#axel x dottie

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S2:E7; Chapter Seven, The Lost Sister - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

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

⚠️ WARNINGS: canon use of a derogatory term referring to someone who lives with psychosis spectrum syndrome, or schizophrenia (used exactly twice, back to back)

📝A.N: I thank you endlessly for your patience, my dears. There's been and will be more rewriting (not storywise, really, just some polishing) for the lost sister chapters. Also, while I'm here, stranger danger is real, kids. Practice safety everywhere you can. Please be safe 🙏

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Hugging my jacket tighter around my chest does little to stop the chattering in my teeth thanks to the cold that has already sunk into my bones. Despite all that has happened, I count ourselves lucky the seats El and I picked ended up near the bus's heater. Though at least the lingering chill from outside is keeping me awake and alert.

Trying again to rub the very last of sleep from my eyes, I try even harder to make sense of the sudden change in my surroundings.

I remember drifting off on the futon at Becky's, the next thing I know El is shaking me awake and pulling me down the stairs. All I had time to grab was my jacket, counting myself very lucky I managed to slip on my shoes before we were out the door.

Another shiver hits me like a brick when a bit of cold sneaks down the neck of my jacket. I inwardly groan. I didn't even get to change out of my pajamas.

I tried asking El what was going on and where the hell we were going─not to mention so late at night─but nothing came of it. It was difficult not to ask again, but the look I caught in her eye as we fled the front porch silenced me, if only momentarily. I tried again, when we were halfway down the road.

That time she spoke. And with a breathless voice, a vice-like grip on my hand, and furiously banishing a single tear she thought I hadn't seen. "It's not safe."

So here we find ourselves... Squished into two little purple patterned seats on the first bus we could find. I'm just happy it's not another truck.

I feel a pair of eyes on me and I look cautiously to my side, already knowing what to expect. Several other passengers watch us discreetly─some not so much. A young couple across the isle and two rows back are whispering as they eye us, either heavily concerned or far too judgemental. I'm tired and can't bring myself to care enough to figure it out.

Sadly, however, my self anxieties are still in tact under these stares. I tug my jacket tighter around my torso, my arms staying folded across my stomach. I turn to look at El and I can make out her disheartened reflection watching droplets of rain trickle down the fogged window. I rest my head tiredly on the back of my seat and attempt to break the silence.

"El?" My voice comes out as strangled, but I don't know why.

Her head rolls across the seat to face me and I'm reminded she's just as upset about this sudden uprooting as I am. Likely, of course, even more so. Her brown eyes, normally sparkling, are dulled and sad. Her eyelids sag a little, but she's fighting it well. More than anything, I sense a great deal of it is emotional exhaustion.

A million questions run through my head but I only find myself asking one. "Are you okay?"

She sniffles but gives me no immediate answer. That's when I finally note the small trace of a copper red smear, barely visible at the base of her nose that she had otherwise hastily wiped clean. Blood.

One more look in her eyes and I know; El is debating on whether or not she should lie. Finally, she speaks, and somehow I know she has told me the truth. "No."

I wince at the sound of her broken voice, splintered and forced. I extend my hand, as she did this afternoon. I'm so happy when she takes it. I gave her palm a reassuring squeeze and I look carefully in her eyes.

"El, you know you can tell me anything, right?" I ask, not even completely certain she has something to tell. But I still need her to know this.

Her eyes fall to our hands, and although she tries to hide it, I notice the subtle flutter of her eyes working to blink back tears. Her free and restless hand─which had been fiddling with her clutched bag straps on and off all day─tightened considerably. She must be spending too much time with me, a part of me thought dismissively.

"She called us in." Her grip flinches tighter when she whispers this. "I'm sorry."

Called us in? I try to make sense of this for a moment. I wonder if I heard her correctly, she had spoken so softly.

"Wait, what do you mean?" I ask gently. "Why are you sorry?"

"I heard her," she choked back. Panic is crawling into her voice and her other hand leaves the straps of her bag in favor of holding onto my forearm. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she thought I would suddenly dissappear. "She called for the policeman. Told them about me. And... she gave them your name. I'm sorry Y/n."

"My name?" I gulped, but my throat felt suddenly dry. "So, the police are gonna--? They're gonna know that I'm...?"

She nodded, remorseful eyes brimming with tears. Her face twists up in a sour pout she quickly banishes. But it was clear. She was panicking, for both our sakes.

Instinctively, I gave her hand another reassuring squeeze and managed, at most, a half-assed smile. Maybe it's for her sake, or maybe it's for mine.

"It's okay, it's not entirely your fault El," I say instinctively. I gulp again despite my dry mouth, certain she notices, but there's little room to care. My mind is buzzing, sleep now a far off worry. "Yeah, okay. I'm not going to lie to you, that's... That's not good. But I also knew what I was risking when I went with you."

My words feel like they're coming in slower and slower as I process everything in real time. El's patience with me is genuine, at least, and I attempt to mirror that as I sort hastily through my thoughts.

"The truth is, things really haven't been going super well at home. Everyone's fighting─more than usual, I mean,"

El cracks a tiny somber smile at that, and I feel one spread across my face as well. But it hardly lasts for either of us.

