Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eddie awakens to the harsh buzzing of static. Confused, he opens his eyes to find himself in the living room, which also doubles as his bedroom. Their current trailer, the one the government had paid for after the old one was destroyed, has two bedrooms, but he’d figured it was only right that Wayne and Izzy got them.

It doesn’t take long for him to realize the sound is coming from the tv across the room. Damn, he must’ve nodded off while watching and forgot to turn it off. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. Thankfully, the remote is laying beside him, so it’s easy enough to turn the damn thing off. It’s only after he does that he registers a presence in the room with him. He reaches over to turn on the light, only to find Izzy standing in the spot where the living room carpet meets the tiled floor of the kitchen.

It’s far from an unusual occurrence, waking up to find Izzy out of bed. Usually it’s just a ploy for her to delay having to go to sleep, but one time it was to inform him that she’d gotten sick all over her bed and herself, so he has to take it seriously in case it’s something similar this time.

“Hey, Baby”, he yawns, “what’s up?”

Izzy doesn’t answer him, nor does she offer even the slightest bit of movement. It immediately sets Eddie on edge, and he hurries over to her, dropping to his knees so that they’re at eye level.

“Izzy?” he asks, “what’s wrong?”

She doesn’t offer a verbal answer, but she doesn’t need to because as soon as he’s done saying it, her eyes begin to roll back in her head. Terrifying familiarity washes over Eddie. He’s seen that look on Chrissy’s face a thousand times by now. It’s replayed over and over in his mind for the past seven years, but God, he never imagined he’d be seeing it on his own daughter.

“No”, Eddie breathes out, a quiet, broken sound.

He can’t do this. Not again. Not with Izzy.

“Baby”, he says, cupping her face delicately with his hands, “baby it’s me. It’s daddy. Izzy, baby please.”

She doesn’t respond. Her eyelids begin to twitch, but still not a sound escapes her.

“No”, Eddie cries, “no God. Don’t do this to me baby please…”

The lamp begins to flicker, and Eddie finally snaps out of his shocked trance.

Of course, he chastises himself, don’t be stupid Munson, you know what to do.

He dashes to the tv console and throws open the door. Their box of tapes should be in here. If he can get to one, he can put it in the tape deck and snap Izzy out of it.

He grabs the box but finds it empty, a feeling of dread settling in his stomach. It doesn’t make sense, the tapes should be here! If they’re not here where would they be? Could he get to them on time? When he turns back to face Izzy, he finds her tiny body beginning to levitate.

“No”, he cries, running back over to her, “No! Please!”

He trips on the way, and when he picks himself up he finds Izzy splayed across the ceiling, her arms spread wide like Jesus on the crucifix. He knows that he’ll never get her help on time. He can only watch helplessly as one of his baby girl’s arms snaps. The other one follows suit, as do both of her legs. Her big brown eyes, the ones she got from him, burst from their sockets.

And with that the flickering stops and Izzy falls to the floor with a thud. Eddie rushes to her, cradling her in his arms.

“No, no, no”, he sobs, rocking on his knees. Izzy’s head lolls against his chest, two eyeless sockets staring up at him.

“I’m sorry baby”, Eddie weeps, “I’m so sorry I-I should’ve saved you, I…”

He feels a hand come to rest on his shoulder and peers up in confusion, since Wayne should be at work right now. He’s met with the sight of Chrissy, standing upright but mangled and mutilated. Eddie lets out a gasp, a shockwave reverberating through his system as he opens his eyes and once again finds himself lying on the shitty pull out sofa that serves as his bed. The tv and lights are all off, and everything is still and silent. It takes a moment for Eddie to shake off the fog and realize he must have been dreaming.

He doesn’t think, just leaps out of bed and hurries through the kitchen and down the hallway to Izzy’s bedroom door. It’s dark inside, but in the moonlight streaming in through the window he can make out her shape nestled beneath the comforter.

He runs to her side and stares at her until he’s sure he can see her breathing. Her little chest rises and falls steadily, and Eddie can feel relieved tears begin to prick in his eyes as he climbs into bed beside her. He needs to feel her near him, assure himself that she’s alive and well.

“Daddy?” she asks groggily, a chubby hand rubbing tiredly at her eyes.

“It’s okay”, Eddie chokes out, “I just needed to see you. Go back to sleep.”

He punctuates this by pressing a kiss to her crown.

“Okay, Daddy”, she says tiredly, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Baby”, Eddie replies tearfully.

Izzy nestles against him and within minutes she’s drifting off again. Sleep doesn’t find Eddie so easily, but for the moment he’s content just to lay here and feel his daughter’s steady heartbeat.

He hasn’t had a nightmare as vivid as that one in a while. The fact that it involved Izzy this time only leaves him more shaken. He can still picture the hellish vision of her broken body sprawled out on the ceiling. It has him pulling her in even closer to him, burying his mouth and nose in her soft curls.

He doesn’t want to keep thinking about something happening to her, so he desperately tries to conjure up some pleasant memories instead. It’s hard, since so much of his life has been marred by tragedy and heartbreak. Eventually though, Izzy’s fourth birthday earlier that month pops into his head, and he settles on that.

Things are, as always, pretty tight money wise, but he and Wayne had managed to put together a decent little party. As per Izzy’s instructions, the entire thing was mermaid themed, and the look of sheer joy on her face the entire time was worth every bit of effort it took to pull off.

Sometimes Eddie thinks his heart might just explode from the sheer amount of love for Izzy it contains. Being her dad is pretty much the only worthwhile thing he’s done since nearly bleeding out in the Upside Down. Sometimes it doesn’t feel right, because how on earth did someone that’s half him end up so perfect?

He doesn’t deserve her, not by a long shot. Hell, he’d probably be dead if it weren’t for her. He had no intention of getting clean until she was born. He can still vividly remember being strung out in the hospital waiting room while his ex Sherri gave birth to their kid. When it was finally done and he got to see Izzy for the first time, he was hit with the overwhelming realization that if he couldn’t get clean, he couldn’t be a father to her, and he’d made the decision right then and there to get sober. If he hadn’t, well, he’s not sure he would’ve made it this long. Izzy saved his life, and he knows he’s going to spend the rest of it trying to repay her.

Eddie dozes on and off the rest of the night. He’s in one of his light, uneasy periods of slumber when he feels his shoulder being shaken.

“Eddie”, he opens his eyes to find Wayne standing over him, “come on, you two gotta get up.”

Shit, Eddie thinks. He has an alarm clock in the living room but must not have heard it from Izzy’s room. He glances over at the clock on Izzy’s bedside table and sees it’s already past 7:00, which is enough to snap him out of his lingering grogginess. His shift starts at 8:00 and he has to drop Izzy off at preschool on the way. He’s only had this job for six months, and he really doesn’t want to lose it. Honestly, he’s just lucky that the garage owner, Roger, gave him this opportunity at all. He may have been let off the hook for Vecna’s crimes in a legal sense, but there are plenty of people who don’t buy the official story. Add to that the fact that he’s also tacked “junkie” and “deadbeat dad” onto his reputation since then, and the name Munson is about as hated as ever in Hawkins.

“Izzy”, he says, “come on baby, we gotta get up.”

“Okay”, she agrees, and wastes no time hopping out of bed. At her age, being in bed is very much a bad thing, and Eddie’s surprised she hadn’t woken up before him, since there’s been a decent number of mornings where she’s gotten him up even before the alarm does.

Yawning, he follows her lead, making his way over to the dresser.

“What do you want to wear today?” he asks.

She thinks it over for a moment, her little eyebrows furrowing adorably. Eventually, she picks out the pink jumper Eddie had gotten her for her birthday and a white t-shirt to go underneath. He stands by and helps her as she gets dressed, but by this point she’s good enough that they can mostly get by with him watching.

“Alright, now go potty”, he reminds her, although he probably doesn’t need to. She’s good at going throughout the day if she has to, and the only time she really has accidents anymore is at night.

“Okay”, she says, dashing out of the room. Eddie stretches before making his way into the hall.

Wayne is lingering in the kitchen when Eddie enters.

“You should get some sleep”, Eddie comments as he retrieves the milk from the fridge and two bowls from the cupboard.

“I will '', Wayne assures him, “is um, is everythin’ alright, though? You seem a little spooked. It’s gettin’ to be that time of year again, and I know that can be rough on yah.”

“I’m fine”, Eddie mutters as he pours a helping of cereal for himself and Izzy, “just had a bad dream.”

“You wanna talk about it?” Wayne asks.

“Nope”, Eddie replies, popping the ‘p’ at the end for emphasis. The impending date of March 21st hasn’t escaped his notice. That’s probably why his nightmare was worse than normal, honestly. The anniversary always dredges up some old wounds. He’d really rather not have to think about it at all.

“I talked to Hank”, Wayne adds, “he said you missed your last meeting.”

“That was the night Izzy didn’t feel well,” Eddie informs him, tossing an aspirin in his mouth and swallowing it down with a gulp of water in a bid to fend off the stress headache that’s been brewing since he woke up.

“Okay, well, make sure you don’t miss the next one”, Wayne replies.

“I won’t”, Eddie assures him as he sets his and Izzy’s breakfasts on the table. The latter emerges from the bathroom a moment later, happily taking her seat and digging into the bowl of Trix in front of her.

Eddie tries to enjoy his own bowl, but Wayne is still standing there watching him. He doesn’t really have a right to be annoyed by that, he knows perfectly well why Wayne worries the way he does, but it still grates on his nerves. He’s a grown adult with a kid, he can take care of himself.

“You’re still picking Iz up from school, right?” he asks after a moment, more to break the tension than anything.

“ ‘course”, Wayne promises.

“It’s Friday”, Izzy cuts in between bites of cereal.

“It is”, Wayne smiles, “good job.”

“I know all of the days”, Izzy boasts proudly. Eddie reaches over and ruffles her hair affectionately. Her teachers have told him that she’s one of the quickest to pick up on the information learned in class. Hearing that filled him with an overwhelming sense of pride. After spending his own school years being dismissed as dumb trailer trash, seeing his little girl succeed academically means the world.

After breakfast, Eddie speeds his way through a shower, teeth brushing and getting dressed. Even then, it’s past 7:30 by the time he’s finished.

“I can drop Izzy off if you don’t have time”, Wayne offers, but Eddie shakes his head.

“You worked all night”, he argues, “go get some sleep, we’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” Wayne asks.

“Yes”, Eddie huffs, “Dr. Graham said it’s not good for you to exhaust yourself, remember?”

Wayne frowns at the mention of his cardiologist. For as much as he gets on Eddie’s case about not “taking care of himself”, the man is just as reluctant to follow that same advice. Even had to have a stent put in a few years back because he’d been neglecting his health so much.

“Alright”, he ultimately relents before finally disappearing into his bedroom.
-
“Shit”, Eddie mutters as he finishes buckling Izzy into her car seat and glances at his watch. 7:49. It’ll take at least ten minutes to get from the trailer to the preschool, and another five or so to get to the auto shop from there, so he’s definitely going to be late. In hindsight, he probably should’ve accepted Wayne’s offer to drive Izzy, but after his nightmare, he doesn’t want to be away from her any longer than he has to be.

“What’s shit?” Izzy asks.

“Don’t repeat that '', Eddie snaps. The last thing he needs is for The Freak’s daughter to get caught cussing out her preschool teacher.

“Can we listen to Ariel?” Izzy requests as Eddie climbs into the driver’s seat.

“Are you sure?” he asks hopefully, “We’ve got a bunch of other tapes in here.”

It's not that he hates the music or anything, it's just that it’s all Izzy has wanted to listen to since Wayne had gifted her the cassette as a birthday present, and Eddie would appreciate some variety.

“Ariel is the best”, Izzy insists.

Eddie wants to argue, but then he remembers last night in his dream, when he couldn’t save Izzy because he couldn’t find any tapes to play, and can’t bring himself to deny Izzy her favorite music.

The morning rush is in full effect by the time Eddie gets them to the preschool. He usually tries his best to avoid it, but today that’s just not a possibility.

“Alright”, he says, hurriedly working to remove Izzy from her carseat, “I’m running late so we gotta hurry, okay?”

“Okay daddy”, she agrees. Eddie smiles and presses a kiss to her temple as he helps her out of the car.

Eddie, as usual, receives some glares from the other parents as he rushes Izzy into the building and down the hall to her classroom. As if he somehow doesn’t belong there, even though he’s got a kid just like they do. He’s used to it by now, his main concern at this point is if their children overhear and start repeating all that shit in front of Izzy. He doesn’t want his four year old being told that her dad’s a murderer.

Ms. Lewis’ room is farthest from the entrance, which is rather inconvenient at the moment. Thankfully, Izzy enjoys school for the most part, so she doesn’t drag her feet. It’s quick and easy to sign her in, wish her a good day, and see her off. Relieved that at least one thing is now completed, Eddie lets out a sigh as he turns to head back to his car. That feeling is quickly distinguished when he spots Carol Perkins, or whatever her last name is now, walking by with her son. The look she gives him as they pass each other is oozing with disgust.

“I can’t believe they let him have custody of his kid”, he hears her mention to another mom nearby, “was there seriously no one else who could take her?”

Eddie tenses. He would love to turn around and make some comment about how Carol’s son was born suspiciously soon after her “surprise” wedding, but he knows that won’t help matters any so he bites his tongue. It always stings when people don’t think he’s capable of caring for Izzy. He went through the hell of getting sober for her, and he busts his ass every day making sure she’s provided for. She has a roof over her head and clothes on her back. It doesn’t matter if that roof belongs to a trailer or if most of those clothes are from Goodwill. Izzy is safe and loved, that’s what counts.

Pushing back the irritation, Eddie goes around the corner and a gasp leaves his lips, his heart pounding in his chest as he jumps back in shock. Patrick is standing there, his face inches from Eddie’s own. Blood weeps from his empty eye sockets, and his mouth hangs open unnaturally wide thanks to his dislocated jaw.

“Jesus fucking Christ”, Eddie yelps. He blinks a few times and Patrick vanishes as quickly as he had appeared. A mom walking by with her daughter gives him a death glare, presumably for accidentally dropping the f-bomb in front of her kid.

“Sorry”, Eddie mutters but she ignores it and keeps walking. Eddie takes a second to gather himself before heading off on his way.
-
Roger doesn’t say anything about Eddie showing up late, which he very much appreciates. The last thing he needs is to get yelled at by his boss on top of everything else.

His mind has been to some pretty fucked up places, but he’s never straight up hallucinated like that before. It could be the lack of sleep, or at least he hopes. It’s the weekend, which means Eddie will hopefully get some time to catch up on some much needed rest, assuming Izzy allows it. He loves her to death, but sometimes he wishes she didn’t crave his attention when all he wants to do is relax. 

For now though, he just tries to focus on work. One of his favorite things about his job is that it’s not always predictable. He never knows what kind of issues he’s going to come across when he gets under a car’s hood, and he appreciates that it keeps him on his toes.

He’s got a far better deal than poor Wayne. Eddie would definitely lose it if he had to work an assembly line like his uncle does. Usually Wayne works nights, too, so when he’s finally free of the tedium, he gets to come home and take care of a preschooler on top of it. Eddie always feels guilty for that, but he knows that he can’t raise Izzy without Wayne’s help. Most of his family is long dead or have no contact with him, and he’s never even met any of Sherri’s relatives, so his uncle is pretty much all he’s got.

Wayne’s the one who helped Eddie get back on his feet after everything went down. Stood by him even when he was just some addict living out of his van. By that point he’d pretty much torpedoed any relationships with non-addicted friends and loved ones he had left. Some of them have forgiven him, others haven’t, it’s just something he has to accept. Wayne meanwhile, he hadn’t ever turned his back on Eddie, even if he ought to have. Eddie will spend the rest of his life regretting the way he treated Wayne when he was using. He’d scream at him, lie to him, even steal from him on a few occasions. He can’t even imagine the sheer amount of stress he’s caused the poor man.

You’re not that person anymore, he reminds himself as he fiddles with the engine of a Dodge. He can't go back and undo the damage he’s caused, but he can make sure he never lets it happen again.

Granted, whole thing wasn’t entirely his fault. He’s been fucked up in the head for most of his life and his brush with death only served to add fuel to the fire. He couldn’t stop the pain, or the nightmares or the guilt so he turned to drugs to numb it. The saddest part was that eventually even that proved fruitless, but by the time he realized it, he’d gotten in too deep to escape.

He got out eventually though, when he realized the price of keeping up with his habits became the chance to see his newborn daughter grow up. He wouldn’t trade Izzy for anything. Even if it’s left him stuck in Hawkins, he’ll make do for her sake.

It does make Eddie wonder about his own father sometimes. He knows he’s a pretty sorry excuse for a son, but even still, Eddie can’t imagine resenting Izzy the way Al always resented him. As if it was Eddie's fault that Al liked to sleep around with 18 year olds and got one of them pregnant. Eddie certainly doesn’t blame Izzy for those drug-addled nights he spent with Sherri.

Loathe as he is to admit it, though, in a way Al’s abuse has helped Eddie learn how to be a parent, if only by demonstrating what not to do. He knows what it’s like to be afraid of your father, what it’s like to go to bed hungry because he doesn’t care enough to make sure you have enough to eat, what it’s like to look at the one person who’s supposed to love you no matter what and see the hatred in their eyes. All of those things that corroded away at his self worth as a child. He promised himself right at the start that Izzy would never have to go through any of that. It’s not easy, working a full time job while trying to raise a kid solo, but he can sleep well most nights knowing that Izzy’s basic needs are being met.
-
The trailer is a welcome sight to Eddie as he pulls up beside Wayne’s truck once his shift is over. The man himself is in the kitchen when Eddie enters, while Izzy sits at the table and scribbles away in a coloring book. As soon as she hears Eddie, it's hastily tossed aside and she bounds up to him excitedly.

“Hi Daddy”, she greets.

“Hey baby”, he replies, ruffling her hair, “how was school?”

“We read a book about lions”, Izzy informs him.

“Really”, Eddie says, “you like lions?”

“Yeah”, Izzy nods. It’s not saying all that much, since at this age she pretty much thinks anything besides brussle sprouts or bedtime is the greatest discovery known to man.

“How was work?” Wayne asks from the kitchen.

“Same as always”, Eddie shrugs, “what’s for dinner?”

“Spaghetti and meatballs”, Wayne answers. It earns him a stern frown from Eddie, which he counters by adding “and broccoli.”

Eddie offers him a pleased look. It’s pretty unimaginable for Eddie to be the one ensuring everyone’s eating their veggies, but here they are. Satisfied, he makes his way to the cabinet and starts digging around for the aspirin.

“Why don’t you sleep in my room tonight”, Wayne suggests, “may as well since I’m gonna be workin’.”

“I don’t wanna do that to you”, Eddie shakes his head.

“I don’t mind”, Wayne assures him, “you seem like you could use some rest, and this way Izzy and I don’t have to worry about wakin’ ya up.”

“Um, okay”, Eddie sighs before swallowing down an aspirin tablet. He supposes it’s worth it for the chance at a good night’s sleep.

"Good", Wayne smiles.

“I’m gonna grab a shower before dinner”, Eddie says, grabbing an Anthrax t-shirt and some sweatpants from the laundry basket in the corner before heading off to the bathroom.

Eddie flips on the bathroom light and goes to remove his belt when he notices a shadow behind the shower curtain. He frowns and moves to draw the curtain back. When he does he lets out a yelp and jumps backwards. There’s a body in the tub.

He inches closer and sees that it’s Sherri. Her eyes are staring vacantly, and her chin is stained in vomit. The lights flicker for a moment, and then everything stops and Sherri disappears. Eddie stumbles over to the sink, turns it on and splashes water on his face. It’s just like Patrick from earlier. His nightmares seem to be bleeding into real life.He desperately hopes it’s just exhaustion. He can’t handle a mental breakdown on top of everything else.

It takes him a moment to gather himself enough to return to the tub and get the shower going. He feels a little shaky as he washes himself of the day’s grime.

Dinner is ready when he finishes and he’s thrilled at the prospect of sitting down to eat.

“I left a meatball plain for Izzy”, Wayne says.

“You’re gonna have to try the sauce eventually”, Eddie tells her, gently brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

“No”, Izzy says matter of factly, “it’s made of tomatoes and tomatoes are yucky.”

“Jesus you’re picky”, Eddie remarks.

“She gets that from you”, Wayne points out.

“Eat your broccoli, old man”, Eddie teases back, earning a fond chuckle from Wayne. Meanwhile, Izzy moves to get up from her chair, something which Eddie promptly shuts down.

“Nope”, he says, “not until you’re done eating.”

“When can I be done?” Izzy asks.

“When you’ve eaten everything”, Eddie replies. He hates having to force her but she simply won’t eat otherwise. Irritated, she plops down, making a show of taking a big bite of her noodles, her lips curled up into a pout and her eyes glaring daggers at Eddie.

“See”, he responds, feigning obliviousness, “it’s not so bad.”

The look she’s giving him says ‘it is so bad’, but he ignores it. She does comply with him, though, even if her displeasure is clear the entire time. Better than the meltdown that sometimes happens in these situations.

She does so well that she gets a bowl of ice cream for dessert. Afterwards, her and Eddie watch The Land Before Time, which he ever so slightly tears up during. Izzy fortunately goes to sleep pretty easily for the night, and it’s early but once she’s in bed Eddie decides he may as well do the same himself.

He opens the door to Wayne’s room and flips on the light, only to be met with a figure already lying in the bed. Eddie doesn’t have to look to know it’s his mom, looking exactly like she did when he found her the day she died. Honestly, the hellish visions that have been plaguing him are starting to get predictable at this point. Shaking his head, he waits for it to pass before climbing into bed and hoping that he can sleep this off before it gets worse.

Chapter Text

Eddie sleeps better than he has in quite some time that night. He’s pleased to find that when he wakes up the next morning, no new headache forms either. So it was the exhaustion, then. He’s in a good mood so he makes Izzy pancakes for breakfast. It ends with him having to wipe her hands and face clean of syrup, but it's well worth the hassle.

It’s warmer today than it’s been all year, so Eddie takes Izzy to the park. He’s admittedly not thrilled at how many people seem to have had the same idea, but he forces it down. A bit of discomfort is worth it to see his daughter happy. Izzy runs around for hours, and he joins in for a while before retiring to a bench. She's concocted some convoluted game where she’s a princess with a pet Mer-Lion fighting an evil witch. Eddie takes great pride in knowing she’ll make for a killer DM one day.

Wayne always says she’s a miniature version of Eddie. Eddie can see a lot of Sherri in her, but can’t deny that there’s some of him in there too. Thinking about Sherri brings its own wave of guilt and regret. Eddie spent most of Sherri’s pregnancy in a drug induced haze. He’d gotten damn near suicidal on a few occasions, too. Looking back, he knows it was selfish of him. He had as much culpability in the situation as her, it wasn’t fair of him to abandon her to deal with it on her own. At the time though he’d convinced himself that he was doing the right thing, that his kid’s life would be better without him around to fuck everything up. When Sherri was 30 weeks pregnant he overdosed and almost died. You’d think that would have knocked some sense into him, but he just kept on going.

His constant drug binges didn’t come to an end until Sherri went into labor. Somehow she’d contacted Wayne, who tracked Eddie down and brought him to the hospital. He’d been high out of his mind at the time; earlier that day he’d snorted a line of coke in addition to his usual hit of heroin and it had been severely messing with his head. That was the moment he’d truly hit rock bottom. He couldn’t even stop using drugs for the birth of his daughter.

He’d been allowed to come meet her after she and Sherri had been cleaned up from the ordeal. When Eddie saw her little wrinkly face peeking from the bundle of blankets nestled against Sherri’s chest, something indescribable had overtaken him. He’d wept when he got to hold her, but Sherri was impressively calm through the whole thing. She’d once told Eddie it wasn’t even top ten in the worst experiences of her life.

Eddie hates thinking about how utterly pathetic he’d been after that; sobbing in Wayne’s arms at the realization of how bad his addiction had gotten. It was like waking up after a long slumber. He’d known he was an addict before that, of course, but that was the moment that it actually clicked. He was homeless, unemployed, living out of his van. He was using heroin multiple times a day at that point. He had to, he could only go so long between doses before withdrawals started kicking in.

The time he’d spent getting clean was only slightly below getting torn to shreds by demobats in terms of unpleasantness. He spent several days collapsed on the bathroom floor, sweating and trembling as he writhed in pain. Every so often he’d puke, even if he didn’t have anything left in his stomach. It was easily the most humbling experience of Eddie’s life. And that’s counting the period of time in the hospital after the demobats where he had to have a catheter in. The upside is that it’s a good reminder when the cravings get bad. Eddie knows he absolutely can’t go down that road again, especially not when he also has Izzy to think about now.

He practically has to drag Izzy away from the playground when it’s time to go. She has a melt down, which he knows means she’s hungry and exhausted. At home, she gets a bath and then goes down for a nap, which she’s not pleased about. She's unhappy, but evidently she needed it, because her fussing lasts about two seconds before she’s out cold.

“You look like you’re feelin’ better”, Wayne comments when Eddie emerges from Izzy’s room.

“I told you, I was just tired”, Eddie replies.

“I know”, Wayne tells him, “and I just wanted to let you know that I’m proud of you. You’ve done real good, Son.”

“Oh, um, thanks”, Eddie mutters.

“Your uh, your next meeting is tomorrow night, isn’t it?” Wayne asks and yeah, Eddie should have guessed he was leading up to something.

“Yep”, Eddie confirms.

“You’re gonna go, right?”

“Yes”, Eddie insists, “I’m gonna go. Jesus Christ.”

“Good”, Wayne nods.

Eddie feels bad for giving him a bit of attitude about it. He never fully appreciated what all Wayne went through for his sake until he had a kid of his own. Parenting isn’t exactly a walk in the park, and Eddie could be a bit of a problem child on top of that. Wayne didn’t have to take all that on. He isn’t Eddie’s father, he could’ve said no when the social worker came knocking like the rest of Eddie’s relatives did. Instead he took Eddie in and supported him.

There were quite a lot of times in his life that he’d been sure that Wayne would finally go back on that. There was the time Eddie had his first arrest at age 13. He’d gotten busted shoplifting from Melvald’s. Wayne had been absolutely furious when he found out Eddie was stealing from a small business owned by an honest, hard working man. Eddie hadn’t ended up getting charged, but Wayne did ground him for a month and force him to write an apology letter. He’d been appreciative of that punishment, honestly, because he was expecting to be shipped off to foster care instead.
He also figured Wayne would’ve kicked him out when he flunked his senior year. His dad always liked to recount the story of how his and Wayne’s father would change the locks the day each of his son’s turned 18. Eddie had figured once he was a legal adult he was out, even if he hadn’t graduated. Wayne however didn’t kick him out, nor did he when Eddie flunked a second time.

What he really thought would be the last straw was the drugs, though. He’d been screwed up in the head after everything that happened with Vecna and the Upside Down, and it led him to some dark places. He’d started drinking and partying a lot, which had escalated into experimenting with whatever substances he could get his hands on. One of those substances wound up being heroin, and that was all it took to start Eddie on the path to ruin. Looking back at the way he was when he was using heroin is utterly shameful. He’d been so desperate to feed his habit that he didn’t care who he hurt in the process. Wayne was often the collateral in these situations, and Eddie is surprised the man never gave up on him completely.

He supposes he understands it, now. He struggles to come up with a scenario where Izzy could do something to make him stop loving her. That’s how being a parent is. What really amazes Eddie is the fact that Wayne didn’t have to volunteer to fill that role for Eddie. Eddie’s directly responsible for Izzy’s existence, but Wayne had no part in Eddie’s. Eddie isn’t even his biological kid but he took him in anyway. Eddie will never stop being grateful for that.
-
Sunday is spent wandering around the trailer park as Izzy runs gleefully back and forth. Eddie knows she would keep going until she fell asleep right there on her feet if he let her. If nothing else, she inherited the Munson stubbornness from him.

He has an agreement to keep so after dinner that evening, he kisses Izzy goodbye and hops in his van to head to the one place in Hawkins he never thought he’d willingly set foot.

The church. Why the fuck does the local chapter of Narcotics Anonymous have to meet in the fucking church? Eddie only comes because he likes the leader, an old army pal of Wayne’s named Hank who almost died from abusing pain pills before he got clean.

The meetings are in a room away from the main chapel, so thankfully Eddie can avoid being stared down by Jesus Christ himself as he makes his way inside. He’s greeted by the usual faces milling around. There’s not a huge group of ex-junkies in Hawkins but most of the ones here know each other pretty well.

“Hey, Eddie. We missed you last week”, Hank greets. He reminds Eddie a lot of Wayne. Maybe that’s why Eddie likes him so much.

“Yeah, my daughter was sick. Ear infection. She always picks shit like that up from school”, Eddie tells him.

“My son’s the same way”, says Kelly, a former prostitute that’s working on kicking a nasty crack habit.

“Well it’s good to see you again”, Hank tells him, giving him a gentle pat on the back before making his way to the circle of chairs in the middle of the room to call the meeting to order.

Eddie takes his seat with the others. They open the meeting and then Hank is looking over at him, which he both deserves and resents.

“Eddie, do you wanna start since you weren’t here last week?” Hank suggests.

“Um sure”, he sighs.

He has to be careful what he says when he talks to the group. There’s an understanding between them all that everything they share stays strictly within these walls, and Eddie trusts them to uphold that. Still, he doesn’t want to put himself or them in any danger, in case someone’s listening, so before he shares he always goes through a quick mental catalog of what information is probably okay to share out loud.

“I had a nightmare on Thursday night”, Eddie says, figuring that’s vague enough, “which, you know, I do all the time but this one was really vivid and my daughter died in it.”

He takes a shaky breath, his fingers fidgeting as he collects himself. Talking about the nightmare has it re-emerging in his head. He doesn’t want to revisit those images ever again.

“It got me thinking about Sherri”, Eddie says, omitting the vision he’d seen of her in the bathtub. Sherri had actually joined the group before Eddie did, when she got clean after finding out she was pregnant. Her and Eddie weren’t really together at the time. In fact, calling what they had at any point a “relationship” is probably a generous term. Eddie usually refers to her as his ex to people because it’s the quickest and easiest explanation, but in reality, there was never much emotional intimacy between them. Mostly they slept together and shared drugs. It had suited Eddie just fine at the time. Back then he didn’t have the capacity to truly love someone or something besides heroin.

“We miss her”, Hank says solemnly, and several others murmur their agreement.

“I thought about how, like, Izzy was so young when Sherri died that she won’t have any memories of her. And then I thought about how I didn’t notice the signs Sherri was using, and it feels like…I dunno. I took Izzy’s mom away from her. Not on purpose, but like, maybe if I’d paid more attention…”

“You can’t blame yourself for that”, Hank tells Eddie and Eddie nods.

“I just feel like bad things happen to people when I’m around”, Eddie sighs, “it’s like I’m fucking cursed or something.”

He’s told these stories to the group ad nauseam but after the week he’s had he needs to let it all out.

“My mom killed herself when I was six, a girl I was hanging out with in high school got murdered, and then Sherri. I mean, I feel like everyone I care about just ends up suffering”, he admits tearfully, “and then I wonder if maybe-maybe it’s my fault.”

“Oh, Son”, Hank says, “of course it’s your fault.”

“What?”

“I mean, your Mom, you know what her life was like? She spent years married to that bastard because she had to support you. Is it any wonder she took the easy way out in the end?”

“That’s not my fault”, Eddie mutters, “that’s on Dad, not me.”

“And poor Sherri”, Hank continues, “she was the mother of your child and you didn’t even notice she was getting high?”

“She didn’t tell me”, Eddie rambles, “She-she didn’t tell me she needed help.”

“And then there was Chrissy”, Hank taunts, but suddenly Eddie is starting to get an inkling that maybe it isn’t really Hank, “she came to you, and you sat there and watched her die. You could’ve saved her with a fucking song, Eddie. Instead you did nothing while she died.”

“I know”, Eddie says tearfully, “I know okay. I know I fuck everything up.”

“You’re poison, Eddie”, Not-Hank spits, “all the people who have died because of you. How long before it’s Izzy you’re killing? Or Wayne? You’ll ruin them, Eddie, like you always do. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Stop”, Eddie cries, “I-I know everyone’s better off without me, okay?”

“You’re pathetic, Eddie”, Not-Hank continues with his berating, “none of the others turned to the needle when things got rough. Only you did.”

Eddie doesn’t have a response to that, because he knows it’s true. Dustin and the others, they were in the Upside Down too, they fought Vecna too. They have every reason to be as screwed up as Eddie is and yet all of them are functioning just fine.

“You’re weak”, Not-Hank taunts, “It’s hopeless, you…are you okay, son?”

“Hm?” Eddie asks, wiping his eyes. Hank is standing beside him with a hand on his shoulder. He hadn’t even seen him walk over here…

“Eddie”, Hank tells him, “Son, you-you said some worrying stuff. How about I call your Uncle and let him know what’s going on?”

“No”, Eddie shakes his head, “no no I’m fine. I just-I’ve got a headache and I-I think I should go.”

“I’ll drive you”, Hank offers.

“No”, Eddie says, climbing to his feet, “no I’m fine. I just need to lay down.”

He can hear the others protest but he feels like he’s suffocating and he needs some fresh air, needs to see Izzy. He’s scared and he just wants to hold his little girl.

He races home and is relieved to find that Wayne is in the kitchen doing dishes and hasn’t put Izzy to bed yet. She’s in her pajamas and her hair’s damp, so he must’ve had her take a bath and was planning on doing it soon.

“Hey, Baby”, Eddie smiles.

“Hi Daddy”, she greets.

“You um, you want me to tuck you in?”

“Okay”, she agrees happily.

“Alright, go potty and brush your teeth”, Eddie says, giving her a quick pat to confirm she’s got a clean pull up on.

“Eddie”, Wayne sighs, “son, Hank called me.”

“He’s overreacting”, Eddie insists.

“If something’s goin’ on, you can tell me. I know you’re around the age your mother was when she…”, Wayne starts.

“I wasn’t…I didn’t mean…look, Hank was talking and I-I just misunderstood…”

Eddie cuts off, regret flashing across his face at his own rambling. He’s not doing very well if his goal is to keep Wayne from worrying.

“Son, you’re not-you’re not thinkin’ about hurtin’ yourself, are you?” Wayne chokes out, and he sounds so devastated that Eddie almost can’t stand it.

“What, no, of course not”, Eddie insists, “I’m just over tired, that’s all.”

Wayne sighs. “Go put Izzy to bed, we’ll talk after, okay?”

Eddie nods, though he isn’t particularly enthused at the idea. He doesn’t really want Wayne to know he’s been hallucinating. The man goes through enough stress day to day, Eddie wouldn’t want to add to it, especially since there’s nothing Wayne could do to help anyway.

“Daddy?” he hears Izzy call from down the hall, so he turns to go follow her to her bedroom.

She’s already in bed when he gets there and he smiles. She’s a good girl at the end of the day. Has a mind of her own for sure, but Eddie can already see how amazing she’s destined to be when she grows up. He’s dying for her to be old enough to put a guitar in her hands.

They read Where the Wild Things Are, one of Izzy’s favorite books, and then Eddie is pressing a kiss to her head, and wishing her good night.

“Daddy”, she says as he stands up, “I have a question.”

“Yeah?”, Eddie replies.

“Why’d you let your mommy die?”

Eddie’s heart leaps into his throat. He’s never even told Izzy about his mother.

“And my mommy, you let my mommy die”, Izzy continues, her tone growing more and more accusatory, “you let Chrissy die and Patrick die. So many people died, Daddy. Would you let me die, too?”

“No”, Eddie chokes out, “of course not.”

“You’ll let me die because you’re a coward”, Izzy says, and Eddie can see her face growing pale, her eyes glazing over, “and you know you can’t fight him anymore.”

“What?” Eddie asks.

“You know, Daddy”, Izzy says, the flesh on her face beginning to rot, “he’s been here the whole time.”

“No”, Eddie begs tearfully, “no he’s gone.”

“You feel him,” Izzy says.

“No”, Eddie squeezes his eyes shut, shaking his head fervently, “no. No. No.”

“Daddy?” Izzy calls out and he opens his eyes and sees she’s back to normal. Normal, but looking afraid. Afraid of him, the one thing he promised to never make her feel.

“I’m sorry,”, he assures her, “I just got confused for a second.”

He hurries over to give her another kiss, which she accepts happily so at least he doesn’t have to worry about having upset her too badly.

Wayne is of course waiting for him as he exits Izzy’s room. He gestures for Eddie to have a seat at the kitchen table.

It’s stupid but Eddie kind of feels like a kid being sent to the principal’s office as he slides into his chair.

“Want some tea?” Wayne asks. He’s been on a tea-kick lately thanks to Mrs. Wheeler, who introduced him to some herbal stuff she likes. Prior to that, the concept of drinking tea out of anything but a big glass pitcher full of ice was foreign to him.

“Um, sure”, Eddie shrugs. He drums a gentle rhythm onto the table with his knuckles as Wayne fusses around getting their tea made.

Eddie gives a half hearted little smirk at the faded old Garfield mug that Wayne presents him with.

“Listen, Eddie”, Wayne sighs as he takes a seat with his own mug, “I know things haven’t been easy and with everything that’s happened…well, I worry about you. I was there when your Mama got sick…”

‘Got sick’ has always been the ‘polite’ term they use in place of ‘becoming suicidally depressed’. Eddie doesn’t know why people expect him to sugarcoat it. She killed herself. No point trying to get around that.

“I’m not my mom”, he says sharply.

“I know”, Wayne assures him, “you’ve been doin’ real well and I’m proud of ya. But it’s okay if you’re strugglin’ right now. You can come to me, alright? I just wanna help yah.”

“I’m fine”, Eddie insists. He’s starting to feel like a broken record at this point.

“Okay”, Wayne says, “but you’d tell me if you weren’t, right?”

