’t have to mope all the way back to Dustin’s house.”

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Steve scoffed. "I'm getting the feeling that you don't really like me."

"Oh, whatever gave you that impression?" Before River could add to her sarcastic remark, he sighed and threw his hands up.

"I'm trying to be nice here," he said. "I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot, but just let me fix things."

There was a pause as River debated with herself. He did seem genuine in trying to help, and that made her feel a little bad for being a huge jerk.

"Besides, it's snowing, and you'll freeze before you make it back."

Groaning, she gave in and joined him in his car. "You really are confusing, Steve Harrington."

"What's so confusing?" he asked, his grin appearing again.

River rolled her eyes as he started the car again. "I just don't understand. You were such a jerk just last year."

"Yeah, well a lot changed."

She couldn't say he hadn't been helpful in defeating the Mind Flayer, and he'd been oddly protective of the children, even if he did seem fed up over watching them. And it was kind of nice, really, how quick he was to stand up for Lucas. As a matter of fact, he still had a few bruises.

"How's your face?" she blurted out.

Steve chuckled and looked at her for a moment. "Is this your way of flirting?"

River couldn't help it when his face warmed up a little at the idea. "Whatever. You know what I meant."

He focused back on the road and shrugged. "I've felt worse," he answered. "It's not so bad now."

River nodded, hesitating for a moment. "You know, I could fix it," she offered. "Um, I have some healing abilities.”

"You've been holding back on me, Matthews?" he joked.

"Well, I mean, I can heal you. The only drawback is that I basically absorb your pain in place of it."

Steve shook his head, not liking the sound of that.

"It's not worth it," he said. "I'm almost completely better anyways. What I'm more worried about is why you were so miserable a second ago."

She sighed and worried the hem of her sleeve. "It's no big deal. I'll admit, I'm not the best with my emotions," she said.

"Is it about your dad?"

"How could you tell?" River replied, her tone laced with sarcasm. She sighed and apologized. "It's just...it's a shitty situation, okay?"

"Well, no shit. That's why I'm making sure you're okay."

"Jesus, why do you care so much?"

River hadn't meant to snap. She really did appreciate his concern, but she was having a hard time accepting that anyone could feel so bad for her. She could feel the tears coming back, and wiped at her eyes, though it was a fruitless effort. By now, they were already parked outside Dustin's house.

Giving her a worried look, Steve placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. "I know you don't realize this, but after what we've been through, you're part of this weird family now," he said. "And we look out for each other. So don't think that you have to go through this alone. Same goes for Hawthorne."

His words surprised her a little. She'd never really seen him act so genuine. Wiping the rest of the tears from her eyes, she sighed and looked away for a moment.

River laughed dryly. "Told you I'm bad with my emotions."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Steve said. "You're not the only one. We're all working through shit. It happens."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Just, uh, don't hesitate to talk to me. I know we don't exactly get along well yet, and I totally get that. I used to be an asshole," he continued. "But seriously."

River gave him a slight smile and nodded. "Thank you, Steve."

It took about a week for the police to finally get a case going and send Carter Matthews away, but he was finally as good as gone.

Realistically, Claudia Henderson would have happily let them stay as long as they wanted, but River knew they had to find a more permanent solution eventually. Besides, it was too risky, and the last thing they needed was for either of the twins to accidentally slip up and use their powers.

In a surprising turn of events, Hopper had proposed a plan of his own. He had already had El living with him, and maybe he figured two more super-powered kids couldn't hurt, because he offered to take them in himself.

It held a lower risk of them getting caught since he already knew about their abilities, or at least that they had them.

It was the best option they had, so they took him up on his offer. He'd already cleared out rooms for them in his cabin, and they were allowed to take whatever they wanted from their house, which was abandoned now that their father was gone.

The same night of the Snow Ball, River and Hawthorne were going through their belongings, packing them into boxes. Hopper gave them some space for now, as he'd been helping El prepare for the dance.

River felt a little envious since she'd never been allowed to go to a dance before, but she pushed it aside. It didn't matter much. She didn't like things like that, so she probably wouldn't enjoy it anyways. Too many people, way too much noise that would overwhelm her.

As River was packing up some of the action figures she had on top of her bookshelf, there was a knock on the door. Wondering who the hell it could be, she hurried downstairs and took a peek out the window.

To her surprise, Steve was standing at the door, shivering from the cold. She unlocked the door and let him in.

"Steve? Um, what are you doing here?" she asked.