"Like I said before, Mike hasn't been himself since you left. And now Will is acting up. In fact, he's... El, he's completely different. He's sick, he's really sick. And so angry.

"The party is falling apart, and I've felt more alone these past few weeks than I have in a really long time. And on top of it all," my voice lowers further. "I'm still finding stuff I didn't know I could do. I've been having trouble with... well, you know."

El looks to me in surprise, her eyebrows raised. Safe to say she understands what I'm getting at.

I nod. "The point is, you showing up has been just what I needed. And yes, it's scary, but thanks to you I found out how I got here─where I came from... That's really good. I have you to thank for that."

It takes her a moment to consider my words, but El eventually gives me a smile that doesn't quite meet her eyes. A mixture of remorse and fear is still etched into her tear-stained face as she needlessly pulls her bag further into her lap, her hand leaving my forearm again to do so. I almost think more of it before her face lights up in grateful remembrance.

El wiggles closer to me in her seat before dipping her head in. "I found her. The girl."

I perked up a bit, looking back at my friend with a daring crumb of hope.

"Really? That's great! So did you get anything useful? Maybe the girl's name or where we're going?"

The hope I saw in El's face disappeared just as soon, and she shakes her head. But her face scrunches up thoughtfully as if she was trying to remember something she might have missed.

"A city." She looks at me quizzically, repeating a word she must have heard only in passing. "Shuh-cago?"

My eyes widened. "Chicago?" El nodded. "We're going to Chicago?"

El shrugged her shoulders. This was the best she could give. "Shuh-cago."

Okay. Chicago. Deep breath in. I could do that. And out. Maybe. Maybe this was incredibly stupid. In. Then again, so was chasing down an interdimensional gate while on the run from top secret government thugs. And I had done that... Barely.

"Um, okay..." I sigh heavily, only now realizing I have been holding my breath. My eyes fall to my lap, noting my rapidly bouncing leg. "Well, are you sure? Is that what you heard, or maybe saw somewhere?"

El nodded. Another dry gulp.

"So you really think she'll help, huh?" I ask.

She gives me a weak, but reassuring smile and softly squeezes my hand. "Yes."

I look to her, grateful, but I'm unsure how genuine I appear. Yet another silence follows quickly after.

The familiar feeling bubbles up in my stomach again, though it is much more intense. Sure I had anxieties about leaving with El, but this overpowered that. At least I had the small chance of not getting caught─that I'd be back the next night and it could all be explained away by being at the Byers house. But this is quickly spiraling. This had already spiraled, and I am beginning to feel sick to my stomach with nerves. The moment the Chief got Becky Ives' message then it was only a matter of time before my mom was notified, and─oh no...

Unsurprisingly, she's going to the ends of the earth just to find Mews. I can't imagine the stress she'll inevitably be under when she finds out that some woman across town filed a report about me. And now I'm on a bus to Illinois.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. The last thing I need is spirlaing my way into another accident. I have a feeling I could do a lot more damage on a crowded bus than I did boiling some cereal.

I glance at El for only a moment. Her attention is back outside, peering through the fog and the reflections on the glass. She's (presumably) oblivious to the noise in my head. A part of me─the logical part of me─is angry with myself for being so forgiving. For not communicating my disappointment well enough. Dustin always said I had a problem with that. And yet, even though I meant what I had said to El about finding out where I came from...

Maybe I did it cause I felt bad for El. She was sorry, and she was in trouble.

But I'm in trouble now, too, I remind myself.

Part of me is hoping Chicago is a dead end, and while I feel awful for feeling that way, I do. I find myself longing to be with Will again. The old Will. He always had a knack for knowing when I wasn't okay.

He always makes me feel validated when I'm upset. He listens, and he'd do anything to get me to smile. The way I want to do for him.

It hurts thinking about that now.

Whether I like it or not, I've found myself on a one way trip to the unknown, straying further and further from the safety of home.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

I don't realize I have drifted off until I feel a tap on my shoulder. My head feels much heavier and I find myself squinting against the interior lights (which now seem much brighter than before) to find El gesturing towards the isle. Through bleary eyes I make out a small line of people already shuffling down the isle ahead of us. Quickly─but rather drowsily─I rise from my seat and join them, making sure El is close behind.

We had spilled out onto the busy streets among the rest but found ourselves stalled at the edge of the sidewalk. I'm unsure about El, but the sight before me succeeds in banishing my exhaustion instantly. Between the return of the frigid breeze, the towering architecture, and the swarm of strangers every which way, I'm questioning if I'll ever sleep again.

I'm captivated as I look around in an odd mix of awe and fear. Living in a small town like Hawkins for so long makes places like Chicago feel like another planet, so it would seem.

It doesn't feel as though we're standing in the heart of the city, more so the center of a giant hive─with bees buzzing in and out with no motivation other than work. No leisure, just urgency. The entire world is whirring around us─every which way─and I suddenly have this feeling if any one person were to drop at any moment this little world would keep on moving without a second thought. It's fascinating and completely terrifying.