“Of course”, Eddie says and he can feel the guilt starting to stir in his gut at the blatant lie. He knows Wayne means well, but there are some things he simply can’t help Eddie with, and there’s no point putting that burden onto him.

“You’re not alone, Son”, Wayne tells him, “you have me, and Izzy.”

“I know”, Eddie mutters. He wishes Wayne would let up with the touchy-feely stuff because he just might start tearing up if it continues.

“I love you, Eddie”, Wayne says.

“I love you too”, Eddie replies.

That satisfies Wayne for now, and Eddie decides he really needs a smoke. He’s not proud of that, he’d quit when Izzy was born but his nerves are frayed and he is in desperate need of something to take the edge off. It’s better than falling back into certain other habits. He ends up sneaking a Marlboro Red from the drawer in Wayne’s dresser that the older man hides his stash in. He seems to be under the impression Eddie doesn’t know about it, which he does. Wayne doesn’t ever do it around Izzy, though, so Eddie decided when it came time to pick his battles that this particular one isn’t top priority. He doesn’t like that Wayne still smokes but he doesn’t want to push it, especially considering the man allows him and his daughter to live in his home rent free. Besides, it did just save him from having to make a run to the gas station.

When Eddie goes outside, he notices a figure sitting at the nearby picnic table. Upon closer inspection he sees it’s Max Mayfield. Most of the displaced Forest Hills residents had been funneled into the same replacement trailer park, so it’s not a shock the Munsons and the Mayfields have maintained their proximity.

“Hey Munson”, Max greets, her milky eyes staring sightlessly into the distance.

“How’d you know it was me?” Eddie asks.

“I can hear you jingling from like a mile away”, Max retorts.

“Oh, yeah, makes sense”, Eddie says, peering down at the chains on his jeans, “mind if I…”

“Sure”, Max says between puffs on her cigarette, “it’s a free country.”

“Didn’t know you smoked, Red”, Eddie comments as he plops down beside her and lights his own cigarette.

“Yeah, well, after everything that’s happened I just kind of picked it up.”

“How’s your mom?” he asks.

“Better since she got the new liver”, Max tells him.

Eddie had been there to witness a few of the times the medics were called to revive Mrs. Mayfield after she nearly drank herself to death. He can’t really judge her, not with the amount of Naloxone he’s required in his life.

“She found out Neil died in a car crash a few months ago”, Max tells him, “I was sure she was gonna fall off the wagon.”

Eddie offers a contemplative hum. Aside from being neighbors, he feels a certain kinship to Max, since the two of them bear the most physical scars from the Vecna ordeal. She’d gotten out of Hawkins, but ended up coming back to care for her ailing mother. Eddie feels bad for her, but admittedly he likes that she lives nearby. Steve is the only one left in town besides them, and it’s good to have people he can talk to that know the full truth.

“Sometimes I kind of wish she would already”, Max sighs, “I know she’s going to eventually. I tried to get her to join a group or something but she won’t listen.”

“Maybe Hank can help”, Eddie suggests.

Max shrugs. “I can’t even worry about it right now with all of the other shit I’ve got going on. Fuck, there’s the nightmares and the headaches…”

“You’ve been having nightmares and headaches?” Eddie asks, “have you been hallucinating too?”

“How’d you know?” Max frowns.

“It’s happening to me, too”, Eddie tells her.

“Shit”, Max mutters, “I mean I get like this sometimes but if it’s happening to you too…”

“What?” Eddie asks, but he thinks maybe he knows the answer already.

“You haven’t seen a clock, have you?”

“No”, Eddie replies.

“That’s good”, Max goes on, “if it’s him…”

“Whoa whoa whoa…him”, Eddie interrupts, “you think-you think Vecna is doing this.”

“I don’t know”, Max shakes her head, “maybe.”

“But I mean, he’s dead, right?” Eddie asks.

“Who knows”, Max sighs.

Eddie supposes that’s a fair enough point. Neither of them can say with certainty Vecna’s death. Maybe Eleven or Will could sense him but they’re all the way in California right now.

“You really think it could be him?” Eddie asks, even if he’s starting to draw that same conclusion himself. He doesn’t want to face a reality where Vecna is alive and haunting the town of Hawkins once again.

Max just shrugs. They sit together in a solemn, contemplative silence for a few minutes before Max stands up, grabbing the cane that’s propped up against the table.

“I should go”, she says, “my mom sometimes forgets to take her meds if I don’t remind her.”

“Okay”, Eddie replies, “um, see you around I guess.”

“Yeah”, Max responds, “just…just be careful okay? In case, you know…”

“You too”, Eddie tells her.

She’s pretty adept at getting around these days, at least in the places she’s familiar with, so she barely has to use her cane to get from the picnic table back to her trailer. Eddie watches her go, their conversation playing over in his head. Nightmares, headaches, hallucinations. They’re experiencing the same thing, and it’s an awful lot like what Chrissy and the others went through. An image of himself warped and mangled like they’d been flashes through his mind. He doesn’t want to go out like that, doesn’t want to leave Izzy as an orphan.

If Vecna is behind all this though, he’s not sure what all they can do. They very nearly lost to him the last time they fought, and Eddie doesn’t know if they could do it again.

He finishes his cigarette, then stands and makes his way back inside the trailer, trying desperately to quell the heavy feeling of dread that’s begun to make its way into his gut.

Chapter Text

Eddie winds up sneaking into bed with Izzy that night. He knows he shouldn’t but the evening’s events have left him sufficiently shaken and he hates the thought of being alone right now. Besides, if he’s here with Izzy then he knows she’s safe.

Her cheeks are slowly starting to lose their baby fat, which he’s sad about because they’re adorable. He doesn’t want to think about her growing up. He’s her best friend right now, he doesn’t want to lose the closeness they share. He remembers how much of a stubborn pain in the ass he was to Wayne during his teen years and he dreads the day Izzy becomes the same.

If he lives to see it, of course.

His eyes wander over to the Walkman sitting on the bedside table, all ready to go just in case. He’s recounted the tale of their first time battling Vecna to Wayne enough times that he knows what to do.

In the meantime, Eddie does his best to occupy himself with happy thoughts. Izzy practicing her ballet moves in the living room. The time he and Wayne took her to Indy to see the zoo. All the moments that make the endless barrage of misfortune he’s endured worth it.

He may have been to Hell and back, but at least he got Izzy out of the deal. He wouldn’t give her up for anything.
-
His head is pounding even worse than usual when he goes to work that morning. The various cacophony of machinery echoing through the shop doesn’t help matters. He downs a cup of coffee in the vain hope that it’s just a caffeine headache. It’s not, and his head keeps throbbing. Maybe he can go get some Aspirin on his lunch break.

“Morning”, Roger greets.

“Morning”, Eddie manages to get out.

“You don’t look so good”, Roger comments.

“I’m fine”, Eddie assures him. He can see the man side-eyeing him as he heads to his station but he doesn’t have time to do the whole song and dance. His strategy moving forward is very much ‘ignore it and hope it goes away.’ He can’t afford to lose it when he has Izzy to support.

Sighing, he pulls his hair back into a bun and rolls up his sleeves. Losing himself in his work seems like the best remedy at the moment. He gets started on a Dodge with a busted carburetor, trying not to think about Vecna or the visions.

It’s hard, of course, trying to put it out of his mind. It’s been there the whole time, really, lurking in the back of his mind, haunting him since the night Chrissy died. He can’t say for certain, if it’s Vecna doing this or just a manifestation of his own guilt. Either way, the gnawing sensation that disaster is lurking on the horizon hangs over him.

If Vecna makes a move, Hawkins is more or less defenseless, and if it's not Vecna, well, that doesn’t really bode well either. Eddie knows in his bones that he can’t keep going like this forever. If the nightmares and the hallucinations continue, he’ll end up going back to the needle eventually. He hates that fact, but there’s no point in lying to himself. It’s already hard enough to stay sober. It’s been over three years since he last used heroin and not a day has gone by that he hasn’t thought about it. The cravings can sometimes be ignored, but they’ve never truly gone away. All he needs is a little push, a good excuse, and he’ll easily end up right back where he was before Izzy was born.

His vision of Hank from last night, whatever might have caused it, was cruel, but it was also correct. Eddie is weak. He’s a puppet on broken strings, something torn asunder and hastily thrown back together. One wrong move, one ounce of additional pressure, and he’ll come apart at the seams. That’s all he’s ever been. Broken and weak and useless. Every label that’s ever been placed upon him, good or bad, he’s worn them all in a vain attempt to deny it. He’s not a hero, he’s not a cult leader, he’s not a criminal, he’s not a rebel. He’s nothing. Just a fucking waste of space.

“Munson”, Roger’s voice startles Eddie out of his spiraling thoughts.

“Yeah, boss?” Eddie replies, trying his best to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“Why don’t you take a 10 minute break”, Roger suggests, “you’ve been standing there staring at that same valve for half an hour.”

“Oh shit, sorry”, Eddie mutters, “don’t suppose you got a smoke on you?”

Roger reaches into his shirt pocket and produces a pack, holding it out for Eddie.

“Thought you didn’t smoke”, he comments.

“I don’t”, Eddie replies, “I just um, I’ve just been stressed lately, you know?”

Roger nods, placing an affable hand on Eddie’s shoulder and gesturing for him to step outside of the garage. Eddie obliges, making his way out of the building and towards his van. He may have quit smoking and shooting up, but even so he’s never broken the habit of keeping a lighter in his van. It just seemed like something that might come in handy one day.

Upon retrieving the lighter he makes his way around the back of the building, propping himself up against the wall as he lights his cigarette. He takes a drag, spurring a strange conflicting sensation of relief at the soothing dose of nicotine and disgust at himself for once again giving into temptation.

Weak. So fucking weak.

He should be stronger. He should resist. That's what a good dad would do. Eddie’s not a good dad, though. He’s a passable one. He’s one that manages the bare minimum of keeping his child alive. Good dads don’t live with their uncle, they own homes for themselves and their kids. Good dads can get their kids nice new clothes and toys instead of whatever second hand stuff they manage to scrounge up. Good dads don’t go to bed dreaming of getting to use drugs again. Izzy is a good kid, a great kid even. She deserves a dad who’s as amazing as she is. Instead she’s stuck with Eddie.

Bitterly, he wonders if there is a better dad out there for her somewhere. Maybe Eddie’s selfish for forcing her to be his daughter. Maybe he’d be doing her a favor if he ate a fucking bullet and let her go on without him in her life to ruin things.

Sighing, Eddie closes his eyes, swallows back the pit that’s forming in his gut at the thought. Suddenly Wayne’s appearing in his head, looking at him with that sad, scared expression he’d been wearing during their little chat last night. It’s far too familiar to him at this point. No matter what Eddie does, how hard he tries, he always just ends up putting that look on Wayne’s face.

He’s a fuck up, plain and simple. After 27 years on this earth, he may as well accept it.
-
Eddie uses his lunch break to run to Melvald’s for some ibuprofen. It dulls the headache somewhat, but not completely. It’s the best he can do at the moment. The rest of his day goes by slowly, but he’s able to stay a little more focused than in the morning. He’s on the last hour of his shift when he pushes himself out from under the jeep he’s working on only to be met with a strange buzzing sound. Confused, he stands up, glancing at his coworkers, who don’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Eddie is about to walk over to the closest one and ask them about it when the lights in the shop suddenly cut out. They begin to flicker, on and off, and Eddie quickly realizes with each brief flash of light he gets that the rest of his coworkers are gone.

“Shit”, he remarks.

The lights go dark again, and come back on again, and this time when they do, Eddie can make out a figure standing across the garage. It takes a few flashes for Eddie to really get a look at them. They, or rather he, is unnaturally tall, his body covered in what looks like vines that meld into his purplish skin. His face looks as if the flesh has been stripped away, leaving a horrifying, noseless visage and a set of piercing blue eyes. Eddie’s never seen Vecna in person, but it’s not hard to put together that it’s him.

“No”, Eddie whimpers, “no please.”

“Eddie”, his voice echoes through the garage.

“No”, Eddie cries, scrambling backwards until he can feel his back hit the wall, “just leave me alone!”

“You can’t run from me, Eddie”, Vecna says, taking several slow but purposeful steps forward.

“Leave me alone”, Eddie begs, “leave us alone.”

He closes his eyes, willing the nightmare to just end. Miraculously, it does, as when he opens his eyes, Vecna is gone and his coworkers have returned.

“Munson? Eddie?” Roger calls.

“Hm?” Eddie replies.

“Why don’t you just take off son. I’ll pay you for the rest of the hour, it’s not that long anyway. Just go home and get some rest.”

“Yeah, okay”, Eddie nods. He doesn’t need to be told twice. He scurries out to his car and his hand brushes the lighter in his pocket and suddenly he’s getting a truly terrible idea.

Wayne won’t expect him back home for another forty five minutes at least. That’s plenty of time to run to where Buzz, his old dealer, usually sets up shop. He’ll have something. Xanax or Valium or something. Not heroin, he can’t go down that path again, but there’s bound to be something that can silence the ghosts.

He knows it’s a slippery slope. There’s a reason he hasn’t so much as had a beer since getting clean. He wouldn’t do it normally, but in light of everything he thinks it might be the best option. Maybe Chrissy was correct in her instinct to try drugs to escape Vecna.

He’ll get a little something to calm himself down, and once this is over he won’t touch anything like that again. It’s risky, but as he reaches the literal fork in the road between going home and going to meet Buzz, he ultimately picks the latter.

He makes it pretty close to his destination when things, as usual, go sideways. One second he’s staring at an empty road, the next a figure is appearing. Eddie doesn’t register at first, but after a moment, he realizes it’s Jason Carver. It occurs to him that this is obviously just a hallucination, but by then it’s too late. Eddie tries to correct his swerve, but he doesn’t manage to get far enough before the front of his car makes contact with a nearby tree. The last thing he registers is the jolt of force that comes along with the impact, and then everything goes black.

Chapter Text

The continued beeping of a car horn is what greets Eddie upon gaining awareness.

No wonder, when he opens his eyes he realizes he’s pancaked against the airbag. As he peels himself off of it, he starts recalling the events leading up to this. Seeing Jason on the road and crashing his car. All because he’d been going to get a fix. Guilt twists in his gut. If there was ever a sign to not do drugs tonight, it’s this. Besides he’s not sure how he’d even get there given the damage to the van.

He stumbles out onto the road as a woman approaches him. His head is spinning, and he feels a stinging in his forehead that might be from a cut.

“Oh my God”, she gasps, “are you okay?”

“ ‘m fine”, Eddie says shakily, though he sounds anything but.

“Hang on”, the woman says, “there’s a pay phone just up the road. I’m gonna go call for help, just stay here alright?”

“I’m fine”, Eddie insists, but he knows it won’t do any good. His van isn’t going anywhere, they’ll have to get a tow truck out here at least.

Of course that comes with the police and an ambulance. The officers take Eddie and the woman’s statements and the paramedics check him over, probing him and asking him to move his limbs and if he can feel things. He winces when they shine a penlight in his eyes.

“Alright Eddie”, one of them says, “you seem to only have minor injuries, but we’re going to take you to the hospital just to make sure.”

Eddie agrees, because his head hurts really bad and he doesn’t know how else he’ll even get home. When they take him to the hospital he’s shoved into a curtained off area to wait for a doctor to come see him. He tries his best to stay calm as he sits there. He knows they’ll inevitably call Wayne, since he’s Eddie’s next of kin. Eddie will make up a story about how he swerved to avoid a deer or something, and hopefully Wayne won’t freak out.

His airtight plan gets interrupted in the rudest of ways. A nurse comes in to get his vitals, and as she’s reading Eddie’s blood pressure her face morphs into a mess of grotesque rotting flesh. He jumps and screams.

“No”, he cries, “not again.”

“Sir”, the nurse says, “are you okay?”

Her face reverts back to normal, of course, but Eddie’s still left spooked by it.

“Sorry”, he mutters. She peers at him with a confused look for a moment before schooling her expression into a pleasant, reassuring smile.

“I’m gonna try that again”, she says kindly. Eddie nods and closes his eyes. He knows it’ll only be a matter of time before the next hallucination comes, and it’s getting really difficult to keep their presence a secret.

“Your blood pressure is still elevated”, the nurse comments, “but that could be from getting startled. Are you stressed right now?”

That’s a resounding yes. He’s clenched so tightly you could stick a lump of coal in his ass and he’d shit out a diamond. Every last bit of work he’s put into moving on from the events that transpired in March of ‘86 is coming undone.

It’s determined he’ll need stitches in his forehead, and that he’s a little bruised up but otherwise uninjured. They give him something to numb the area around the gash and leave him to wait for it to set in. Eddie lays back and closes his eyes, fighting back the headache that’s ratcheting up again.

It’s not even a surprise anymore, when the lights start to flicker and he looks up to see Chrissy’s mangled body on the ceiling.

“This isn’t real”, Eddie mutters, “this isn’t real.”

Above him, Chrissy begins to jerk, her limbs cracking and twisting as they rearrange themselves. She pushes herself up and begins to crawl across the ceiling with stilted, jerky movements. All the while her eyeless sockets stay fixed on Eddie. It feels like she’s looking at him with silent accusation.

“I’m sorry”, Eddie cries, “I-I tried, okay? I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

Chrissy reaches the edge of the ceiling and begins to make her way down the wall. When she reaches the floor she begins creeping towards Eddie, a series of obscene cracks accompanying the unnatural movements of her misshapen limbs. Her jaw hangs unnaturally wide and blood weeps from her eye sockets.

“I’m sorry”, Eddie whimpers, “I’m so sorry Chrissy.”

Her mangled hands, caked in dirt and grime, plant themselves on the end of Eddie’s hospital bed and he watches in horror as she pulls herself up, launching herself on top of him.

“No”, he screams, struggling against her. She’s impressively strong for the mangled corpse of a petite cheerleader, “get off me.”

She looms inches from his face and lets out a haunting, inhuman wail.

“Let me go”, Eddie cries.

“Eddie, son, calm down”, he hears and it sounds like Wayne. Confused, he blinks a few times only to find himself in his hospital bed with an orderly pinning him down instead of Chrissy’s corpse. Wayne is standing there, Izzy beside him with her face buried against his leg. Her stuffed bunny Ozzy is clutched in her hands. She likes to bring him places, especially if she’s scared or stressed. She’s upset right now, and it’s Eddie’s fault. Father of fucking year.

Eddie takes in shaky breaths, trying his best to calm himself as the orderly determines he’s not a threat and releases him. He might have been able to explain away the accident, but there’s no hiding this little outburst.

“Easy there”, Wayne says gently, “what’s goin’ on, Kid? Got a call that you were in a car crash.”

“I’m fine”, Eddie says quietly, “I just thought I saw something in the road.”

Wayne frowns, and every one of the 60 or so years he’s been alive is visible in the lines on his face.

“Eddie”, he says, his eyes shining with concern, “what’s been going on with you, lately? First with Hank and now this. Son, are you seein’ things?”

Eddie nods, feeling shame creep up in his cheeks. He’d sat there the night before and promised Wayne he was okay. It was a lie, and now Wayne knows it.

“It’s not from drugs is it?” is a fair question for Wayne to ask next, but it stings all the same.

“No”, Eddie insists, “I’m not on drugs, okay?”

The nurse from before, who Eddie hadn’t even realized was here with them, steps up then.

“You should be numbed up enough”, she says, “I’ll get you stitched up, and when Dr. Martin comes in, you can tell her about what’s been going on.”

Eddie agrees, happy to not have to be having this conversation with Wayne anymore. Thankfully stitching him up is pretty quick. Ideally he could have just gotten it done and then they’d be able to go home, but clearly that’s not going to happen.

When the stitches are done, the nurse and orderly leave, and Eddie feels a sudden movement that turns out to be Izzy attempting to climb up onto the bed. He wordlessly helps her up, and she places herself on his lap, wrapping her tiny arms around him and gripping on for dear life.

He gently rubs her back, guilt clawing at him. She shouldn’t have to deal with all of this.

Dr. Martin is apparently taking her damn time, because they end up waiting for a while. At some point, Jim Hopper shows up, all dressed in uniform. Oh, right. He and Joyce split up a few years back. Eddie was on the straight and narrow by then, so he hasn't had much interaction with the man since his return. He has no idea what happened to lead up to it, just that Hopper ended up moving back to town while Joyce stayed in California.

Hopper greets them all, then starts explaining to Eddie that his van was towed to the shop, and honestly he’s lucky because they’ve had a few crashes on that stretch of Clearwater Road and one of them had ended in a fatality.

Eddie sees Wayne glance over at him when Hopper says that last part.

“Clearwater”, he says, “what were you doin’ all the way out there?”

Eddie has to take a second to formulate a response to that. He can’t just tell Wayne that he was planning on buying drugs, the man would lose it.

“I just-I had to run an errand after work”, he comes up with, and it isn’t even technically a lie.

He doesn’t know if Wayne buys that or not, but in any event the man must decide this isn’t the time or place to be having this conversation, because he drops it.

Dr. Martin finally shows up just as Hopper is leaving.

“Hello, Eddie”, she greets, “I’m Dr. Martin and I’m a neurologist here at the hospital.”

It hits Eddie in that moment that this whole ordeal is getting to be a lot more complicated than he thought. His attempts at playing anything off have been pitifully ineffective, and now they’re sending in a fucking neurologist to deal with him.

“Um, hi”, he replies.

“I understand you’ve been having hallucinations, is that correct?”

Eddie nods, purposefully adjusting his gaze so that he doesn’t have to look at Wayne.

“Are they visual, like you see them, auditory as in you hear them, or both?”

“Um, both.”

He still doesn’t look at Wayne, even when the man lets out a small sound of concern. Izzy, for her part, is half asleep on Eddie’s lap, too young to understand the full gravity of what her father having audiovisual hallucinations truly is.

“How often do you have them?” is Dr. Martin’s next question.

Eddie shrugs. “I don’t know, a few times a day.”

“And when did this start?”

“Friday”, he explains.

Dr. Martin nods, and Eddie can’t see through her mask of professionalism to tell what exactly it is she’s thinking. Hopefully that this is actually a minor, normal occurrence and Eddie can go home soon, although he doubts that.

“What’s goin’ on with him, Doc?” Wayne asks, “what’s causin’ all this?”

“Well, there are any number of things that can cause hallucinations”, she says, “could be environmental, like a gas leak, although if that was the case, any other residents of the home would probably be experiencing similar things.”

“Nothin’ like that”, Wayne replies, “Izzy and I live in the same place and we’ve been just fine.”

“In that case, it could be a manifestation of certain mental conditions like Schizophrenia, or it could have physiological causes like encephalitis or a tumor.”

Or an evil interdimensional telepath, Eddie thinks to himself.

“Jesus”, Wayne gasps.

“Have you been experiencing any other issues lately, Eddie?” Dr. Martin asks.

“Um, headaches”, he says.

“Okay, well, I’d like to run a few tests so we can hopefully figure out the cause and determine our next steps from there. Does that sound good, Eddie?”

Not really, no. Eddie doesn’t want to be here all evening being poked and prodded at. One glance at Wayne tells him the man isn’t going to relax until he’s sure Eddie’s not gonna die of brain cancer though, so he relents.

“Yeah, okay”, he says.
-
Eddie’s made to get undressed down to his boxers and given a hospital gown, after which he’s sure he won’t be getting home for quite some time. They stick him in a very loud, very uncomfortable machine for some sort of scan that he really doesn’t enjoy.

It’s all for nothing, unsurprisingly, because every test they run comes back completely normal. The scan was clean, his blood tests were all within normal range. He’d figured as much, though there was a part of him clinging to the idea that maybe there was a non-Upside Down related reason for the hallucinations. Evidently, that’s not the case.

“So, I’m pretty confident that whatever’s going on with Eddie isn’t a neurological issue”, Dr. Martin explains, “which means it’s probably psychological in nature. I’m going to go ahead and refer Eddie to my colleague Dr. Michaels for a psych evaluation.”

Oh joy, Eddie thinks, a shrink. Just what he needed, some stuffy guy trying to pick his brains apart. To be honest he feels a little sorry for this Dr. Michaels, because Eddie’s head is about as fucked up as they come. He supposes he can’t be too bitter though, this seemingly endless parade of doctors is his own fault after all.
-
Dr. Michaels is an older man with a pair of spectacles that sit perched atop his nose. After he introduces himself, Wayne and Izzy are sent away so that he and Eddie can talk in private.

Their conversation is a lot like the ones Eddie has at meetings with Hank and the others. Lots of trying to dance around questions, lots of trying to determine how much information he can provide without accidentally letting something classified slip. He also tries to downplay things, something he’d done when he first started attending the group. It had taken time for him to learn that it was okay to open up to the other members, that they wouldn’t judge him for his past. This guy though, he’s a total stranger, and Eddie isn’t all that eager to bare his soul to him.

He can’t lie outright, of course. Everyone knows that he’s been hallucinating, so if he tries to pretend like everything’s just fine, they’ll see through the lie. Instead he’s left doing a tightrope act of trying to give away the right amount of information.

“Well, thanks Eddie”, Dr. Michaels says when the evaluation is over, “I’m gonna have a chat with your uncle, if that’s alright.”

“Yeah, okay”, Eddie replies.

Izzy enters the room shortly after Dr. Michaels leaves, presumably to give Wayne and him some privacy. Don’t want her overhearing them discuss what a nutcase her father is.

He can see from the way that her hands are fidgeting with Ozzy that she’s freaked out, and he can’t blame her. She’s smart enough to know that they’re in a hospital, which is a place for sick and injured people. Clearly she’s worked out that if Eddie is here, he must be sick or injured, and it’s scaring her.

“Daddy”, she says as she hurries to the side of the bed and waits patiently for Eddie to help her up, “when can we go home?”

“I don’t know, baby”, Eddie sighs, aiding her in taking up her former position on his lap.

“Are you sick, Daddy?” she asks and he honestly doesn’t know how to answer that.

Is he sick? He doesn’t think so, but then again, his mom probably wouldn’t have said she was either, and he saw how that ended up. The last thing he would ever want is for Izzy to go through the pain that he did when she died.

“Um, I don’t know”, he admits. Izzy grips tighter to him.

“I don’t want you to be sick”, she says and Eddie fights back tears. He hates what he’s doing to her, hates that she has to be worrying about him when she should get to be happy and carefree instead.

“I know”, he mutters softly.

Wayne and Dr. Michaels return to Eddie’s room a few minutes later. He can see Wayne’s expression, and he knows the man is concerned but trying to appear calm.

“Alright Eddie”, Dr. Michaels starts, “in light of everything, my recommendation is that you be admitted to the psychiatric ward while we try to get this under control.”

Eddie closes his eyes, wills back the tears that are threatening to form in them. He feels a hand come to rest on his shoulder and looks over to see Wayne peering at him.

“Eddie”, he says, “I know you don’t wanna be away from home or nothin’, but this’ll be good for you.”

Eddie feels something hot and wet roll down his cheeks. He hates that he has to be like this and cause Wayne so much stress all the time. Wayne’s constantly burdened with worry. About Eddie using again, about Eddie hurting himself. He supposes that if shit does hit the fan, it’s probably best if it’s away from Wayne and Izzy, so they don’t have to see it.

“Yeah, okay”, he agrees.
-
Saying goodbye to Izzy is a miserable exercise. She cries and hugs him tightly, but when Wayne tells her it’s time to leave, she gives Eddie a kiss goodbye and follows after him without complaining. Eddie fights back more tears. He doesn’t deserve such a great daughter, not when all he seems to do is cause her misery.

He thinks that maybe, this really is for the best. Maybe he should be locked away so that he doesn’t continue poisoning everyone’s lives.

The psychiatric unit of Hawkins Hospital is best described as ‘bleak’. The walls are all a washed out green and beige and there’s not enough windows to offset the pallid gloom that hangs over it. The room they stick Eddie in is rather barren. A bed that honestly might be better described as a cot, a bedside table, desk and dresser are the only items inside, though he finds there’s a small attached bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink.

Wayne promised to bring some things for him tomorrow, but in the meantime he’s stuck with a set of plain white scrubs. They also plan on starting him on some sort of medication in the morning, but he gets a sedative tonight so he can sleep.

It does its job, that’s for sure. It’s not long after taking it that he can feel his mind start to go fuzzy. Exhausted, he lets his eyes slip shut.

Chapter Text

It takes Eddie a few minutes upon waking to recall the events of the previous day. Vecna, the crash, the hospital…Fuck. It’s become a huge damn mess at this point.

After a breakfast of toast and a disturbingly powdery looking helping of what the staff claim is scrambled eggs, a nurse comes by with a pill and a cup of water.

“What is this?” he asks when she offers it to him.

“Clozapine”, she informs him, “it’s an antipsychotic. Dr. Michaels wanted to get you started on it right away.”

Maybe Eddie should be a bit more cautious when it comes to taking mysterious drugs being offered to him, given his history with substances, but he’s physically and mentally exhausted at this point, so he isn’t going to put up a fight. Instead, he just takes the offering and quickly swallows the pill back. It occurs to him that it probably doesn’t matter what exactly the medication he’s taking is. If Max is right, he’ll most likely be dead within a few days anyway.

A mangled, eyeless corpse like Chrissy and the others. The thought has the powdery pseudo-eggs threatening to make a reappearance.
-
Clozapine hits Eddie like a semi-truck.

He swears he can feel his brain melting under its influence. A thick fog clouds his mind at all times, and he just can’t shake it off. It’s like those summer days he spent at the lake growing up, when he’d float just beneath the surface of the water and stare up at the sky. The world is like that now, visible but not quite tangible, not quite real.

It’s been two days though, and he hasn’t seen Vecna, so maybe it isn’t so bad after all. The morning of the first day, he’d been given a bag with some of his clothes that Wayne dropped by. T-shirts and sweatpants mostly, the hospital is apparently strict about what patients are allowed to have while inside. It does feel good to actually have his own clothes, which is as much as joy as he can hope for right now.

In the morning, Eddie is rounded up with the other patients for group therapy. It’s like his N.A. meetings, but far worse. At least he’s familiar with everyone at those, and they all share a common bond thanks to their pasts. These people are complete strangers, and if Eddie’s learned one thing about strangers in his life, it’s that a lot of them are quick to judge him.

Besides, it’s not like he can admit what he’s really thinking. He can’t go telling them it might be an evil superhuman that lives in another dimension causing his symptoms, that the government has covered up a bunch of insane supernatural occurrences, that he watched an invisible force kill Chrissy Cunningham.

Dr. Meyer, the doctor that leads the sessions, doesn’t ask him about his visions most of the time anyway, it’s stuff about coping strategies and how he’s handling grief in his life. Not fun to talk about either, but it’s better than being asked about his hallucinations.

When he’s the one talking, it’s awkward and invasive. When someone else is talking, it’s usually dull. Most of the other patients seem to be in a similar position to Eddie. Exhausted, worn down, and not at all interested in being where they currently are. All in all it doesn’t make for particularly stimulating conversation.

Afterwards, he’s served a disappointing lunch and turned loose into the common area. There’s not much to do but play cheap board games or find a book from the shelf in the corner, something Eddie doesn’t actually mind much. Normally, he’d probably be going stir crazy being stuck here with so little to do, but he’s so exhausted constantly that all he really even has the energy for is sitting around and zoning out in front of the shitty old tv.

“Eddie”, Caroline, one of the nurses he’s gotten most familiar with, calls out to him at one point, “you have visitors.”

Eddie shambles into the visiting area and finds Wayne and Izzy waiting for him.

“Daddy!” Izzy squeals, throwing herself at Eddie’s legs and wrapping them in a warm embrace.

“Hey, Princess”, Eddie greets, running a hand through her hair.

“Hey, Kiddo”, Wayne smiles, “how you feelin’ today?”

“Okay”, Eddie tells him. As he does, he wipes at the stream of drool that’s half dried on his chin. Another side effect of the meds, he’d been told.

Wayne’s grin doesn’t falter, but there’s a sadness in his eyes that Eddie can easily pick out, even in his drugged up state.

“You been sleepin’ okay?” Wayne asks.

Eddie nods. The meds knock him out at night, so much so he once wet the bed because he was sleeping so soundly. Being on antipsychotics hasn’t been a fun experience in the least, but he supposes it’s better than the alternative.

“We learned about colors at school”, Izzy informs him, and it’s honestly nice to hear how casual and upbeat her tone is. It isn't full of forced cheeriness like Wayne’s is, “we learned how to make green and orange and purple.”

“That sounds fun”, Eddie replies, internally cringing at how worn out he sounds. It’s not that he isn’t thrilled to see Izzy, it’s just that he feels so damn tired and spacey all the time.

“Have you been, you know, havin’ problems?” Wayne asks. Seeing things, he means, but he doesn’t want to say that in front of Izzy.

“No”, Eddie shakes his head.

“That’s great”, Wayne says, and this smile feels a little more genuine. Eddie wishes he could feel that same optimism, but he just can’t. He feels like he’s stuck in limbo at this point, like he’s in the calm before the storm and at any moment shit will hit the fan.

He has no idea how long the drugs will keep Vecna at bay, assuming he’s the one behind all this in the first place. Or maybe he’ll give up on Eddie and keep going on with whatever plan he’s got anyway. Either way, things are probably about to get bad again.

He supposes it’s also possible that the drugs aren’t stopping Vecna, that he actually is gone and all of the hallucinations really are just Eddie’s own head fucking with him. He doesn’t know how to feel about that possibility. If that’s the case, does it mean he really is sick in the head? Fuck, things got rough for his mom, but not even she saw things that weren’t there. What if this isn’t a one time break down, what if it never goes away? What if he has to spend the rest of his life drugged to the gills just to keep the visions at bay?

Wayne had done his best to shield Eddie from the worst of his mom’s affliction, but even still, it was hard on him. He remembers what it’s like, for a parent to start behaving strangely and to not understand why. To come home from school and find them still in bed. To try desperately to get them to play with you, talk to you, spend time with you like they used to. He doesn’t want that for Izzy.
-
After the visit is over, Eddie is faced with his least favorite part of the day, one on one therapy with Dr. Michaels. Eddie hates when the man pokes around in his head, because it’s making him realize he hasn’t dealt with things as well as he thought. All those wounds are coming open now, festering to the surface. The guilt of all those deaths, the stress of raising Izzy, the drug cravings that plague him constantly. All of the things he has to shove into a dark corner of his mind just to let himself be able to function every day.

“Hello Eddie”, Dr. Michaels greets when Eddie enters the office.

“Hi”, Eddie replies, slumping into his usual chair. He’s not in the mood for a conversation right now.

“How are you feeling?” Dr. Michaels asks, “have you been having issues with the side effects from the meds?

Yes, but he doesn’t say that in case it draws this out even longer than normal.

“I’m fine”, he shrugs instead.

“Good”, Dr. Michaels grins, “I’m very pleased with how it’s been going so far. You seem to be responding to treatment well. To start us off today, I’d like to talk a little bit about your mom.”

As he says it, he pulls out his damn notepad and pen. He does it every time, scribbles down details while Eddie recounts the worst moments of his life to him. He doesn’t want to talk about his mom, not in the least, and he especially doesn’t want Dr. Michaels to write everything he says down.

“What about her?” Eddie asks, affixing his gaze to a random spot on the wall behind Dr. Michaels as he fidgets with his hands. They’re not allowed to wear jewelry in the psych ward, so he sadly doesn’t have his rings to occupy himself with.

“I understand she struggled with mental health issues as well.”

“She killed herself when I was six”, Eddie mutters.

“How did it make you feel when that happened?” Dr. Michaels asks.

“Bad”, Eddie huffs. He’s not sure how Dr. Michaels hasn’t pieced that one together.

“Bad how?” Dr. Michaels wonders, “sad? Angry?”

“I don’t know. Both I guess”, Eddie admits, “I mean, she-she left me all alone with my useless deadbeat father. I know she was sick but like…what about me? Did she not love me enough to stick around? Or maybe-maybe it’s me. Maybe if I was a better son she wouldn’t have-wouldn’t have done it.”

He knows what Dr. Michaels is going to say. That he shouldn’t blame himself, that it wasn’t his fault. People have been telling him that for years. It’s never done much to help ease his guilt.

He peers up at the doctor, prepares to hear the familiar refrain, but he’s quickly distracted from the conversation by the sight of a figure that appears behind and to the side of the man’s shoulder. It’s his dad, he realizes, though he looks a lot younger than he had when Eddie last saw him years ago. Closer to how he had when Eddie was a child.

Eddie blinks a few times, but Al doesn’t disappear.

“Eddie”, Dr. Michaels says, “are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine”, Eddie mutters.

“Liar”, Al laughs.

Eddie’s not going to engage. He knows for a fact that this vision of his father isn’t real, and there’s no point acknowledging him, especially not in front of his psychiatrist.

“Maybe we should change the subject for a bit”, Dr. Michaels suggests, “we can come back to that later. Let’s talk about your daughter instead.”

“What about her?” Eddie asks, doing his absolute best to keep his gaze affixed on him and not the vision of Al that has yet to disappear.

“Surprise surprise”, Al taunts, “Eddie’s too scared to face something. Typical.”

It’s not real, Eddie reminds himself.

“You and her are close, aren’t you?” Dr. Michaels asks.

“Yeah”, Eddie says, “I mean, she’s my kid and all…”

Al is standing directly behind Dr. Michaels now. Eddie can’t really avoid looking at him now, unless he shifts his gaze completely, which would tip the doctor off.

“Is her mother in the picture?” Dr. Michaels asks.

“No”, Eddie explains, “she passed when Izzy was a baby. Overdose.”

“You’re pathetic”, Al laughs, “come on, Sport. Are you gonna do something or are you just gonna sit there like a pussy? Is that what you are?”

“Shut up”, Eddie mutters before he can stop himself.

“Pardon?” Dr. Michaels frowns.