He kicked off his shoes before entering. He wasn't wearing a coat, just a long-sleeved shirt. A mistake, clearly. "Just came by to see how things are going."

River raised an eyebrow and laughed a little. "Aren't you taking Dustin to the Snow Ball?"

"Already taken care of."

Shaking her head, she led him to the kitchen, she quickly made him some hot chocolate without bothering to ask, knowing he'd only decline.

She handed him the mug and leaned against the counter as he sipped at the warm drink.

"Seriously, what are you doing here?" she repeated.

"What? I can't be a good person and check in on you?"

"Steve, we're barely even friends, and it's like you've suddenly decided to just barge into my life," River said.

Sighing, Steve set down his mug and ran his fingers through his hair. "Like I said, just checking in," he insisted. "I guess I just feel bad. I mean, for the longest time, I thought you two were weird for being so reclusive, but I didn't realize it wasn't really your fault. That, and I was the worst and didn't think about anyone but myself anyways."

"I think you're a hell of a lot better now," River assured him. "The Steve I knew before wouldn't risk his life for a bunch of 13 year olds."

There was a slight smile on his face, and she couldn't help but think it suited him. It seemed so genuine, like he was actually happy. She wondered if she'd ever feel that way now that things were changing.

"I heard you guys will be living with Hopper now," he said.

River nodded and played with the hem of her sweater. "Yeah, it's probably for the best. He's already got El, so it'll help us lay low and figure out our powers."

"What do you know you can do so far?" he asked curiously.

"Besides reading minds and healing? I know that I have this weird ability to control shadows and darkness, if that makes sense."

"Uh, not really."

"It's like...okay, you know how, like, there are superheroes that can control water, fire, whatever?"

Steve nodded.

"It's like that, except with...shadows? It's kind of hard to explain, and super hard for me to control," she said. "I, uh, don't have a good track record of keeping it under control."

Steve gave her a curious look, silently asking her to elaborate.

River bit her lip and sighed. "Okay, I'm about to tell you something, but this stays between us. Got it, Harrington?"

"Yeah, yeah. My lips are sealed."

River hesitated for a moment before she explained herself.

"Okay, when I was ten, my family moved her to America. From Russia. And, of course, it's kind of a process to officially immigrate and all, so it took some time. There were some bumps in the road for sure, and, at some point, things got a little complicated.

"We were having some issues, something about not having proper documentation, or whatever. And, I don't know, things escalated a little, and of course more people got involved. But because I was little and didn't know what was going on, I freaked out, and my powers went a little haywire."

River sighed and looked down for a moment. "It's my fault we got separated. If I hadn't lost control, they wouldn't have taken us away to experiment on my brother and I," she said. "I'm what caused this whole mess."

"Hey, hey. I'm sure your brother doesn't blame you for anything," Steve assured her.

River shrugged. "Maybe not. But I certainly blame myself." She shook her head. "Whatever. It's not a big deal. There's nothing we can do about it now."

Steve sighed and gave her a look of concern. Then he seemed to have a realization.

"Wait, so if you moved from Russia, I'm guessing River isn't your real name," he said. "Not exactly Russian sounding."

He was more observant than she gave him credit for. "It's not. My birth name is Vera, but only my brother really calls me that anymore," she explained.

"And Hawthorne?"

"Anatole," she answered. "His name's Anatole. But I'm sure if you called him that, he'd kill you."

They both shared a laugh, which was a first.

"Do you think you'll start going by that again?" Steve finished his hot chocolate, though he had some on his upper lip.

River shrugged and handed him a napkin. "Maybe," she said. "I wouldn't mind it too much, but honestly, I don't really care too much either way." In her opinion, her name didn't really matter so much in the grand scheme of things. It was a name, and just that. It seemed like such a mundane thing to fuss over after everything they've been through.

"Actually, Hopper got our birth certificates, and he had them changed," she added. "So, legally my name is River Hopper now, so that's a thing."

She surprisingly didn't hate it. In fact, River could kind of get used to it. Maybe it would take her some time to warm up to Hopper, but he was already a hell of a lot nicer than their father was.

By now, Steve’s hot chocolate had gone forgotten. He perked up when he had a sudden thought.

“Oh, how’s your leg?” he asked. “It looked pretty bad.”

“Actually, it doesn’t really hurt much anymore,” River said. “I got a cool scar though, so that’s pretty cool.” Steve laughed and shook his head. “What? So you think you’re a badass now?” he teased.

“Um, who said I wasn’t before?”

“Not to say you aren’t, but that’s my title, thank you very much.” River hit his arm, only making him laugh more.