One curious look at El told me I wasn't alone. Neither of us had fully comprehended what we were in for until this moment. But I suppose that in itself was even slightly reassuring─that neither of us were alone.

Standing here lost in a sea of strange people, that note hits a bit harder this time as the initial shock wears off. Nobody here seems to know anyone and they all seem angry.

She remains silent at my side but El's wisdom from earlier still bring comfort to me.

"Y/n, we can defend ourselves, remember?"

She did have a point, we do have certain advantages. But then again, came that convincing little voice in my head, if we were put in a situation where we were forced to use them, then all the closer we going were to being caught.

I look to El to try and gauge her reaction and I find she's still very much lost in the towering city skyline─a genuine smile on her face. For a moment I wish I can enjoy it, but there are simply too many reminders where we are, and why I can't.

Eagerly, she starts walking down the streets and I follow her. I'm thankful I was able to retrieve my shoes and jacket, but I still can't seem to drag my thoughts away from the fact that my teeth are back to chattering. The words I spoke earlier today pop into my mind only to mock me, "I guess I kept myself warm,". Just another reason to learn how to--

A strong force strikes my shoulder hard enough to put a stumble in my steps, and instantly my train of thought is gone. I whirl around to see a man throwing me a pointed sneer over his large, squared shoulders. "Watch yourself, would ya'?," Gawking back, I spy the man making steady strides down the sidewalk with no remorse.

Huffing, I burrow my fists deeper in my jacket pockets and lie to myself that it's simply to keep my hands warm. It's bullshit, considering I don't need help in that department, but it keeps us going forward I guess.

Well, me, anyway.

I don't get in two steps before finally noticing El was at a standstill. I stop again, this time confused, to see my friend rooted to the middle of the city sidewalk. Steam from nearby grates billowed all around her, ruffling her flannel collar. She fixes a hard glare on the man behind us.

"Mouth-breather," She says, her voice low. Just then, her gaze drops and my eyes begin to widen.

I spot the man in the crowd just in time to see him stumble forward onto the concrete. Angrily, he sits up, looking around frantically and glaring at anyone who dared to titter. I felt a chuckle coming on myself when I barely make out the string of curses directed at his shoelaces as he hotly retied them.

El looked to me, hardly suppressing a smile and a roguish look in her eye. Before anyone could see, she wiped her nose clean of blood.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

If I thought I was cold before, I was dead wrong. We've been walking for about two hours, if I had to guess. The muscles in my feet are beginning to knot, and my sweatpants are clinging to my legs.

About half an hour ago, a truck drove through a puddle and I caught the tail end of the splash when we turned the corner. To pass the time, I've been trying to dry them subtly with my hands against my legs, but it didn't get me very far, even with El's advice. I finally gave it a rest after a while. I wasn't getting terribly far and I didn't want to risk draining myself if the walk was much longer.

By now I've grown used to the odd and wandering looks we've gathered. But the tension creeps back in when El leads us down an incredibly questionable alley. We are definitely in the riskier parts of the city though I try to hold my tongue and save questions until later. My instincts tell me I need to appear more confident than I am. El seems to hold up that exterior well enough, though even her confidence is waning slightly.

We find ourselves surrounded by many sluggish people, all of whom mill about around us. The alley and its inhabitants are lit mostly by fire pits in steel barrels. The stench is hard to ignore; everything wreaks of booze, cigarettes, and urine.

A frightening, cackling, man steps towards my face as we walk by and I flinch back. "They're dead. They're all dead!" He cries out.

His hyena-like laughter bounces off the cement walls and echoes in my ears. I can practically taste his awful breath and I duck my head down avoiding eye contact as I pull El along forward with me.

I can sense her eagerness to leave the alley in her vice-like grip that rivals my own. Neither of us dare let go. Without a word, we break into a matching jog and scurry on.

We don't stop until we reach what looks to be an abandoned underpass. The stench is mostly gone, but in its place something else unidentifiable. Beer cans litter the concrete and every wall is touched with graffiti.

Finally, we emerge from the darkened space to find an old and windowless warehouse. Like the underpass, there isn't a single wall or slab of concrete that isn't decorated with spray paint and neon color. This is where El stops us suddenly.

I glanced ahead of me at the building a second time, now taking in the little details. There is one tiny door ahead of us supplied with only one window─the glass dirtied and fogged, shows us nothing but flickering yellow light. And beckoning us over, curling whisps of steam pouring out of the shadows despite (what appeared to be) the windowless, pipeless, boring metal box of a building.

"Is... this it?" I ask.

"Yes." El answers. And for the first time since the alley, she releases my hand.

El sets off towards the building without another word. Almost like ripping of a band-aid; if she didn't do it now and all at once... Or maybe that's just my reasoning. I quickly follow behind, attempting to prepare myself for whatever we might find.

Upon first glance, it's not much different to the exterior; boxes, crates, barrels, and planks litter the interior and the spray paint almost smells fresh. The entrance we stand in is part of a small alcove, and it's clear the further you step inside the ceiling extends. But what catches my eye are the four people huddled around another makeshift firepit.

One girl, who sits perched on several cushions and lighting a cigarette begins to giggle teasingly. "You should do stand-up, Axe. There's a spot a few blocks away."