“Nothing”, Eddie says.

“Were you and Izzy’s mom together?” Dr. Michaels asks.

“No…not really”, Eddie admits, “more like friends. And we didn’t live together.”

Dr. Michaels scribbles away on his notepad, and Eddie feels his heart sink in his chest when the lights begin to flicker.

“You can’t run anymore”, Al says, his voice growing warped. His eyes turn pure white and the skin on his face begins to peel and rot.

Dr. Michaels is saying something, but Eddie’s ears are buzzing and he’s frozen in terror as Al steps out from behind the desk. Before Eddie has time to think his body is reacting, launching him out of the chair. He stumbles backwards until he hits the wall, cowering before the warped image of his father as he looms over him.

“I always knew you were a worthless piece of shit”, Al spits.

“Eddie! Calm down”, a new voice chimes in. It’s one of the orderlies, Eddie thinks, but he’s too preoccupied to concern himself with it.

“You can’t run anymore”, Al threatens.

Eddie watches in horror as black vines erupt from the ground and begin to slither over him, pinning him.

“No”, he cries, “no. Let me go!”

He thrashes desperately but the vines are too strong. Al watches with amusement, even as Eddie feels a pricking sensation in his neck. Suddenly, his limbs begin to feel heavy, and his eyelids begin to droop. His movements grow weaker and weaker and his vision darkens as his eyes slip shut.

When he opens them, he’s not in Dr. Michaels’ office. He’s in the Upside Down. His stomach clenches in horror when he realizes he’s standing there, in that warped nightmarish version of Forest Hills Trailer Park.

There’s a group of people huddled in the distance. As he approaches he recognizes them and his heart pounds in his chest.

“Henderson”, Steve says, from where he’s standing over Dustin. The younger is sat on the ground and Eddie feels his throat tighten when he sees his younger self with his head in Dustin’s lap.

“We can’t leave him, Steve”, Dustin cries.

“He’s gone”, Steve tells him, “look, I’m sorry Dustin, but we have to go.”

“He can't be gone”, Dustin sobs, “he-he saved us. He’s a hero. He can’t be gone.”

“Come on”, Steve insists, “there’s nothing we can do now.”

Dustin sniffles, wiping his nose before nodding. He gently places Eddie’s head on the ground and rises up on shaking legs.

“I’m so sorry Eddie”, Dustin says tearfully, “I love you, man.”

He walks over to Steve, who places a comforting hand on his shoulder. The pair turn and begin to walk away when the past version of Eddie lets out a hacking cough. Flecks of blood spurt from his mouth as he sucks in wheezing breaths.

Dustin whips around.

“Eddie!” he calls out, running back over to Eddie’s side.

“Steve!” Dustin calls, “Steve! He’s alive.”

“That’s not possible Dustin. He wasn’t breathing, he didn’t have a pulse”, Steve insists.

“Well does now”, Dustin tells him, “he’s alive Steve, he’s looking at me.”

Steve comes walking over and looks at Past Eddie, his eyes going wide. He drops to his knees and presses two fingers to Eddie’s neck.

“Holy shit”, Steve says, “There’s a pulse. It’s weak but it’s there. How’s that possible? I swear he was dead.”

“I don’t know”, Dustin replies, “but he’s in bad shape. We have to get him back through the gate.”

“Okay um, let me…”, Steve murmurs. Eddie feels his metaphysical cheeks flushing red at the sight of Steve “the Hair” Harrington scooping his past self up into a bridal carry. It’s not as inherently romantic as Eddie would have hoped. Steve grunts and buckles a little under the pressure. At one point he mutters something about Eddie laying off the Honeycombs. Present Eddie is quite affronted on his past self’s behalf, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it.

“Eddie”, he hears a voice growl, and if he could get sick in a psychic dimension he would.

“Please”, Eddie cries, “just leave me alone.”

He knows it’s pointless to try and reason with the bastard but he’s not going down without a fight. He knows that whatever Vecna is planning to do to him, it’s not good. He can’t let himself be used in whatever the psychopath’s demented scheme is.

Vecna himself appears before Eddie as the sight of his past self and the others fade away into nothingness. It’s just him and Vecna now.

“I brought you back for a reason Eddie”, Vecna tells him. Eddie lets out a choked sob.

He’s known that he’d been “dead” that day, but he thought that meant Steve couldn’t find a pulse for a second or they had to do CPR or something. Not that he’d actually been dead for so long. He probably shouldn’t have just woken up after that. Has Vecna done something to him? Is he some kind of zombie or something?

He’d been perfectly normal health wise after he healed from his wounds, minus the scars and the occasional pain flare ups. They’re mostly manageable, but they come up sometimes and make him stiff and sore. Otherwise there were no lingering effects. The nosy government folks who love to poke into his business made sure of that. They never found anything abnormal in the battery of tests they love to run on him and everyone else involved. He gets them every year, just like Max, Will Byers, anyone who spent a lot of time in the Upside Down.

“What do you want from me?” Eddie asks, and he means to sound a lot tougher than he actually does.

Vecna’s response is cut off by a sound Eddie had not in a million years expected to hear. It’s Whitney Houston of all things that breaks through his trance. The song is all over the damn radio. Eddie turns and sees something in the distance. It looks like the white tiles that line every inch of ceiling in the hospital. He doesn’t question it, just takes off towards it.

Beneath his feet he can see vines shifting along the ground but he pushes forward.

“You can’t escape me, Eddie”, Vecna calls, but Eddie pushes on towards Whitney Houston’s ballad. Not his normal fare, and a little overplayed but if it can snap him out of this he’ll take it.

He leaps through the portal, and the world shifts and he jerks awake, a set of cloth restraints tightened around his wrists and ankles. He realizes he’s lying in a room, not his usual room, one of those rooms for the new patients who aren’t stable enough to be with the rest of them yet.

Tears wet his cheek, and he realizes there’s some really obnoxious orderly doing his rounds with a portable radio blaring Whitney Houston. Certainly not proper etiquette for working in a mental ward, but Eddie supposes he can’t complain when it just saved his life.

“Hey”, Eddie says weakly, “what’s going on?”

“You had to be sedated”, he explains, “I saw it, you were really freaked out man.”

Eddie has no time to dwell on that. His mind is reeling. Dustin and the others had never told him he was that far gone, but maybe they just hadn’t wanted to distress him with certain details. Or maybe Vecna was lying, it didn’t matter because one thing was clear, he intended to use Eddie for something. Eddie isn’t going to sit around and let that happen. He knows what he has to do, he has to stop himself from letting Vecna get a hold of him. He knows how to make sure of that once and for all.

Mr. Rude Orderly leaves but slipping into Munson mode is depressingly easy. He formulates a plan, gets the attention of a different orderly and tells him he needs to pee. The guy lets him out and directs Eddie into a bathroom attached to the room. Thinking on the fly, he shuts the door and then calls out to the orderly to inform him the room is out of toilet paper.

That's a lie, but it has its intended effect. Eddie knew the place would be too understaffed for anyone to respond to the orderly’s calls for a roll of toilet paper from housekeeping. He ends up having to wander off in search of one and, also as predicated, he didn’t bother to put Eddie back in his restraints. He takes his chance, darting from his room. Stealing the guy’s keys when he was helping Eddie stand up was so painfully Al Munson it was almost funny, but Eddie can’t dwell on it now.

He uses the key to override the lock on the elevator. He makes it inside just as the orderly is emerging from a storage closet at the end of the hall. He and Eddie lock eyes as the doors slide shut. He won’t have long before they’re sending people after him. He presses the button for the next floor up. It’s a random floor, for regular non-psych patients. Eddie ditches the elevator and makes for the stairs after that.

—!!!!!—

He races all the way to the roof, tears streaming down his cheeks. He doesn’t want to leave Izzy without a father, but he doesn’t see another way. As he throws open the door, the cold night air slams into his face. He ignores it, hurries to the nearest ledge and climbs up onto it. He thinks maybe he hears someone behind him, but he ignores it. The hospital isn’t the tallest building on earth by any means, but he thinks he can make it quick if he lands right. Izzy will be better off without him, everyone will.

“I don’t think you want to do that kid.”

He turns to see Jim Hopper standing behind him, a concerned expression on his face. Shit. He’s in his uniform but it seems like he got here awfully fast so maybe he’e been at the hospital anyway. Eddie doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter, he supposes,

“I-I have to”, he says tearfully.

Hopper takes a slow, cautious step closer to him, a deep frown etched into his features.

“Listen to me son”, he says, “I’m a dad, just like you, alright? Your little girl is gonna grow up. She’s gonna learn to ride a bike, she’s gonna learn to drive and go to prom and graduate high school. She wants you to be there for all of that. Believe me, it’s a gift and you shouldn’t waste it.”

“He won’t let me go”, Eddie whimpers.

“Whatever’s going on with you, we’ll figure this out, okay? Just let me help you. Please don’t make me call your uncle and tell him you’re dead.”

Eddie swallows thickly. He knows the pain Wayne went through when Eddie’s mom died. He cared a lot about her, took her in like a real sister. He loved her, and he loved Eddie. Wayne worked so hard to make sure they both had the support they needed and it hurt him when it wasn’t enough. Eddie had never once blamed Wayne for what happened, but he knows the man carries the same guilt that Eddie does.

Hearing Eddie had died the same way as his mother, it would destroy him, and it would destroy Izzy. He knows the pain inside and out, what kind of father would he be if he left her alone, without either parent? He feels his legs threaten to give out, but thankfully Hopper’s there to help him. He collapses into the man’s arms, his chest shaking with sobs.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay kid,” Hopper promises.

He helps Eddie back over to the doors inside. When they make it to the next floor down, a pair of orderlies and a nurse are waiting for them. The nurse has a syringe and Eddie imagines going back under. He doesn’t want to lose control like that. Not if Vecna is in his head.

“Please”, he begs, “no drugs.”

Hopper and the nurse exchange glances. Eddie’s pretty sure he sees Hopper nodding out of the corner of his eyes. The nurse backs off, lets Hopper hand Eddie off to the orderlies.

“Let me call his uncle”, Hopper says, “best he hears from a friend.”

The nurse nods and they take Eddie back to the psych floor. He’s too tired to protest when they shove him back into the intake room. They strap him down and a nurse appears to announce that Dr. Michaels is on his way back to see Eddie.

“What about my uncle?” Eddie asks.

“I don’t know”, the nurse replies.

She leaves after that, and Eddie lets out a pathetic sob. His eyes are swollen with tears by now. Guilt and anger and grief rush through him.

At one point Hopper and the nurse come back into the room.

“Does he have to be tied up like that?” Hopper asks.

“If he’s not being supervised, then yes”, the nurse replies.

“Then, Hell I’ll supervise him”, Jim insists, “his uncle and the doctor will be here soon. I’ll look after him until they get here. Just let me get out of some of my gear.”

Smart, Eddie thinks. Don’t want him making a move for the man’s weapons. Still, he can’t complain when the man just got him out of these stupid restraints. Hopper disappears for a little, then reappears without most of his stuff. Just his radio. Eddie cries like a baby as he’s released from the restraints. The nurse and orderlies instruct Hopper to shout if he needed anything before leaving.

“Sorry about that kid”, Hopper tells him once they’re gone.

Eddie nods, burying his head in his hands.

“Wayne’’ll be here soon”, Hopper assures him, “he’s really worried about you, kid. We all are.”

Eddie nods. Hopper places a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Just uh, don’t make me regret this”, Hopper teases and Eddie lets out a soft laugh. It’s more of a laugh mixed with a sob but it feels good to let out regardless.

“You’ve got a really nice family, you know that”, Hopper comments.

“First time I’ve ever heard that”, Eddie mutters.

“I’ve met, what, 4 Munsons in my life. Out of that, one was a no good criminal. The rest are just fine. Says enough to me.”

Eddie chokes on a sob. He’s not sure Hopper’s too thrilled when Eddie wraps his arms around him, but he lets it happen regardless. It’s a bit awkward, but he doesn’t make a fuss, just lets Eddie cry.

“Just, um, just hang in there kid”, Hopper tells him and he nods. Guilt gnaws at him when he thinks about Wayne. He wouldn’t be surprised if the man was fed up with him at this point.

Whatever happens next happens next, for now he just lets it all out, and profusely apologizes to Hopper in the process.

“It’s okay, kid”, Hopper promises, “we just want to help you.”

Eddie wishes he could be optimistic about that.

Chapter Text

Wayne doesn’t say anything when he gets to the hospital, but he doesn’t have to. The look on his face says everything. Wordlessly, he wraps his arms around Eddie, pulling him in tightly against his chest. Eddie draws in a shaky breath, the familiar scent of tobacco smoke and machine oil filling his nose.

“Eddie”, he finally speaks after a moment, his voice thin and pained, “they-they said you tried to…”

He can’t even bring himself to finish that sentence, breaking off into a quiet sob instead. Hopper clears his throat awkwardly.

“I’ll um, I’ll give you two a minute”, he says before stepping out into the hallway.

“Izzy”, Eddie mutters against the fabric of Wayne’s shirt.

“She’s with the Mayfields”, Wayne assures him. Eddie nods. He wonders what Wayne told her, how much of all this he’s explained. Probably not much.

“Son”, Wayne pulls away so that he can look Eddie in the eyes, “last I knew you were gettin’ better. Why’d you do it?”

Eddie shakes his head, feeling his eyes begin tearing up as he does. He doesn’t know how to make Wayne understand, how to put it into words that won’t destroy his uncle to hear.

“I’m sorry”, he says, “but I-I can’t keep fighting Wayne. I’m not strong enough.”

Wayne looks at him with a pained expression. Tearfully, he reaches over and pulls him back into another embrace. Eddie doesn’t fight it, lets himself melt into his uncle’s touch. He hadn’t realized how alone he’s felt through all of this, not until just now. It’s just him and the visions, him and Vecna. He would give anything for this to be the sort of problem he used to have. The ones he’d go to Wayne for, and Wayne would chew Eddie out for whatever stupid thing he did but then he’d always fix things. He can’t fix any of this. No one can. It’s all down to Eddie, and he knows it’s not a battle he can win.

“Don’t say that”, Wayne says, “your little girl needs you. I need you.”

Eddie sobs. It’s nice to hear, but it’s not true. No matter what Eddie does, where he goes, suffering follows. He’ll never outrun the misery that’s constantly on his heels. The truth is, Izzy and Wayne will be better off without him in their lives.

“It’s killin’ me”, Wayne continues, “seein’ you in so much pain. I wanna help you, Son. Please, just let me help you.”

“You can’t help me”, Eddie says.

The sound that the statement elicits from Wayne is one that’s going to haunt Eddie for the rest of his life.

“I’m sorry, Eddie”, he says, “I’m so sorry you been feelin’ this way.”

Their little moment is interrupted by Dr. Michaels letting himself in. The two Munsons separate, though Wayne keeps a steady hand planted firmly on Eddie’s shoulder.

“Hello, Eddie”, Dr. Michaels begins, “first off, I’d like to extend my sincerest apologies on behalf of my staff. If they had followed proper protocol this never would’ve happened.”

Eddie broke out of the psych ward and tried to jump to his death from the hospital roof. He’s not sure why this guy is talking about it like it was an unpleasant dining experience in a fancy restaurant, but it’s not like he has the energy to care at this point.

“I am glad that we’ll be able to start factoring these symptoms in when it comes to your treatment moving forward”, he goes on, “if Eddie and I could have a minute alone to discuss things?”

“Oh”, Wayne nods, “right. ‘Course.”

Eddie doesn’t really want him to go, but there’s Doctor-Patient confidentiality and what not. Once he’s gone, Dr. Michals pulls out the dreaded notepad and pen.

“You had an episode earlier today”, he says, “is that what triggered this attempt?”

Eddie nods. The shock of the situation is finally starting to wear off. It’s starting to sink in that he just tried to kill himself. He would’ve done it. If Hopper hadn’t intervened, Eddie would’ve jumped. Left his daughter an orphan so he doesn’t have to face whatever nightmare comes next. A coward until the very end, he supposes.

“Was it the hallucinations?” Dr. Michaels asks, “did they tell you to harm yourself?”

“Not directly”, Eddie sighs, “but I can’t keep doing this. I just-I just want it all to stop.”

It feels almost like a relief to finally admit it out loud. He wishes he could say he started feeling that way when the visions began, but that’s not entirely true. He’s been desperate for some sort of relief for a long time. That’s why he started using heroin, why he hooked up with Sherri and all the others when he knew it was a bad idea, why he would gladly spend all day under the hood of a car if it means he gets to focus on something other than the pain. He’s falling apart, slowly but surely.

“I understand”, Dr. Michaels tells him gently, “what you’re going through is definitely scary. But it’s only been a few days, Eddie. These meds can sometimes take time to fully set in, and we started you on a fairly low dose, so we can always increase it if we need to. We have plenty of options left, don’t give up now.”

Eddie doubts more drugs are the solution to this. If Vecna could get a hold of him through the ones he’s on now, it’d likely just be a matter of time until he got through a higher dosage. There’s nothing anyone here can do for Eddie. Once Vecna gets to him, he’s done for. The only question now is when that will finally happen.

“Have you ever thought about hurting yourself before tonight?” Dr. Michaels asks.

“I’ve never tried to kill myself before”, Eddie mutters.

“That’s not what I asked.”

Eddie averts his gaze. The truth is that he has. There were plenty of times in his life that he knew what he was doing was dangerous but he did it anyway because he simply didn’t care. He still remembers that little part of him in the Upside Down that yelled at him to turn around because death by bats seemed preferable to whatever fallout of the whole ordeal was waiting for him back home. That voice had only grown louder since then.

Eddie had grown up around the seedier elements of society, he knew damn well what heroin was when he was offered it that first time. He was hurting so bad at the time the risk of getting addicted seemed worth it for the relief. At the height of his addiction, there were plenty of times he put a needle in his arm hoping it would finally kill him.

“Do you know what it means to be passively suicidal?”

Eddie shakes his head.

“It means you want to die, but haven’t actually made specific plans to do it. Do you think about dying a lot, Eddie?”

“My mom killed herself when I was six”, Eddie replies, “I’ve witnessed people be murdered. I-I’m a recovering heroin addict, of course I think about death.”

“I’m guessing some of these feelings didn’t start with your visions, did they?” Dr. Michaels asks.

Eddie feels a lump form in his throat. He resents the implication, but it’s true. He has thought about dying a lot.

“For now, I’m going to up your dosage of Clozapine and start you on Fluoxetine for depression”, Dr. Michaels sighs, “but we might want to start looking into having you transferred to another facility at some point. The hospital’s not really equipped to provide the extensive long term treatment you need.”

Wonderful. The doctor’s brilliant plan is to lock Eddie up in the nuthouse. Oh, and he gets to be even more drugged up on top of it. He’s very well living the last few days of his life and he gets to spend it as a psych patient.

“Can Wayne come back in, now?” Eddie asks.

“Certainly”, Dr. Michaels tells him.

He ushers Wayne back in and gives him a rundown of Eddie’s treatment going forward. The pain on Wayne’s face when he’s told Eddie has to go to a facility long term is like a kick in the teeth. There’s few things Wayne dreads more than hearing that Eddie’s mentally ill like his mom.

Eddie presses his hands to his face and lets out a miserable sigh. He can’t believe he had to go and get himself institutionalized. Now he can’t work, can’t take care of Izzy. Christ, will they even let him take care of her anymore? If they deem him mentally unstable, they could remove her from his custody. She could get funneled off into the system because he’s not fit to be a parent. He’s failed her, once again.

Wayne gently rubs Eddie’s shoulder.

“It’s gonna be alright, Son”, he soothes.

“I fucked everything up”, Eddie sniffles tearfully, “God. I’m ruining Izzy’s life.”

“You’re not ruinin’ her life”, Wayne tells him, “she loves you son. You’re a great father.”

“If I was a great father I wouldn’t be in here”, Eddie argues.

He’s a shitty father, and a shitty nephew too. Jesus, Wayne’s already had one heart attack, now Eddie’s apparently on an unwilling mission to give him another.

“That’s not true”, Wayne insists, “this ain’t your fault. You’re doin’ the best thing for her you possibly can right now, and that’s gettin’ help.”

Eddie shrugs. He wouldn’t really say he’s getting help so much as having it forced upon him. It’s not like he was planning on telling anyone about the visions. He would’ve been content to try and deal with them himself, the only reason he’s not is because he crashed his fucking car into a tree on accident. Besides, none of this has actually helped him much. He’s still having visions, he still feels like he’s coming undone at the seams. If anything, he’s worse off now than he was before.
-
When the excitement dies down, Eddie gets a sedative to help him sleep, and it does its job beautifully. His slumber is deep and dreamless, far from Vecna’s reach. He wishes they would just put him under all the time, it’s better than the misery of being awake.

In the morning, he gets assigned an orderly to be with him at all times. First up is Hector, a younger guy who never talks much. He’s probably not all that happy to be stuck babysitting Eddie for an entire shift, but it’s all in the protocol.

Eddie tries to eat breakfast but doesn’t end up getting too much down before his stomach decides to start clenching up. He’s not sure why, if it’s the drugs, the fear or the half inedible hospital food, but either way his gut rebels against him and he has to stop.

Everybody stares at him in Group Therapy. Hector’s there with him so they all know he’s on Suicide Watch. It’s miserable, but one on one proves even worse. Dr. Michaels informs him they found a bed for him at a facility about 40 minutes from here and will transfer him tomorrow.

Eddie doesn’t want to be so far from home, but then again maybe being out of Hawkins would be for the best. Or maybe Vecna will take him before he gets the chance, either way his only option is to wait things out.
-
Eddie’s in the common area watching some game show on the tv when Janet, one of the nurses, informs him he has visitors. He stands up and follows after her, figuring it must be Izzy and Wayne.

Upon entering the visiting area, he’s a bit taken aback when it isn’t his family waiting there for him. Instead, Max is sitting in one of the chairs, her cane resting neatly in her lap. Steve is standing beside it, arms crossed. The biggest surprise is seeing Lucas Sinclair sitting beside Max.

“Um hey?” Eddie greets, confused, “what are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Max retorts, “I haven't heard from you in days, I thought you died or something.”

“I um, I had an accident”, Eddie mutters.

“An accident?” Steve replies, “Hopper told us you tried to jump off the roof.”

“Dude”, Lucas chides.

“Sorry”, Steve replies, “you um, you got a little drool on your chin by the way.”

Eddie follows the movements Steve mimes at him, wiping up a patch of half dried drool on his chin.

“Oh yeah”, Eddie replies tiredly, “it’s the meds. They just upped my dose.”

He knows he’s a mess. He’s drugged to hell, he hasn’t had time to make himself presentable, he’s still in the white scrubs they made him change into last night.

“Hey Sinclair”, he nods in Lucas’ direction, “what are you doing here?”

“Max called me”, Lucas replies, “she told me about what’s been going on.”

Eddie peers over and realizes Hector’s standing beside him. Shit. He’s not allowed to be left alone, so they can’t talk about what they need to.

“Um Hector”, Eddie says, “you can leave me for a little, man. I mean my friends are here to watch me, right?”

“Nope”, Hector replies.

Steve walks over and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a crisp $20 bill.

“Why don’t you take a bathroom break for a while”, Steve mutters, “we’ll keep an eye on him for you.

He slips Hector the cash and the man nods, turning and walking off. They wait until they hear the door open and close before resuming.

“So what happened?” Max asks, “was it the visions?”

Eddie nods.

“I was driving on Monday and saw Jason Carver in the road”, Eddie explains, “it made me crash and then I saw Chrissy at the hospital. They put me in here and I was fine for a few days but then yesterday I saw Vecna again.”

He takes in a deep, shaky breath before countinuing.

“Vecna, he-he said that he brought me back from the dead”, he recounts, “he said he wanted to use me for something. And I didn’t know what that meant but it sounded bad so I tried to jump off the roof so it wouldn’t happen. Hopper stopped me, but I don’t know what to do now.”

“Shit”, Steve remarks.

“Have-have you been seeing him too?” Eddie asks Max, then immediately cringes at his choice of words in this particular instance.

“He’s in my head, yeah”, Max says, taking it with grace thankfully.

“What does he want from us?” Eddie asks.

“I don’t know”, Lucas replies, “but if it’s like before, he’ll have two more victims right?”

Shit. Eddie had forgotten that part. Four victims, four chimes. There could be two more people in Hawkins, people that would be virtually impossible to find. They can’t go to every door in town and ask if Vecna’s been talking to them. People would think they were nuts, and besides that, they probably wouldn’t have the time.

“What did he say to you?” Eddie asks.

“Um, that we weren’t done. That he let me go for a reason.”

“What does that mean?” Eddie huffs, running his hands through his hair.

“Nothing good”, Steve offers helpfully.

“Was-was I really dead?” Eddie asks, “like dead-dead.”

Lucas turns to look at Steve, who frowns. Eddie knows he’d been resuscitated a few times, and had the broken ribs to prove it. He doesn’t know if what Vecan showed him was true, though. Steve and the others had only told him they’d taken him to the hospital after getting him out of the Upside Down, and he doesn’t know much beyond that.

“Um, yeah”, Steve recalls, “I mean, warm but like, you didn’t have a pulse and you weren’t breathing or anything. And then all of a sudden you kind of just…woke up? I don’t know. We didn’t question it, we just got you out of there. You were still in really bad shape, dude.”

“You never told me that”, Eddie murmurs.

“I mean, it doesn’t matter right?” Steve shrugs, “you’re alive, Max is alive.”

“Maybe it does matter”, Eddie points out, “maybe he did something to me.”

“Like what?” Steve retorts, “they did all those tests and stuff right? Wouldn’t they have found something?”

“Fuck if I know”, Eddie says, “but that’s what Vecna said. Jesus, what if he turned me into a zombie or something?”

“You’re not a zombie”, Steve insists, “he’s probably just trying to mess with your head. That’s what he does, right?”

“Whatever’s happening, the important thing now is figuring out our next move”, Max cuts in.

“We need Eleven”, Lucas posits.

Eddie is inclined to agree. She’s the only one who can fight back against Vecna if he strikes. Maybe she could help them find his other two victims, too.

“I called her”, Max says, “I called everyone. They’re gonna get here when they can.”

“And until then?” Eddie asks, tilting his head.

“I don’t know”, Max sighs, “we lay low, try to ride this out. You guys can watch me and Eddie, make sure we have our music if we need it. I’ve been keeping mine around but they wouldn’t let me bring it in here.”

“Yeah, sorry about that”, Eddie replies, “they don’t want us strangling ourselves with the headphones or anything. But I think there’s an issue with your plan, Red. I just tried to kill myself and they’re probably not gonna let me leave any time soon.”

Max frowns.

“Come on”, Steve says, “they can’t just, like, keep you here against your will, right?”

“They can if I’m a danger to myself”, Eddie replies.

The conversation is interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing. The room falls silent as Hector comes walking back in.

“We’ll think of something”, Steve assures him, “just give us a little time.”

“I’ll be here”, Eddie says dryly. Hector gestures for him to come and he obliges, turning from his friends as he’s led back into the common room.

He’s pretty much screwed at this point. Even if they manage to bust him out, sitting around trying to hold back Vecna until reinforcements hopefully arrive isn’t a solid plan.

At some point, Hector switches out with Mitchell, a tall blond guy who’s a lot stronger than his slim build would imply. Dinner is uneventful (and barely palatable as always), and soon afterwards Eddie is heading off to bed. It’s early, but he’s exhausted both physically and mentally. Of course, Mitchell still has to watch him, which is quite awkward.

It takes a bit of time to fall asleep while being constantly stared at by some random person, but eventually Eddie manages to drift off for a few hours. He’s woken up a little while later by the sound of Mitchell going into the bathroom attached to Eddie’s room. With an irritated groan, Eddie opens his eyes to find the lights dimmed. There’s enough illumination however for him to notice the sudden flash of movement that skitters across the ceiling.

He reacts just in time, jumping from the bed just as a mass falls to his pillow. He stares in horror at the thing, a fleshy, vaguely spider shaped creature. Each of its eight spindly limbs are tipped in very sharp looking claws. It’s got a gaping maw, lined in very sharp looking teeth. The whole thing is the size of a dinner plate, landing right where Eddie’s face had been. It doesn’t have eyes, but it seems to have some sort of olfactory sense because it huffs in and out and seems to pick up on the direction Eddie’s moved in.

Panicked, Eddie peers around the room for something to use as a weapon, but everything is designed to be as harmless as possible. The thing looks ready to lunge, until the sound of the toilet flushing and the sink turning on distracts it. Eddie’s frozen, he doesn’t have time to react before the door is opening and Mitchell is stepping out of the bathroom.

His face morphs from neutral to horrified when he locks eyes on the creature.

“What the fuck!” he gasps, jumping back in terror.

At that moment the lights begin to flicker. Eddie simultaneously feels an outpouring of relief and terror. Relief, because if Mitchell is reacting to this, it means it’s not a vision. Terror, because that means this thing is actually in the room with them.

Eddie can’t be sure if it’s specifically targeting him or not, but if it is, then maybe the lack of eyes really is a hindrance to it, because it lunges at Mitchell instead of him.

Mitchell moves out of the way just in time, leaving the thing to go flying into the bathroom instead.

“Close the door!” Eddie cries and Mitchell does just as the thing is about to skitter back through the doorway. It hits the surface with a thud, which is immediately followed by a series of bangs and scratching noises.

“We gotta get out of here”, he tells Mitchell. He has no idea how long the door will hold. Mitchell doesn’t need to be told twice. It takes a moment, his hands are shaking, but he manages to get the door to the room unlocked and open. Eddie notices the way he darts through without bothering to make sure Eddie’s following, but luckily he’s right on the other man’s heels and gets out before Mitchell is slamming the door shut.

“What the hell man?” Mitchell asks.

“I don’t know”, Eddie replies. The lights in the hall are flickering like the ones in his room, and he’s startled by a piercing scream that rings out from the direction of the common room.

“Fuck this shit”, Mitchell mutters and turns to run in the opposite direction.

Eddie meanwhile heads off towards the common room. When it comes into view he immediately freezes.

The creature that stands over the mutilated remains of what appears to be a different orderly is similar to the one that had been in Eddie’s room, only much, much larger. Probably close in size to Eddie’s van. The furniture has all been overturned and Eddie can make out blood splattering the walls. Slowly, he begins to back away, trying his best not to alert the creature to his presence. This proves futile, as the thing pauses and orients itself in Eddie’s direction. He forgoes any attempts at stealth, then, just turns and bolts.

Chapter Text

Eddie can hear the sound of the creature as it scuttles after him. It’s not fast, thankfully, but that doesn’t really matter much since there’s nowhere for Eddie to run to. Pretty much every door in the psychiatric unit is kept locked, and only the staff have keys. Mitchell is nowhere to be found, so the chances of Eddie getting his hands on any of those are slim.

Fighting isn’t really an option, either. He has nothing to use as a weapon, and even if he did, he doubts he’d be able to take something that size down on his own.

He’s so caught up planning a potential escape that he fails to notice the overturned cart lying in the middle of the hallway. He trips and hits the ground with a thud, turning himself around just in time to see the creature approach.

He closes his eyes, anticipates the strike but it doesn’t come. When he dares open his eyes again, the creature is passing him by and continuing onwards down the hallway. Eddie’s a bit confused, but he's not going to question it. Instead he gets back to his feet and creeps back out towards the common room.

There’s not much left of the orderly. His keys are thankfully one of the remainders, though Eddie feels rather terrible about taking them off a corpse. He stands up to get a look around and is horrified by what he finds. Several bodies line the room, their blood smeared across the wall and floors. Orderlies and patients, mostly, though most are too torn up to identify which ones exactly. Hopefully everyone else was able to get away. They might’ve, if the two creatures Eddie saw are the only ones here, but who knows if that’s the case. His best bet is to just get out of here now and call the others for back up once he’s out of dodge.

He’s halfway across the common room when a whimper distracts him. He peers at the source of the sound and finds Sarah, one of the other patients that he recognizes from group therapy, curled up behind one of the couches. She’s uninjured but her eyes are wide in shock and terror.

“Hey”, Eddie says, “are you okay?”

“What the fuck is happening?” Sarah cries. She’s a bit younger than Eddie, college aged or close to it, and if he recalls their sessions correctly, she’s been battling a nasty case of anorexia.

“Long story”, Eddie replies, offering a hand to help Sarah stand up, “but the good news is I got the keys, so we can get out of here.”

Sarah nods, relief flashing on her face. They start off towards the hallway that leads to the elevator, but only make it to the edge of the common room before a loud shriek is distracting them. Horrified, Eddie turns to see the creature is back, and it’s headed right for them. He doesn’t really think, then, just puts himself between the thing and Sarah. Unfortunately, Sarah for her part is frozen with terror, just standing there staring at the creature in utter horror. They can’t fight it, but maybe if Eddie distracts it, Sarah will have time to get away. He just has to figure out…

“Get down!”

Eddie certainly wasn’t expecting to see Jim Hopper appear, dressed in his uniform and wielding, much to Eddie’s immense relief, a shotgun. He doesn’t need to be told twice and neither does Sarah. Both duck down and cover their ears, letting Hopper fire several rounds into the creature. Eddie really owes the guy at this point. He’s saved Eddie’s ass twice in the past 24 hours, after all.

“What?” Eddie asks.

“Got a call about a disturbance at the hospital”, Hopper replies.

The creature rears back slightly, but if it’s injured, it’s not showing it. It makes no attempts to retreat despite the multiple holes that have just been blown in it.

“Get out of here, both of you”, Hopper instructs, “and take the stairs. Electricity’s fucked and the elevator isn’t working right.”

Eddie nods, gesturing for Sarah to follow him. They run to the stairwell, the sound of gunfire and unnatural screeching ringing out behind them as they go. Eddie’s hands shake a little as he unlocks the door and lets Sarah run through before following suit himself. He feels bad for leaving Hopper to fend off that thing and any others that may be lurking around on his own, but the man is armed and Eddie’s not, so he figures it’s probably for the best. Besides, his ears are still ringing from being in close proximity to the sound of a shotgun firing and he’s pretty sure he’s already lost a dangerous amount of hearing from Metal shows, so he doesn’t want to stick around and let it get any worse.

The stairwell is pretty empty as he and Sarah rush through it. The other floors have either been evacuated, or whatever nightmarish monsters are attacking the place got to them before anyone got the chance. Eddie’s hoping it’s the former.

There’s officers waiting on the first floor when they finally get there. The cops usher him and Sarah out of the hospital and into the parking lot, which is currently flooded with various people, some of which are in wheelchairs or on gurneys. Some of the people that had been in the hospital had made it out, at least. Eddie has no clue why those things attacked the place, but he has a bad feeling that it wouldn’t have happened had he not been there.

He turns to look at the building behind him, but from the outside he can’t see anything to indicate how the fight is going. Hopefully Hopper hasn’t been eviscerated by now.

He turns back to the parking lot then, trying to plan his next move in his head as he does.

He needn’t bother, ultimately, because just when he’s trying to decide who he should try to call, he hears his name being called. He scans the sea of people only to find Robin Buckley standing next to Steve’s car and waving to Eddie.

Confused, he makes his way over to the car. Steve’s in the driver seat, while Nancy’s sitting on the passenger side, which only serves to make Eddie feel even more lost.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asks.

“Steve called and told us what was going on”, Robin explains, “we came as soon as we could. Dustin just got here too. Lucas and Max went to go get him from his mom’s place.”

“How’d you know I was in trouble?” Eddie asks as he and Robin climb into the backseat of Steve’s car.

“Um, well, actually we didn’t”, Robin replies.

“Yeah, we were coming here to bust you out”, Steve tells him, “we had a whole plan and everything.”

“It was a really solid plan too”, Robin adds, “like, it totally would’ve worked if we’d done it.”

“What’s going on exactly?” Nancy asks.

“I was just attacked by fucking Shelob”, Eddie replies.

The statement earns him a set of confused glances from the car’s other occupants. Apparently his friends need to expand their literary horizons.

“The giant spider”, he says, “from Lord of the… nevermind. I was attacked by a giant spider monster.”

“Wait?” Steve asks, looking over at the hospital, “there’s a giant spider in there?”

“Or the fucked up Upside Down version of it”, Eddie clarifies, “there were at least two. One was smaller and was climbing on the walls of my fucking room. It’s gotta be Vecna, right?”

Nancy frowns. She peers at the hospital and scans it, as if trying to spot some sort of indicator of what’s going on inside.

“I don’t know”, she replies, “most likely.”

“Why?” Steve wonders, “what does he want?”

“I don’t know”, Eddie shrugs, “me?”

Personally, he doesn’t think he’s worth all that trouble, but if Vecna really is planning on using him for something, it’s certainly a possibility.

Truth be told, there’s been a small part of him that has, until waking up to a spider monster above his bed, wondered if maybe this was actually all in his head after all. He didn’t think so, considering his conversation with Max…

“Where did you say Lucas and Max were?” he asks.

“Picking up Dustin and bringing him to Max’s place”, Steve replies.

“Shit”, Eddie mutters, “is there any way we can contact them?”

“Not really”, Robin says, “why?”

“If Vecna sent those things after me, he might send some after her, too.”

Shit. Lucas, Max and possibly Dustin might be facing down some sort of giant nightmare monster and they’d have had no idea it was even coming.

“We can try calling Dustin’s mom’s place”, Nancy suggests, “in the meantime, we’ll go back to Max’s to wait.”

“Sounds good”, Eddie agrees, “but can we stop by my place on the way? All my tapes and stuff are there and I want to warn Wayne and Izzy to get out of town. If shit goes down I don’t want them here.”

Steve offers a solemn nod before pulling out. They’re at the edge of the lot and thankfully able to sneak out before any of the various police officers hanging around can question them. Surely they wouldn’t be keen to let some random strangers drive off with a mental patient in the backseat.