“Maybe I should have let the Demodogs eat you.”

Steve gave her a look of fake shock. “Wow, I’m hurt. After all the trouble I’ve gone through of being nice, and you want to throw me to the wolves...Demodogs? Whatever.”

River rolled her eyes and cleaned his mug once he’d downed his hot (more like lukewarm by now) chocolate. He tapped his fingers against the counter, fidgeting before speaking again.

“So, um, now that you’re gonna be moving in with Hopper, I’m guessing you’ll probably be celebrating Christmas with him and El,” he said. “I mean, I’m sure he wants to let El have a normal holiday celebration.”

“Probably. I don’t celebrate Christmas, though, so I’m not sure how all that works.”

“What?”

“I don’t celebrate Christmas, Steve. I’m Jewish.”

“Oh.” Steve nodded, leaning against the counter. “Oh, that’s cool. I mean, I don’t know anything about that, but you know.”

River laughed and dried off her hands. “It’s fine. Honestly, I’m not the best at keeping up with all the ins and outs of it,” she explained. “I mean, my parents were a lot more religious than me to begin with, but I don’t know. Maybe one day I’ll get back into that once my life is a little more normal.” With so much going on in her life, other than working out her powers, she hadn’t found much time to get into the whole religion thing. Plus, her dad had fallen out of the habit himself, especially when he’d really gone off the deep end.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Steve shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Well, whatever the case, my parents are having a party, if you wanna stop by. I mean, you don’t have to, but it always sucks being surrounded by snobby adults.”

It wasn’t like she’d had any plans to begin with, unless Hopper had things planned. Sure, it might be a little awkward since they’d just barely started getting along, but it couldn’t hurt.

“Sure. I mean, I don’t really see why not.”

Steve grinned brightly. “Great! Uh, it’s in, like, a week, so don’t worry about it too much.”

It wasn’t long before he excused himself. The snow was piling up, and he wanted to get home before it got any worse. River had packing to finish anyways, so she showed him out and got back to work. Her Star Trek posters weren’t going to pack themselves. She’d appreciated the break, though, whether she’d actually admit that or not.

Taglist: @bravest-at-heart @musicalytrashpanda @queenofthehairharrington

#steve harrington #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #max mayfield #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #will byers #joyce byers #jim hopper #jane hopper #stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger things 3 #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington headcanon #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction

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fanwarriorfictions · 5 years

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A Stranger Things Fanfic

Chapter Seven- Part Two

Phina and Hopper pulled up to the Junkyard. They instantly noticed the black cars of the "bad men,"

"Shit," Phina whispers.

Hopper hid the car and they got out, "you stay here, I'll handle this."

"No chance in hell," Phina spits, "remember, those are my kids, and I'm going to go get them."

Hopper glances at the girl, her fiery eyes telling him that he was not going to win in an argument, "ok, just stay close."

The kept low, sneaking up behind one of them, who was about to get on the bus that the kids were hiding on. The man opens the door, but Hopper hits him in the head, knocking him into the door and knocking him out instantly.

Another man runs around the bus, hearing the noise, "hey!"

Phina turns and swings her fist right into his temple. The man shouts in pain. Phina grabs his head and brings it down, and her knee up, knocking him out.

Hopper knocks out the other agent and gets into the bus, holding his gun, ready to defend the kids at any cost.

"Alright lets go," he says, the kids all just stare at him, "let's, go!"

They rush out of of the bus, seeing Phina take the gun of the man she fought, and putting it into the waistband of her jeans.

"Phina," Mike shouts.

She turns to her brother and rushes to pull him into a hug, "don't you ever make me worry like that again!"

She then turns to the rest of the group, "that applies to all of you to!"

They follow after Hopper, Phina inspecting each of them for injuries. Dustin complained about it, but she was to relieved to have her kids back, safe and sound.

They pulled up to the Byers' house, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy rushing out to meet them. Nancy rushes out and pulls Mike into a hug.

"Oh my god, I was so worried about you," she shouts.

"Yeah, uh," Mike says awkwardly, "me too."

Nancy looks over at the rest of the group, at El specifically, "is that my dress."

El looks up at Phina, who just shrugs, "she needed something to wear."

They all went inside, sitting down to hear what the kids have found out about this whole thing. Mike was explaining to them about where Will and Barb were, a place they called the upside down.

"So in this example, you're the acrobat," he points to the little stick figure, "Will and Barbra, and that monster, they're this flea. And this is the upside down, where Will is hiding. Mr Clark said that the only way to get there is through a rip in time and space."