The group chuckles, and a tall lanky man with a large mohawk rolls his eyes with a smirk. Among them, a rather large and beefy man, who clearly seems to be the muscle, and another young woman in cuffed jeans, gloves and a dark green flannel jacket.

There is no time to worry what they might say or do when they realize we are here. El is already calling out to them. Logically, I knew we would be making ourselves known one way or another, yet my knees now feel as if they are threatening to lock at the sudden action.

"Hello?" El's voice echoed out.

The group stops and turns, their faces illuminated by the fire. The shadows now casted across their faces are eerie, like someone about to tell a ghost story.

A sickening smirk curls along the lanky one's face. My stomach drops two stories when he struts around the fire, now making his way towards us.

"Well, well... What do we have here?" He purrs, still with that no good smile.

The others follow in their friend's footsteps and rise to their feet, no doubt an act of intimidation. I look anxiously between El and the strangers, though I somehow manage to keep a still face.

These others are now inching towards us and I feel my heart rate pick up. The woman in the green jacket scoffs, looking us up and down. If I were to guess, she was trying to decide which of us looked stranger.

"What are those, overalls?" She asks finally, referring to El.

The other young woman─who had been stalking around us like we were something to play with─finally stops at me. I try to hide the tense in my shoulders but I suspect it's no use. Her gaze is somewhat bored as she looks me up and down, then jabs a bony finger in my shoulder. I roll it when she does, as if shaking off the feel of her touch.

"And get a load of this one," she squeaks, blowing smoke into my grimacing face. She lets out an awkward snort, clearly amused with my reactions and uneasy demeanor. "Y'could knock this one down with a feather,"

I cough, fanning away the miniature smog cloud lingering in my face. This gave the lanky one, Mohawk, a chuckle. The Smoker turns to me and fakes a pout.

"What's the matter, kiddies? Thought your little slumber party could use a fun little adventure in the big city, huh?"

More laughter from the others. Fighting the returning impulse to roll my eyes, I instead take another subtle deep breath.

The woman is already answering her own rhetorical question with another fake pout and flick of her cigarette ashes. "Well, you ain't gonna find it here, so go on back to the farm now."

"We're looking for my sister."

My eyes jump to El in surprise but they quickly return to the group, not particularly eager to give away the fact I had no idea what she was talking about. Sister? I do have to applaud El's quick thinking, though, I suppose.

"Aw..." Mohawk jeers. "Shirley Temple lost her sister. So sad."

"I saw her. Here." She reaches into her bag, likely for the photograph clipping from Becky's. But they all tense.

"Uh-uh," The Muscle said suddenly. "Hand out of your pocket. Slow."

El complies and Mohawk rips the news clipping from her hand. "Give me that shit."

For the first time in this encounter, this man looks apprehensive. Seeing the photo was enough to shock him into temporary silence. And apparently this in itself is enough to lure the flannel woman forward to investigate for herself. Now, like the man, she is snatching the photo up with shock.

"Is that Kali?"

"Kali?" El asks.

Mohawk steps forward, visibly on edge. Taking advantage of his height, he towers over El with an impressive glare. I say nothing, but I mirror his actions─taking a step further into El's side with a tiny glare of my own.

"How did you find us?" He questions. "Who else knows you're here?"

El backs up slightly and suddenly I was jumping to speak. "No one knows we're here." I say.

"And no one was speaking to you, either," My face sours and he returns to El. "Is this true, Shirley Temple? So, what then? Poof! You just show up like magic with that picture?"

"Stay calm." Flannel warns. "They're just kids, alright?"

He turns on her quickly. "Some kids that could get us all killed."

Like that, his anger is back on El and he pulls something from his pocket. My eyes fall to the object in his hand and my heart sinks into my stomach.

"If I have to ask again, Shirley, you'll start losing things." He carefully unfolds the pocket knife, making sure we catch the light bouncing off the blade before waving it in El's face. "Starting with those pretty little locks of yours. Yeah?"

He's in more danger than we are. He's in more danger than we are--

I still look desperately between the man and his companions─it'd be helpful to know where they stand with the threatening of children. Each of them seemed uncomfortable with his actions in varying degrees, but it was Flannel, again, who stepped forward.

"Come on, Axe. Put down the knife." She warns, her voice getting sharper.

The blade grows closer towards El's face and my heart rate breaks hummingbird records. The man is only getting angrier.

"How did you find us?"

"I saw her." El's voice is rushed and shaky, but not completely fearful. I know why, and it's the only reason I haven't (completely) fallen apart.

He advances further, still with that stupid knife and everyone's voices begin to drown in the deafening roar of blood pumping in my ears. He's beside me now as El keeps backing away and I can't bring myself to move out of his way. I'm not sure yet if it's out of bravery or fear.

"That's not an answer!" He roars.

"Axe!"

I throw aside my common sense and step fully in between them, planting myself directly in his path. "Hey-!"

He freezes, wide eyes flying to his hand. My eyes follow, fearful I've done something unintentionally. But there's nothing. Just a shaky hand with a tiny blade. Yet Mohawk staggers backward, his blade-wielding arm extended as far away from himself as possible.