Once they’ve started off down the road away from the hospital, Eddie lets his head come to rest on the cool glass of the car window. The adrenaline from the ordeal is wearing off and the exhaustion is starting to kick in. He’s still drugged up, and who knows what’s gonna happen when he goes off the meds cold turkey. He doesn’t even have time to worry about it at the moment.

They’ve gotten a pretty shitty deal, all things considered. Put their lives on the line to protect Hawkins back in ‘86 and got no recognition for it. Now the universe is forcing them to do it all again. Vecna was supposed to be gone. They were supposed to be able to move on with their lives. Eddie hadn’t done a good job of that, but the others, they did, and they shouldn’t have to be dragged back into this whole mess. Dustin and Lucas are in college, Nancy’s a journalist, Robin put herself through school. They escaped, they broke free of the oppressive hellscape that is Hawkins, Indiana. They deserve some peace in their lives after everything they’ve been through, everything they’ve done. Vecna has stolen so much from all of them, and he just keeps taking. Eddie can take solace in the fact that whatever happens next, it will all finally stop.
-
Wayne looks extremely confused when he opens the door to find Eddie and the others standing on his porch.

“Eddie? What are you doin’ here? Why ain’t you at the hospital?”

“Long story”, Eddie replies, “it was attacked by a giant spider. Can we come in?”

Wayne peers at him like he may actually be as crazy as Dr. Michaels thinks he is. He knows it sounds insane, but his uncle has always trusted him when it mattered.

It takes a second, but Wayne does ultimately offer a nod, stepping aside so Eddie and the others can come in.

“Daddy?” is the only warning Eddie gets before Izzy’s launching her four year old body straight at him.

“Hey, Princess”, he tells her. God, he’s missed her these past few days.

Guilt claws at his insides when he thinks about the events of the past few days. He crashed his car because he was trying to go buy drugs. He got himself tossed into the psych ward. He almost jumped off the roof of the hospital. And Izzy, she doesn’t understand any of what’s been happening. All she knows is that her dad has been away from home, away from her, with no clear reason given to her as to why. And now he has to do it again. Now they’re once again being separated and there’s a good chance Eddie won’t be around to reunite with her after it’s all said and done. Tears begin to gather in his eyes at the realization this is probably the last time he’ll ever get to see his daughter.

“I missed you”, she says, wrapping herself around his leg like a koala bear climbing a tree.

“I missed you too”, he says, running a hand through her soft brown curls.

He glances over at Steve and the others, who are all just standing there looking unsure of what to do with themselves. Right. Steve knows Izzy, but if Robin and Nancy have ever met her, it’s only been in passing.

“Oh, um, guys, this is my daughter, Izzy”, he tells them, “Izzy, this is Nancy and Robin. They’re my friends.”

Izzy peeks shyly over at Nancy and Robin, who each give her a small, awkward smile and wave. She’s uninterested, quickly turning her attention back to Eddie. She’s usually a bit shy around strangers, so it’s not a surprise, especially with the added stress of having been away from Eddie for so long. Hell, the past few days are the longest they’ve been apart since Sherri died and Eddie took full custody.

“Iz”, Wayne clears his throat, “why don’t you go to your room so your dad and I can talk?”

“But I wanna see Daddy!” Izzy protests.

“Go on”, Eddie urges, “I’ll see you again in a second, okay? Wayne and I just have to have some grown up talk.”

She pouts, but ultimately obliges, though she makes her displeasure unknown the entire way to her room. Once she’s gone, Wayne gestures for everyone to take a seat in the living room before doing so himself.

“So”, he says, “what exactly’s goin’ on here?”

“Things-things are getting bad again”, Eddie explains, “you know, like before?”

“It’s true”, Robin nods, “Vecna’s back, Mr. Munson. Eddie’s been seeing him and so has Max.”

Wayne looks over at Eddie with concern. It took a while for him to learn the full truth of what happened back in March of ‘86. He’d initially figured it was just like everyone else was saying. A murderer on the loose and a random earthquake. It was a while before Eddie sat him down and told him the full story. He’d pretty much figured the man would think he was insane, but to his surprise, Wayne had just made some comment about how he knew those folks at that lab were up to no good and accepted it without question.

“He-he’s planning something”, Eddie goes on, “we don’t know what but…it’s probably bad. You and Izzy need to get out of town as soon as you can. Go and get as far away as possible.”

“What about you?” Wayne asks.

“I can’t go with you”, Eddie replies. He hates that he has to keep doing this to his uncle.

“I don’t wanna leave here without ya”, Wayne replies.

“I know”, Eddie says, “but you don’t have a choice.”

“He’s right”, Nancy cuts in, “Vecna wants Eddie here. He won’t just let him leave.”

Wayne lets out a heavy sigh. Eddie knows what he went through the first time Vecna reared his ugly head. He went from thinking Eddie was abducted by some murderer, to being told Eddie was a murder suspect, to finding out Eddie was in critical condition in the hospital. He’s admitted before that he feels incredibly guilty for not being around to protect Eddie when he needed it. Eddie assured him that it wasn’t his fault, but he still feels bad, and surely the last thing he wants to do is walk away when Eddie’s in danger again.

“Listen”, Eddie says, “I know what you’re thinking, but you have to trust us. I can’t leave but you guys can. Please Wayne, you have to. You have to get Izzy somewhere safe.”

“Alright”, Wayne nods.

Satisfied, Eddie decides the next order of business is showering and changing. Steve and the others remain in the living room, chatting amongst themselves while he does. Wayne for his part goes to get some stuff together and explain things to Izzy.

It feels good, honestly, to be able to shower in his own damn bathroom and put on whatever clothes he wants with no restrictions once he’s done. He finishes toweling his hair off as he makes his way out of the bathroom, only to be met by Wayne.

“You really ain’t comin’ with us, huh?” he says.

Eddie shakes his head. “I can’t, Wayne. What happened to Chrissy, it’s happening to me.”

He sees the realization play out on Wayne’s face. The man had been the one to find Chrissy’s body, after all. He witnessed the aftermath of Vecna’s rage first hand, saw poor Chrissy’s mangled limbs, her unhinged jaw and her eyeless, bloody sockets. Eddie figures it’s only fair to give him a head’s up that the next time he sees Eddie, he’ll probably be in a similar state. At least then he’ll know to plan for a closed casket funeral.

“Eddie…” Wayne starts, but Eddie just shakes his head.

“I know I haven’t really been fair to you”, he says, “I put you through a lot, and I’m sorry.”

Wayne actually chuckles a little at that, shaking his head. “I ain’t mad at you, Kid. I’m just sorry you can’t catch a break.”

Eddie’s not really sure how he can frame the past seven years as Eddie “not catching a break”. Eddie got himself addicted to heroin. It wasn’t some accident, or misfortune that caused it. Just Eddie’s own stupidity. How any of his loved ones can forgive him, he doesn’t know.

“C’mere”, Wayne sighs, grabbing Eddie and pulling him in for a hug, “I love you, Son. Don’t forget that, alright?”

“I love you too”, Eddie replies.

“Just-just try to stay alive, alright? For me and Izzy?”

“I will”, Eddie tells him, even if it feels like an empty promise. He’s not sure how much control he actually has over whether he lives or dies at this point.

Wayne pulls away then, excusing himself to finish getting his and Izzy’s things together. Speaking of, if this is the last chance Eddie’s going to get to see her, he’s damn well gonna take it.

“Hey baby”, he says when he finds her in her room.

“Are we leaving?” she asks.

“You and Wayne are”, Eddie replies.

“What about you?”

“Um, I have to stay”, he tells her, plopping down on her bed. She climbs over to him, wrapping her little arms around him.

“I don’t wanna go without you”, she protests.

Eddie closes his eyes, willing back the tears. He doesn’t want her to have to go either, but it’s better than risking her getting caught in the crossfire of whatever battle with Vecna is looming over them.

“I know”, he tells her, “and I’m sorry. But I love you, okay? I love you so much. You know that right?”

“I don’t wanna go”, Izzy cries.

“Shh…”, Eddie soothes her, “it’ll be okay, baby. I promise. You can bring Ozzy and everything.”

“But I’ll miss you”, she says.

“I know”, Eddie replies tearfully, “I’ll miss you too. But you gotta go okay? Be good for Papa Wayne?”

“Okay.”

He presses a kiss to her crown and holds her until Wayne’s ready to go. Then he says one last goodbye to Wayne, embracing his uncle tightly before doing the same to Izzy. He feels a lump forming in his throat as he watches them go. He’s glad they’ll be safe, but he’ll miss them terribly.

He peers over to Nancy, who’s standing beside him on the porch, her eyes screwed tightly shut.

“Hey, Wheeler, you okay?” he asks.

“Hm”, Nancy opens her eyes, “oh, yeah fine. I just have a headache. I’m behind on a deadline at work and this whole thing is so stressful.”

“I get it”, Eddie replies.

Max’s place is empty when they get there. Max must’ve sent her mom away like Eddie had Izzy and Wayne. They’d warn as many people as they could but they probably wouldn’t be able to get everyone in town out on time.

They sit on Max’s porch to wait for her and the others. It’s not long before Lucas’s car is pulling up, but it's covered in dents and Dustin is the one driving. Erica is in the passenger seat, they must have picked her up at some point. Max is in the back with Lucas who’s covered in blood and sweating profusely.

Shit. That does not look good.

Dustin parks and he and Erica jump from the car.

“We were attacked on the way here by some kind of monster”, Dustin explains, “Lucas is hurt.”

Max throws open the door but Lucas is lying propped up against her so she can’t get out.

“We have to get him inside”, Max tells them. Eddie definitely agrees. He and Steve help Lucas, whose shoulder is bleeding profusely, into Max’s trailer. The others follow after them, watching as they lay Lucas down on the couch.

“Do you have any first aid shit?” Steve asks.

“I think in the bathroom”, Max replies.

“I’ll get it”, Nancy offers.

Eddie peers down at Lucas, who’s writhing in pain. He wishes he could do more for him, but aside from cleaning the wound and bandaging it, hopefully after stopping the bleeding, there’s not much more they can do. Give him some advil or something. The hospital isn’t an option right now, so they’ll have to hope it’s enough. Everything else hinges on how fast Eleven gets here.

Eddie sits down with a sigh, slipping on his headphones. He opens the box to Rust in Peace and realizes he must have mixed some tapes up at some point because it’s The Little Mermaid instead. Shaking his head, he puts it in his Walkman and presses play, thinking of Izzy. If one thing is going to save him this time, it’s her. For now, he lets himself relax for a moment and collects himself. It’s going to be a long night, and who knows what will happen once Vecna strikes.

Chapter Text

Nancy and Steve take charge of tending to Lucas’ wounds. The others catch everyone up to speed. At one point, the phone rings, and Max answers it.

“It’s Mike”, she announces, “they’re at the airport.”

Eddie sighs. Someone will have to go get them and bring them back here, which will take hours. Hours of sitting around listening to music and hoping it’s enough to keep Vecna at bay. Hours of hoping the aid they’ve been able to give Lucas is enough. The bleeding seems to have stopped for now, but he’s lost a lot of blood, and who knows what kind of infections he might get from the wound. Eddie had picked up a nasty one from his demobat bites, and it had nearly killed him at one point.

Nancy volunteers to go get Eleven and the others, but as she’s getting ready to go, she nearly blacks out, so Steve and Robin take her place instead.

Everyone else is left to sit around and wait, which Eddie’s not too keen on. The atmosphere is tense enough as it is given the circumstance, and it doesn’t help that this is the first time Eddie’s been in the presence of some of these people in years.

He’s kept in touch with Dustin since the younger boy went off to school, but a lot of the others, not so much. Nancy and Robin he’d sort of drifted apart from naturally. They’d both left town and Eddie was too busy using hard drugs to bother trying to keep in touch.

Mike and Lucas, on the other hand, that was ugly. Dustin had always been forgiving of Eddie’s behavior during his addiction, more so than Eddie deserved. Mike and Lucas had received similar mistreatment to Dustin’s, but both of them hit their limits with Eddie at some point. Honestly, he’s glad the others are here to help Lucas, because he probably wouldn’t want Eddie to after all the shit that went down.

Mike is probably going to sucker punch him in the face when he sees him, which Eddie would deserve.

“Ugh”, Max huffs.

“What’s up Red?” Eddie asks.

“I can’t believe Lucas”, she rambles, “he’s so fucking stupid.”

“What do you mean?”

“He nearly got himself killed”, Max replies, “the thing was going for Dustin and he just had to jump in and get himself stabbed.”

Eddie can’t help but smile a little at that. Max and Lucas broke up around the time Max moved back in with her mom, but he knows she hasn’t really moved on. They’ve been on and off over the years, but they somehow always end up coming back to each other.

“Yeah, well, guess I can’t really judge”, Eddie jokes.

“Would you really have done it the other night?” Max asks. It’s a bit jarring, honestly, but it might be both of their final hours alive, so he gets the lack of tact, “jumped, I mean.”

“I dunno. Probably”, Eddie says.

“I’ve thought about it before”, Max replies, “dying. I don’t think I’d do it though.”

“Guess we might not have a choice”, Eddie fiddles with his Walkman.

“Guess not”, Max says, “but I’m not going down without a fight this time.”
-
Eddie admittedly starts to drift off a bit at one point. He’s had a long and stressful week or so and he’s pretty drained. He jerks back awake not long after, of course. He can’t afford to let his guard drop. He decides standing up and stretching his legs might be a good remedy for his current drowsiness, so he pushes himself up with a small grunt.

Max and Erica are tending to Lucas while Dustin dozes in one of Max’s living room chairs. Looking over into the kitchen, Eddie can make out Nancy standing in the middle of it with her back to him, and something about her posture has him on edge.

“Um, Wheeler, you good?” He approaches slowly, cautiously. When she doesn’t reply, he reaches out a gentle hand to give her shoulder a small shake.

“Nancy?” he frowns. The feeling of his hand on her shoulder must snap her out of whatever sort of daze she’s fallen into, because she startles slightly and whips around to look at him.

“Sorry”, he tells her, “you um, you alright?”

“I’m fine”, Nancy assures him, “I just…”

She trails off, but Eddie can see the distress written all over her face. He’s starting to get a hunch about what exactly is going on with her.

“You’re seeing him too, aren’t you?”

She nods. “It started with nightmares for the past week or so. I thought it was nothing so I just ignored it. Ever since getting back into town though…it’s worse. I can feel him.”

Eddie offers a solemn, understanding nod. None of the others have mentioned it, but if he and Max have been seeing Vecna, he’s not shocked to find out another member of their group is, too. Which means there may still be another person out there marked as a target. Assuming it’s the same as last time, which they don’t actually know for sure.

If Vecna is targeting Nancy, they need to be watching over her like they are Max and Eddie. She needs music, in case he tries to take her.

“Here”, Eddie says, pulling off his headphones and handing them and his Walkman over to Nancy, “take this for a while, it’ll shut him up.”

“That’s okay”, Nancy shakes her head, “you should keep it.”

“You need music”, Eddie insists.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to take yours”, she tells him.

“Izzy!” Eddie exclaims after pausing for a moment to think the dilemma through, “she has a tape player. It’s in her room, we can go get it, I don’t think they took it with them.”

“Um, okay I guess”, Nancy replies.

They call out to Max to tell her where they’re going and then depart, making the short walk to Eddie’s place.

“I know this is kind of a weird question, given the situation, but are you okay?” Eddie asks, “you seem, I dunno, really tense. Again, weird to say given the circumstances.”

“No, I get it”, Nancy says, “I just…I feel like I’m constantly on edge. Even before this, ever since Barb died really. It’s like I’m just waiting for the next attack.”

“I feel that,” Eddie replies. He’s in a similar boat himself. It’s not like he decided he was going to get addicted to smack for the fun of it. It was just the most effective way to block out the trauma of the Upside Down. Admittedly, he is a little surprised to hear Nancy is going through something too, given how put together she always seems.

There’s something a bit depressing when they reach the trailer and see it with all the lights off and Wayne’s truck gone. Eddie never felt much attachment to the trailer itself, but he certainly does to the people he shares it with. He’d give anything to have Izzy in his arms right now. For Wayne to pat him on the shoulder and tell him that everything will work out okay. As it is, he can’t have those things, and he may never have them again.

He flips on the lights as he and Nancy step inside. He gestures for her to follow him to Izzy’s room. The sight of it has him threatening to tear up a bit. It’s like a morbid time capsule, left untouched in the chaotic storm that is Eddie’s existence. A snapshot of his daughter’s life, still with toys laying around where she left them earlier. One of them, a stuffed red heart with arms and a big smiling face, peers unseeingly up at him. Technically it’s Wayne’s, they gave it to him when he had his open heart surgery, but he’d let Izzy have it. Eddie gives it a sad little smile, hoping Izzy will be able to come back to it. Vecna just about destroyed Hawkins last time, who knows what’s going to happen this time.

“Sorry it’s a mess”, he tells Nancy, “you know how it is…”

She doesn’t have kids, so she might not actually, but either way she offers Eddie a polite smile. He glances around trying to see if he can spot Izzy’s cassette player. His search is quickly interrupted by the sound of knocking at the trailer door.

He and Nancy exchange confused looks, but ultimately head back out to the kitchen. Upon opening the door, he finds a police cruiser parked in what’s normally Wayne’s spot. There’s an officer standing beside it, and another on the porch.

“Can I help you?” Eddie asks.

“Edward Munson?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Chief Hopper sent us over”, the cop, Officer DuPont according to his name tag, says, “he wants you to come give a statement about the attack on the hospital.”

That makes sense, Eddie supposes. He is a witness, after all. Frankly, he’s just relieved to hear that Hopper made it out alive.

“Were you there as well?” the officer asks Nancy.

“Um yeah, in the parking lot”, she says.

“May as well come down too, then”, he says.

“Now’s not really a good time”, Eddie explains.

“Well, it’s gonna have to be, Son”, the officer tells him, “Chief’s orders, bring you in ASAP.”

Eddie and Nancy frown at each other. They’re in the middle of a situation, they can’t just drop everything and go down to the station.

“What about the others?” Nancy says.

“You can call them from the station”, Officer DuPont assures her.

Nancy glances over at Eddie, who just shrugs. He doubts they’ll be able to talk their way out of this, and maybe Hopper has some sort of update he can give them. Nancy doesn’t seem as sure as him, though. She’s still giving Officer DuPont the side eye.

“We won’t keep you any longer than we have to,” he tells them.

“Um, okay”, Nancy relents, but she’s clearly still on edge. Officer DuPont gestures for them to come out onto the porch. Eddie follows him down the steps and towards the cruiser, but Nancy hesitates for a moment.

“You good?” Eddie asks.

“Fine”, Nancy says tensely. She moves then, but it’s slow and cautious. She seems to think something is up.

Eddie trusts her judgment, but if Hopper can help them, the risk might be worth it. Surely the others are still a few hours away, so they could use some backup in case any sort of monsters come looking for them.

Nancy keeps a few paces behind Eddie as they head towards the cruiser. DuPont’s partner has the door to the back open and waiting for them. Eddie climbs in, followed by Nancy. The partner closes the door once she’s inside. Then he and DuPont climb into their seats up front. DuPont starts the car, then clicks all the locks with a button.

“You two all set back there?” he asks.

“Yeah”, Eddie tells him as he and Nancy finish getting settled in.

“Good”, DuPont says, “let’s go, then.”

He pulls out and onto Eddie’s street. Eddie peers out the window as they go. It's well past midnight by now. The fact there’s a storm rolling in and thick clouds have started to gather in the sky makes the darkness even thicker than usual. If it weren’t for the car’s headlights and the street lamps that occasionally flicker overheard, he probably wouldn’t be able to see a thing.

The ride to the station is awkward. Any conversation Eddie and Nancy might want to have can’t be had in front of strangers.

“Could you turn the radio on?” Eddie asks. He knows he’s probably not going to like whatever’s playing but at least this way he and Nancy are both protected.

DuPont obliges as they pull out from the entrance to the trailer park and onto the main road. It’s not far from the station, so Eddie only has to endure ten minutes of inane Top 40 drivel.

The wind is seriously picking up as they arrive at the station. Eddie’s hair starts whipping around his face, and he lets out an irritated huff as he tries in vain to control it.

Nancy’s dealing with similar issues. By the time they’re getting inside, both of them could probably use a hair brushing. They don’t really have time for that though. Nancy goes to call Max, and DuPont leads Eddie to Hopper’s office, where Hopper is sitting with an ice pack on his head.

“Thanks, DuPont”, he says, “go grab a break, it’s gonna be a long night.”

DuPont nods as Hopper gestures for Eddie to sit down.

“That thing knocked over a shelf when I was fighting it”, he explains when Eddie raises his eyebrows at the ice pack, “don’t know what kind of equipment fell off and hit me in the head but it was damn heavy.”

“What happened? I mean, did you kill it?” Eddie asks.

“Nope”, Jim says, “it just died on its own, turned into goo. Some of Owen’s people showed up not long after to deal with it. I got no idea on the death toll. Most of the hospital was able to evacuate, but there was obviously some casualties. There’s some parts of the building the thing didn’t get to, they’re gonna get as many people as they can in there but there’s a lot of patients who are gonna have to be transferred.”

Eddie nods. He hopes there weren’t too many people who were killed. He’d seen a few bodies, so he knows the death toll isn’t zero. And it’s his fault really, assuming that thing was after him. If he hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have attacked.

“What about you, all of you okay?” Jim asks.

“Um, some of us”, Eddie replies, “Steve, Robin and Nancy came to get me from the hospital. I sent Wayne and Izzy out of town, so they’re safe. Max is okay, she’s at home with Erica, Dustin and Lucas. One of those things attacked them and got Lucas in the shoulder. He was okay last I knew but it looked pretty deep.”

“They’re all at Max’s place?”

“Steve and Robin went to the airport to get El and the others”, Eddie explains, “but everyone else stayed back to look after Lucas.”

Jim nods his understanding and Nancy comes walking into the room.

“So, you guys came to get Eddie?”

Nancy nods.

“We didn’t know he was being attacked, but when we got there, he came walking out of the hospital and told us what happened. We took him back to Max’s place.”

“I caught him up”, Eddie says, “Max, Nancy and I, we’ve all been seeing Vecna.”

Jim rubs his temples. Eddie can understand the stress he’s under. Eleven is his daughter, and Eddie’s honestly surprised she didn’t come back to Hawkins with him. The implications of Vecna being back are hard on the man. Vecna’s main fight is with El, after all. She’s the one who will have to face off with him again. He’s a ruthless monster, and fighting him the last time took almost everything she had. Eddie can’t imagine what it’d be like if it were him in that situation, if it were Izzy stepping into harm’s way like that.

A flash of lightning halts the conversation, followed by a loud crash of thunder. They’re only relived of the shock for a moment before once again being startled by Officer DuPont storming into the room.

“Chief”, he says, “you’re gonna wanna see this.”

Jim stands up, groaning as he puts weight on his injured foot. It’s never been quite right since his prison break. He limps a bit most of the time. Eddie can relate, he still gets really stiff and sore from time to time. Not to mention all the damage he’s done to himself since then. He’s got a big ol’ chunk of flesh missing from his arm that they’d had to cut out after he’d gotten an abscess from using dirty needles. He thankfully managed to avoid catching anything during his days as a junkie, which is pretty lucky, because he knew people that didn’t.

Hopper of course is too stubborn to consider retiring and finding some other less taxing job, so he’s still forcing himself along on his bad leg. Eddie supposes he shouldn’t be so quick to judge, considering the things he’s put his own body through.

Eddie and Nancy follow along as Hopper makes his way to the front of the station and lets out a horrified gasp. Beyond the panes of the windows, red streaks of lightning flash in the darkened sky overhead. Eddie wishes that was the most concerning thing, but it’s not. The honor would probably have to go with the half dozen or so creatures standing outside the station. They’re roughly the size of large dogs, with big, flower bud-like heads and no eyes.

“Demodogs”, Nancy mutters.

“What?” Eddie gasps.

One of them shifts slightly and everyone in the room collectively tenses. Eddie doubts the glass of the station’s door and windows will be all that effective at keeping them out. Not if they’re like the bats at least, those fuckers were awfully strong. Hopper and DuPont both pull out their guns, but a few pistols don’t exactly seem like adequate protection against a horde of Vecna’s monsters.

“You-you don’t think those things are after us, do you?” Eddie asks Nancy.

“I don’t know”, Nancy says, “maybe.”

That’s what Eddie’s afraid of. The last thing he wants is to have to deal with those creatures. He also doesn’t want to be the reason everyone currently in the police station is at serious risk of being torn apart by monsters. Vecna’s already sent creatures after them, though, so that’s seeming like a pretty likely explanation at this point.

Fuck. How many more people are going to die because of Eddie? How is he still managing to screw up the lives of everyone he comes into contact with?

One of the demodogs takes a step closer, and Hopper reaches into his pants pocket to retrieve a set of keys.

“Wheeler”, he says, tossing them to Nancy. Eddie wants to be a little offended Hopper didn’t consider giving them to him, but then again, crashing his car is what put the current chain of events into motion, so he supposes he can’t really blame the man.

“My cruiser’s around back”, Hopper tells them, “take it and get back to the others. If One sent those things after you, he probably sent some after them too. Nancy, I’ve got a shotgun in my office. Bring it when you go.”

Nancy nods before heading back towards the office. Eddie follows after, jumping slightly when the sound of a gunshot rings out through the station. It’s quickly followed by more, as well as the sound of glass repeatedly shattering.

“Fuck”, Eddie mutters as Nancy grabs the gun and starts loading it. He’s already been chewed on by a bunch of freaky Upside Down creatures, and he’s not interested in having it happen again.

“Stay close”, Nancy warns as she heads to the door of the office, shotgun at the ready. Eddie was certainly planning on it.

Eddie doesn’t dare look back to the front of the station as they creep towards the back exit. He knows whatever’s happening probably isn’t pretty. There’s still gunfire, which means not everyone has been killed. Eddie supposes that’s as big a win as they can plausibly hope for at this point.
The back door is just coming into view when Nancy lets out a gasp. Eddie turns just in time to see one of the creatures bounding towards them. Its head has opened up, revealing a star-shaped maw lined in razor sharp teeth.

“Fuck fuck fuck”, Eddie stammers, but thankfully Nancy Wheeler is nothing if not good under pressure. She fires several shots into the thing, which doesn't seem to kill it but certainly throws it off long enough for them to make it out the door.

They miraculously manage to avoid being mauled on their way from the building to the car. He certainly hopes Hopper can say the same. This is the third time in the past two days that he saved Eddie’s life after all.

“Shit”, he says, once the adrenaline starts to ebb. He’s getting tired of having some new threat pop up every time he turns the corner. And to think, a little over a week ago and his biggest problem was trying to convince Izzy to finish her green beans. Now he’s being tormented by a telepathic psycho and running from a horde of angry hellbeasts. The whole situation is getting a little too familiar at this point.

The lightning continues flashing periodically throughout the night sky, accompanied by the distant rumbles of thunder. Eddie didn’t miss how much it resembles the Upside Down. He thinks about the first time, what Nancy had told them about four chimes and four victims. When Max had momentarily died, Vecna’s plan had succeeded. Eddie wasn’t there at the time but he learned there had been an earthquake and giant cracks in the ground. Nothing like that has happened this time, but it certainly seems like the Upside Down is starting to leak into the normal world.

They still have no clue what Vecna’s grand plan even is, or how they fit into it. Eleven had ensured the gates were all closed the first time he’d been defeated, but he must’ve found some way of opening one again.

They’re about halfway to Max’s when Nancy abruptly breaks.

“Um, what was that?” Eddie asks. There’s nothing in front of them, so he’s not sure why she would stop in the middle of the road.

Nancy doesn’t answer, just pulls out the shotgun and starts loading it.

“Uh, Nancy, what’s going on?” Eddie asks, “what are you doing with that?”

“I’m gonna kill that thing”, she says.

“What thing?”

Eddie scans the road in front of them once more, but is still unable to locate anything that might indicate what exactly she’s referring to. It’s been surprisingly smooth sailing so far, they haven’t encountered any freaky monsters since fleeing the station.

“The demogorgon”, Nancy says.

“There’s nothing there”, Eddie tells her, but she ignores him. Before he can stop her, she’s storming out of the driver’s seat, the now loaded shotgun in her hands.

She must be hallucinating, like Eddie had been when he’d crashed the other day. She thinks there’s some kind of creature in front of them, and she’s going to try and kill it. The problem, of course being that there is no creature, and she’s walking around with a loaded weapon while completely out of touch with reality. Eddie hurriedly climbs out of the cruiser and follows after her as she heads for the tree line on the opposite side of the road.

The sound of a shotgun firing leaves Eddie’s ears ringing. Barks splinters off a nearby tree from the impact of Nancy’s shot.

“Damn it”, she mutters, “it’s getting away.”

“There’s nothing there, Nancy”, Eddie tells her, “you’re seeing things. It’s not real. Give me the keys, I’ll get us back to Max’s.”

But Nancy is too far into her vision to listen to him. She sprints off into the forest, gun at the ready. Eddie does not want to go running into a dark forest with a crazed Nancy Wheeler brandishing a shotgun. He does it anyway, because she or someone else might get hurt if he lets her go off on her own. He at least has the good sense to look through the cruiser, which ends up having a flashlight.

With the ability to see if nothing else, he heads off into the trees. He can hear the periodic sound of gunfire in the distance, but that’s his only clue as to where Nancy is and it’s not exactly precise.

“Nancy”, he calls, “where are you?”

Either she doesn’t hear him or she’s ignoring him. He knows she’s alive at least because he can hear her footsteps and occasional gunshot. He waves the flashlight frantically around but still can’t catch sight of her.

“Nancy,” he tries again, “are you okay? It’s me, Eddie.”

When he’s met with no response he sighs in defeat. He’s as shitty of a friend as he is a nephew and father. Always managing to hurt the few people in this world who haven’t turned their backs on him.

It’s then that Eddie notices that he hasn’t heard any shots in a while. He’s not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Hopefully it means either Nancy’s out of ammo, which might make her slightly less dangerous, or ideally that she’s snapped out of it and realized there’s nothing there. He really hopes it doesn’t mean she’s hurt or dead.

It’s also then that he realizes he left his Walkman at the station. Shit. If Vecna attacks, he’s defenseless. His mind races, first to Chrissy, then to Izzy. What’s Wayne gonna tell her when this is all over? How is he going to explain to a preschooler that her dad was turned into a human pretzel by an evil telepath? And oh God, is Wayne gonna have to be the one to ID the body? He definitely doesn’t want his uncle to see him like that.

Exasperated, he decides to take a moment to regroup. He leans against the trunk of a large tree, closing his eyes and trying to catch his breath. His moment of peace doesn’t last for long though, because he suddenly becomes aware of something wrapping itself around his ankle. Startled, he directs the flashlight to it, revealing a long black tendril curling around his leg. He doesn’t have time to react before it’s giving a harsh tug, taking him clean off his feet.

Eddie hits the ground with a loud thud, his grip on the flashlight slipping. The vine gives another yank, and Eddie feels himself being dragged along the ground. He tries desperately to grab onto anything he can use to stop himself, but it’s no use. At some point, his head collides with the protruding roots of a nearby tree, and then everything goes black.

Chapter Text

“Daddy, look!”

The sun shines brightly overhead, the sky a deep blue as fluffy white clouds float lazily by. Eddie stands at the edge of the field beside the trailer park, using a hand to shield his eyes from the bright afternoon sun. He smiles at the sight of Izzy in the field, her curls bouncing as she runs.

“What is it, baby?” he asks.

“Watch this!” she jumps and spins around before landing with a massive grin. It’s not really anything all that exciting, but the joy on her face is enough to make Eddie’s heart melt.

“Very impressive”, he tells her as she runs up to him, wrapping her tiny arms around his legs. He ruffles her curls affectionately in response.

“I love you Daddy”, she says.

“I love you too, baby”, Eddie replies. He stands there and lets the feeling of peace settle over him, the comfort of having his little girl happy at his side. It’s a beautiful day, and there’s not another soul around, just him and Izzy.

Izzy, who is looking up at him like he’s the center of her entire world. He knows she’s certainly the center of his.

Happily, she detaches herself from him and starts off into the field once again. She makes it a few paces before turning to Eddie, a smile on her face.

“Bet you can’t catch me!” she laughs.

“Oh yeah”, Eddie grins, “we’ll see about that.”

He waits for a moment, letting her get a head start before pursuing. He could easily catch her if he really tried, but he wants to give her a chance to get some of her energy out, so he makes sure to stay a few steps behind her as she runs through the field. They’re about halfway to the treeline on the opposite side when Eddie freezes.

Confused, he peers up at the thick, dark clouds that have suddenly appeared overhead. The wind begins to pick up, sending a chill running down Eddie’s spine. The blades of the grass in the field bend against the force of it.

“Izzy”, he calls out, “c’mere. I think it’s gonna storm.”

Izzy for her part ignores him, continuing on ahead without so much as a glance back. Like she didn’t even hear him at all.

“Izzy”, he tries again, hurrying after her, “come on. You don’t wanna get stuck in the rain.”

Again, no response. He can hear her laughing as she runs ahead, her pace picking up as she goes. Eddie’s no longer letting her get ahead, she’s actually managing to outpace him now, which is strange.

“Izzy!” Eddie shouts, “stop!”

Izzy finally stops then, turning to Eddie with a wide smile on her face. There’s something off about it, though. Sinister almost, which isn’t a word Eddie would normally use to describe his daughter.

“We can’t stop, Daddy”, she giggles, “not now.”

“We have to”, Eddie tells her, anxiety beginning to brew deep inside him, “it’s gonna storm, sweetie. We have to go inside now.”

The sky is completely choked in dark clouds, now. The temperature seems to have dropped by at least several degrees in the last few minutes alone. Distant thunder booms as lightning goes streaking across the horizon.

“But he’s here now, Daddy”, Izzy tells him, “it’s finally time.”

Eddie’s stomach begins to sink at her words. He’s really starting to suspect that it might not actually be Izzy he’s talking too. The sky is turning so dark it’s practically night at this point. It’s strange that the weather would turn like this. It had been so nice, that’s why Eddie had decided to bring Izzy out here in the first place. He remembers…

Wait. He doesn’t remember deciding to bring Izzy here at all. Last thing he remembers he was…well, he’s not sure.

“Who’s here?” Eddie asks Izzy.

Izzy just smiles even wider. “It’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

“We?” Eddie frowns, “who’s we?”

Izzy doesn’t answer, but she doesn’t need to because that’s when there’s a flash of lightning and suddenly a massive shape is appearing in front of Eddie. It’s huge, dwarfing the trees that surround the field. It almost resembles some sort of creature, standing atop a set of long, spindly legs. There’s something strange about it, though. Like it’s not quite corporeal. Like it’s made of smoke.

“It’s time”, Izzy says, “you have to let him in.”

“No”, Eddie shakes his head, “no. This-this isn’t real.”

“Of course it’s real”, Izzy tells him, “let him in Daddy. It’s time.”

Eddie still isn’t isn’t one hundred percent on what exactly is going on, but whatever it is, he knows he wants no part in it.

“No”, he cries.

“He saved you”, Izzy tells him, “this is what you were meant to do.”

“What?” Eddie asks.

“Don’t you remember?” Izzy asks.

She reaches out a tiny hand as she speaks and hesitantly, Eddie takes it in his own. As soon as he does the scene changes. Izzy disappears, as does the creature and the field.

He’s back in the Upside Down version of Forest Hills, a now familiar scene playing out in front of him once more. He’d really appreciate not being forced to relive his own sort-of death yet again, but evidently Vecna and his scary monster friend love making this as miserable as possible for him.

He stands there, watching as Dustin cradles his past self in his arms.

“I love you, man”, Past Eddie chokes out weakly. Present Eddie can still remember with a miserable clarity what that felt like. It didn’t hurt, really. It did when the bats were attacking, but by this point, his body had already started shutting down and he couldn’t really feel the pain anymore. It still wasn’t pleasant by any means though, feeling himself shutting down like that. The sensation of choking on your own blood as your veins grow cold and your vision starts to go black is one he’s never going to forget, even if he wants to.

“I love you too”, Dustin manages out through his tears. That’s the last thing Eddie himself remembers of the ordeal, Dustin saying he loved him. After that, he’d slipped away into nothingness until awakening in the hospital a week or so later.

He can see the moment his past self finally gives up and goes completely still and limp in Dustin’s arms. His eyes are, disturbingly, still open, staring wide at nothing. Dustin hadn’t told him about that. He hadn’t really told Eddie much, but then again, it had to be a pretty traumatic experience for the poor kid, so Eddie’s not surprised he never shared many details.

“Eddie”, Dustin sobs out, shaking Past Eddie’s body slightly as if trying to rouse him. Current Eddie chokes up a bit, watching Dustin weep as he repeatedly calls out Eddie’s name.

The scene shifts then, and suddenly Steve is standing beside Dustin, just like in Eddie’s previous vision.

“We can’t leave him, Steve”, Dustin is saying.

“He’s gone”, Steve replies, “look, I’m sorry Dustin, but we have to go.”

“He can't be gone. He-he saved us. He’s a hero. He can’t be gone.”

“Come on”, Steve insists, “there’s nothing we can do now.”

Once again, Dustin tearfully lays Eddie back down and goes to follow Steve. This time though, there’s something new. As Dustin and Steve begin to walk away, Eddie notices a cloud of strange black particles come flitting through the air. They lazily float through the air before suddenly dropping, falling straight into Past Eddie’s mouth. It’s then that Past Eddie once again awakens, hacking wetly even while remaining unconscious.

The scene disappears after that, Izzy and the creature reappearing in its place. Izzy gently lets go of Eddie’s hand, still with that grin on her face.

“I-I don’t understand”, Eddie stammers.

“He saved you”, Izzy tells him, “it’s time to let him in.”

“No”, Eddie shakes his head, “no, I won’t.”