"A gate," Dustin adds.

"That we tracked to Hawkins Lab," Lucas says.

"With our compasses," Dustin says, earnings a confused look from them, "ok, so the gate has a really strong electro magnetic field."

"Which would change the direction of a compass needle," Phina nods, getting a big smile from Dustin.

"Is this gate under ground," Hopper asks.

"Yes," El answers.

"Near a large water tank," he inquires.

El nods, "yes."

"H-how'd you know all of that," Dustin stutters.

"He's seen it," Mike answers.

Joyce leans forward to El, "is there anyway you could reach Will, and you could talk to him in this..."

"The upside down," El interrupts.

"Down, yeah," Joyce whispers.

El nods.

"And my friend Barbra, can you find her too," Nancy asks.

El gives a short nod and they start to set up whatever Mike tells them they need. They go to the table and turn on the CB radio on to static, and Nancy puts the photo of Barb next to it.

They all surround El as she concentrates, her eyes closed. The light above the table starts to flicker and Phina looks at it. When it comes back on, El opens her eyes and looks at Joyce.

"I'm sorry," she whispers.

Joyce get a little frantic, "what's wrong. What happened."

El looks upset, "I can't find them."

Everyone looks a little disappointed, but Phina gives El a comforting smile. El leaves to go to the bathroom, clearly upset about not being able to find them, about letting everyone down. Phina stands up after a moment and follows the girl. She knocks on the bathroom door, hearing the water of the sink running.

"El, it's Phina, can I come in," she asks.

The door opens and Phina walks in, closing it again. El was crying, Phina noticed the tears right away.

"Hey hey hey," Phina whispers, "it's ok, El. It's not your fault."

El turns to her, "I couldn't help them."

"I know sweety, I know. But you can't help that, your drained hun, you need to time to regain your strength before you can do anything else," Phina says, bringing the girl into a hug.

El wraps her arms around Phina, burying her head in her shoulder, crying softly. Phina rubs small circles in her back, sushing her softly.

She pulls away and grabs El's hands, "you've done so much for all of us already El, you saved my brother, you protected all of them, you don't have to keep being so selfless," Phina tells her sternly.

El looks down at their entwined hands, her eyes instantly going to the little black tattoo on Phina's wrist. Her eyes shoot open wide and she looks up at Phina.

"Like me," El asks, wide eyed, shocked.

El pulls her hand from Phina's and turns Phina's wrist upwards, placing her own next to it. On El's sat the number 011 and on Phina's, was 001. Phina stared at their wrists, and sighed.

"Yeah, like you. Like you but different," Phina tells her.

"How?"

Phina gently pulls her hands from El's, "that's not important right now."

El gives her a look, which earns her a look as well. El sighs, giving up. She looks back at the mirror, and her eyes go to the bathtub, she turns to it.

"What's wrong," Phina asks.

"The bath," she says, "I can find them."

Phina looks at her, confused, but she doesn't question it. El opens the door, grabbing Phina and pulling her along.

They hear the group talking about El, about how she's drained.

"The bath," El interrupts them.

They all turn to them, "I can find them, in the bath."

Dustin calls their science teacher, Mr Clark, "Mr Clark, it's Dustin.... yeah yeah, I just, I-I have a science question..... do you know anything about sensory deprivation tanks, specifically how to build one......... fun..... you always say we should never stop being curious, to always open any curiosity door we find... why are you keeping this curiosity door locked!"

Phina chuckles at Dustin's guilt trip. Mr Clark finally relents and Dustin starts to write down whatever he says, mumbling from time to time. During the whole process, El doesn't let go of Phina, who had her arm wrapped around the girls shoulder. Everyone takes curious glances at the two, but don't say anything.

Dustin hangs up and looks at Joyce, "do you still have that kiddy pool we bobbed for apples in?"

"Uh, I think we do," Joyce says looking at Jonathan.

"You do, it's in the shed," Phina answers.

"Good, then we just need salt," Dustin says, "lots of it."

"How much is lots," Hopper asks.

Dustin looks down at his paper, then back up, "uh 15 hundred pounds."

"Well where are we gonna get that much salt," Nancy asks.

"I know," Hopper says.

With that, they're all off, half of them in Hopper's jeep, the other in Joyce's car, going to the middle school. El still wouldn't leave Phina's side, and everyone grew more curious about them. The two had hardly even talked, but were already connected at the hip.