"Je-Jesus!" He huffs in ragged, near incoherent sqeaks. "Jesus Christ!"

He chucks the knife on the concrete behind us, the blade nearly nicking my legs. He looks up and down his torso, his face draining of color before our eyes. He frantically swipes at himself, several fearful squeals jumping from him. El and I share a look over my shoulder, confused.

"Get off! Shit!"

He is running across the room now, hunched over and desperately swatting at his head, face, and arms. I have to step back to avoid his path as he maneuvers around me and his companions have to do the same.

"You're a terrible dancer, Axel."

Everyone, including myself, turns towards the source of the newest voice. On the stairs, leaning on the banister with a sly smirk is another young woman. Half of her head is shaved, the other half tinted a dark purple. Like the others, she was dressed in grunge, but oddly, they didn't seem shabby or cheap.

The guy named Axel relaxes, only for a moment, before it evolves into anger. He smacks his head angrily and gestures towards her as she comes down the steps.

"I told you, Kali, stay out of my head. " He spits.

"So we're threatening little kids now, are we?" She asks, striding towards us.

"They know about you." Axel defends.

The Smoker─the one who mocked me─steps forward with the photo El had procured.

"Farmgirl here had this."

The new girl, the one I can only assume to be the one we were searching for, grabs the photo. If I had to guess, she is attempting to hide her shock.

El steps away from behind me and cautiously approaches her. I'm not entirely thrilled, nor surprised, to see this girl, Kali, sizing El up and down. I don't miss the quick inspection she gives me, either.

"Where did you get this?" She asks El.

"Mama," El answers, taking the photograph back and placing it in her bag.

"Your mother gave this to you?"

"In her dream circle," El says.

I raise my brow, and as I suspect the others don't take to it, or her very easily.

"Dream circle," Axel scoffs, pacing the room. "I think she's a schizo or something."

I'm beginning to believe this man is determined to be the biggest jackass in the room.

"Says she's looking for her sister."

"Yeah. Like I said, schizo."

There's a bitter taste in my mouth and an itch crawling up my back. The idea of holding back all this anger is withering before my eyes─every word this asshole says is added coal to the fire.

My glare follows him across the room as he bends to retrieve his knife. But the blade is flying through the air and into El's waiting hand before he can touch it. This almost makes me smile.

Mumbles of surprise bounce around the group, but I simply watch with pride building in my chest as El confidently folds the knife closed and hands it to the girl.

"I saw you. In the rainbow room."

Something in the girl's eye changes drastically. She begins to stalk around El before she stops halfway to stand beside her.

"What is your name?"

"Jane."

I can't say I was expecting that, yet I wait. I concentrate my energy on keeping my jaw clenched. I've been fighting my chattering teeth ever since we stepped into this lions den and the muscles in my jaw have now grown weak and sore.

Kali grabs El's left wrist and pushes back her sleeve revealing her tattoo. In turn, El reaches for Kali's sleeve. It's pulled back to reveal a tiny cluster of ink to match El's. I almost don't notice─the sight of El allowing anyone to touch her tattoo had floored me.

That is, until I finally catch the three black digits etched into Kali's skin, and my stomach twists.

It's not actually...? My wringing hands find a new focus: the loud and blank skin of my left inner wrist.

I'm not sure why I'm surprised by this, not if we came here in search of someone like El. Someone who lived through the lab experiments with El. But the sight of the 008 tattoo hits me a little hard. Is it because it makes this all the more real? Or was it because of the longing in El's eyes as they cloud over in tears?

Her lips begin to tremble as their gazes meet. "Sister."

Kali nods, breathless. "Sister,"

The two collapse into each other's arms and somehow I feel even more out of place here. It's inspiring to see; two sides of the same coin finally meeting. What each of them must have gone through─now free, now with one another. This is huge for El.

So why aren't I happy? And why does this feel like such a slippery slope?

There's no time to wonder, the two are breaking apart. Kali takes El's hands in her own, giving them a strong squeeze. The two smile at one another and my eyes fall to my feet, suddenly hyperaware of my myself and how I stand. The ends of my sweatpants are still soaked and the water in my shoes sponged up against my feet are frigid. Yet somehow, the stare of the others──the stare of Kali's──is what freezes me over.

"Jane, who is this?" She asks.

"Y/n. My friend."

Against instinct, against all comforting thought, I force myself to face her. Maybe I'm mistaken or just too damn hopeful, but the curiosity behind her eyes almost seems a bit more relaxed. Now with El's approval.

Hands still partially hidden in my jacket pocket, I send a tiny wave with my fingers and manage my best imitation of a smile.

"Hi," I mumble, trembling. Damn my chattering teeth.

The weight of Kali's stare is intimidating. I might not know the specifics of what makes her unique like us, but I can tell already her abilities aren't what make her powerful. She exudes that all on her own.

Kali looks me up and down and I almost convince myself my life depends on this one impression. And maybe it does.

Tearing me from my thoughts, Kali cocks her head and asks. "Why are you in pajamas?" She actually sounds, almost, amused? It's disarming.