“He’ll spare me”, Izzy counters.

“What?”

“He’s going to destroy everything”, Izzy explains, “but if you help him, he’ll let me live.”

Eddie isn’t even sure who “he” is at this point. Vecna? The creature? Whoever it is, Eddie doesn’t really trust them to uphold that deal. Besides, what kind of deal is it, really, even if they do keep it? Leave Izzy alive in some nightmarish world controlled by Vecna and his creatures? Not a chance in Hell.

“I’m not helping you!” Eddie insists.

“You don’t have a choice”, Izzy says, black veins beginning to grow and spread across her skins, “let him in! Let him in!”

Her voice becomes warped as she chants it over and over again like a mantra. Eddie takes a step back as the creature begins to lumber towards him. A thin tendril emerges from it, reaching out in Eddie’s direction. He wants to run, then, but he can’t. He’s frozen, paralyzed by some unseen force.

“Let him in!”, the warped version of Izzy shrieks, “let him in!”

Eddie doesn’t want to, not in the least, but he thinks the vision of Izzy was probably right about him not having a choice. The tendril reaches him, forcing itself inside his mouth. He gags on it as it slithers down his throat, causing his vision to go completely black. He loses himself in the darkness then, helpless as it overpowers him completely.

Chapter Text

Eddie peers around slowly. He’s standing on the side of the road, next to the now abandoned cruiser he and Nancy had been riding in.

Nancy. Find Nancy.

Yes. That’s right. He’s supposed to find Nancy. But the question is, where to look.

We can sense her

Yes. They can sense her. Eddie closes his eyes, letting himself tune into the vast, interconnected network that runs deep through Hawkins, both the normal and other worldly versions. It takes a moment, before he picks up on her presence. She’s not far, just beyond the nearest bank of trees. Eddie will go to her, like his master wants.

She’s staying put, luckily, so it’s easy to find her. She’s leaned against the trunk of a large tree, shotgun at her side as she tries to catch her breath. Eddie sees her before she sees him, evidenced by the way her head snaps up at the sound of his footsteps, her gaze sliding around in panic.

“Whoa”, Eddie holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender, “easy. It’s just me.”

“Oh, sorry Eddie”, Nancy replies, “you scared me.”

“Sorry”, Eddie says, flashing her a soft smile, “my bad.”

“It’s fine”, Nancy assures him, “let’s just get back to the car.”

Eddie nods, gesturing for her to lead the way. She adjusts her grip on the gun so that it’s ready to be used if need be. They won’t need it of course. The Master’s creatures know not to attack them. Not now that the plan has been set in motion.

“With any luck, Steve and Robin managed to get everyone to Max’s while we were gone”, Nancy comments.

Max. Need Max too.

Yes, Master asked for Max to be brought to him too. This should be easy, then.

“I’m sorry by the way”, Nancy says as they make their way back to the road, “for you know, freaking out earlier. I guess Vecna was in my head.”

“It’s okay”, Eddie tells her. More than okay, in fact. Why would he be upset about it, when it’s all part of Master’s plan? That’s why Eddie is here, after all. To help Master carry out his plan.

They’ve just made it out of the treeline when Nancy pauses with a frown. She looks up towards the sky, holding a hand out curiously. She watches intently as small particles drift lazily down from the sky like snow, several landing in her palm.

“Shit”, she remarks, “it’s just like in the Upside Down.”

Of course it is. That’s the whole goal. Eddie doesn’t say that though, just nods. Nancy peers pensively down at the flecks on her hand for another moment before shaking them off.

“Come on”, she urges, “this is getting bad. The sooner we get back to the group, the better.”

When they make it to the cruiser, Eddie climbs into the passenger seat while Nancy resumes her position as driver. She starts the ignition and the car springs to life. Eddie reaches over absentmindedly, turning the dial on the A/C up a few notches as Nancy starts off down the road. Eddie watches her face, the look of grim determination plastered on it. He thinks about how she doesn’t know that right now, Jim Hopper is barricaded in his office, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding from the large bite on his left thigh. She doesn’t know that in the past half a day or so, at least two dozen Hawkins residents have died, with the number growing by the minute as more of the other realm leaks into the town. She doesn’t know that there’s a swarm of demobats five minutes away from Max and the others, and if Master wished it, they could tear the little group apart with ease. She doesn’t know that a grand plan has just been set into motion after years of planning and waiting, and there’s nothing she nor anyone else can do to stop it.

-

About halfway back to Max’s place, something shifts. Nancy of course doesn’t notice it, but Eddie does. The sudden sensation that lights up inside of him and every other part of Master’s web. Eleven She and the others just got into town. They’ll likely get to Max’s less than 10 minutes after Eddie and Nancy do, assuming their drive remains unimpeded. That’s a problem for Eddie. Eleven will take one look at him and be able to sense Master’s presence.

We’ll take care of them

Eddie understands. Master will send some of his creatures to distract them, to give Eddie more time.

(Those creatures will hurt them! He doesn’t want to hurt his friends.)

Eddie turns the air up another notch, a placid smile on his face.

-

Eleven and the others haven’t moved from the position they’d been forced to hunker down in when the bats attacked them as Nancy and Eddie pull into the trailer park. Nancy turns onto Max’s street, and as she pulls up to the Mayfield’s place, Eddie notices a car is parked outside it that hadn’t been there before. It’s Wayne’s truck, he realizes. Why is Wayne’s truck here?

The answer becomes apparent when Eddie walks into the trailer and sees Wayne standing in the kitchen with Dustin. When he sees Eddie, he makes his way over and enfolds him in a tight embrace, the denim of his jacket brushing up rather uncomfortably on Eddie’s skin.

“Good to see you alive and well, kid”, he says.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks.

“Don’t worry, Izzy’s safe”, Wayne explains, “left her with a friend of mine just over the Illinois border. He’s good people, he’ll watch over her. But I just kept thinkin’ bout last time. How I wasn’t there when you needed me. And I didn’t want that to happen again, so I came back.”

“You’re not supposed to be here”, Eddie replies.

“I’m not leavin’ you this time”, Wayne insists. Eddie supposes it doesn’t really matter.

(Of course it matters, do you want them to hurt Wayne?)

“There you guys are”, Dustin cuts in, “what took you so long? What did Hopper want?”

Nancy lets out a sigh, propping her shotgun against the wall. She makes her way to one of the kitchen chairs and plops down in it, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

“We were attacked by demodogs”, she explains, “Eddie and I escaped while Hopper and the other officers held them off. No clue if he's okay or not. Then I had a vision on the way back here and ran off into the woods. Eddie had to come get me. Something bad is happening.”

“I know”, Dustin replies, “I’ve seen it outside. It’s like the Upside Down is starting to merge with our dimension. And Lucas has a fever. He might have an infection. God. We need El and the others to get here as soon as possible.”

In the living room, Erica and Max are still stationed at Lucas’s side. He’s thoroughly incapacitated, so Eddie isn’t concerned. Erica is a bigger challenge. From what Eddie understands she took up boxing at some point during high school. He’ll have to get Max and Nancy separated from the others. Getting out from under Wayne’s nose might be the hardest part. He doesn’t look like he wants Eddie to leave his sight. Eddie will have to wait for the right moment. Hopefully it will present itself soon. El and the others are starting to get an upper hand. Her powers have grown since Master had seen her last. Maybe they can be pushed towards the station. Saving her injured father will serve as another suitable distraction.

Dustin approaches Eddie after that, and like Wayne, embraces him tightly.

“Sorry”, he says, “didn’t really get to say a proper hello yet.”

“It’s fine”, Eddie replies.

“Jesus”, Dustin adds, “you’re freezing dude. You need a jacket or something?”

“Nah, I’m good”, Eddie tells him. 

Dustin doesn’t push the issue, just gives him a nod. Eddie can feel Wayne staring intently at him as he and Dustin converse.  He turns and goes walking over to him, knowing this is the only way to appease the man. 

“How you feeling?” Wayne asks. 

“Alright”, Eddie replies, “I mean, given the circumstances. You?”

“Same I suppose”, Wayne chuckles. 

Eddie frowns for a moment. Something’s not right.

“You okay?” Wayne asks. 

“I’m fine”, Eddie assures him. Eleven is getting further away, but Will, Jonathan, Steve and Robin are getting closer to the trailer park. Joyce is with them, now too. Eddie will have to work fast. 

“Listen, Eddie”, Wayne sighs, shoving his hands into his pockets, “I know you didn’t want me here. And I understand. But uh, worst case scenario, I got a second cousin down in Arizona who’d be willing to take Izzy. Not that it’ll come to that.”

“Why did you come?” Eddie asks, perhaps a bit too snippy in his delivery. 

“You gotta understand”, Wayne tells him, “I-I came home from work one morning, one perfectly ordinary morning, and found a dead girl in my trailer and my nephew missing. Then next thing you know, you’re half dead in the hospital and the cops are trying to bring you in for murder. I-I kept thinking about how I could’ve protected you from that if I’d been there. And the thought of it happening again, I just can’t bear it, Eddie.”

Eddie nods, even if he isn’t really paying the statement much mind. He’s too busy figuring out how he’s going to get both Nancy and Max out of the trailer and into the woods. Wayne’s begging is of no importance to him. 

(It is. It's everything to him.)

“I get it”, he says, then turns to go talk to Nancy. He has to get her and Max alone. 

“Hey”, he says, “can I talk to you for a second.”

“Uh, sure”, Nancy replies, a slight look of confusion crossing her features. She doesn’t know what’s about to happen, how lucky she is to be a part of it.

(No! Run Nancy! They’ll hurt you like they hurt me.)

He opens the door to one of the bedrooms, Max’s from the look of it and gestures for her to enter. His progress is halted by the sound of knocking at the door. He’d gotten distracted by Wayne and lost track of where the others were. 

Eddie contemplates whether or not he can subdue Nancy fast enough to get her out of here unnoticed. He doesn’t get the chance, because Johnathan Byers walks through the door. 

“Nancy”, he greets. 

“Johnathan”, Nancy smiles, walking over to give him a hug. Eddie’s lost his chance. His Master will be furious. 

Joyce, Steve and Robin pile inside, followed by Will. As soon as he steps inside, he’s pausing, a hand going to rub at his neck. Eddie starts contemplating running away and leaving the others behind for now, but he doesn’t even get the chance to do that.

Will looks up at Eddie, his eyes wide. 

“Erica, Dustin”, he says, noting the two people now standing closest to Eddie, “don’t let Eddie go anywhere.”

“What? Why?” Erica questions. 

“The Mindflayer, I knew I felt it nearby”, Will says, “it’s inside Eddie.” 

Everyone in the room’s eyes fall on Eddie. He looks to see if there’s a possible escape route but there’s no time. Erica and Dustin are coming over to him. 

“Eddie?” Dustin asks, “what’s going on? What’s he talking about.”

“I don’t know”, Eddie insists. 

“Will was taken by the Mindflayer before”, Erica points out, “we know he has a connection with it, he’s sensed it before.”

There’s a quiet murmur of consideration among the others , but it ends up being Wayne who speaks.  

“What in the damn Hell is goin’ on?” he asks. 

“It’s the Mindflayer, Mr. Munson”, Dustin tells him, “it’s a creature that possesses people. It’s controlling Eddie. I agree with Erica, Will has sensed it before.” 

“Wayne, don’t listen to them”, Eddie pleads, “they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“That’s not true”, Nancy pipes up, “Will is right, Mr. Munson, we’ve seen it. I thought maybe something was off with Eddie ever since we got separated on the way here. He kept turning the air conditioning on higher in the car.” 

“He felt cold when I hugged him”, Dustin recounts. 

“The Mindflayer likes it cold”, Will says. 

The others exchange glances, Steve flashing one at Nancy and Jonathan. They all approach Eddie alongside Erica, Steve and Jonathan grabbing onto Eddie’s arms. 

Eddie turns his gaze to Wayne. 

“Wayne, don’t let them do this to me.”

Joyce Byers steps in then. 

“What they’re saying is true, Wayne”, she says, “it happened to my boy Will,  and that kid who died at Starcourt Mall, Billy Hargrove.” 

“Wayne”, Eddie whimpers, “Wayne, I don’t know what they’re talking about. I-I’m scared.”

Wayne peers intently at him, as if trying to see if it truly is Eddie in front of him. He’ll surely be the best shot at getting out of this. The others won’t believe Eddie, but Wayne might. 

“Please”, Eddie says, forcing a tear from one of his eyes to really sell it, “please, don’t let them do this to me.”

Wayne looks unsure. Eddie’s begging must be working. 

“Wayne”, he continues, “Wayne they’re wrong. You can’t let them hurt me.” 

“Enough!” it’s Dustin who cuts in, “if that thing really is inside Eddie we need to get it out as soon as possible.”

“Dustin”, Eddie looks at him with wide eyes, “Dustin, they’re making it up. I’m not possessed, I swear.”

“I’m not lying”, Will insists, “I feel the Mindflayer inside of him.” 

Eddie glares at him. He wasn’t anticipating Will Byers’ ability to sense Master’s presence. It’s complicating things, to be sure. Dustin does look a bit unsure now, though. 

“I’m serious”, Eddie tries, “I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I don’t even know what the Mindflayer is.”

Wayne brings a hand to his mouth, presses his lips against his knuckles as he watches the scene unfolding in front of him with pained eyes. Dustin on the other hand, his eyes widen and the doubt that had been overtaking his features fades. 

“Max”, he says, “do you have rope or something we can tie him up with?”

“Tie me up?” Eddie sputters, “Wayne, you’re seriously going to let them fucking tie me up?”

Wayne peers at Eddie like he wants to say something, but can’t seem to find the right words. 

“Yes he is!” Dustin once again interrupts, “because you’re not Eddie.”

“Of course I am”, Eddie insists, “Dustin, man. Come on.” 

“No you’re not”, Dustin retorts, “because me and the others fought a Mindflayer in our first ever campaign with the Hellfire Club. Eddie, the real Eddie, he knows what a Mindflayer is.”

Eddie almost lets his expression betray his frustration, but he quickly reverts back into the scared, helpless facade he’s been putting on. He may have lost Dustin, but there’s still Wayne. 

“Wayne”, he pleads, “don’t let them hurt me. Please.”

Wayne closes his eyes and lets out a long, drawn out sigh. He runs his hands over his face for a moment before turning to look at Joyce. 

“You said that this thing, it was in your boy?” he asks and she nods, “that mean you know what we gotta do to get it out?”

“Seriously?” Eddie hisses. 

“First things first we need to restrain him”, Joyce explains, “then we’re going to need heat. Max, do you guys have any space heaters or something like that?” 

“I think in my mom’s closet”, Max replies, “we can use her bed too. It’s got a metal frame we can tie him to. I don’t know what we can use for that, though.”

“I got rope in my truck”, Wayne says. 

“Wayne”, Eddie says, “you-you’re really listening to them? This is insane! I’m not possessed.” 

Wayne looks over at him, his pained expression morphing into a hard, stoic one. 

“I’ll go get it”, he says, “you guys get him to the bedroom.”

Eddie’s eyes widen and he thrashes slightly against Steve and Jonathan’s grips. He could easily break out of them if he really wanted to, but he still hasn’t given up on convincing Wayne to free him at some point. He can’t do anything to give himself away if that’s going to work. 

“Please”, he cries, “please don’t do this.” 

Wayne ignores him, just starts making for the door. Jonathan and Steve force Eddie towards the door to Mrs. Mayfield’s bedroom, and he fights a bit but ultimately allows it to happen. The others follow along behind them. Dustin, Steve, Nancy, Robin and Erica all converge to hold him down while Joyce goes to the closet. 

“No”, Eddie cries, “stop. Don’t.”

“Shut up!” Dustin hisses. 

Wayne returns in less than a minute with the rope. There’s a strange mix of regret and determination in his eyes as he binds Eddie’s wrists and ankles to the bed. 

“We should turn the heat on too”, Joyce instructs as she starts getting the Mayfields’ space heater set up beside the bed, “the higher the better.”

“There’s a thermostat here somewhere”, Max tells her, “right by the kitchen, I think.”

“I’ll go look”, Nancy offers. 

Eddie gives another tug on his restraints. The rope is already starting to dig into his skin. If he struggles enough, he can probably rub them raw, and Wayne might be easier to manipulate if he thinks Eddie’s being hurt. 

(He is being hurt. All of this hurts. He just wants it to stop.) 

“Alright”, Wayne says, crossing his arms and looking to Joyce, “now what?”

“We crank up the heat and wait”, she replies. 

Chapter Text

“Seriously guys”, Eddie huffs from his position tied to the bed, “you’ve made your point. Now will you please untie me?”

The others are gathered at the foot of the bed, just standing there watching him. His words temporarily draw their attention to him, but they all quickly look away without offering any sort of response. It’s clear they’re making a point of ignoring Eddie. 

“So what exactly is the plan here?” Erica crosses her arms, “we sit around and wait for this thing to just leave?”

“The Mindflayer is vulnerable to heat”, Jonathan explains, “if we can make it hot enough in here, it’ll have to leave. That’s how we got it out of Will.”

Admittedly, they’re off to a pretty good start. It’s definitely starting to get hot in here. Eddie can feel the layer of sweat that’s starting to break out across his skin. His bangs are plastered uncomfortably to his forehead by the moisture. He’s going to have to get out as soon as possible. 

“Yeah, you got it out of me after you were almost killed”, Will pipes up, “don’t forget, the Mindflayer is part of the hivemind, and right now, so is Eddie.”

“Which means that every single Upside Down monster out there knows exactly where we are”, Nancy finishes, “if the Mindflayer feels threatened, it could call them here easily.”

“Shit”, Robin mutters. 

They’re correct in their assessment. Eddie’s Master could have an army of ravenous creatures surrounding the place within a matter of minutes. They serve their own functions however, and tearing them away from that to come here is a last resort that they haven’t reached a need for yet. Eddie can still get out of this on his own. 

“Hopper gave me a shotgun”, Nancy says, “I can stand guard.” 

“Is that enough to hold them off?” Robin asks.

“Probably not for long”, Nancy sighs, “but it’s better than nothing.”

“I’ll help”, Erica offers.

“And I wanna go check on Lucas”, Max adds.

“Go ahead”, Joyce nods, before turning to Wayne, “you know, Wayne, no one would blame you if you wanted to sit this one out, too.”

Wayne shakes his head. “I’m not goin’ nowhere ‘til I know that thing is out of Eddie.” 

“For fuck’s sake”, Eddie snaps, “I’m not possessed.”

Again, his words are ignored.  Max, Nancy and Erica leave the room, followed by Robin, who goes at Steve’s urging. He must have noticed the horrified look that’s been stuck on her face since they got Eddie tied to the bed. That still leaves the rest of the group, though. 

“So, now we wait?” Steve asks. 

“Now we wait”, Jonathan confirms. Will doesn’t look so sure. If he has apprehension he doesn’t voice it, however. 

Eddie gives a tug on his restraints. They’re not too tight, but he can’t slip right out of them, either. He’s not quite sure how much longer he can wait for an escape opportunity to present itself. The heat is becoming deeply uncomfortable, and on top of that, the tide of the battle at the police station has changed. Eleven is defeating Master’s army, and she will likely come right here once she’s done. They can’t face her yet, it’s not time. Eddie has to get away before she arrives. 

“Wayne”, he whimpers, “it hurts.” 

Wayne looks like he wants to respond, but ultimately bites back his words. He sets his jaw, but there’s a softness in his eyes that looks almost like a precursor to tears. 

“Seriously”, Eddie continues, beginning to struggle against the ropes binding him to the bed, “don’t you care that they’re hurting me?” 

“Shut up!” Dustin hisses, “we’re hurting you, not Eddie.”

“But I am Eddie”, Eddie says, “fuck, how do you know he isn’t the one that’s possessed?”

He gestures his head towards Will as he says the second part. Will, who had been staring off into space previously senses the collective eyes of everyone in the room turning to him and looks up at them. 

“I’m not possessed”, Will insists, “Eddie is. Look at how much he’s sweating.” 

“It’s fucking hot in here”, Eddie retorts. 

“We’re not sweating as much as you”, Dustin fires back. 

“This is so fucking insane”, Eddie complains. 

Wayne is starting to look a little unsure, though. Eddie can see the cracks starting to show in his stoic exterior. If he presses enough, he might be able to break the man’s will completely. 

“So”, Wayne says, looking to where Will and Dustin both stand, “this ‘Mindflayer’ thing, what is it exactly?”

“We don’t really know exactly”, Dustin replies, “some kind of entity from another dimension.”

“And this thing, it’s gotten inside you before?” he asks Will.

“Back in fall of ‘84”, Joyce confirms, “but we got it out.”

“And that other boy you mentioned…you said it got into him too.”

“Billy Hargrove?” Dustin offers, “yeah. Back in ‘85. It possessed him and melted a bunch of people down to make a giant flesh monster.”

“And, if I recall correctly, Billy Hargrove died in ‘85, didn’t he?” Wayne says, and it’s clear from the dread-filled look on his face that he’s put two and two together. 

“Um, yeah”, Steve nods, “the Mindflayer killed him.”

Something dark passes over Wayne’s face at the words. Dustin must notice it too, because he’s quick to jump in. 

“It was different though”, he points out, “there’s no giant flesh monster this time.”

“Yeah, that we know of”, Steve mutters. 

“Eddie will be fine”, Dustin ignores him, “as long as we can get this thing out of him.”

Dustin has no way of knowing how untrue that actually is. If they were to separate Eddie from his master, then he’d be destroyed along with the rest of them. 

The temperature is steadily rising. He needs to get out soon. Perhaps he can try convincing Wayne to let him go. 

“Wayne”, he sniffles, “why are you doing this? I’m sorry if I made you mad.”

“I ain’t mad at you, kid”, Wayne replies, “we’re just trying to help you, that’s all.”

“By tying me up?”

“It’s for your own good”, Dustin insists. 

Eddie ignores him. Clearly he trusts Will to tell the truth. Wayne is still the one that seems to have the most doubt, so Eddie is going to focus on him. 

“How much longer is this going to take?” Steve asks. 

“I don’t know”, Joyce admits, “hopefully not long.”

Unfortunately, her hope is likely to come true. The heat is starting to grow unbearable. Painful, even. Eddie needs to get out of here immediately. He can’t stand it anymore. 

“Let me go!” he cries out, arching his head back as he bucks against the ropes. 

“Eddie!” Wayne says, “son, calm down.”

Eddie can’t calm down with the blistering heat in the room. The ropes are unforgiving on his skin as he jerks in them. 

“Let me go”, he repeats, “let me go!” 

Wayne almost kind of looks like he wants to, but he stays put. Instead, he’s left to stand there watching as Eddie’s wrists begin to grow raw from the aggressive tugging of the rope. Eddie continues on with his struggle, his cries to be released growing in volume. It builds and builds until he’s screaming at the top of his lungs.

Stop. Wait. 

He abruptly freezes at Master’s instructions. He’s confused by them for a moment, until he senses the swarm of demobats that’s just descended upon the power lines outside the trailer park. 

“What’s going on?” Dustin asks once he realizes Eddie’s gone still, “is it working?”

Will shakes his head. “The Mindflayer is still in him.”

“Then why…”

Dustin’s question is cut off by the sudden darkness that sweeps over the room as the electricity cuts out. The heater sputters off, and no doubt the trailer’s heat has too. Eddie takes in a few shaky breaths, letting the relief from the barrage of hot air ceasing wash over him. 

“Shit!” Dustin hisses. 

“What the fuck?” Steve huffs. 

Joyce opens the bedroom door to reveal the rest of the trailer, which is also shrouded in darkness. The whole trailer park most likely is. 

“The power must’ve gone out”, Joyce remarks. 

“What are we supposed to do now?” Steve asks. 

“I’ll go see if Max has some flashlights or candles”, Joyce offers. 

“That’s not gonna help us get the Mindflayer out of Eddie”, Steve replies. 

“El!” Jonathan suggests, “she and Mike knew we were coming here. We just have to wait for her to get her. I’m sure she’ll be able to help.”

“I guess”, Steve says, “so, if the meantime what? We just keep him tied up.”

“I think we’re gonna have to”, Jonathan sighs. 

Joyce returns then with a battery operated lantern in hand. She sets it down on the dresser across from the bed. It doesn’t do much to illuminate the room, but enough to make out the basic features of the occupants. And Dustin’s features indicate he’s thinking very hard about something. 

“Maybe we don’t have to wait for El”, he posits after a moment, “I mean, Will, you have a connection with the Mindflayer, right? Maybe you can help get it out of Eddie.” 

Even in the dimness, the deer in headlights look that the statement evokes from Will is obvious. Jonathan doesn’t look all that much more pleased with the suggestion himself. 

“No way”, Will shakes his head, “I’m not El, okay? I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Yeah, and that could be dangerous”, Jonathan adds, “how do we know the Mindflayer won’t do something to Will?” 

Dustin is clearly displeased by their reluctance, but far too overzealous to consider giving up that easily. 

“Maybe you could just try?” he says, “I mean, clearly you have some sort of link to it, still. What if you can help Eddie fight it?” 

“It’s a bad idea”, Jonathan insists. 

“I’m with him”, Steve adds, “I mean, would Will even know what to do? I’m sure Eleven will be here soon. We should just wait.”

Wayne lets out a heavy sigh, runs a hand over his forehead. 

“Don’t think we all need to be in here, then”, he sighs, “I’ll stay in here with him if y’all wanna go sit down.”

“I’ll stay too”, Dustin volunteers, while the rest go to take a break.

It’s working well in Eddie’s favor, having Wayne and Dustin alone in here. The window is big enough for him to climb out of, if he can just get to it. Subduing Wayne and Dustin won’t be a problem, he just needs to find a way to get out of his restraints. 

Without any heaters, the room is rapidly cooling and Eddie can feel himself getting stronger. He gives another yank on the ropes, and when it doesn’t budge, he starts pulling harder. It winds up hurting, actually, how much force he’s putting on the rope. 

“Eddie, stop”, Wayne urges, “you’re hurtin’ yourself.”

Not as badly as he’ll be hurt if he fails his Master. He has to get out, even if it shreds his wrists down to the bone. 

“Shit”, Dustin gasps. 

In the end it’s not the rope that frees Eddie. All of his struggling jostles a screw loose on Mrs. Mayfield’s headboard and part of it starts to seperate. Thankfully, Dustin and Wayne don’t notice when Eddie gets it apart enough to slip the rope off the bed frame. He frantically works to free his other wrist while Dustin and Wayne attempt to grab him. He’s come so far, he can’t let them stop him now. Black veins snake up his arms as he struggles with all of his might. He’s able to knock both Dustin and Wayne aside and take the stun it causes both of them to free his ankles and make for the window. 

He throws it open as Dustin climbs to his feet. 

“No, Eddie! Don’t go”, he cries, but Eddie leaps through the window and hits the ground running. 

He scurries away from the trailer, and straight into Nancy. 

“Shit”, she gasps, “Eddie?” 

“Come on, Nancy”, Eddie urges, “it’s almost time. We have to go.”

“Go where?” Nancy asks. 

“To our Master”, Eddie tells her. He’s not sure why she doesn’t seem to understand. 

“Eddie, what are you talking about?” Nancy asks. 

“He chose us to help him, Nancy”, Eddie reminds her. 

“No”, she shakes her head, “Eddie, this isn’t you. We can help you, okay? Just come with me.”

Eddie reaches out to grab her wrist and she jerks away. 

“He’ll be mad if you don’t come”, Eddie says, “you don’t want him to punish you, do you?” 

“Eddie…”, she pleads, but he can’t wait around for her if he’s going to get to his master. She’s armed, so he’s not going to try forcing her to come. Instead, he turns and runs, ignoring her calls for him to stop. 

He runs and runs, his bare feet becoming cut and scratched as he makes his way through Hawkins. The town is completely engulfed in dark clouds, with large, fleshy vines beginning to creep their way through the streets. Eddie follows their growth, the distant screech of demobats and occasional scream of an unfortunate Hawkins resident providing a macabre soundtrack in accompaniment. 

-

The building that was once Hawkins Laboratory has stood abandoned since 1985. Even now, 8 years later, no one has bothered to try and tear it down, or sell the land and replace it. It remained untouched, a sordid secret that the townspeople would rather just pretend doesn’t exist. 

It’s not untouched anymore. The entire facade of the building is choked in massive, dark vines. Eddie makes his way to the front entrance, carefully stepping through the threshold. The vines slither across the floor, following after him, ready to grab hold of him. They retreat, however, upon realizing that Eddie isn’t a threat. 

He winds his way through the corridors, random debris and refuse scattered through them. He descends the stairs to the lower levels of the facility, keeps moving until he reaches the very center, where Henry Creel waits for him, suspended in the air by a web of vines. 

“Where are the others?” he asks when he sees Eddie. 

“I couldn’t get them to come”, Eddie admits. Henry peers at him as if deciding what to do. 

“No matter”, he decides, “you’re going to help us, Eddie.”

The vines carefully lower him to the ground. Eddie approaches him, the hairs on the back of his neck beginning to stand up. He understands what this means. His Master could not exist in this world before, had to control lifeforms here instead. With the two worlds bleeding into each other, it will soon be able to take its own form here. The part that had been left dormant in Eddie on that fateful day in ‘86 has awakened, and once he finds Max and Nancy, he can find the parts that had been left dormant in them that same year and awaken them as well. Their master will be whole again, and can begin to colonize this world. 

“Bring the others to me”, Henry instructs, “Max, Nancy and Eleven need to get here alive. The rest are disposable.” 

Eddie nods. With a renewed sense of purpose, he turns and traces his previous steps back up to the main floor of the lab. When he steps outside of the building, a swarm of bats flying overhead changes course. They surround Eddie, flanking him as he makes his way through the mostly deserted streets of Hawkins. . He understands now, everything he must do. He will do it, without hesitation. 

(He doesn’t want this, he doesn’t want to hurt his friends. Someone, please, help him.)

Chapter Text

Eddie stands at the treeline that runs alongside the edge of the trailer park. In the distance, he spots Max’s trailer, around which Nancy is steadily creeping, establishing a perimeter. Eddie approaches, the bats letting out a cacophony of harsh screeches as they follow in his stead. Nancy picks up on the sound and looks up, her eyes widening at the sight. 

“Eddie”, she gasps, “what are you doing here?

“It’s not too late you know”, Eddie tells her, “you can still join us.”

Nancy raises her gun, but there’s too many bats and they’re moving too fast for her to be able to shoot all of them down. She might be better served to try and take Eddie out, but she doesn’t seem able to bring herself to. Instead, she aims her weapon off to the side and fires, sending back splintering off the trunk of a nearby tree. It’s nowhere even close to hitting Eddie or any of the bats, but it must serve its purpose because the back door of the trailer is flying open and Dustin, Erica and Steve are appearing at the threshold. 

“Shit”, Dustin cries out, “Nancy, run!” 

Nancy doesn’t need to be told twice. She turns and makes for the door without a second thought. Eddie stands and watches as several bats fly towards her, one of them wrapping its tail around her neck and yanking her back just as she’s about to reach the doorway. 

“Nancy!” Steve cries, but he doesn’t need to worry. The bats know not to harm Nancy. 

Her gun drops as she desperately struggles to release the pressure from around her neck. It’s not tight enough to completely impede her breathing, but she is beginning to hack a bit as she’s pulled to the ground. 

Eddie makes his way to her side, dropping to a knee beside her as he flashes a wide grin. The bat holding her neck releases it and she desperately sucks several large, desperate breaths. 

“Eddie”, Nancy begs, “please, don’t do this.” 

“You don’t need to be scared, Nancy”, Eddie comforts, “we aren’t going to hurt you.”

“Don’t listen to him”, Nancy counters, “he’s lying. That’s what he does.”

Eddie shakes his head fervently. “I’ve seen the truth, Nancy. They showed me.”

Nancy opens her mouth to respond, but she doesn’t get an opportunity. 

“Let her go!”

Steve has left the shelter of the trailer and is now standing with Nancy’s discarded shotgun in his hands. Eddie scowls at him, pushing himself up to his feet. 

“Nice try, Big Boy”, he taunts, “what are you gonna do, shoot me?” 

Steve clearly didn’t think this through. He isn’t adept with firearms like Nancy is, and even if he were, he’s probably not much more eager than Nancy is to gun Eddie down. Wayne is standing in the doorway now, come to see what’s going on, and Steve isn’t going to empty a round of buckshot into the man’s nephew in front of him. 

“Just back off, Dude”, Steve says, doing his absolute best to feign confidence. Eddie isn’t going to fall for it. The bats will make quick work of Steve, and he knows it as much as Eddie does. 

“Steve!” Dustin cries. Wayne reaches out for him, but he’s already out the door and sprinting to Steve before the older man can reach him. 

He makes it to Steve just as the bats do, leaving both to find themselves at the center of the swarm. 

We will destroy them

But no. Eddie doesn’t want to destroy them, does he? As he stands there and watches Steve and Dustin trying to fend off several demobats, his mind flashes with unprompted memories. Of himself, helping to fight back several bats dead set on making a meal out of Steve. Of Dustin, running willingly into their territory in a desperate attempt to help an injured Eddie. 

Dustin and Steve are his friends. He-he shouldn’t want them to get hurt. He has to help them. He has to-

Enough. We will finish this. 

Yes, of course. The plan. That's what matters. Dustin and Steve, they sealed their fates when they decided to stand in the way of it. Eddie will let them be torn apart if that’s what it takes to make sure his Master’s will is carried out. 

He moves forward, but is stopped when something grabs on to his leg, tripping him. It’s Nancy, he realizes. The bats sense the threat she’s presenting to him and set their attention back on her, allowing Steve and Dustin an opportunity to flee back to the safety of the trailer. 

Eddie pushes himself back to his feet, ignoring the sore spot on the back of his head where it hit the ground. 

“You shouldn’t have done that, Nancy”, he says. Master will be mad at her, and will probably want to punish her when it’s all said and done. 

She scrambles to get away, but Eddie’s faster. He grabs her arm, black veins dancing across his skin as he pulls her to him. 

“No”, she struggles, but it’s useless, “Eddie don’t do this.” 

“I have to”, he tells her. 

He starts dragging her back in the direction of the treeline, the bats quickly following after. Behind him, he can hear the others crying out for Nancy, alongside her own pleas for Eddie to let her go. 

“It’ll all be okay, Nancy”, Eddie tells her, “it won’t even hurt. I promise.” 

Her jaw sets, and there’s something dark and defiant in her eyes when she leans down and latches her teeth onto Eddie’s arm, biting down hard enough to draw blood. 

“Fuck”, Eddie can’t help but momentarily lose his grip on her. She makes a break for it, but the bats quickly follow in pursuit. 

“Don’t make this hard, Nancy”, Eddie calls to her. She ignores him, but he knows she’ll never be able to outrun the bats. 

She does make it farther than he thought she would before they catch her, he’ll give her that. About to the point Steve and Dustin had been standing. In the end, Eddie’s prediction is correct, however. One trips her and several others wrap their tails around each of her limbs, dragging her to the ground. 

“Don’t fight it, Nancy”, Eddie says as he creeps towards her, “just let it happen.”

Once he reaches her, he prepares to lean down to face her once again, but is stopped by a new voice calling out from the trailer’s door. 

“Boy! You get away from that poor girl right now!” Wayne calls, and he’s got the shotgun with him as he steps out onto the Mayfield’s back stoop. A stupid decision, really. Unlike Steve, he knows his way around a firearm, but that’s still not going to help him against a swarm of angry bats. 

That doesn’t stop him from trying though, when the ones not currently occupied with restraining Nancy descend on him. He takes a few out, but he can’t stop them all before one is wrapping its tail around his neck. 

He drops the gun after that, his hands flying to his neck in a desperate attempt to release the bats grip. It’s no use, and as several others prepare to attack, he lets out a desperate cough. 

He’s going to die. The bats are going to kill him. They’ll tear him apart just like…

Just like they did to Eddie. 

Eddie can’t let that happen. 

For a moment, all he can really think is just how badly he wants the bats to stop and leave his uncle alone. Miraculously, they do. The one with its tail around Wayne releases him, as do the ones that had been holding Nancy. The swarm disperses then, coming to congregate together behind Eddie as he stands there with his heart pounding wildly in his chest. 

They almost killed Wayne. Wayne almost died and Eddie was going to let it happen. Why is he doing this? He doesn’t want to do this. 

Leave , he orders the bats, and they do, flying off into the sky and away from the trailer park. Nancy hurries to Wayne, picks up the gun and carefully escorts her back inside. All the while, Eddie is left standing there, breathing heavily as he tries to make sense of what’s happening. 

He-he’d been ready to hurt his friends. His family. He can’t do that, he has to be strong, he has to fight…

Enough. You belong to us. Finish this.

He has to fight them. Them and anyone else who gets in his way. Destroy them, just like his Master wants. 

“What’s going on?” Nancy asks as she and Wayne reach the door. 

“I think Eddie broke through”, Dustin says, “he must’ve been able to get control of the hivemind long enough to send the bats away.”

“Not sure that’s gonna last”, Steve points out. Eddie is making his way towards the trailer, an angry glare fixed on the occupants. He doesn’t need the bats, he can finish them himself. 

“Eddie”, Dustin tries, “it’s us, man! Think.”

No. Eddie can’t listen to them. They’re trying to keep him from carrying out his Master’s wishes. Steve on the other hand isn’t eager to wait around. Instead he yanks Dustin back and slams the door shut, as if that’s going to provide anything but a momentary inconvenience to Eddie. 

When Eddie pulls on the handle, he finds it locked, which is a pitiable attempt at keeping him from entering. With the strength granted to him by his Master, he’s able to break it down easily. Inside, he spots Dustin cowering at the far end of the room. Pathetic. 

“Seriously, Dustin”, he chuckles, “that’s the best you guys can do?” 

“Not quite”, Dustin retorts. 