They all split up into little groups, Hopper and Jonathan went to get salt, Nancy and Mike went to find hoses, Lucas and Dustin set up the pool, and Joyce, Phina, and El went to get El something to block the light so she could focus.

The three girls went to a science room, Joyce finding some goggles and duct tape. They all sat down, facing each other as Joyce duct taped the goggles.

"This will keep it dark for you," Joyce tells Eleven, "just like in your bathtub."

Joyce looks up at El, who stays silent, holding tightly to Phina's hand, "you're a very brave girl, you know that don't you? Everything you're doing for my boy, for Will, for my family. Thank you."

Joyce's eyes start to tear up, she leans over to grab El's free hand, "listen, I am going to be with you, the whole time. And if it ever gets to scary, in that place, you just let me know, ok?"

"We'll both be there El," Phina whispers to the girl, "are you ready?"

El looks at the two women, calmly, but her fingers grips their hands desperately, "yes."

"Ready."

They had just finished preparing the deprivation tank when the girls walked into the gym. Phina walked El over to the tank, only letting go over her hand when she reached down to take her socks off, and Mike's watch which she hands to him.

Joyce hands her the goggles which she puts on after Phina gives her a nod. Her hand flies out and Phina grabs it.

"I'm right here El, you're ok," Phina whispers.

Phina and Joyce help El get into the pool, letting go of her hands hesitantly. El walks forward a few steps and sits down in the pool, before letting herself float on her back.

Almost instantly, the lights in the gym flicker off. Everyone watches El, Phina and Joyce ready to grab her if she gets to scared.

"Barbra," El suddens says.

Nancy leans forward and watches El closely. The lights flicker again and El breathes a little heavier.

"What's going on," Nancy asks.

"I don't know," Mike answers.

"Is Barb ok," Nancy ask El, "is she ok!"

El starts to whimper, "gone, gone, gone."

She then starts to cry out, "gone, gone, gone!"

Phina leans forward to comfort the girl, "it's ok El, you're ok, we're right here. I'm right here El, you're ok."

Joyce comforts her too, "it's ok sweety."

Phina grabs her hand, the arm that has her tattoo, "don't be afraid El, I'll protect you. Don't be afraid."

El starts to calm down, Joyce and Phina whispering to her.

"Castle Byers," El says.

It's quiet for a moment, then, "Will?"

Joyce gasps, "you tell him, tell him I'm coming. Mom is coming."

Will's voice echoes through the CB, "hurry."

"Ok, you tell him to stay where he is. We're coming, ok, we're coming honey."

Whimpering noise come through the radio and Phina gets scared.

"El, El are you ok, El come on," she grabs the girls arm again.

El sits up, scaring everyone. Phina pulls the girl into her, hugging her tightly. El puts arm arm on Phina's, gripping her arm like a life line.

"You're ok El, I'm here, you're ok," Phina coos the crying girl.

"Come on, let's get you out of the water," Phina says.

She helps El up, "Dustin, grab the towel."

Dustin scrambles to bring her the towel and Phina grabs it from his hands. She turns to El and wraps it around her shoulders, helping her out of the pool. She brings the kids all over to bleachers, El laying her head on Mike's shoulders.

Suddenly Hopper storms out, Jonathan and Joyce following. Phina glances at them but looks back at the kids.

Phina had grabbed a second towel and she wrapped it around El, "there, that should warm you up."

The doors to the gym slam open and Phina turns to see her sister leave. She sighs through her nose, looks like I got babysit all of them.

"You guys stay here, I'll be back," she tells them.

Phina walks out of the gym and finds Nancy and Jonathan sitting on the floor. She walks over and sits next to Nancy, the three teens sitting in silence.

"We have to go back to the station," Nancy says.

Jonathan and Phina look at each other, and then at Nancy.

"Why," Jonathan whispers.

"Your mom and Hopper, are just, walking in there like bait," Nancy explains, "that thing, is still in there. We can't just sit here and let it get them too. We can't."

They go silent, Phina reaching out to grab her sister's hand. Nancy squeezes her hand gratefully.

"You still want to try it out," Jonathan says.

"I want to finish what we started," Nancy answers, "I want to kill it."

"What about the kids," Phina asks, "we can't leave them."

"They'll be fine, they've got Eleven," Jonathan says.

Nancy notices the look that arises on Phina's face, "and she's got them, they won't let anything happen to her."

Phina nods slowly, convincing herself that they'll be okay, "ok, let's go kick some Demagorgan ass."

-2175 words-

#steve harrington #steve harrington x oc #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #strangerthingsfanfic #slow burn #one #romance

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