"Short version?" I want to wince at the nervous chuckle that comes out involuntarily. But I'm too damn cold. And hungry. "We kinda had to make a quick get away."

Kali looks at me for a moment with an unreadable expression, though something tells me she understands. Another moment of uncertainty, seconds too long, and my mind runs in panicky circles. What did I say? What did I not say? Did I accidentally just insult her, her mother, and her entire existence without realizing? The part of my brain in charge of logic dismissed that theory almost immediately but unfortunately stress and fear were the perfect fuel for doubt, as always.

Kali confirms this with a chuckle that brought time back out of slow motion. She then turns to another one of the groups members─the one who had taken caution with El and her photograph─the Muscle. He is a wide-set man with the long braid and a kindly aura.

"Funshine, take this one upstairs and help them find some warm clothes. I'd like to talk to Jane. Alone."

Her eyes fall on me, her amusement dimming away and back to speculation.

El doesn't appear to be as hesitant as I would have anticipated her to be. She's lost in the euphoria of reuniting with Kali. The idea of a sudden separation strikes fear in me─something far more powerful than the silly doubts flashing in my mind moments ago. This was a pit seeding in my stomach, ready to grow.

The larger man nods and steps forward. Surprised, my eyes flicker back to Kali and she smiles reassuringly.

"Don't worry, he's nothing but a big softie," she says with a simper, turning and leaving with El.

"El...?" Was she really just gonna leave? The two slow, and El pulls her attention away from Kali and over her shoulder to me.

"It's okay," she promises. "I'll be back," And then she was dissapearing up the stairs, Kali's arm slung over her shoulder.

...Somehow that made it worse.

The man I've been instructed to go with is smiling warmly when I turn to him. It's the first I'm put at even the slightest of ease since arriving.

"Don't you worry, we'll find something warm for you," he says, his voice deep and kind. He makes way for the stairs, pausing at the bottom with a hand on the metal rail. He throws me a brief nod over his shoulder. "We should get you by a fire, too, and quick. Dangerous for you to be walking out here like that─you'll catch your death,"

Against all odds, I feel a tiny tug at the corners of my mouth─a smile itching to spread. It doesn't quite, not with the dread sitting in my stomach like a chunk of stone or my friend walking off with a stranger.

But now, with little choice, I do the same.

My footsteps fall in sync with his almost instantly as we climb the stairs. Silence falls quick and heavy over the open space apart from our differentiating gait hiking the metal steps. I'm peering over my shoulder without much thought for consequence, my eyes meeting with the other three strangers─each of them watch me.

The way they eye me turns my stomach. The Mohawk──Axel, and the Smoker, in particular.

There was the Flannel woman─the only other person here who seemed to care El and I were children. She may be the other exception. For one, she doesn't seem interested enough, and for that I'm grateful. But mostly, I don't forget her attempts to cool down this Axel.

His glare on me sharpens, but to my surprise, I don't wither beneath it. I'm brave enough (or stupid enough) to glare back. He twirls his knife expertly in his hands as I turn away, eliciting an unpleasant cackle from Smoker. I don't need any further reassurance these are two I need to worry about.

But that's already being pushed to the back burner─Funshine and I reach the second floor and round a poorly lit corner and that's when I spot the two figures down the catwalk a ways. El and Kali. They're making their way for another, steeper pair of stairs. Smiling and laughing, already.

A sudden voice cuts through my storm of thoughts and suddenly I'm back on earth. "Right this way, friend,"

Funshine directs me to one of the makeshift bedrooms to our right and something in me weakens when we step inside. The concrete room is bathed in turquoise and peach shadows casted from the neon lights gathered inside. Where I expected all concrete walls to close me in, I see wide (albiet dirtied) windows overlooking the first floor. But the lure of it all is a split between the king size nest of pillows and blankets in the center and the fire pit in the corner.

The sight of it all is dangerously persuasive and so is the sudden wail of my aching bones and the shudder down my spine, louder than they ever were. I'm wavering already, but I'm alert enough to realize the longing in my eyes as they rake across the bed and fire is obvious.

Funshine gestures towards the fire in the corner and ushers me along. "Go ahead and warm up. I'll be right back with some proper clothes." He says before turning.

I nod absently, far too entranced and eagerly gravitating towards the warmth now before me.

He leaves from where we came and disappears around the corner. I stifle a smile when I feel the heat washing over my body. Muscles I didn't even realize I had are melting as they meet the warm glow of the flames.

I'm not sure how long I'm standing there, but it must be several minutes at the least. Enough time for Funshine to return with a bundle of clothes in his arms.

"Here you are," I trail behind him to the bed where he drops the small mountain on the edge of the sunken mattress. "I gathered a few things that I thought might fit you best. Theres plenty of stuff in here, so you'll have options. But I insist you consider dressing in layers. It'll only get worse out there," He sends me another nod and begins to head back for the door. "Alright then. You get warm, now,"

And that's all he says. He's already heading for the door. I have a sudden fear I won't get another chance to speak with him. Or let the swell of gratitude I felt be known. I couldn't hold my tongue any longer, nor did I want to.

"Hey," I call out, growing nervous. "Um..." I winced a bit at my trailing voice.