Eddie turns just in time to see a flurry of movement that turns out to be Nancy. Pain erupts in the side of his head as it meets with the butt of the gun. The force knocks him over, stunning him long enough for Jonathan, Erica, Will and Steve to approach and grab onto him, pinning him to the ground. 

“You can’t stop us!” Eddie shouts, doing everything he can to push them off of him, “it’s too late. You’re all gonna die.” 

He kicks and grabs and thrashes, all while the others attempt to keep him down. They’re giving it their all, that much is clear, but in the end they simply aren’t strong enough. With a powerful buck, Eddie manages to send Erica and Jonathan flying back and away from him, before kicking his legs and doing the same to Steve and Will. 

Joyce, Wayne and Robin are standing where the kitchen and living room meet. Beyond them, Max is kneeling beside the couch, an injured but awake Lucas’s hand nestled in her own. 

“Max”, Eddie calls to her, “finally, we found you. Come on, it’s time.” 

“She’s not going anywhere”, Robin insists. Eddie tilts his head in amusement. Surely she doesn’t think she’s going to stop him. 

“She’s lost you know”, Eddie taunts as he starts making his way over to Robin, “Eleven’s lost. She doesn’t know it yet, but she has. And now she’s going to watch all of you burn.” 

“Eddie…”, Wayne says, placing himself in front of Robin, “son, please. You can fight this, I know you can.” 

“There’s nothing to fight”, Eddie tells him, “I was meant to do this.” 

He’s ready to lunge for Wayne, but Joyce intercepts him. He knocks her easily aside, sending her crumbling to the ground. 

“Mom!” Will cries. 

Eddie turns to go for Wayne and Robin, but something stops him. His body freezes, and try as he might he can’t seem to take another step forward. 

The boy. He’s stopping me from continuing. Do something.

Eddie turns to find Will standing behind him, an angry look on his face. It seems he does have some sort of connection to Eddie’s Master, after all. Not powerful enough to stop him, though. His influence is already starting to weaken. 

“Grab him”, Will calls out, “hurry.” 

Steve and Jonathan oblige him, grabbing Eddie. Nancy and Dustin join in while Wayne and Robin help Joyce back to her feet. Eddie tries to fight against whatever force Will is exerting over him and his Master, but doesn’t get the chance to before he’s being dragged away, this time into Max’s room. Her headboard is wooden, but still has points to attach ropes to. And attach ropes to it, they have. 

Eddie is forced back into the makeshift restraints as Will finally exhausts himself, doubling over to catch his breath. Eddie can move now, though he still has the issue of being tied up. He can definitely break the headboard, but it’ll take some struggling.

He wastes no time, beginning to thrash violently in his binds. The others watch it happen with grim determination in their eyes. Eddie’s movements become frantic, his desperate struggles distracting him enough that he doesn’t register the sound of the trailer door opening and voices having a conversation outside the bedroom. He doesn’t even register the vague chill that creeps down his spine as Eleven finally steps inside. 

He does notice though, when the group of people standing in front of him parts to allow her and Mike through. He can hear the sound of Hopper grunting as he sinks into a chair, Joyce having excused herself from Max’s bedroom to help him a moment earlier. It’s of no concern to him, not when he’s finally staring Eleven down. 

“Hello, Eleven”, he smiles, “we’ve been waiting for you.”

Eleven approaches the bed, a hard look on her face. She’s grown quite a lot, in the years since she and Henry Creel last met. 

“Leave Eddie”, she orders, her voice calm but firm. 

“You really think you can beat us?” Eddie taunts. 

“I know I can”, she says and extends a hand out toward Eddie. That’s the last thing he sees, before the world goes black. 

Chapter Text

Eddie stares up at the dark clouds that choke the formerly sunny sky in a daze. The roar of thunder that follows a bright flash of lightning is what shakes him out of it. Confused, he turns to see the edge of the trailer park that lines the field. 

The field. He was here with Izzy, wasn’t he? 

Yes. That was it. When he orients himself back towards the field, he sees her running through the grass, oblivious to the storm clouds that fill the sky above them. 

He goes to follow after her, but a voice calling his name has him turning to the side. He immediately recognizes the young woman that stands there watching him. 

“Eleven?” 

“Yes”, she nods. 

“What are you doing here?” He asks.

“I’m here to help. We’re in your head, Eddie”, she explains, “do you remember what happened?”

Eddie frowns, his brow furrowing as he tries to dredge up some sort of recollection. It comes to him in flashes. Crashing his van. Almost jumping off the hospital roof. Being attacked by a giant spider monster and then demodogs. Driving in a cop car with Nancy. 

Nancy. That’s right, she’d started hallucinating and run off into the woods. Eddie had gone in after her and then…

He doesn’t know what happened then. But he does know that Izzy isn’t even in Hawkins right now, so it’s probably not actually her in the field. 

“Nancy”, he says, “is she okay? I was with her and she started seeing things.”

“She is fine”, Eleven assures him, “you were taken by the Mindflayer, Eddie. It’s inside your head right now, just like I am.”

“The Mindflayer”, Eddie repeats. He’d been told stories about it by Dustin and the others. About what it did to Will and Billy. Is that what happened to him? 

“It’s been controlling you”, El tells him, “but you’ve been fighting it. I can help you, we can get rid of it.” 

Eddie ponders it over once again. Now that he’s thinking about it, he does remember something about Vecna and a plan.  

“Daddy!” Izzy has stopped running and is now shouting at Eddie, beckoning him to come to her. 

Eddie goes to oblige, but El stops him. 

“No”, she warns, “she’s not real.”

Eddie looks between Eleven and Izzy. His first instinct is, of course, to go to Izzy. She shouldn’t be out here in a storm, after all. When he looks back at Eleven, though, he starts to question. It’s not like she’d just show up to see him for no reason. Her life is all the way in California now, she wouldn’t come back to Hawkins unless it was important. 

Eddie gives her a nod, a determined look over taking his face as he heads towards her. She reaches out a hand and just as he’s about to take it, his body freezes. Black vines erupt from the ground, entangling Eddie. 

We’re not finished with you yet

“Eddie!” Eleven cries out. She rushes towards him but the vines have begun pulling him down. He reaches out a desperate hand, but she’s unable to get a hold on it before the vines have dragged him back down into the earth. 

Everything disappears then, Eleven and Izzy and the field. Eddie feels himself falling, hurtling through an empty void. He doesn’t see the ground, but he hits it hard, jolting him into entirely new surroundings. 

He’s lying in the grass, but it’s not the field by the trailer park this time. Instead, it’s the front lawn of an all too familiar little ranch house. Eddie pushes himself to his feet, confused by the sudden change in venue. He doubts it was Eleven’s doing, which means he’s probably not going to like whatever he’ll find when he walks inside. He does it though, because there’s not really anything else he can do. 

As he approaches the front door, he can hear the opening chords to Yesterday emanating from inside. Immediately, the sound has a lump forming in his throat. He hasn’t listened to it, or any Beatles song, in somewhere around two decades. He couldn’t, it was always too painful. He knows what to expect now, at least. 

The music hits him with full force as he opens the front door, as does the scent of apple pie baking. He steps inside, into the house’s living room. The walls are made up of brown paneling, and the shitty old couch is draped with an orange and yellow crocheted afghan as if to distract from the obvious wear in the upholstery. Eddie remembers evenings spent curled up on it, watching old shows on the beat up rabbit eared television. Speaking of, he spots that too, though it’s not currently on. The record player is exactly where he remembered it being, sitting on a table tucked on the far end of the room. 

He can see the vinyl spinning on it as it lets out that familiar song. It was always one of her favorites. He’s not really sure where to go from here, so he walks over to the record player and reaches out to stop it. He doesn’t get the chance before a voice is startling him. 

“Eddie-bear? Is that you?”

Eddie freezes. He’s pretty sure he’s not quite in the physical world at the moment, but somehow he still manages to feel the moisture of the single tear that breaks from the corner of his eye as he turns around. 

“Mom?” he says, his voice catching slightly in his throat. 

“What are you doing?” she asks with an amused smile. She looks good. Better than she did in those awful last few days of her life. She looks more like she did before that. Back when she was still capable of getting out of bed, cleaning herself up and styling her hair everyday. When she had life left in her. 

“I-where am I?” Eddie wonders aloud. 

“You’re at home, silly”, his mom tells him, “where else would you be?”

“I don’t…where’s Eleven?”

“Eleven?” His mom frowns.

“The girl. She was just with me.”

His mom’s smile returns, as she approaches him, shaking her head affectionately. 

“Oh Eddie-bear”, she says, “what an imagination you have.” 

“I wasn’t imagining her”, Eddie insists, “she was just here. She was helping me.” 

His mother reaches out and gently brushes a strand of hair from his face. All the while the grin stays plastered on her face. Or the face of whatever is imitating her, at least. It obviously can’t be real here. She’s been dead since Eddie was a little kid, and even if she somehow magically came back to life, how would she possibly be able to recognize the adult version of a person who was in grade school the last time she saw him. He’s also pretty sure their old house was foreclosed by the bank and sold to someone else after his dad went to prison, so it doesn’t make sense that he’d just be able to walk right into it if it were real, either. 

“Don’t be silly”, she tells him, “there’s no one here but us.”

That's not true, he knows that. Eleven was here, and so was the Mindflayer. Shit. Is that who’s pretending to be his mother? If so, that’s just about the lowest blow the thing could possibly inflict. 

“This isn’t real”, Eddie says, “you’re not real.”

“Of course I’m not”, she replies, “I’m dead. Thanks to you.”

Rationally Eddie knows it’s not his mom saying that. It’s a trick by Vecna or the Mindflayer or maybe even both. Still, hearing those words from her mouth is a bit of a blow to him. 

“It didn’t have to be this way”, she says, her voice dripping with a sickly sweet tone, “I could still be here if it weren’t for you. I could’ve had a full happy life, if you hadn’t come along and ruined everything.”

He did, didn’t he? Ruined her life. She was so young, so pretty. She could’ve had so much, found a nice guy to settle down with, had a nice family with nice, normal kids. Instead she got stuck with Al and Eddie. 

“I-I’m sorry”, he says softly. 

“It’s alright”, she assures him, resting a hand against his cheek, “it doesn’t matter now. You can fix things, sweetheart. All you have to do is let him back in.”

Eddie jerks away like her touch has suddenly become hot enough to burn him. Maybe the vision of his mom is right about him ruining her life, but he’s not about to believe that anything good can come from letting Vecna and the Mindflayer stay in control.

“No”, he says, “I can’t.”

“You can”, his mom insists, “just close your eyes and let go.”

Eddie shakes his head. He won’t let them take him. 

“Please, baby”, his mom frowns, “you know you want to. You know it’s so much easier than fighting.” 

Eddie wants to respond but the moment is spoiled by that familiar rabbit ear tv springing to life. He waits to see what’s playing on it, but in the end, it ends up just being snow.

At least he thinks that, for a moment. As the static cuts through the room, Eddie starts picking up on a sound that can just be made out over it. 

“Eddie?” 

He makes his way over to it, ignoring the angry expression that twists his mother’s beautiful face. 

“Hello?” he says, kneeling down in front of it. 

“Eddie?” he’s pretty sure it’s Eleven’s voice coming through the racket. Eddie reaches out a slow, curious hand, pressing his palm against the glass of the screen. He still can’t see Eleven, but he can feel her, desperately trying to get through whatever barrier Vecna and the Mindflayer have placed in Eddie’s head. 

“Eleven?” Eddie says, “I’m here!” 

“Eddie-you-them”, is all he can make out of the response. The rest is drowned out by the sound of the static.

“El?” Eddie bangs on the tv, “hello? Eleven? Are you there?”

If she answers, he doesn’t get a chance to hear it before his mom yanks him back from the tv with inhuman strength. 

Eddie looks up at her and sees her eyes are white and her skin beginning to decay. 

“Sorry, Eddie”, she says, “but I can’t let you do that.” 

She raises a hand and suddenly darkness clouds Eddie’s vision. Everything goes black for a moment, and then suddenly the world is being illuminated by the sickly glow of a shitty, half burned out light on the ceiling of a grimy gas station bathroom. The bottom of the toilet on the far side of the room is marred by a layer of accumulated filth, and the beige tiles that make up the floor are old and cracked. Seated on the lid of the toilet, crouched over the toilet paper holder, Eddie sees himself. 

A past version of himself, to be exact. And thank fuck that version is indeed one that exists solely in the past. This Eddie is an Eddie at his absolute lowest. He’s dressed in ratty jeans and a flannel, covered by a worn oversized jacket he’d picked up from a church donation bin. He clearly hasn’t been showering regularly, as evidenced by the layer of grease that coats his poor neglected curls. Most of him is covered by his clothing, but what is visible displays how gaunt he is. There’s a half picked scab on his cheek, and his eyes are half-lidded, a distant, glassy look in them. His tongue pokes out the corner of his mouth as he uses the plunger of a syringe to mix the solution of water and powder he’d just concocted in an old rusty spoon. 

Present Eddie feels sick to his stomach as he watches his past self take the liquid up in the syringe and take it between his teeth as he pulls up his sleeves and wraps a belt around his bicep. He probes for a vein and finds one, slipping the needle into it with practiced ease. His eyes flutter and he lets out a soft moan as he depresses the plunger of the syringe and pushes the contents into his arm. 

When he’s finished, he withdraws it and lets his head slump back against the wall. Present Eddie averts his gaze, shame stirring deep in his gut. He remembers this period in his life well. This was right around the time Sherri got pregnant. Eddie was a complete disaster at that point. Doing heroin multiple times a day, wasting away in the back of his van while desperately attempting to ward away the pain that lingered just beyond the comfort of his high. 

Eddie had more or less hit rock bottom at that point. And the scariest part is that he knows how easily he could wind up back there. One hit of heroin was all it took for him to get hooked, and it’s all it would take for him to be back in the grips of addiction once again. 

“Don’t look at me like that”, Past Eddie says and Present Eddie jumps. He hadn’t realized his vision could see him. 

“What?” 

“You’re standing there judging me”, Past Eddie replies, “but I’m you. You let this happen to us. You got us addicted to heroin.”

“Yeah well I’m not addicted anymore”, Eddie reminds him. 

“Bullshit”, Past Eddie taunts, “of course you are. You think about it everyday. Just because you haven’t used it doesn’t mean you’re not still hooked.”

That part is true, Eddie does still get cravings, but he hasn’t bent to them, and isn’t that what counts?

“You’re so fucking weak and pathetic”, Past Eddie says, “what kind of shitty father are you? What’s Izzy gonna say, when she finds out this is how you looked the day she was born.”

Eddie swallows down the guilt. It has occurred to him before that Izzy will start asking questions about Sherri as she gets older, and one day those questions might turn up a lot of unpleasant things. Not to mention the fact that there are still people in Hawkins who don’t believe he’s innocent. He’s going to have to explain that to Izzy, too. He hopes she’ll understand, and she won’t hate him for it. He won’t blame her if she does, though. He could understand why she’d be angry to have the last name Munson because of him. He’s always had to bear the weight of Al’s baggage, so he gets it. 

“Eddie?”, a third voice chimes in. 

“El?” Present Eddie calls out. 

“She can’t help you”, Past Eddie says, “she wouldn’t want to anyway. Why would she care about you, after all you’ve done. Have you started to remember all the things you just did? I hope Joyce isn’t hurt too bad. You already got Lucas and Hopper attacked.”

“Shut up”, Present Eddie spits, “that wasn’t me.”

“Maybe not all of it”, Past Eddie says, “but wasn’t some of it?”

Present Eddie deflates slightly. He doesn’t have an answer for that one. He is starting to get flashes of memories. He remembers fighting the others, and the bats, and Vecna. He remembers a bunch of his friends being hurt, and maybe he hadn’t wanted to but he did it didn’t he? 

“Maybe you liked it”, his past self goes on, “maybe it finally felt like you were worth something after all.” 

“No”, Present Eddie insists, “that’s not true. I would never enjoy hurting my friends.”

“Are they your friends?” Past Eddie asks, “I mean, sure, they’re here now that Vecna is involved but where were they when I needed help? I mean, Wayne was there, but he kinda has to be right? The others, they took off and didn’t give a shit when I was overdosing or when Sherri got pregnant or when Izzy was born. They don’t care about us, they helped you because they felt sorry for you.”

That’s a lie, and Eddie knows it. His friends do care, but they have lives too, and besides, it’s not like Eddie was innocent in all of their conflicts either. He hurt a lot of them, they have every right to not care about him after that. 

“Face it”, Past Eddie goes on, “we’re on our own. No one else is gonna be there for us when things get tough.”

“What about Wayne?” Present Eddie retorts. 

“Wayne?” Past Eddie says cruelly, “You think he wants to deal with us? After everything we put him through.”  

“He’s always been there”, Present Eddie reminds his past self. His past self flashes him an amused look before his form is shifting and suddenly Wayne is standing in front of Eddie. 

“Y’know son”, he says, “I used to be scared to death you’d turn out like your dad. But I was wrong. You’re not him, you’re even worse.”

Eddie shakes his head. “You’re not real.”

Wayne, the real Wayne, would never say that. He would never compare Eddie to his father. 

“Doesn’t matter what’s real”, the fake Wayne tells him, “what I’m sayin’s still true.”

“No”, Eddie says, “no you’re wrong.” 

He’s sick of this bastard playing mind games with him. He has no idea how the rules of this vision thing work, but he may as give it a shot, right?

He turns and throws open the door, sprinting out of the bathroom. He’s not sure where it leads but it’s better than standing around letting his head be fucked with. Wayne shouts after him but he ignores it, slamming the door shut behind. 

He glances around and finds himself in Forest Hills Trailer Park, but not the hellish version where he’d died and been resurrected, the normal version he’d called home for most of his adolescence. He stands beside a random trailer and tries to get his bearings when he’s distracted by the sound of a car nearby. 

He watches curiously as it rolls past him, a woman with wire rimmed glasses and a wedge cut in the driver’s seat. In the backseat, there’s another past version of Eddie. This one is 11 years old, thin as a greyhound with a buzz cut and a bruise on his arm. Eddie follows after the car, knowing exactly where, or rather when, he is now.

He makes it to Wayne’s trailer just as the woman is parking the car in front of it and stepping out. A younger version of Wayne is standing in the doorway of the trailer, leaning casually against the frame. He watches as the woman, a social worker Eddie can’t remember the name of, walks around and opens the car door for Past Eddie. Past Eddie climbs out with a suspicious glance around, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. At one point his eyes pass over where Current Eddie stands, but he doesn’t seem to be able to see him. 

“Come on Eddie”, the social worker urges. She’d been a pain in the ass, Eddie does remember that. Dripping with feigned compassion and kindness, she had passive aggression and silent judgment down to an art. She was also deeply religious, in an unpleasant sort of way. Probably saw the news about Eddie being a Satanic murderer and told everyone she knew that she isn’t surprised one bit. 

Past Eddie wraps his arms around himself and hunches his shoulders slightly. Wayne shifts, his eyes fixed on Past Eddie. 

“Alright”, the social worker says as she and Past Eddie climb up onto the stoop, “here he is. You’ve gotten everything signed, so you’re all ready to go.”

“Thank you”, Wayne nods before turning his attention back to Past Eddie. 

“Hey there, Kiddo”, he says, “how you holdin’ up?”

“Okay”, Past Eddie mutters. 

“Well, please give me a call if you need anything”, the social worker says before she departs. She’s probably expecting Wayne to call within a few weeks begging her to take Eddie somewhere else because he’s too much to handle. 

“Will do”, Wayne nods but his focus stays on Past Eddie. 

She and Current Eddie pass directly by each other as he makes his way to the steps to the trailer’s front door. She doesn’t notice him either, so this vision must not be like the others. 

He follows Wayne and Past Eddie inside the old trailer, watching silently as the two converse. 

“You can put your stuff in the bedroom”, Wayne says, pointing to the room on the far end of the trailer. 

“Where’s your bedroom?” Past Eddie asks, glancing around for some sort of hidden room he must’ve missed.

“It was in there”, Wayne says, “but I can sleep in the livin’ room. Thought you could use some privacy.” 

“But that’s your room”, Past Eddie argues. 

“It is”, Wayne says, “and I’m givin’ it to you. I don’t need my own room, I don’t got much stuff anyway.” 

Current Eddie feels a bit of moisture gather in the corners of his eyes. He’ll never, for as long as he lives, forget what Wayne did for him. He gave up his room just for Eddie. After years of living with Al’s selfish negligence, the idea of someone doing something kind for him with no expectation of anything in return was foreign to him. Wayne’s gesture, it had been the first time Eddie felt worth something, felt loved, since his mother’s death. 

“Um, okay”, Past Eddie says. He’s never been good at talking about his feelings. 

Wayne watches as Past Eddie walks over and sets his bag down in front of the bedroom door before walking back over to Wayne. 

“Eddie”, Wayne frowns, “what happened to your arm?”

“Nothing”, Past Eddie murmurs, “I fell.”

He was so conditioned at that point to not tell anyone when Al would get drunk and put his hands on Eddie. It wasn’t quite a daily occurrence but every so often he’d get drunk and pissed at Eddie enough to get physical. “No cops ever” had been drilled into Eddie’s head so hard he’d been too scared to tell anyone. Not like they would’ve cared anyway. As if a fifth grader deserved to have cigarettes put out on his arm. 

“It wasn’t your dad, was it?” Wayne asks.

“No”, Past Eddie insists nervously..

“Okay, well, I just want you to know I ain’t gonna hurt yah”, Wayne tells him, “I mean it, Eddie. You don’t have to be scared, I just wanna help yah. And come to me if yah ever need anything, alright?”

“Um, okay”, Past Eddie nods timidly, “can I go…”

He nods towards the bedroom, not daring to say the words “my room” out loud. 

“Sure”, Wayne nods, “I’m gonna be getting started on dinner here in a minute, so I’ll let you know when it’s done, alright?”

Past Eddie nods before scurrying off into his room, bag in hand. Current Eddie wishes he could pull his past self aside and tells him he needs to be grateful. He didn’t know back then, what he had. Someone in this godforsaken world who loves him unconditionally. Someone who wouldn’t even entertain the idea that Eddie was a murderer even when all the evidence pointed to him. Someone who didn’t stop talking to Eddie when he stole and lied for drug money, who took care of him through his withdrawals and helped him find a job and get back on his feet. Someone who takes care of Eddie’s daughter everyday because he loves her as much as he loves Eddie. Someone who almost got killed tonight because he wants to help Eddie. 

Eddie has to get back to Wayne. He can’t let Vecna or the Mindflayer take him forever. 

“Eddie?” 

He turns to find Eleven standing beside him. 

“You found me”, Eddie smiles in relief. 

Eleven nods. She holds out a hand. 

“Come on”, she says. “the Mindflayer is getting weaker but we cannot hold it off forever.” 

“What do I do?” Eddie asks, taking her hand. 

“Tell it no”, El replies. 

Eddie can’t inquire further because she disappears and so does the trailer and Wayne. Suddenly he’s standing in that stormy field again, looking at Izzy and the Mindflayer. 

“Let him back in, Daddy”, Izzy says, “don’t fight it. It’s what you were meant for.”

“No”, Eddie tells her firmly, “no. I won’t let them in.” 

“You have to”, Izzy tells him, “you’re too weak to fight. You’re so weak, Daddy, remember? What you did because you couldn’t face the pain.” 

Eddie shakes his head. Maybe he was weak, back then, but he’s not going to be anymore. He has to be strong now, or he’ll never get back to Izzy and Wayne. 

“No”, Eddie shouts, “I won’t. Get out! Leave me alone.”

The Mindflayer approaches slightly but Eddie stops it. 

“No”, he cries, “I said get out!” 

The things rears back and suddenly Eddie is gripped by a heaving sensation. He gags and spews out a cloud of black smoke snakes up into the sky. He chokes on it as it goes, until his vision blacks out and when he can see again he realizes he’s staring at the dimly lit ceiling of a trailer. 

He’realizes he’s lying on a bed, and he goes to sit up but realizes his wrists and ankles are bound to it. Glancing around, he finds a room lit by a camping lantern, a crowd of people standing around in a circle, staring at him. 

Eleven is sat on the side of the bed, and she smiles when Eddie’s eyes meet hers. 

“You did it”, she tells him. 

“Did what?” he asks, his head is kind of spinning at the moment, and the fact he’s freezing doesn’t help. 

“Stopped the Mindflayer”, El reminds him. 

He starts having flashes then, of the Mindflayer possessing him, making him do things. He jerks in his restraints. 

“Oh God”, he gasps, “are you guys okay? Did I hurt anybody?”

“No son”, he turns to see Wayne beside him, “we’re all okay.” 

Eddie closes his eyes and lets out a relieved sigh before a shiver runs down his spine. 

“It’s fucking cold in here”, he complains. 

“His temperature’s been low because of the Mindflayer”, Joyce says, “we should get him warmed up.” 

Wayne nods and gets to work untying Eddie’s arm. Jonathan, Dustin and Steve do the same for his other limbs. He sits up and rubs at his abraded wrists. 

“Might need some bandages for those”, Wayne remarks. 

“We’ve got a few left”, Max says. Her and Lucas are lingering in the doorway, though Lucas is a little shaky and sweaty still. 

“I’ll get them”, Robin offers. 

“Erica, you and Max should probably take Lucas to sit down, he looks like he could use a rest”, Joyce says, “and check on Hopper too.”

“Is he hurt?” Eddie asks as Erica, Max, Lucas and Robin depart the room. 

“Yeah, but he’s doing alright”, Joyce assures him. 

Wayne helps him sit up, but it’s hard because of how stiff his limbs are. He manages eventually, and the change in position helps greatly with the return of blood flow to his extremities. 

Dustin hands Wayne a blanket, which he drapes over Eddie’s shoulders. The crowd in the room disperses, leaving just Wayne and Eddie. Robin returns with some supplies before going off to join the others. 

“Let me see them wrists”, Wayne instructs gently. Eddie offers them up, wincing a bit at the way they burn with movement. 

Wayne gets to work cleaning and bandaging them, and Eddie hisses in pain but bites his tongue and takes it. 

“You’ll be alright”, Wayne offers him a pat on the shoulder when he’s all done, “I’m proud of you, you know that right?”

“What for?” Eddie asks. 

“Everything”, Wayne says, “I don’t think you realize how strong you are son. So many people I know who got addicted to drugs never managed to kick the habit. It ain’t easy, comin’ back from that, but you did it, and I’m so proud.”

“Oh”, Eddie says, trying to swallow the sob forming in his throat, “thanks.” 

“And I’m sorry, by the way”, Wayne adds, “for comin’ here. I know I shoulda stayed with Izzy, but I just-I couldn’t let you face this without me again. I still haven’t forgiven myself for the first time.”

“That’s not your fault”, Eddie assures him. 

“I love you, son”, Wayne tells him, not bothering to argue, “I hope you know that.”

“I do”, Eddie says, “and I love you too.”

Wayne ruffles Eddie’s hair fondly. 

“I should probably go and tell the others everything”, Eddie says. 

Wayne nods and helps him stands up. It’s awkward and painful for a second before he works some movement back into his joints. 

He and Wayne shuffle out into the living room where everyone is gathered. 

“I know where Vecna is”, he says, “he’s at the lab. He created some kind of, I don’t know, leak there. It’s spreading the Upside Down into our world. If we don’t stop him, it’ll go a lot further than just Hawkins.” 

He turns to look at Max, then Nancy. They ought to know that Vecna did to them what he did to him.

“The Mindflayer”, he says, “it turns out Vecna put like, pieces of it in us. They’ve been dormant but he woke up the part in me. If he gets his hands on you, he could wake up the parts in you guys.” 

“We won’t let that happen”, Joyce assures everyone. 

“If I can get to the lab, I can close the gate”, Eleven says.

“Vecna’s not just going to let that happen”, Erica points out. 

“I have to fight him”, El replies, “it is the only way.”

Eddie nods. She’s the only shot they have at stopping Vecna and the Mindflayer. 

“We’ll get you there”, Joyce assures her. 

“He’s going to see us coming”, Eddie sighs, rubbing his face tiredly, “he’ll be prepared.” 

“We can take him”, Dustin encourages, “if we can hold off whatever threats Vecna throws our way, El can stop him.”

“Alright”, Eddie replies, “let’s go.”

Everyone gets quiet. Wayne carefully reaches out a hand and places it on Eddie’s shoulder. 

“You don’t have to go”, he says, “you should stay here an’ rest.”

“I’m not running away”, Eddie insists. Old habits die hard, he supposes. 

Wayne knows better than to argue. Eddie has the Munson stubbornness in spades. He can only nod in support. He puts a hand on Eddie’s shoulder as the group gathers to try and come up with a plan of attack. It’s not going to be easy, but they have to try. Vecna will destroy the world if they don’t stop him. Once the Upside Down has started spreading, it won’t stop as long as the gate is open. Eddie has learned some useful things while plugged into the hivemind, though it’s not an experience he’d like to repeat. 

He catches Dustin eye at one point and gives the boy a timid smile. Dustin returns with a much more confident in one. Eddie converses with the others and plans and thinks of Izzy. As long as he’s alive, nothing bad will happen to her, he can promise that. 

Chapter Text

Alright”, Dustin says as he and the others all stand around the Mayfield’s kitchen, “so we just have to find a way to get El to the lab, right?”

“That’s not the hard part”, Eddie replies, “Vecna wants you to come confront him. The hard part will be avoiding whatever traps he’s got set for us. He needs Eleven, Nancy and Max. The rest of us are disposable. He’ll have his creatures roaming town and the whole lab is covered in his vines.”

“We’ll have to go by ourselves”, Nancy sighs, “we can’t risk the rest of you getting killed.”

“Not super sure that’s a great idea”, Eddie crosses his arms, “if Vecna finds a way to get his hands on you or Max, he’ll wake the part of the Mindflayer that’s inside you guys.”

Nancy frowns, her brows furrowing. Eddie can see the displeasure at the statement written in the lines of her face. He knows her well enough to understand that for her, being told she should sit something out is the absolute last thing she wants. It’s true, though, whether she wants to admit it or not. Her and Max tagging along is going to be more of a liability than it is any sort of help.

“So what do we do then?” Max asks.

“Stay here”, Eddie replies, “trust me, that’s the safest thing for everyone. Vecna can’t activate the Mindflayer from afar. If you guys are here, you’ll be safe from him.”

“No way”, Nancy shakes her head, “I’m not sitting around and doing nothing while the rest of you are battling Vecna. Besides, he sent you after us, right? If he wants to get us to him, he’ll make sure it happens.”

“He’ll probably try”, Eddie agrees.

“Well, that’s okay”, Joyce suggests, “I mean, Nancy, you’ve got a gun, right? Someone’s going to need to stay here with Hop and Lucas, anyway. You and Max should stay with them, you can hold off any creatures Vecna sends this way.”

“I’ll stay too”, Erica offers, which is probably for the best. Hopper and Lucas won’t be much help, given their injuries, and they could use all of the manpower they can get.

“Me too”, Jonathan nods.

“Perfect”, Joyce remarks.

Everyone’s eyes travel to Nancy, knowing that if anyone shuts the idea down, it’ll most likely be her. She honestly looks a bit like she wants to, but in the end, she must realize that she can’t really argue with their logic.

“Alright”, she huffs.

“Okay, that means the rest of us are going to have to get El to the lab”, Eddie says.

“You said it shouldn’t be too hard, right?” Dustin asks.

“I mean, getting Eleven face to face with Vecna won’t”, Eddie replies, “but he’s got the advantage here. He’s expecting El to show up. He’ll get the drop on us if we’re not careful.”

“I guess we’ll have to be careful, then”, Dustin says.

“First things first, we need to find a way to get El to the lab”, Joyce says.

“We can take my truck”, Wayne suggests, “I think we can fit everyone if some of y’all ride in the bed.”

“That’s great but uh, shouldn’t we have like, weapons or something?” Steve interjects.

“Hopper had us bring another shotgun from the station”, Mike explains, “it’s in the car we took.”

“If you find anything around here you can use it”, Max offers.

Eddie takes a second to rack his brain. He’s sure he and Wayne have something useful lying around their place. Wayne used to keep his trusty Remington in his bedroom, but he did away with that once Izzy entered the picture. Still, if they’re creative, they can probably find something.

“We can see what we’ve got at home”, he tells the others, and Wayne nods his agreement.

“Alright, so, let’s split up, see what we can find for weapons and meet back here in like half an hour”, Joyce instructs, “Eddie, Wayne, you guys wanna run to your place and see what you have there?”

Both Eddie and Wayne agree, making sure everyone’s watches are all synced up before starting on their way to the trailer while the others scrounge around the Mayfield’s place and the various cars parked outside it.

The walk there is mostly quiet. Eddie doesn’t really know what to say in this situation. At the end of the day, he knows their little plan is pretty flimsy. Vecna’s influence has already reached the borders of Hawkins and it’s only a matter of time before it keeps going beyond. They’re on Vecna’s turf, walking right into his lair with little more than the hope that Eleven will be strong enough to defeat him. There’s a good chance one or more of them don’t walk away from this. Eddie almost didn’t the first time, so he’s well aware of that fact. Add to that the awkwardness of Eddie having recently been possessed by a monster from another dimension, and well, there’s not much he can really talk about.

Thankfully, they’d gotten a flashlight to take with them, since the power is still off. It’s sometime in the very early morning, according to Eddie’s watch, but he has to assume that the Upside Down leaking into the real world has as much to do with the blackened sky as the current time of day does. They slip wordlessly inside the trailer, and Wayne digs another flashlight out of a kitchen drawer. The pair split up, Wayne taking the living room and kitchen while Eddie scours the bedrooms.

Thankfully, he finds something immediately upon entering Wayne’s room. It’s in the closet, an old bat that’s hardly ever been used. Wayne had gotten it years ago, back when Eddie was 11 and just coming to live with Wayne full time. Things had been rough at the time. Eddie hadn’t discovered D&D yet, so he didn’t really have any kind of outlet for making friends. Add to that the fact that Al had been bad at making sure Eddie was properly bathed and fed and Eddie was very much a punching bag for all the assholes in his class. Wayne had picked up on that somehow and decided that maybe getting Eddie involved in some sort of activity would help connect with his peers. Wayne himself had played baseball in high school, so he figured that would be something he and Eddie could bond over. That had been quite the overestimation of Eddie’s hand eye coordination, and underestimation of his complete disdain for organized sports. Eddie doesn’t fault him for trying, but in the end he’d learned the hard way that it wasn’t meant to be when Eddie accidentally hit a ball straight through Mrs. Howard’s window. Wayne had accepted full responsibility for it.

Eddie smiles at the memory of the old woman’s face when Wayne had to knock on the door and explain that he was just trying to play a game with his nephew. She chewed him out, and he looked like a kid who was caught stealing from the cookie jar.

In the end, Eddie finds the bat, a hunting knife and a curtain rod. Wayne finds an ax for chopping wood out back, which is weird since they don’t actually have a fireplace. Eddie can’t really complain about it right now though, he supposes.

“Alright”, Eddie says, gathering their supplies up, “let’s get back to the others.”

“Hang on”, Wayne tells him, “we got a second ‘fore we gotta get back.”

“Okay”, Eddie replies, unsure of what to say.

“I just wanna see how you’re holdin’ up”, Wayne tells him, clapping a firm but gentle hand on Eddie’s shoulder.

“Oh, yeah, I’m good”, Eddie says, “just um, you know, tired.”

Wayne peers at him, and he seems to know that’s bullshit. Eddie’s so far from good it’s not even funny. He just wants this to be over, he wants to be free of Vecna and the Upside Down for good. If he has to die to make that happen, so be it.

“Alright”, Wayne sighs, “just wanted to make sure. I know this ain’t been easy on you.”

Eddie shrugs. It certainly hasn’t been easy for him, but then again, he’s used to that. Nothing in his life has ever really come easily. Much like the last time he was in a similar position, though, he takes solace in knowing that at least he’s making the choice to face it himself. He never asked for any of this to happen. He never asked to watch Chrissy Cunningham die in his living room, or to be blamed for her death. He never asked to be possessed by the Mindflayer, or for the town he’s lived his entire life in to be swallowed whole by the Upside Down. All of this was forced upon him against his will. Choosing to walk into battle with his head held high is the only bit of control he’s been granted, and he’s certainly going to take it.

“It is what it is”, he comments.

“You gotta stop all that, y’know?” Wayne replies.

“Stop all of what?”

“Actin’ like you deserve all of this”, Wayne clarifies, “you don’t, son. You’ve made mistakes, but everyone has. At the end of the day, you’re tryna do the right thing, which is more than a lot of people can say. It ain’t your fault that you keep running into bad luck.”

Eddie’s pretty sure he lost the right to dismiss his past “mistakes” when they lead him to a full blown heroin addiction. There’s an honest mistake, and then there’s being so careless that you knowingly snort a line of hard drugs because you’re too fucked up in the head to worry about consequences. And that’s not counting all of the terrible things he did while he was using. He can blame the drugs all he wants, that doesn’t absolve him of his actions. He hurt the few people in the world who actually love and care about him, and he’ll never forgive himself for that.

Still, he knows Wayne’s right about this. Vecna bears the sole responsibility for what’s happening in Hawkins right now. Eddie’s misdeeds have nothing to do with it. He is angry on his own behalf for all of the shit he’s gotten caught up in. It was one fucking night that he tried to do the right thing and help someone out who needed it, and that simple decision has effectively ruined his life. Not entirely, of course, he’s got a job and a home and Izzy, after all, but he probably wouldn’t be a recovering addict stuck in his hometown trying to raise a kid solo and battling frequent nightmares if it weren’t for Vecna.

“I know”, he tells Wayne.

“Good”, Wayne says. He punctuates the statement by pulling Eddie in for a tight embrace, “you’re a good kid, you know that?”

“I’m 27”, Eddie protests.