He slows at the door and turns around, giving me a curious look.

"Thank you," I mumble, mustering a smile as grateful as I felt. "For the clothes. And-- well, everything, I guess."

Another friendly smile stretches across his face and once again he nods.

"You're certainly welcome."

[patchworkgargoyle]

oc fic: freaks to the front

For @strangerthingsocweek!! This isn't the first idea I had, and I wrote it in a rush, but hopefully it's fun.

You all might get sick of me and Dominik by the end of this week tbh, but too bad.

Pairing: transmasc OMC x Unnamed Freak || Rating: T for language || Words: 1,192 || Tags/Side Characters: Canon setting, post-season 4, Kali Prasad and her crew, Dustin Henderson, Jeff, and Gareth. Title from Freaks to the Front - Amyl and the Sniffers, mostly for the Freak reference and also for the vibes.

When Kali had told him they had to go help her sister, Dominik hadn’t imagined this.

Spending a couple days on the road to drive through Indiana to get to a shitty little town? Easy. Dodging past a military blockade? Fucking concerning, but not that different from evading police. Seeing ash fall from unsettlingly dark clouds that flashed with red lightning? Well past concerning and right into what the fuck is happening?

Kali sat in the front passenger seat of the van, staring intensely out the windshield as she told Funshine where to go, apparently getting directions from her telepathic sister named Eleven, of all things. Dom had seen a lot in his short time with Kali, he knew all about her strange powers, but he hadn’t heard the whole, basic rundown of her story until now.

Figures that the government would be running shitty experiments on little kids. That the experiments worked was still wigging him the fuck out.

“Turn left,” Kali said, and the van veered around a corner, jolting and rocking over some rubble, knocking Dom off-kilter and into the wall with a metallic thud. Axel whooped, loud in the crowded space, Dottie cackling from the floor, and Dom just glared at them. He looked to Mick, who was watching the tiny town speed by with a serious frown.

“What’s going on out there?” he asked, and Mick shook her head.

“Hard to tell. Kali, where are we going?”

“El said some of her friends are in trouble, asked us to pick them up on our way,” she said calmly, before giving another direction. Funshine sped up.

“I hope they aren’t more brats like she was,” Axel grumbled, and Mick shot him a look.

Dom craned around to look out the tiny window by his head and saw a crumbling building whiz by. “This place looks like a fucking warzone,” he said under his breath, hearing Mick hum in agreement.

 Kali glanced into the back. “We’re close. Dottie, get ready to open the door, El says to watch out, and that guns won’t hurt it, only push it back.”

“It? What do you mean, ‘it?’” Dom asked, sounding more shrill than he’d admit, but the van barreled over more debris and interrupted anyone who might’ve poked fun. His heart raced in his throat when Kali told Funshine to speed up, and for the first time since he’d been kicked out of his home, Dom regretted throwing himself in with these maniacs.

“Get ready,” Kali commanded, and Dom’s hand clenched around the handle of his machete. Dottie clung to the door handle next to him, ready to whip it open, and Axel and Mick braced, guns at the ready anyway.

Tires screeched, Dom tensed, and the door whipped open. He launched himself out of the van, brandishing his machete, shouting at the five people he spotted immediately. “Get in!”

All five looked at him. Or, four of them did. It was only when he had a chance to pause that he saw the fifth was way too tall and didn’t have a fucking face. It was a maw of teeth and flesh surrounded by… petals, or something, and his skin crawled just looking at this—this monster. In real fucking life.

Then it roared, or screamed, sounding like a chainsaw on crack, and absolute disbelief was the only thing that kept him from fleeing from the thing in terror as the sound of it pierced his eardrums and made his hair stand on end.

“The fuck is that!?” Axel screeched.

“Demogorgon!” one of the actual humans said, and Dom was shaken from his fear when he realized he was a child.

“Like fucking Dungeons and Dragons!?” Dom yelled, and the kid gave him a surprised look before shouting at the other guys as he raced to the van.

The monster roared again and tried to follow, but Mick and Axel started shooting, bullets not even piercing its sickly grey, leathery skin. But the impacts distracted it, knocked it back, and Dom motioned for the kid to haul ass and praying to a god he didn’t believe in that that thing wouldn’t recover too quickly.

The kid barreled past with a slight limp, shouting at the other guys as they scrambled into action. When he reached the van, Dottie hauled the kid inside, getting out of the way for the others. Two clambered in, but not before the monster got its bearings, straightening up as he heard the telltale click of a pistol out of ammo. Shit.

The shortest, a floppy-haired guy, spat fuck fuck fuck fuck as he ran. Shaking its awful, disgusting head, the thing walked, and then picked up speed. Dom backed up to the van and said, “Kali, do something!”

“I’m trying,” she hissed.

Of course, right then, the guy tripped. Dom darted forward on instinct and snagged his hand, yanking at him as he flailed for balance.

But the monster was on them.

Shouting, “Go, go, fucking go,” Dom hauled them both backwards into the van. His legs hit the floor, he toppled back, and strong hands grabbed his arms and pulled him and the floppy-haired guy clung to each other in a blind panic.