“And I’m 60”, Wayne replies, “far as I’m concerned, you’re still a kid.”

Fair enough, Eddie supposes. He still feels like a kid himself, sometimes. A kid who walked into a situation he wasn’t prepared to deal with and has spent his life suffering because of it. He doesn’t want to take too much time to dwell on it all, so he gathers the makeshift arsenal up in his arms and starts heading off back towards the Mayfield’s place.
-
When they get to Max’s trailer, they join up with the others to take inventory. In addition to the gun and the stuff Eddie and Wayne found, they also managed to get their hands on a chainsaw that must belong to Mrs. Mayfield, a second bat and the tire iron from Steve’s car.

Dustin grabs one of the bats before turning to Steve.

“You want the other one?” he asks, probably remembering that it’s become a sort of thing for him.

Steve shakes his head, though, and lifts up the chainsaw to show Dustin instead.

“Keep it. I’ve got this.”

“Damn”, Eddie mutters.

Dustin shrugs, passing the bat off to Mike instead. Eddie for his part takes the ax, while Robin grabs the tire iron and Joyce takes the curtain rod. Eleven of course doesn’t need a weapon, and Eddie’s surprised when Will is the one who takes the shotgun while Wayne grabs the knife.

“My dad taught me to shoot”, Will explains when Eddie shoots him a curious glance, “I didn’t like it but…”

Eddie nods. He can certainly empathize with being forced to learn something you don’t want to by your scumbag dad. Eddie doesn’t know the Byers super well, but he knows from the others that Will and Jonathan’s father is a Grade A Douche Bag, and he can relate to that.

Once they’re sufficiently armed, they say their goodbyes to the other before piling into Wayne’s truck. Wayne drives while Joyce and El ride up in the cab with him and the rest squeeze into the bed. It’s not all that comfortable of a fit but they do manage it. Eddie sits between Dustin and Steve, across from Will and Mike. He’s been making something of a point to ignore Mike, but from what he has seen, it appears Mike must be doing the same. In Eddie’s case it’s not out of resentment, of course, more so from the shame. Mike probably resents him, though. They can work through that if and when they make it out of this fight alive.

“Jesus”, Dustin exclaims as they start off towards the lab. The vines have grown even further out from the lab by now, steadily approaching the trailer park at this rate. Eddie has no idea what will happen to the people there when they do. Hawkins experienced a dip in population after the “earthquake” in ‘86 that it never fully recovered from. They’d warned all the people they know to flee earlier, but unfortunately they couldn’t get word out to everyone before it was too late. No one here now can leave. Vecna has made sure the borders of his influence can’t be crossed from the inside. Disturbingly, Eddie had learned from the hivemind, people can still enter Hawkins, but no one can leave. Plenty of the townsfolk have been killed, but plenty more are still alive, desperately trying to fight off the monsters that are roaming around, and Eleven and the others stopping Vecna is their only hope of salvation.

Honestly, Eddie’s not sure how the powers that be are going to brush this one under the rug if they actually do defeat Vecna. In his case, it was the revelation that Henry Creel was still alive that got him off the hook. Of course, the government shills didn’t include the fact that Henry is a powerful telepath attacking people while holed up in another dimension, just that he was the one who killed his family as well as Chrissy and the others. The earthquake meanwhile was credited for stopping Henry’s reign of terror, as well as injuring Eddie. Eddie’s not sure how that last bit is supposed to work, since he’s fairly certain there’s no such thing as earthquakes with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, but it’s apparently good enough for the people of Hawkins. Or at least the ones who don’t think Eddie is the murderer and managed to escape justice, anyway.

It’s going to be a lot more complicated this time around. They have a ton of witnesses, and a ton of casualties. Christ, there’s people out there outside of Hawkins who may have to learn that their loved ones are dead and they may never know how or why. And Eddie, he was ready to help Vecna do it. He didn’t want to, but that doesn’t change the fact he would’ve if the others hadn’t intervened. He would’ve betrayed them, turned Max and Nancy over to Vecna and let the others be torn apart by monsters. Possessed or not, he’s going to have a hard time forgiving himself for it.

“So what happens exactly?” Robin asks from where she’s sat against the window to the cab, “you know, if we don’t stop Vecna.”

“He keeps spreading the Upside Down into our world”, Eddie replies, “he won’t stop until it’s completely destroyed, and he and his monsters have killed every last human being on earth.”

“Fuck, man”, Steve murmurs.

“Eleven will stop him”, Mike insists, “I know she will.”

Eddie hopes he’s right about that. The alternative is that they all die, and the world is destroyed. Eddie really doesn’t want the world to be destroyed, especially since Izzy lives in it. If Vecna wins, she dies, and Eddie can't bear to think of that.

“Why?” Dustin laments, “why is he doing this?”

“I dunno”, Eddie shrugs, “he’s a dick. He thinks he’s above all of us normal humans, and he wants to destroy us so he can turn the world into something he can fully control.”

“But that won’t happen”, Steve says, “because we can stop him, right?”

“I hope”, Eddie replies, “but who the hell knows.”

“El is strong”, Mike insists, “she can do it. She’s been working on improving her powers.”

“It’s possible”, Eddie replies, “I mean, Vecna was scared of her, I could tell. He doesn’t want to admit it but he knows she’s a threat.”

Eddie certainly wouldn’t say the whole thing is hopeless, if someone can take on Vecna, it’s definitely Eleven. His biggest concern now is that Vecna will fight dirty somehow and win. If he does, there'll be no stopping his plans.
-
They make it to the area outside of the lab unimpeded, and Eddie can’t tell if that’s a good sign or not. They stop just outside the fence surrounding the perimeter. It’s completely covered in vines by now, just as Eddie assumes the Upside Down version of the location would be. Swarms of bats fly high over their heads as lightning streaks through the darkened sky, the alien vegetation surrounding them shifting and pulsating as they make their way across the blighted landscape.

“What the fuck”, Steve murmurs.

“We have to hurry”, Eddie replies, “if we don’t stop it soon, the whole world is going to look like this, not just Hawkins.”

“Well then, we better get going”, Joyce says.

Eleven nods. She raises a hand and closes her eyes, causing a section of vine to retreat and the links of the fence begin to separate. When she’s finished, there’s a gap big enough for them all to get through.

“Okay”, Dustin sighs, “is everyone ready?”

“Yeah”, Eddie nods, “I’m ready.”

Chapter Text

The first little bit of their journey goes smoothly. It’s only when they get to the parking lot that the first obstacle presents itself in the form of several demodogs. They’re just wandering around the place, sticking mostly to the area that the group would need to go through to get to the entrance of the building.

“Well, shit”, Eddie sighs at the sight of them. He’s only had a single brief encounter with them, but going off that, trying to get through them isn’t going to be fun. Of course, Eleven would probably be able to walk through without incident, but the rest of them? They’ll be demo-Puppy chow if they aren’t careful.

Beside him, Will cocks his shotgun. None of them want to do this, but they don’t really have a choice. A silent wave of understanding passes over the group, and then they’re charging. The dogs must pick up on their scent, or sound, or something because they immediately charge into action. The first one that lunges gets a chest full of buckshot for its trouble. That doesn’t kill it, but it does slow it down enough for Will to follow up with enough subsequent shots to put it down for good.

This seems to rile up the rest of them, who are quick to start descending upon the group. The whole scene erupts into a chaotic flurry of weapons and limbs and demodogs flying around. Eddie can’t really keep track of everyone in the midst of the fray, but he does pick out Dustin next to him. The younger boy attempts to take a swing at one of the dogs, but the thing is able to dodge the blow, tackling Dustin to the ground and causing him to lose his grip on the bat. Eddie doesn’t think then, just acts, bringing the head of the ax down on the thing’s neck while it’s distracted. Blood spurts from the wound as the creature staggers off of Dustin. Eddie gives it a few more whacks for good measure before turning to where Dustin lay on the pavement.

“You okay?” Eddie asks, offering a hand.

“I think so”, Dustin nods, taking the hand and letting Eddie help him back to his feet.

Eddie nods and they both turn their attention back to the fight. They’ve definitely started to get the upper hand now. Will takes two more down with the gun, and Steve has sliced a third in half with the chainsaw. Robin, Mike and Joyce manage to take on the fifth and final one themselves.

“Everyone okay?” Joyce calls out once they’re sure the attack is over.

Thankfully, everyone is, which leaves them nothing left to do but continue on. The entire facade of the building is choked in vines, but the front doors are open, the entryway clear of any vegetation or other obstacles. It’s a bit eerie, honestly, almost like it’s just waiting for them. Eddie swallows back the feeling of dread that thought produces.

Steve and Robin are the first to enter, followed by Mike, Will and Eddie. As soon as he’s steeping through the threshold, an unpleasant sensation is stirring in his gut, but he pushes it down and continues on.

Eleven follows after Eddie, and Dustin is just about to step through when a bunch of the vines suddenly snap into motion, growing and stretching until they’ve completely covered the doorway. Eddie and the others watch in horror as a layer of some sort of strange fleshy substance rapidly expands over the spot, until the entrance has been made effectively indistinguishable from the rest of the wall.

“Shit”, Eddie comments. He takes a swing at the spot with the ax, chopping through the flesh like substance and creating a hole through which he can see Dustin’s concerned looking face. Dustin opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, the barrier instantly repairs itself, once again separating him, Joyce and Wayne from the others. Eddie tries a few more swings, but all of them yield the same result.

“We will have to go on without them”, El sighs. Eddie’s not pleased about that, but he knows she’s right.

“Right, so, where exactly is Vecna holed up at?” Steve asks.

“One of the sublevels”, Eddie replies, “the room had a rainbow painted on the walls, I think. It was kind of hard to see past the vines and shit.”

“I know where that is”, Eleven says grimly, “come on.”

They all follow her lead, Steve and Will taking up the rear. The halls of the lab are as infested with vines as the outside was. Once again, though, they don’t react to the group as they make their way past. That either means Vecna wants them to come to him, or has a different trick up his sleeve for dispatching everyone but Eleven. Neither of those options seem ideal.

“The entrance to the basement is just up ahead”, Eleven informs them. She leads them to a doorway, which looks to have required some sort of passcode to enter at one point. That hardly matters when Eleven forces them open with a quick jerk of her head.

They descend the stairs slowly, doing their best to avoid tripping on the vines that line the steps. When they get to the bottom of them, they’re met with confusion because instead of the title floor they were expecting, they’re met with what appears to be soil beneath their feet.

Peering out in front of them, they all fall still and silent at the sight that greets them. It’s not really a basement anymore, more a series of caverns that snake outwards.

“It didn’t look like that before”, Eddie says.

“It’s Vecna”, Eleven sighs, “he is trying to reshape our world into how he wants it to be.”

“Come on”, Steve urges, “let’s keep going.”

They oblige, heading into the dark tunnel that stretches on in front of them. At one point, the vines covering it start to get sparser, and a new substance begins to take their place. It’s strange, thin and flossy threads of some kind of translucent material.

“Um, guys”, Robin says as she peers down at it, “what is this stuff?”

“I don’t know”, Steve replies.

“It kind of looks like…cobwebs?” Mike observes.

“No”, Eleven says, “not cobwebs…”

“Spider webs”, Eddie supplies. Shit and fuck.

“Spider webs?” Steve frowns.

Eddie nods. He reaches out an arm and points off in the distance. The tunnel they’ve been in opens up into a larger cavern, inside of which are multiple spider like creatures of varying sizes. The smallest are about the size of a dinner plate, and the biggest the size of a sedan. Just like the ones that attacked Eddie at the hospital.

“Oh my god”, Robin gasps, “what do we do?”

Steve steps forward then, revving the chainsaw as he makes his way to the entrance of the cavern.

“We fight”, he says.

Unfortunately, that is probably their only option at this point. Eddie sighs, but moves to follow Steve. The others quickly do the same.

As they enter the cavern, one of the larger creatures notices them and prepares to strike. Steve raises his chainsaw, like something out of The Evil Dead. Honestly, it kind of works for him.

The thing comes for them and Steve slices it with the chainsaw. It takes a bit of a fight, but eventually he gets through enough to kill it. Eddie meanwhile manages to take a few of the smaller ones out with his ax. Will must be out of ammo, because he resorts to bashing a midsize spider with the butt of the gun, instead.

“Shit”, Robin squeals after dispatching one of the small spiders, “how many of them are there?”

Eddie doesn’t know. At least a dozen, if not more. He hasn’t really stopped to count or anything. The group swings their way through the onslaught, but everytime they get one down, more appear to take its place.

“Fuck”, Mike pants as they’re about halfway through the cavern, “we’re never going to get through them all.”

“I can do it”, Eleven insists, but Will shakes his head.

“You need to save your strength”, he tells her.

That’s certainly a good point, even if it would be really nice for Eleven to just kill these things with her mind and end it. She’s strong, but fighting Vecna last time took everything she had. Who knows what it’ll take to beat him this time.

In the meantime, Eddie and the others are just going to have to do their best. Steve nearly avoids being impaled by one of the spiders’ claw tipped legs. He takes it out, but afterwards the chainsaw sputters and craps out.

“Shit”, he gasps, trying and failing to get the thing started again. While he’s distracted, a spider almost gets him and Robin has to beat it off with her tire iron.

It takes a lot of work, but eventually they manage to get to the entrance of a tunnel on the opposite side of the cavern. They still haven’t taken out all of the spiders, though, and the ones that are still standing are right on their heels as they all make their way into the tunnel.

“Stand back”, Eleven warns. Everyone looks ready to argue, but she doesn’t give them a chance before reaching out a hand.

Eddie is actually impressed by her problem solving skills, because instead of trying to take down the spiders, she merely loosens some of the rock surrounding the tunnel enough for it to collapse on the first spider that tries coming through. The good news is that it effectively kills the thing, as well as blocking the others from following. The bad news is that there’s no way for Eddie and the others to get back through. Oh well, one problem at a time, he supposes. Hopefully, if they manage to defeat Vecna, El will be able to get them out of here.

In the meantime, there’s not much to do but push forward. Eleven leads the way, even if there’s not much need for that anyway. There’s only one way they can go, at this point.

Eddie’s a few paces behind her when the unpleasant sensation from before ratchets up out of nowhere. It’s so intense he pauses for a second, which Will is quick to notice.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” he says.

Eddie nods.

“What is it?” he asks.

“The Mindflayer”, Will tells him, “El got it out of you, but it’s still here somewhere. It’s pretty weak right now, but it’s alive.”

Great. As if they didn’t have enough bullshit to deal with, now the freaky monster that recently possessed Eddie is hanging out somewhere nearby.

“What the fuck is that thing?” Eddie sighs. The name Dustin had come up with for it is certainly apt, it’s like something straight out of a D&D campaign.

“I don’t know”, Will admits, “but I think it’s got some kind of connection to Vecna. They feed off each other. It makes Vecna stronger, and Vecna does stuff for it. Like-like Venom.”

“The band?”

“No”, Will shakes his head, “I mean from Spider-Man.”

“Oh”, Eddie replies, “I haven’t read a comic in years.”

“It’s fine”, Will replies, “it’s like an alien parasite thing. It attaches to a host and they become one combined entity. I think it’s kind of like that.”

Eddie nods his understanding. He knows that Vecna and the Mindflayer are both plugged into the same hivemind, but he wasn’t shown anything beyond that when he was linked to them. It certainly makes sense though, Henry Creel merging with some freaky otherworldly being to become a nightmare creature. It is concerning, though, because Eleven would probably be a pretty even match to Henry alone, but if he’s getting some sort of additional power from the Mindflayer, it’ll give him an advantage.

Eddie feels sad for Eleven when he thinks about it. Having that kind of burden placed on you, it’s rough. Eddie’s never had to enter a one on one fight with an evil telepath with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, of course, but he can still relate. Maybe he’s not responsible for the whole world, but he is for Izzy. He can still remember, and always will, the terror he felt when the police informed him that Sherri had been found overdosed in her apartment. It’d been a weekend, so Izzy had been with Eddie at the time. Everything had changed in that instant, when Eddie realized that he was now Izzy’s sole living parent. Sure, he has Wayne to help him, but at the end of the day, Izzy is his responsibility and his alone. So, while it’s not on the scale of what Eleven’s experiencing, Eddie can certainly empathize with being forced to take on a responsibility you aren’t fully prepared for.

Eventually, they reach the end of the tunnel, and the uncomfortable sensation Eddie’s been feeling reaches a fever pitch. Eleven must be feeling something too, because she stops suddenly.

“He’s close”, she says.

Will gives a solemn nod, which the others all repeat themselves. There’s no turning back now, they have no choice but to face Vecna. There’s no telling what will happen to them when they do, if all of them, or any of them even, will make it out alive. Eddie’s been there before, and at this point he thinks he’d rather just get this whole thing over with.

Eleven steps through the end of the tunnel first, with the others following after. The sight that awaits them inside is a strange mixture of the real and Upside Down worlds. There’s remnants of the room as it was when Eddie had seen it. He can make out patches of faded rainbow paint on the walls, embedded into the stone walls of the massive cave they’re standing in. At the far end, there’s a massive gash in the rock, glowing red as vines emerge from its borders. It’s sort of like the gate that had opened on the ceiling of Eddie and Wayne’s trailer all those years ago, only much bigger. In front of it, suspended by an intricate web of vines strung between two stalagmites, is Vecna. His eyes are closed, his consciousness must be elsewhere right now. It can’t seriously be that easy, can it?

Eleven cautiously steps forward, her whole body tensing. Vecna has to know they were coming for him, he can’t seriously be leaving himself vulnerable to them.

Eddie and the others follow behind her, all of them as hesitant as she is.

“Um, guys”, Steve calls out, “these things are moving.”

They all turn their attention to the ground, where the vines are beginning to shift. Will yelps as one grabs his ankle. Mike runs to his aid, which is good because as Eddie’s planning to do it, he feels a sudden pressure around his throat. In a panic, he drops his ax, his hands desperately grasping at the vine that’s tangled itself around his neck.

The damn thing gives a sharp tug, yanking Eddie straight off his feet. He swears he can hear the phantom shrieks of an angry bat swarm, promising to tear him to shreds with their teeth. He coughs and gags, tears welling up in his eyes.

Black spots begin to cloud his vision, and his mind immediately flashes to Izzy. He remembers her earlier, hugging him and crying. He hates to leave her all alone in the world. She already lost one parent, she shouldn’t have to lose another.

Eddie lets out one last pathetic little gag before he feels himself starting to go limp. His eyelids begin to grow heavy and he feels the darkness creep into the corners of his consciousness.

Just as Eddie’s sure he’s about to pass out, the pressure on his neck releases. He frantically pulls the vine on his neck loose. As he sucks in desperate gasps of air he looks up to see Steve standing over him with the ax.

“You okay?” Steve asks, holding out a hand.

Eddie nods. He lets Steve help him back up on shaking legs. He can feel adrenaline coursing through him, numbing him to the fact that he almost died a second ago. Unfortunately, there’s not much time to dwell on it right now. The vines keep coming at them, and Steve tries desperately to keep them at bay but it’s only a matter of time until they’re hopelessly entangled. The vines drag Eddie to a nearby stalagmite and bind him to it. He hears Will being bound opposite him, while Steve and Robin are similarly restrained to a pillar across from them. Eleven and Mike stand there, too afraid to move in fear of the vines.

Vecna’s eyes open, and the vines begin lowering him to the ground. Eddie has to admit, he’s pretty menacing in person. And in psychic visions. In general, really.

“It’s been too long since we met in person, Eleven”, Vecna says.

“Stay away from her”, Mike warns.

You beautiful little idiot, Eddie thinks. He’s got balls, and it’s going to get him killed one day. Eddie is fully willing to admit that it’s very much a ‘takes one to know one’ situation.

Vecna is clearly unimpressed. He flicks his wrist like he’s swatting at a fly, and the vines start entangling Mike. They wind up tying him up far too close to Vecna for comfort.

“Mike”, Eleven cries.

“You were much smaller then”, Vecna says, unbothered, “and I looked different as well. The years have been good to you. I wish I could say the same.”

“Let them go”, El demands.

The vines tighten around Eddie and the others, eliciting various startled gasps. Eleven whips around to look at them.

“You can’t help them”, Vecna tells her, “they’ll die like everyone else. What about that man you call your ‘father’? Should I order Max and Nancy to kill him?”

Eddie has no idea if that’s a bluff or not. The Mindflayer is around somewhere, Eddie can sense that much. If it’s actually awake inside Max and Nancy, he can’t tell.

“Enough,” Eleven barks, “this ends now.”

“After all this time”, Vecna taunts, “you truly think you can beat me? You’re weak, Eleven and you always will be as long as you let these pathetic worms drag you down.”

Looking at Vecna’s grotesque body, Eddie thinks he should watch who he’s calling a pathetic worm. He’s the asshole who destroyed his entire family, and then got sucked into another dimension by a small child because he was such an arrogant prick. Preying on vulnerable people, that’s the worst form of cowardice there is. Far worse than any of Eddie’s transgressions, by a long shot.

“I won’t let you destroy this world”, El says firmly.

“You can’t stop me, Eleven”, Vecna snarls, “I’m stronger than you. I’m going to let you watch as I kill all of your friends.”

Eddie can feel the vines begin to tighten around him. Going by the shocked gasps that ring out through the cavern, he’s not the only one.

“Stop”, Eleven says, “you wanted to see me? Well here I am.”

“Always so defiant”, Vecna sneers, “that’s what I like about you, Eleven.”

Eleven steps forward and raises a hand, a look of determination hardening her features. Vecna has the nerve to look amused.

“This is your last chance”, Eleven warns, “let them go.”

“Like I said”, Vecna replies, “always so loyal to those lesser beings.”

Eddie would appreciate it if he'd watch his ugly mouth.

“Those are my friends”, Eleven says, “and I won’t let you hurt them.”

“Pathetic”, Vecna hisses.

What happens next is a lot of intense staring and telepathic posturing. Eddie’s not quite sure, most of it seems to be going on in El and Vecna’s heads, so he isn’t privy to it. Eventually though, the vibes start to loosen, so Eddie assumes that El is winning. Especially when she and Vecna both start floating. Behind them, the gate glows and pulsates angrily. Eventually Eddie and the others are able to free themselves completely. They all collectively make the wise decision to duck out of dodge.

El lets out a loud scream that drowns out Vecna’s angry grunting. Again, Eddie assumes that’s a good sign, but he’s too scared to check for himself.

“I am nothing like you”, Eleven cries suddenly. Eddie chances a look then and he sees Vecna flying back and through the gate. Once he’s satisfied with that peek he goes back to covering himself like the others.

It’s probably a good thing, because Eddie can’t explain exactly what happens, but some sort of very intense wave rushes over them. Eddie doesn’t dare look again until Eleven’s battle cry tapers off and eventually stops altogether. They’re either safe or about to die so he may as well look now.

To his immense relief, he finds himself in the dark but definitely normal room sized basement of the abandoned lab. The whole thing is littered with dead, shriveled vines, but it definitely looks like it would in the normal world otherwise.

“She did it?” Steve laughs, “she did it. Eleven, that was amazing.”

“Holy shit”, Eddie smiles, “it worked.”

“Eleven, you did it!” Robin calls out to her.

Eddie looks over at her, finds her on her knees on the floor, staring at the wall. It’s Will who gets to her side first and drops down beside her.

“El, you did it. You stopped Vecna!” he tells her.

El looks over at him, trails of blood leaking from both of her nostrils. She’s muttering something to herself. It takes a second of her gradually getting louder before Eddie can make it out.

“Mike”, she says frantically, “he took Mike.”

“What?” Eddie asks. He peers around the room and sees Will, Steve, Robin and El. Mike is indeed absent from the group. Eddie swallows back a lump of dread as he looks past El at the now fused crack in the wall.

“One”, El cries, “when I sent him back, he took Mike with him.”

“Shit”, Eddie hisses.

“Where are they? In the Upside Down?” Steve asks.

Eleven nods. The others all exchange glances. Eddie was kind of hoping it’d be a one and down thing but evidently not. That feeling from before still hasn’t gone away completely. Vecna’s still alive in the Upside Down, with Mike apparently.

“We have to go get him”, El says.

“Wait,” Will urges, “El, you gotta rest for a minute. Let’s get back to the others, and regroup.”

“And leave Mike?” Eleven asks tearfully.

“He’ll be okay, Vecna won’t kill him. If he does, there'll be nothing stopping you from killing him. He loses his bargaining chip. Trust me. I was part of the hivemind once, I know how they think.”

“He’s right”, Eddie agrees, “let’s get back to the others. El, you good to walk, dude?”

She nods, climbing shakily to her feet. To her credit she makes it a few steps before almost collapsing. Eddie and Steve hurriedly run to her and each sling one of her arms over their shoulders.

“Easy, Jean Grey”, Eddie tells her, and he hopes Will can appreciate that one.

It’s slow going to get back to the entrance of the lab at first. The whole thing is in much the same state as the basement. Eventually El is able to walk unassisted, which is quite helpful to their progress.

They’re just getting up onto the main level when they run into Wayne and the others.

“Eddie?” Wayne sighs in relief.

“Hey”, Eddie grins sheepishly. He feels bad for putting Wayne through that whole nightmare. It’s not like being institutionalized, attempting suicide and getting possessed were on his weekly to-do list.

Wayne pulls him in for a very long, very tight hug. Eddie isn’t going to fight him on that one, he could certainly use it.

“Vecna took Mike”, Will announces to the others, “they’re in the Upside Down.”

“Shit”, Dustin gasps.

“El’s too weak to fight right now”, Will continues, “we need to get back to the others and regroup.”

Joyce nods, rushing to El’s side. Eddie figures you can always tell the parents in the group. Speaking of, as a parent he can rest easy knowing that, if nothing else, Izzy will be safe.
-
Turns out, the whole town is still choked in vines. They all pile back into the thankfully intact truck. El must’ve gotten all the creatures back to the Upside Down but the vines for whatever reason stayed. Not worth using the energy to send back, maybe. The sky is thankfully normal, and it’s sunrise. Eddie has to smile at that, because he really wasn’t confident he’d ever see another one.

They still have to defeat Vecna, but they can do it. If Eleven is strong enough to suck the Upside Down back to where it belongs, she can certainly beat him.

They’re almost to the trailer park when they see the government tanks start rolling in.

“Nice of them to finally fucking show up”, Steve huffs and Eddie can’t help but grin.
-
Thankfully, everyone at the Mayfield’s is still in one piece. Well, almost, there’s one missing.

“Where’s Nancy?” Robin asks.

Eddie does a head count and realizes Nancy is indeed missing from the group. Shit, now they’ve got two missing Wheelers.

“She went to chase after a Demogorgon, we don’t know where she is now”, Max says.

“Vecna”, Eddie sighs, “he must’ve gotten to her somehow. If he’s activated the piece of the Mindflayer inside of her…”

“Well, great”, Steve huffs, “what do we do now?”

Eddie’s stumped on that one. They’ll have to find some way to save Mike and Nancy, but how is the big question. They don’t know what state Vecna’s in right now, so walking in there blindly is risky.

Thankfully, Dustin Henderson, beautiful little genius that he is, has some gears turning in his head.

“I have an idea”, he says.

Chapter Text

“Okay, Einstein”, Steve crosses his arms, “what’s your brilliant plan?”

“I was just thinking”, Dustin says, “earlier, when the Mind Flayer was possessing Eddie, Will was able to stop him from attacking Mrs. Byers. Obviously he has some sort of link to the Mindflayer, and I’m guessing that means Eddie and maybe even Max do too.”

“I can sense it now”, Eddie admits, “like I can feel when it’s nearby and stuff.”

“Right”, Dustin says, “you guys have some sort of connection, and you can use it to control the Mindflayer.”

“I don’t know what I did to stop the Mindflayer”, Will cuts in, “whatever that was back there, I don’t think I can just do it again.”

“You can try”, Dustin says, “look, if you guys can find some way to get that thing out of Nancy, El can focus on fighting Vecna.”

Eddie rubs tiredly at his eyes. All he really wants is for this nightmare to be over. He highly doubts he’s capable of what Dustin’s suggesting. Will’s had this connection with the Mindflayer for years and was only able to temporarily stop it in a moment of blind panic. Getting it out of Nancy feels like way too tall an order.

Aside from that, Eddie’s in no hurry to return to the sight of his literal death. The thought of being back there, trapped in that godforsaken hellscape, it’s terrifying. It was bad enough dealing with their world starting to resemble it, but to go back to the actual place itself? Possibly have to look at the spot that he bleed out in Dustin’s arms? That’s a daunting prospect.

“So what”, he says, “we just waltz into the Upside Down, find Nancy and use some kind of Jedi mind tricks to get the Mindflayer out of her?”

“Maybe you don’t have to”, it’s Eleven who speaks up this time.

“What do you mean?” Will asks.

“Maybe you can do it from here”, she clarifies, “when I fought Vecna before, I was in a pizza dough freezer.”

“We don’t have one of those”, Steve points out.

“It doesn’t have to be a freezer”, Dustin replies, “when she found Will in the Upside Down, it was a pool. We just need something with salt water.”

“You, and where are we supposed to find that?” Steve crosses his arms. Dustin unfortunately doesn’t have a response to it.

“Our neighbors have a pool”, Max says, “just like, one of those big blow up ones that fit a bunch of people.”

“But what about the salt?” Robin asks.

“We could probably get some from the store”, Dustin says, “I doubt anyone would even be there right now.”

Eddie lets out a weary sigh. He’s spent plenty of time stuck in his own head lately, and he’s not much more eager to have to be in Nancy’s. To be quite frank, he’s dealt with enough psychic connections and other dimensions to last him a lifetime by now.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea”, Will is the one who actually voices his doubts.

“It’s not perfect”, Dustin agrees, “but it’s the best we’ve got. You guys can do this, I know.”

“I say it’s worth a shot”, Max says, “who knows how long we have before Vecna makes his next move. We need to act as soon as possible.”

“I guess we can try”, Will says, though he still doesn’t sound particularly eager.

“Yeah, okay”, Eddie relents, not wanting to be the only one who’s too chickenshit to give it a shot.

“Great, so, who wants to run to the store and get the salt?” Joyce asks.

“I’ll go”, Steve offers.

“Me too”, Robin says.

“I’ll come”, Dustin adds.

“Great”, Joyce says, “and try to see what kind of state the rest of the town is in if you can.”

Steve nods, and then he, Dustin and Robin are heading out to the truck and driving away. Everyone else congregates in the Mayfield’s living room and kitchen area. Eddie winds up sitting on the floor beside the couch, next to where Lucas is sitting. He looks better than he did before, but still nowhere near full health. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to keel over and die at any minute though, so that’s a plus.

“Hey Sinclair”, Eddie says. He honestly can’t remember the last time he and Lucas actually spoke to one another.

Truth be told, their relationship has always been a little shaky, from the time they first met each other. Back then, Dustin and Mike had been terrified freshmen with no clue how to navigate the social climate of high school. They latched onto Eddie because they had no one else to go to for guidance. Lucas was a different story. Sure, he was part of Hellfire Club, but he had his own vision for his future, one that Mike and Dustin didn’t share. Instead of looking to Eddie for direction, he looked to the jocks, and he’s not proud of it, but early on that caused Eddie to resent him a bit. He got over it, by the end of their little interdimensional debacle, but he’s always sensed that it’s caused a slight crack in the foundation of their friendship that’s never mended.

Still, they’d been on good terms for a while, until Eddie got addicted to heroin. He stopped being able to maintain most of his friendships during that time, and Lucas was no exception. In fact, he was among the first of Eddie’s non addict friends to decide they were done with him. Hell, he was also one of the first to recognize Eddie was an addict in the first place.

He’d pulled Eddie aside so they could talk with just the two of them. Then he’d asked Eddie if everything was okay, said he seemed like he was having a rough time and did he need help? Eddie had lost it, yelling at Lucas about how he was a fake friend, how he betrayed Eddie in high school and Eddie would never forgive him for it. Eddie had been in such extreme denial about his problem at the time that anyone bringing it up would immediately send him to defense mode. Deep down, it’d hurt because he knew he was true, and he set out to hurt Lucas in return.

Even after Eddie got sober, the two never really kept in touch. Why would they, after those awful things Eddie said?

“Hey”, Lucas says.

“How um, how’s the shoulder?” Eddie asks awkwardly.

“Getting better”, Lucas replies, “what about you? Are you good? You got a red mark on your neck.”

“Oh, yeah, had a run in with some vines”, Eddie says, “but I’m good now.”

Lucas nods and the pair falls into an awkward silence.

“Listen”, Eddie says after a while, “Lucas…I’m really sorry for, well, everything. I know you were just trying to help me, and I was so awful to you in return.”

“Oh, um, thanks I guess”, Lucas replies, seeming a little caught off guard.

“I wasn’t a good person back then”, Eddie continues, “and I just, I’m so fucking sorry for hurting you. I didn’t mean what I said, okay? You were my friend and you just wanted what was best for me. I get that.”

“Look man”, Lucas says, “that’s all in the past, right? I’m over it. I know you weren’t really yourself back then.”

“That’s not an excuse”, Eddie sighs.

“No”, Lucas says, “and it did hurt a lot at the time. We can’t change that, so might as well try to move on instead.”

Eddie nods. He likes that philosophy quite a lot. He knows he can never undo the damage he’s caused, but he can try to be better going forward.

“Thanks,” he tells Lucas.

“Don’t mention it”, Lucas replies, “and um, you if you ever need anything, you know you can come to me, right?”

“Really?”

“Of course”, Lucas nods, “you’re my friend, Eddie.”

“You’re my friend too”, Eddie replies with a small but genuine in smile

“As a friend do me a solid”, Lucas says, “watch Max and Will’s backs while you’re fighting the Mindflayer.”

“Will do”, Eddie tells him. His butt is starting to get sore so he stands up and walks into the kitchenette. Wayne is standing by one of the windows, peering thoughtfully out of it.

“Hey, Kiddo”, he greets when he sees Eddie.

“Hey”, Eddie replies.

“How you doin’?” Wayne asks.

“Um, could be worse I guess”, Eddie replies, “at least Izzy’s safe.”

“You did good”, Wayne says.

“Eleven did good”, Eddie corrects.

“But you helped get her there”, Wayne points out and Eddie just shrugs. He doesn’t think he’s some big hero by any stretch of the imagination. He’s a moderately stable ex-junkie who just spent the past few days in a mental ward. That’s not the life of a hero, that’s the life of a total basket case.

“I don’t know how this whole thing is gonna end up”, Eddie decides to just change the subject, “but um if it turns sideways, just tell Izzy I love her, okay?”

“Eddie”, Wayne breathes out, his eyes twinkling with sorrow, “don’t say that. You’re gonna be alright.”

“Just, please, Wayne, please say you’ll tell her”, Eddie insists.

“I will”, Wayne promises.

Eddie leans in and wraps his arms around Wayne in gratitude. Wayne responds in kind, enfolding Eddie in his own embrace. Eddie can never fully express to the man how thankful he is for everything that he’s done. He’s been by Eddie’s side through the worst moments of his life, and has never once given up on him. Not when he was a third time senior, not when he was a heroin addict, and not when he wound up a single father who could barely keep himself together, let alone care for a child.

“I love you”, Eddie says.

“I love yah too, Kid”, Wayne tells him.

When they seperate he gives Eddie’s hair an affectionate ruffle. Eddie can’t bring himself to mock complain about it right now.
-
Steve and the others return a little while later. They thankfully have managed to get their hands on multiple large bags of salt, which are now stashed in the bed of the truck.

“We just barely made it”, Steve says as he picks one up and starts unloading it, “the military guys are shutting everything down and forcing everyone to shelter in place. We almost didn’t make it through before they finished setting up roadblocks.”

Typical, Eddie thinks. He’ll always have to feel some gratitude towards Eleven’s government buddies, considering they’re the ones who managed to get his name cleared, but even that’s an example of the powers that be showing up with too little, too late. It’s a little funny, that somehow their little ragtag team of misfits always ends up in the trenches dealing with whatever otherworldly threat is lurking, and the government suits only ever show up when most of the danger’s gone and all that’s left to do is cover everything up. These military grunts, they aren’t going to be any help to them, so there’s no point in dwelling on them further.

Eleven gives Eddie, Will and Max a run down of what to expect while the others work on getting their makeshift sensory deprivation tank all set up. Eddie listens intently to her, but even so doesn’t come away with much faith in his ability to actually pull this little endeavor off.

When it’s finished, they all regroup for a final time to smooth out the details of their plan.

“So”, Will says, “El’s going into the Upside Down while we fight the Mindflayer?”

Eleven nods.

“You shouldn’t go alone”, Will tells her.

“I’ll come”, Steve volunteers.

“Me too”, Dustin says.

“And me”, Robin adds.

“Me too”, Jonathan volunteers.

Eleven nods, a small smile growing on her lips at the show of support being offered to her. Then she turns to Lucas.

“Look out for them”, she says, “if something goes wrong, you and the others have to get them out.”

Lucas nods, his jaw set in determination. Eddie honestly feels pretty confident about it. Sure, he and Eddie aren’t best buds, but there’s no way in Hell Lucas would let something bad happen to Max or Will.

They wait a little while after El and the others leave before making their way to the pool. Joyce ties a strip of cloth first over Will’s eyes, then Eddie’s. After that, a hand that Eddie can tell is Wayne’s by the familiar calluses he feels grips Eddie’s own, and another comes to rest on the small of his back.

“Alright”, Wayne says, “let’s get yah set up.”

“Remember”, Lucas tells them, “El said it’s important to focus.”

Eddie nods as Wayne carefully leads him to the side of the pool. With careful movements, Eddie is able to climb into the pool and get on his back.

The water feels strange when he enters it. Instead of sinking, he immediately just floats to the top and stays there. It’s weird, and honestly pretty cool, but there’s no time to marvel at it when they have a job to do. Eddie tries to remember what El said about focusing in on that feeling, the one that tells him the Mindflayer is still out there. It’s grown pretty faint by now, but it’s still there, so Eddie tries to just zero in on it.

Much to his pleasant surprise, when he does, he can feel it start getting stronger. He has no idea how things are going for Will and Max, but he thinks he’s doing pretty good so far. He just keeps fixating on that feeling and tuning out everything else, letting the sensation grow stronger and stronger until it feels as if the Mindflayer is right there beside him.

Eddie’s momentarily proud of himself, but it soon morphs into concern when he feels the sensation of something wrapping around his waist and pulling. When it does, the water around Eddie starts to change, becoming more akin to regular, non-salt water. Eddie flails, hoping Lucas will see and pull him out, but in the end, it’s hopeless as he’s dragged beneath the water’s surface. Terrified, he rips off the blindfold, and frowns in confusion.

He should be looking up and seeing Lucas and the others, but instead, he’s facing the bottom of the pool. Well, to be more accurate, he’s facing the bottom of a pool. This one looks to be in the ground, made of concrete rather than the blue material of the blow up pool. It’s coloration seems weird for a moment until Eddie realizes it’s actually some sort of artificial lighting.

All of this is rather strange, but Eddie has no time to worry about it considering he’s running out of oxygen. Frantically, flips around and starts swimming towards the surface of the water, beyond which he can make out the night sky. That’s also weird, since it was morning last Eddie knew.

He breaks through the water’s surface and finds himself in the backyard of Steve Harrington’s teenage home. Indeed, it’s late at night, and the lights in the pool illuminate the thin layer of steam that rises from the water. Eddie paddles over to the ladder and climbs out of the pool. He he does, he notices that as each part of him leaves the water and makes contact with the air, it becomes completely dry, as if Eddie had never been in the water at all.

“What the Hell?” he asks once he’s fully on dry land.

“Weird, right?”

He turns to see Max standing there, also completely dry. Eddie’s not focusing on that as much as the fact that her eyes, which are normally clouded over and white, are once again clear and blue.

“Wait”, Eddie says, “can you see?”

“Yep”, Max nods, “which means wherever we are, it’s probably not actually real.”

“Guys?”

They both turn to see Will emerge from the pool, magically drying as he goes.

“Will”, Max replies.

“Oh my god, your eyes”, Will gasps, “what’s going on? Where are we?”

“Hopefully Nancy’s head”, Eddie replies, peering around.

That certainly seems like a possibility. Steve’s backyard makes sense as a place that’d be significant to her, since they dated in high school and remained friends after. Now the challenge is finding Nancy herself.

“So, what now?” Eddie asks.

“I don’t know”, Max replies, “what was it like in your head when you were possessed?”

“It kept showing me memories”, Eddie recalls, “bad ones mostly.”

“Which means wherever this is, it’s probably somewhere that something bad happened in Nancy’s life”, Max deduces.

“Barb”, Will says, “Nancy’s friend. Around the time the Demogorgon took me, it killed her. Nancy was at Steve’s when it happened.”

Oh yeah, Barbara Holland. Eddie remembers she disappeared and was eventually declared dead. Now he knows why, he supposes.

Barb, Chrissy, Fred, Patrick. How many innocents have had to die because of Henry Creel’s warped God complex?

“So I guess we should try to find Nancy”, Max says, “but I don’t know where to look.”

Eddie peers up at one of the house’s windows, the only one with the light on it. He can make out the silhouettes of a guy and a girl in it, and he has a pretty good guess.

“Inside”, he suggests.

“Right”, Max nods, “makes sense.”

They make their way to the door and Max opens it before stepping inside. Will follows after and Eddie brings up the rear. Unfortunately, it seems their task is going to be a bit harder than he’d imagined. That or the Harringtons decorated their foyer like downtown Hawkins.

“What the hell?” Max asks.

Eddie looks behind them and what was once Steve’s backyard is now a random store and the back door is now the shop’s entrance. They all step out onto the street and peer around curiously.

Eddie’s familiar with this street. It's mostly lined with shops and restaurants, so he and pretty much everyone else in town spent many an evening there trying to kick their small town boredom for a while. It’s also where the town’s only movie theater is, although it briefly lost that distinction when Starcourt Mall was open. Speaking of, the theater is just across the road from them. Eddie glances at the marquee in hopes of finding some sort of clue.

It’s not the kind of clue he’d been hoping for, he realizes. The movie being advertised in All the Right Moves, beneath which in spray paint someone’s written ‘Starring Nancy the Slut Wheeler.’

“Holy shit”, Max gasps.

“Jesus”, Eddie mutters.

“Come on,” Will urges, “let’s keep moving.”

He seems to make a decision of where to start and random, approaching the door to the theater lobby and opening it. Max and Eddie exchange glances, after which Max just shrugs. They both follow him in, and are met with confusion when the theater they walk into isn’t the right theater. It’s the one at the afformatined Starcourt Mall, and it’s completely empty.

“I wonder what happened here”, Max says.

“I mean, we all nearly died”, Will reminds her.

“Maybe”, Max replies uneasily.

The mall is totally empty as they make their way through it, or at least until they get to one of the open areas that allow them to see down to the first floor. Drenched in hazy shades of purple neon is a lone figure, the glass panels above them showing off the dark knight sky.

Eddie figures since this is the first person they’ve seen, they should probably try talking to him. It’s what Eddie would do, if this were a Hellfire session and his character had to figure out what to do.

He goes to start walking over to the stairs, but Max stops him.

“We should go back”, she says.

“Why?” Eddie asks, “this is the first sign of life we’ve seen since getting here.”

“She’s right”, Will insists, “this is a bad idea.”

“I can hear you, you know”, a rough, echoing voice calls out.

“Let’s go”, Max urges, but it’s too late, the figure has turned to face them, and Eddie sees that it’s a very bloody Billy Hargrove.

Eddie can still remember the day he met Billy, soon after his and Max’s family had moved to town. Eddie had heard him playing Metallica in his car and got excited, so he’d introduced himself, along with his whole usual pitch about how he was the best plug in the school.In response, Billy had said something along the lines of ‘wow, didn’t know they had you fag types in Indiana, too.’ He did end up buying from Eddie on multiple occasions, though.

Eddie can’t say he ever particularly liked the guy, for obvious reasons. Still, no one deserves to die the way he did. Not that Eddie was there to see it, but his friends have filled him in. Looking at Billy’s current state, Eddie certainly believes the story. The chunks of flesh missing from his sides are a good indicator that it’s true.

“We have to go. Now”, Max demands.

“Come on, Max”, Billy says, “don’t be like that.”

“Leave us alone”, Max shouts back.

“Why would I do that?” Billy asks, “we have a job to do, you and I.”

“No”, Max shakes her head, “I’m not doing anything with you.”

Billy lets out a sinister, twisted laugh. His eyes are twinkling in amusement as he stares the group down, a smug smile on his lips.

“Let him in, Max”, he says, “you can’t fight him forever.”

“Watch me”, Max says, and then she’s taking off back towards the theater. Eddie and Will scramble to follow, unsure of what else to do.

This definitely doesn’t bode well for them. Clearly, this vision was for Max, not Nancy, which means the Mindflayer knows that Eddie and the others are there and is actively trying to get a hold on them too. They need to find Nancy, and find her fast, before all of them wind up in the same boat.

“So, I’m guessing we’re not in Nancy’s head anymore”, Will sighs, “we’re going to have to be careful. Who knows what else the Mindflayer might conjure up.”

Eddie’s not thrilled about that prospect. Not only is he once again facing the prospect of having to relive the most painful moments of his life, but the others might be there to witness it, too. The last thing he wants is Max and Will getting a front row seat to him shooting up heroin or being smacked around by his dad.

Max is the first to step through the entrance to the theater, while the other two quickly follow. The scene changes once again, and this time it’s a room in a house that, while Eddie’s never seen exactly, has a general atmosphere that is intimately familiar to him.

The wood paneling of the prefab ranch is almost identical to the kind that decorated Eddie’s childhood home. The whole place bears a striking similarity, in fact. The kind of place that’s a step up from a trailer, but not by much.

There is one key element that’s different though, and that’s the various pieces of paper that have been taped to the floor and walls. There’s drawings on them, Eddie notices, and put together they form a sort of pattern. Almost like a map.

“What the Hell?” Eddie asks, “where are we?”

“We’re in my house”, Will says, “the one in Hawkins.”

“Your family has an unorthodox taste in decor”, Eddie comments.

“It’s a long story”, Will replies.

“I remember”, Max adds, “this was around the time my family first moved here. Back when Will was possessed by the Mindflayer.”

“Hey, there, sport”, a new voice says from the other room, prompting them all to turn towards it. A man who looks vaguely familiar to Eddie walks in, an innocuous smile on his face.

“Bob”, Will gasps.

That rings a bell, now that Eddie’s thinking about it. He can recall a guy called Bob who used to work in town. He died at some point when Eddie was in high school, but Eddie never knew exactly how.

“Of course it’s me”, Bob says happily, “who else would it be?”

Will tenses, his jaw setting. Whatever the story with this Bob guy is, it’s clearly something of significance to him.

“You died”, Will says.

“Well duh”, Bob chuckles, “I was torn apart by monsters. And all thanks to you of course!”

There’s something seriously unsettling at the happy go lucky demeanor he maintains while saying it. Eddie looks over at Will, who’s clenching his fist at his side.

“Shut up”, Max interjects, “come on, let’s just go.”

“Go?” Bob asks, “why the hurry. We’ve got plenty of time. Or, we will, once you let him in again.”

“Never”, Will insists.

“You sure?” Bob frowns, “ah well, guess we’ll just have to persuade you.”

He opens his mouth, and a thick rope of smoke begins to emerge from it. It forms several tendrils, each of which start approaching Eddie and the others. The trio wastes no time in retreating back through the door to the theater, but of course it’s no longer a theater on the other side.

Instead, it’s the woods, sunlight streaming in through the branches of the trees. Eddie and the others look around, trying to find some clue as to what to expect of this particular vision. So far “Forest” is too vague a setting for Eddie to work out whose vision this is, but considering he’s the only one who hasn’t been targeted directly yet, he’s got a bad feeling it might be his.

“Where are we now?” Max huffs.

“I don’t know”, Eddie says, “but I’m thinking it might have something to do with me.”

He’s spent plenty of time in the woods throughout his lifetime, so there’s a lot of memories this could be. Growing up, he spent many a summer day exploring the wooded area surrounding the trailer park, and when he got older he used it for certain illicit activities. That confuses him, because so far, every vision they’ve seen has involved a bad memory, and Eddie can’t really think of any he has in the woods. If anything, the woods hold good memories for him.

They pick a random direction and start walking. Thankfully it’s not long before they make out a clearing up ahead.

“So, what exactly can we expect?” Max asks as they start heading over to it, “what bad shit happened to you in the woods?”

“I don’t know”, Eddie admits, “can’t think of anything.”

“We’ll keep your guard up”, Max advises, “if he tried getting to me and Will, he’s probably gonna do what he can to get to you, too.”

Yes, Eddie had figured that. He can’t wait to find out what horrible memory he’s going to be forced to confront. Hopefully nothing involving the drugs. The thought of Max and Will seeing him in the grips of his heroin addiction is not a pleasant one.

The trio continue on through the woods until they reach a clearing. In the middle sits a lone picnic table, surrounded on all sides by trees. Eddie freezes as he takes in the sight of the person sitting at the table.

“Who’s she?” Will asks Max.

“That’s Chrissy Cunningham”, Max explains. Surely they’ve told their story to Will enough times that he knows who she is.

“Hi, Eddie”, Chrissy greets.

There’s something strangely jarring about the scene. Eddie’s seen Chrissy in his visions before, but this is the first time she’s appeared alive and uninjured. She looks exactly like she did that day, all decked out in her cheer uniform, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.

“Chrissy?” Eddie frowns

Chrissy nods.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks.

“I’m here to help you”, she says.

“With what?” Eddie wonders.

Chrissy stands up, her frame as tiny as ever, and walks over to where Eddie is standing. Carefully, she reaches out, placing a gentle hand on his cheek.

“With the guilt”, she says, “you won’t have to feel it anymore. You won’t have to feel anything bad anymore. Just give yourself over to him.”

Eddie jerks away like Chrissy’s hand is burning hot to the touch. Apparently the Mindflayer is switching things up.

“No”, Eddie says, “not again.”

“But wasn’t it so much better?” Chrissy asks, “didn’t it feel so good to have a purpose, to have power? Don’t you miss being free of all the shame?”

Eddie would love nothing more to be free of his shame, but he certainly wasn’t when he was possessed. It was still there, in the back of his head, crying for him to stop.

The past seven years of Eddie’s life have been Hell on Earth. Honestly, it was pretty shitty even before that. He sure as hell doesn’t enjoy all the pain it’s caused him, but he’s learned by now that trying to make it all magically disappear will only lead to more trouble. Last time he took the easy way out, it got him severely addicted to heroin. He’s not making that mistake again.

“No”, he says firmly.

Chrissy’s expression falls. Her hand drops to her side and she looks at Eddie in disappointment.

“I was hoping you’d make this easy”, she says. Eddie finds that a little bit insulting.

“Never”, he insists.

“Alright”, she sighs, “we’ll do it the hard way.”

Much like Bob, she opens her mouth and lets three black tendrils come snaking out. Eddie’s a fair bit closer to her than he was to Bob, unfortunately, so he doesn’t have time to dodge it. He can’t get away in time, but he can at least try to fight the thing as it shoves itself down his throat.

Sadly, Eddie’s attempt at defiance ends up being woefully inadequate. The last thing he sees before the blackness overtakes him is two tendrils snaking into Max and Will’s mouths.
-
The darkness only lasts momentarily. When it fades, Eddie finds himself standing in a strange, barren landscape, the sky an angry red and large stone spires jutting into the air in the distance. He quickly notices that he’s not alone. Max and Will are here too, as is, miraculously, Nancy.

“Nancy?” Max exclaims.

“What are you doing here?” she asks.

“We were rescuing you”, Eddie tells her, “not sure we did a great job of it though. Where are we?”

“I don’t know”, Nancy sighs.

“It kind of looks like when Vecna was in my head”, Max remarks.

Eddie doesn’t like the sound of that one bit. They’re supposed to be fighting the Mindflayer after all. Vecna was meant to be Eleven’s target. Even assuming Eddie and the others actually do have some sort of influence over the Mindflayer, it’s probably not going to do jack shit against Vecna. Or at least he assumes as much.

The four of them stand there and try to determine their next move, but evidently, they need not bother because in an instant, the scene is shifting slightly. They’re still in that strange other world, but now something is materializing in front of them. It’s a large stone structure with a smaller pillar beside it. Restrained to the pillar by vines is a very unconscious looking Mike. Beside him, Eleven stands, her face silently fuming. Vecan is standing across from her, holding out a hand in Eddie and the others’ direction.

“You really thought you could beat us”, Vecna says to El, “even sent your friends to help. That was a mistake, Eleven.”

Her determination breaks slightly as she peers over at them. She looks surprised to see them.

“Let them go”, she demands.

“They’re a part of this now”, Vecna refuses, “and you brought them right to us, Eleven. Really, you should’ve known better than to let them walk directly into my little trap.”

El’s expression is back to angry. Eddie’s not looking at her as much as he is Mike. He’s really not sure whether the kid is even alive or not.

“Mike”, Nancy cries out.

“You can’t save him”, Vecna warns, “none of you can.”

That’s apparently the final straw for Eleven. She holds out a hand and lets out a ferocious scream, sending Vecna flying backwards. Her powers keep him pinned against the wall, but he just laughs.

“You really think you can beat me?” he says, “I’m more powerful than you can even imagine, little girl.”

El doesn’t relent, but something is starting to happen. Max begins to cough and choke, as does Nancy. They hack and hack until without warning, clouds of black smoke come streaming from their mouths. The thin tendrils rapidly approach Vecna, attaching themselves to him. Eddie doesn’t know if the tendrils are affecting El’s powers or she’s just giving up on her own, but either way, she drops her stance, freeing Vecna from her grasp. He floats forward, and the tendrils continue to grow until they’ve formed a set of massive spider-like legs. He’s left dangling in the center of his new limbs, some sort of abominable fusion of himself and the Mindflayer.

“He can do that?” Eddie asks wide eyed.

“You will never beat us, Eleven”, the Vecna-Flayer says in a strange voice that almost sounds as if two distinct people are speaking in sync.

Eleven looks rather shaken by the turn of events. The uncomfortable sensation Eddie’s become accustomed to by now grows to a fever pitch.
Vecna uses his new legs to walk towards them, and Eddie feels about ready to pass out from how intense the feeling is.

“We’re going to destroy”, Vecna tells El, “but not until after you watch each of your friends die.”

The ground beneath them begins to rumble before a series of massive cracks begins to appear, out of which several pillars similar to the one Mike is currently bound to emerge. For the second time in less than 24 hours, Eddie finds himself and his friends being bound to some sort of stone structure by vines. As he looks around he sees they’re all in a circle around El and Vecna, including Mike. Eddie, Will, Max and Nancy all try to struggle, but it’s of course futile.

“I’ll let you choose who goes first”, Vecna offers, “maybe him.”

Eddie, aka he who is cursed with eternal bad luck, just happens to be the one Vecna goes to, his spider legs bending so he can get closer to Eddie’s level. He holds out a massive, clawed hand, opening it wide as he reaches towards Eddie.

“Stop!” Eleven cries, but Vecna’s not interested. Eddie can feel his claws brushing against Eddie’s face as he holds his palm out in front of Eddie’s face. Weirdly, all he can think at that moment is that this is probably the last thing Chrissy saw before she died.

He prepares himself for the end but it doesn’t come because Eleven is shouting.

“Leave him alone!” she orders.

Vecna, thankfully, steps back from Eddie, allowing himself to stand at his full height once again. Eddie’s relief is short lived, because he sees that Vecna is going for Nancy now instead.

“What about Nancy?” Vecna says, “what would Mike say if you let me kill his sister first.”

“No!” Eleven cries.

Vecna moves on to Will next.

“Or his best friend?” he taunts.

“Don’t hurt them”, El begs.

Max is next in line to face Vecna’s wrath. As if the poor thing didn’t have to do that once already.

“Or should it be your best friend?” Vecna says.

“No”, Eleven screams, and Eddie is pleased to see her raising her hand once more.

She sends Vecna flying back, causing him to land in a pile of inhuman limbs. By the time he manages to stand up, Eleven is approaching, a single trickle of blood dripping from her nose.

“You’re strong”, Vecna growls, “but I’m stronger. Don’t you see Eleven. Your friends are human, and I’m a God! You could be one too, if you weren’t so attached.”

Eddie doesn’t care how powerful the guy is, at the end of the day he knows it’s bullshit, that Vecna’s just a human too. A super powered one, but with a human’s mind all the same. He can spew his superiority bullshit all he wants, at the end of the day, he’s an arrogant prick who just so happened to be born with superpowers.

“You are not a God”, Eleven spits.

“But I am”, Vecna says, “I am a God. Look at this world. It’s mine! I built it, I control it. What does that make me if not a…”

He doesn’t get to finish that thought. His mouth shuts and suddenly his eyes are closing and his body, minus the spider legs, is drooping. Eddie feels the vines surrounding him loosening until he’s able to free himself completely. The others manage to do the same, leaving them all standing around confused. The vines also release Mike, leaving his limp body to slump to the ground.Vecna’s spider legs lower him so he’s standing on the ground before retracting into his back. Eddie peers at him and wonders what the hell would have caused that out of the blue.

Eleven takes a step towards Vecna and he stirs. His eyes open, his limbs tense and he lets out a wet coughing sound. There’s an unpleasant cracking noise as his jaw practically turns itself inside out with how wide it’s opening. His body goes rigid and he practically folds in half with a snap. The flesh on his body begins to shift and the bones reorganize themself in a series of grotesque jerks. His limbs grow, becoming fleshy versions of the black tendrils. His mouth becomes massive, and lined in razor sharp teeth. The Mindflayer made flesh. Eddie’s not sure how that’s even possible, he’s pretty sure Vecna’s body alone wouldn’t have enough material to make something this big.

“What the fuck was that?” Max gasps.

“The Mindflayer”, Eleven says, “it turned him into its host. For good.”

“Holy shit”, Eddie mutters.

“What do we do now?” Max asks.

“We have to fight it”, Eleven replies, “it could get back into our world if we don’t.”

Eddie’s not loving the “we” she threw in there. He’s not sure what El expects them to do.

“How?” Max asks.

“Together”, Eleven says, “you all have a connection. We can make it leave if we all fight.”

“But how?” Eddie asks.

“Just focus”, Eleven advises. So much for that.

They all face down the creature, and it strikes Eddie how small they all look in the face of it. Even after all these years, they’re the same group of kids dealing with shit that’s way beyond their capabilities.

Eleven raises a hand towards the creature. Eddie closes his eyes and tries to focus. He can feel the presence of the Mindflayer infringing on the edges of his consciousness, seeping its poison into his thoughts. Flashes of drug binges and bats tearing into him and his mom’s lifeless body.

“Just order it to leave”, Eleven calls to the group.

Eddie’s not quite sure how to do that. It seems to be pretty in control of the situation. The thoughts it’s putting in his head are shaking his confidence. He can’t really do this, he’s not strong or brave or smart. He wants to be, so Izzy can one day call her dad a hero, but he’s just not.

Eddie feels the familiar ache in his chest for Izzy. It’s been there the whole time he’s been apart from her. His beautiful, sweet, smart little girl. She deserves a world to grow up in, and she won’t get that if the Mindflayer wins. That’s the thought that Eddie finally lands on that makes him angry enough to fight. This thing is not going to hurt his daughter, or anyone else. He’s failed her so many times before but he’s not going to do it again.

Get out, Eddie thinks. He pushes back against the monster’s silent attacks, replacing them with the thought of holding Izzy in his arms. He thinks about Wayne, how the Mindflayer will hurt him too. The man has protected Eddie his whole life, it’s time Eddie returned the favor. He thinks about Dustin, the dorky kid who watched Eddie bleed out in his arms. Eddie has to look out for him too. He has to look out for all of them. His family, his friends. This monster is not going to destroy them.

Eddie pushes with all of his metaphysical might against the Mindflayer and for a moment he’s sure he’s going to lose steam if he has to keep it up much longer, but then something shifts, and he feels the creature begin to retreat a bit. That gets him going again. They may actually be winning.

El lets out a primal scream and then the Mindflayer’s grip is gone completely. Eddie focuses even harder now that he’s free of it, focuses on kicking this thing’s ass back to its own dimension for good.

Eddie can feel the moment his magical sixth sense disappears and he realizes they actually won. He opens his eyes, but something doesn’t feel right. He feels tired all of a sudden. He sees Max collapse beside him and then he’s losing his grip on consciousness, too. The last thing he hears before the world goes dark is El screaming.

Chapter Text

The first thing Eddie becomes aware of is the sharp scent of antiseptic stinging his nostrils. With a soft groan, he peels his eyes open and finds himself staring up at a row of white plastered ceiling tiles. When he turns his head to the side, he finds a series of tubes and monitors, past which is a large rectangular window with its white shades drawn.

“Ugh”, he grunts as he slowly pushes himself into a sitting position. A quick visual sweep of the room tells him it’s some sort of hospital, backed up by the plain white scrubs he’s dressed in, but not the one in Hawkins. He goes to itch his arm and finds a tugging on the skin of his left hand that he realizes is from the IV catheter taped there.

Clearly, if he’s in a hospital, he must be sick or injured. He was neither of those things last he remembers.

Actually, thinking about it now, he’s not quite sure what he last remembers. The Mindflayer, they were going to fight it right?

Yes, he remembers now. The Mindflayer merging with Vecna, helping Eleven fight them. He’s pretty sure, if his recollection is correct, they seemed to be winning, but he’s got no clue why he may have blacked out at some point.

Thankfully he doesn’t have to wait all that long for answers, because within a few minutes an older man in a lab coat comes walking in with a clipboard tucked under his arm.

“Hello”, he greets, “you must be Eddie. I don’t think we’ve met before.”

“Who are you?” Eddie asks suspiciously.

“Dr. Sam Owens”, he explains, “let’s just say I’m an old friend of Eleven’s. Anyway, I imagine you’re probably pretty confused right now.”

“What’s going on?” Eddie asks, “where am I?”

“Medical research facility just outside of Springfield, Illinois”, Dr. Owens tells him, “once upon a time we would’ve brought you to Hawkins Lab, but uh, we can’t do that anymore for obvious reasons.”

“Wait, what happened?” Eddie frowns, “where are the others?”

“Eleven, Will, Mike, Nancy and Max are all here”, Dr. Owens explains, “the rest I’d imagine are either home or at the relief station in Hawkins.”

Okay, so, at the very least, Hawkins wasn’t completely wiped off the map by Vecna and the Mindflayer’s rampage. Still leaves him with plenty of questions, though.

“The town”, Eddie says, “how bad is it?”

Dr. Owens lets out a somber sigh, which doesn’t really bode all that well. Clearly the town didn’t get away from this all scott-free.

“Death toll so far is in the low hundreds, but there’s still plenty of people unaccounted for”, he says, “property damage? We haven’t even begun to calculate that. Right now we’ve got crews going in doing clean up and giving aid to residents.”

Eddie nods his understanding. He can’t say he’s ever had much love for the town, but it is still his home, and he certainly isn’t eager to see hundreds of innocent people there be killed.

“You’re probably wondering about how your friends are”, Dr. Owens goes on. That was indeed Eddie’s not question.

“Are they okay?”

“From what I understand, the ones who stayed in town are all just fine”, Dr. Owens says, “Chief Hopper and your friend Lucas are being treated for injuries but expected to recover.”

“What about the rest?” Eddie asks.

“Eleven is unharmed. We brought her here as a precaution”, Dr. Owens explains, “Max, Will and Nancy were in a similar state as you when they arrived, but they’re all awake and alert now like you are.”

“What exactly happened to us?”

Eddie doesn’t really feel all that out of the ordinary. A slight headache, and exhausted as Hell, but otherwise pretty much normal.

“We’re not sure”, Dr. Owens crosses his arms, “best guess, according to Eleven, is that you were all just temporarily overwhelmed by the amount of energy the fight took out of you. In your case we’ve also been treating you for clozapine withdrawal.”

Oh right. The past few days have been so hectic that Eddie’s stay in the psych ward is starting to feel like it happened in an entirely different lifetime. At least he knows his friends are okay. Well, except one…

“Wait”, he says, “what about Mike?”

“He’s alive”, Dr. Owens sighs, “but unresponsive.”

Eddie looks at the doctor with concern. He knows that Vecna had Mike for a while, so there’s no telling what he might have done to him. Max’s previous encounter left her in a similar state, after all.

“We’ve been running tests but nothing’s been conclusive”, Dr. Owens goes on, “but the good news is, every test we’ve run on you and the others has been normal. We’re gonna keep you for about another week or so just to monitor, then you’re free to go.”

“A week”, Eddie huffs. He just found out he actually managed to survive the event he was sure was going to end in his death, and he’d much rather be spending this time with his loved ones than in some government lab.

“Just to be safe”, Dr. Owens says, “a nurse should be in soon with some lunch for you. You’re free to go about this floor as you please, but you can’t get to any others without a passkey, so don’t bother trying.”

Eddie’s not pleased at how similar that sounds to the rules in the psych ward, but there’s not much he can do about it. He rests for a while, then forces down the shitty bland hospital food they give him for lunch. Later, he starts getting a little stir crazy and wanders outside his room. There’s a hallway lined with doors similar to his, at the end of which is a common area with seating. It’s a lot like the psych ward, but even more sterile and unwelcoming. The psych ward at least tried to have some decoration. This place is mostly just white, white and more white.

Max is sitting in a chair in the common room, her eyes back to their usual state of cloudy white. Eddie sits down beside her, annoying his presence with a casual “hey, Red.”

“Hey”, she sighs, “they give you the whole run down too.”

“Yep”, Eddie says, “we get to be here a whole week. Can’t wait.”

Max offers a half hearted chuckle, but it quickly peters out. Understandable, Eddie can see why she isn’t really in a joking mood.

“What happened to Mike?” he asks, “do you know?”

Max shakes her head. “I don’t know. I talked to El for a little, but she’s not sure either. Just that it looks bad.”

Eddie feels a heavy sensation forming in his gut at that revelation. He almost thought they actually managed to pull this off with out any of them getting themselves seriously hurt or killed in the process.

“I never got a chance to apologize to him”, Eddie realizes suddenly.

“For what?” Max asks.

“For everything”, Eddie sighs, “but mostly the stealing.”

“Stealing?” Max asks.

“Remember that summer before your guys’ junior year, when he got that job at the bowling alley so he could save up for a car?” Eddie says.

“Yeah”, Max replies.

“Well, one day, we were having a session at his house, and I was going to the bathroom when I noticed a bunch of cash in his room. And I knew I was gonna run out of drug money soon, so I just…took it. Hardly even thought twice about it. Of course he noticed pretty quickly that money was missing, and well, it wasn’t really all that hard to figure out who did it.”

“You still can apologize”, Max says, “don’t know if he can hear you, but he’s just in the first room on the right. The others are with him now.”

“Oh, thanks”, Eddie tells her.

She offers a noise of acknowledgment as Eddie stands up and makes his way over to Mike’s room. The door is ajar, so he easily walks right in. Mike’s in a hospital bed, attached to various machines with a breathing tube down his throat. Nancy and Will are seated at his bedside, but Eddie doesn’t see Eleven anywhere.

“Hey”, he greets Will and Nancy.

“Hey”, Nancy replies solemnly.

“Where’s El?” Eddie asks.

“Around somewhere”, Nancy says, “she needed some space.”

Eddie nods. “So um what’d they say?”

“They don’t know”, Nancy explains, “Vecna did something to him, obviously. They just don’t know what, not even El.”

“Shit”, Eddie murmurs. Then he steps up to Mike’s bedside.

It feels awkward, standing here talking to someone who isn’t even conscious. Especially since what he wants to say is personal, and honestly he’d prefer if Will and Nancy weren’t here at all.

“Um, hey Wheeler”, Eddie says, “it’s Eddie. I just uh, well, I didn’t get the chance to apologize to you before so…I just wanted to say I’m really sorry for everything.”

Thankfully, Nancy and Will don’t ask about what he’s apologizing for. Maybe Mike told them about all of the shit Eddie did and they already know, or maybe they just realize how deeply personal the conversation is and don’t want to intrude. Whatever the case, Eddie’s grateful.

“So uh, yeah”, Eddie finishes, “just…sorry. For everything.”

He takes a step back then, settling in a chair beside Nancy.

“I don’t even know if my parents know we’re here”, she sighs, “actually, I’m not even sure if they’re alive.”

Eddie gives her a sad look. He’s fortunate enough to have the luxury of knowing his family’s still alive, but a lot of his friends don’t have the same. Max has no clue if her mom survived, or Steve’s parents or Dustin’s mom. Nancy has one brother in a mysterious coma and for all they know her sister and parents are dead. That sucks on a level Eddie can’t even comprehend.

“We didn’t keep in touch that much after I left for college”, Nancy goes on, “I-I should’ve talked to him more, but I don’t know, I was busy I guess.”

“I guess we all have our regrets”, Eddie comments.

He leaves the room a little while after that, wandering randomly until he runs into Eleven. She’s sat by a window, staring blankly out of it. Eddie gently takes a seat next to her.

“Um, hey”, he greets.

“Hi”, she says with a half hearted smile.

“I’m sorry about Mike”, Eddie tells her.

“I can’t reach him”, Eleven says sadly, “I tried but I can’t. I should have saved him before this happened.”

Yeah, Eddie’s been down that road before. Blaming yourself for not stopping something bad. He’s spent most his life agonizing over the people he couldn’t save, be it his mom, Chrissy or Sherri.

“Well um, I know this probably doesn’t help much”, Eddie rubs the back of his neck, “but uh, trust me, I speak from experience when I say you shouldn’t get too caught up being angry at yourself.”

“I should have saved him”, Eleven insists, “but I didn’t.”

“Not your fault”, Eddie assures her, “believe me, okay? I’m sure Mike wouldn’t blame you for it.”

“Maybe”, she sighs.

“Trust me, he wouldn’t”, Eddie replies, “he’d just be proud of how much you managed to kick ass back there.”

That actually gets a small smile out of Eleven.

“Kick ass”, she says, “I like it.”

“That’s the spirit”, Eddie tells her, “seriously, Jean Grey, you’ve got no reason to feel bad. You saved all of our asses back there.”

Eleven’s smile grows a bit. Eddie will definitely take it as a win. Her expression turns serious again after a moment, but at least it was something.

“It’s not your fault, either”, she says.

“Hm?”

“Your mom”, Eleven clarifies, “and Chrissy. It’s not your fault they died.”

“Oh”, Eddie replies.

“Sorry”, Eleven offers, “I saw them, when I was in your head. What happened wasn’t your fault.”

“Thanks”, Eddie offers, even if he doesn’t fully buy that. It’d be a bit hypocritical to tell El he doesn’t believe her when he just gave her the exact same speech.
-
The next week passes by in tedium. There isn’t much to do while confined to the facility, and aside from that, all of them are antsy to reunite with the others. Nothing changes with Mike. He doesn’t get worse, but he doesn’t get better, either. The doctors can’t find any way to explain what’s going on with him or how to fix it, and neither can Eleven.

The rest of them are just fine. They endure a battery of daily tests and all of them come back normal. At one point, they learn that the “official story” is that there was some kind of toxic spill that affected the whole town. Eddie’s sure they’ve tossed quite a lot of hush money at the citizens of Hawkins in order to maintain that story, and even then Eddie suspects some of them will end up talking regardless. Probably won’t be believed by many people, but they’ll talk.

When the week is finally up, the group are all ushered into government cars meant to take them home. Max and Eddie share one, since they’re bound for the same place. After wishing Eleven, Nancy and Will goodbye for now, they get in the back of their assigned car, Eddie practically vibrating in anticipation.

The ride is long and, much like everything since waking up has been, boring. They pass by some army tanks as they finally begin approaching town. As they get within the town limits, they start seeing the government clean up crews working to remove the last of the renaming vines. Plenty of buildings have been destroyed or seriously damaged, including homes, but thankfully both Eddie’s and Max’s are intact.

They’d kept up with the death toll while in the facility. Thankfully, Max’s mom had survived the ordeal, as did Nancy’s parents and sister. 527 other residents weren’t so lucky.

They get to Max’s house first. Her mom is waiting for her on the front porch. Eddie wishes her goodbye and then the driver starts towards his place. Eddie’s heart pounds in excitement. He was scared he’d never get to set foot there again.

The driver pulls up by Eddie’s house and Eddie thanks him before climbing out. He runs up the porch steps and knocks on the door energetically. It doesn’t take long for it to open, revealing Wayne. Eddie can hear the driver pulling out and heading off down the road, but he ignores it.

“Hey there, Kiddo”, Wayne says, “how yah feelin’?”

“Alright”, Eddie tells him.

“Good”, Wayne says.

“Papa!” a voice calls out from inside the trailer, “Papa! Is that Daddy?”

“Sure is, Sweet Peach”, Wayne replies.

Eddie steps inside and is almost immediately met with a tiny body colliding with his legs.

“Daddy!” Izzy cries out happily as she wraps her arms around him.

“Hey, Baby”, Eddie smiles, “I missed you.”

And God, did he ever. After multiple close calls with death, she’s all Eddie’s wanted to see since he sent her away. He scoops her up in his arms, even if she’s getting a little big for that, and presses kiss after kiss to her crown, much to her obvious delight.

“I missed you too”, she says.

Eddie puts her down but she sticks close by his side as he gets settled in. He doesn’t mind; in fact he’s not sure he ever wants to be away from her again.
-
Eddie and Wayne chat about the town’s ongoing rebuilding efforts over dinner. The plant and the garage are also still intact, though parts of the plant have been severely damaged. Still, they aren’t expecting to have to go back to work until everything with the town has been fully settled, so Eddie has plenty of time with his family to look forward too.

They all sit in the living room after dinner, and then it’s time for bed. Eddie never thought he’d miss sleeping on a fold out sofa bed, but right now he’s relieved to see it. Drifting off to sleep is easy with how tired he still is from this whole ordeal.
-
Eddie wakes up an indeterminate amount of time later. It’s dark, so it’s either late and night or early morning. Yawning, he turns on the light to find Izzy standing in the middle of the room. She’s looking at him with big, wet eyes and Ozzy the Rabbit is clutched to her side.

“Hey baby”, he says, “what’s up?”

“I had a bad dream”, she sniffles.

“Aw”, Eddie says, “I’m sorry, Princess. You want me to come lay with you?”

She nods timidly. Honestly, Eddie’s not sure if she even had an actual nightmare at all, or if she just wants to be with him for tonight and was too scared to ask. Either way, he’s happy to oblige her.

She leads him back to her room and they both climb into the bed. Izzy snuggles up close to Eddie’s side, as they settle in. He presses a kiss to the top of her head.

“Daddy”, she says, “don’t go anywhere okay?”

“I won’t, Baby”, he tells her, “I promise.”

“I love you, Daddy”, Izzy replies.

“I love you too, Princess”, Eddie smiles.

Izzy drifts off easily, and Eddie knows he’s going to be following soon after. This is the first time since his nightmare that he feels like he can actually take a moment to rest. Even in the facility, he was safe but it wasn’t home. He’s finally here, back with Izzy and Wayne. A warm feeling pools in his belly at the comfort the thought brings him.

His eyelids start to droop as he listens to Izzy’s soft breaths beside him. For the first time in a long time, Vecna and the Mindflayer are the furthest thing from his mind. Instead he’s thinking about Izzy, how he’ll watch her grow up and get to see the person she becomes. That thought comforts him, carries him gently away as he drifts off to sleep.