The monster lashed out, one massive clawed hand raking down the guy’s leg before grabbing his ankle. He screamed, and Dom acted without thinking. He kicked, teeth bared in a furious grimace, steel-toed boot colliding wetly with the meaty, tooth-filled hole that passed for a mouth. Someone yanked the machete out of his hand and started chopping at the thing’s arm as he kept brutally kicking out.

Tires squealed and spun until they caught on the pavement and the van lurched into motion just as the monster let go with a wounded, wailing gurgle. The person behind him pulled Dom and the guy further in and Dottie slammed the door closed, leaving that horror in the dust.

The van was quiet except for the road of the engine and everyone’s panicked breathing. Dom blinked, realizing that Axel and Mick were still by the door. Who the hell had gotten them in the van?

Dom looked back and came face to face with the biggest of the four guys. His pretty blue eyes were still wide with fear, but he was looking back at Dom, darting over his face, inevitably glancing at all his piercings before pausing at the ones in his lips just a touch too long. When Dom’s jaw dropped in surprise, the guy blushed and looked away.

His usual recklessness reared up, fueled by the adrenaline pumping through his veins. “Thanks for the save, darling,” he purred, smirking, and the guy’s face flushed an even deeper red.

“Dominik, can you not be a slut for one minute?” Axel sneered, and Dom just flipped him off, still watching the cute guy’s face as he tried to look at anyone but Dom. Oh, he was cute, and Dom thought he might have fun in this shithole called Hawkins after all. Aside from the fucking monsters.

The floppy-haired guy put an end the awkward pause. "Could someone please do something about my leg?"

[nancykali]

Stranger Things names interpreted

El (shortened form of Eleanor): Greek; light, clemency, mercy: El is the symbolic heroine of the story. She is the savior, the chosen one, and harbinger of justice. She kills only those who would harm or try to kill her, or her loved ones. She is the representation of justice but in the form of an abused child, and thus most able to deliver her punishment on the true evil in the world—those who would kidnap a child and experiment on her like she was inanimate for the first thirteen years of her life, and likely until her death. She is also a harbinger of death and destruction—the Demogorgon and Mind Flayer, and is the only one able to defeat these evils. Just as she (and Kali I hope) are the only ones able to defeat the evil that made them bring evil into the world.

Jane: Hebrew; the Lord is gracious: Jane is El’s journey to a full identity in season 2. That’s her entire arc in season 2, is to discover her past life, claim her past identity, and move forward.  

Joyce: Latin; joyous: Her strength lies in her commitment to optimism—not in a stupid way, but the happiness you only get when it’s hope and love for your children that drives you forward. Thus joy but not shallow happiness.

Jonathan: Hebrew; Gift of Jehovah: Emphasis on “gift”. Jonathan’s gives his whole self to people, leaving almost no regard for his own well-being. He tries to only be a beneficent presence around others, otherwise he’d prefer not to be perceived at all.

Will: Old German; resolute protection: Will is the symbol of sacrifice and steadfast goodness. He reveals in the second season that he retains enough while possessed to warn his friends and family how to be rid of the mind flayer – not how to save him from the mind flayer. He says “close gate” because he knows that’s the only way to drive the mind flayer away permanently. No regard for his own well-being, just like his brother.

Mike: Hebrew; who is like God? (in the New Testament Michael the archangel is portrayed as the leader of heaven’s armies in the war against Satan, and is thus considered the patron saint of soldiers in Christianity) x A soldier and seeming leader but is willing to die for those he loves, being the first on the line. Shows this in complete willingness, without hesitation, to die to protect Dustin. Therefore he is not a leader so much as he is the guiding force who will put himself in harm’s way to save his loved ones. Every. Single. Time. He shows this in his need to always protect someone—in season 1 it went from Will to Eleven back to Will. Then we see him flounder in season 2 before being reunited with El. Even then he could not let go of her, and tried to learn of her well-being in a seemingly hopeless attempt for nearly a year.

Dustin: varying results - Old German; brave warrior - or deriving from Old Norse; Thor’s stone: Different than a soldier, Dustin is the one who fights with words first, uses reason and conversation first, before resorting to all out violence or sacrifice. Is stubborn, as “Thor’s stone” suggests, and will not back down even when others try to prove he’s wrong. This is shown in Dustin’s willingness to save Dart and how this pays off in the end, allowing them to escape the tunnels alive.

Lucas: Latin; from Lucanus/Lucania - derived from Luke, patron saint of doctors and artists: I originally thought Luke meant light, and maybe it does just not in the two sources I looked at. But being patron saint of doctors and artists, Lucas is a mixture of teacher and creator. A ranger must always be ready for anything, and be willing to lead the others to victory so they can survive.

Nancy: Hebrew; grace: Nancy is a mix of deadly precision and soft angelic light. Like a beautiful predator. The angels of old who showed mortals what fear of the unknown felt like when the unknown stood in front of you and spoke. That is Nancy.

Steve: Greek; crowned: Like a King. Steve is not a leader in the traditional sense. Like Mike and Jonathan, he will sacrifice for his loved ones, but unlike Mike and Jonathan, will seem to do so grudgingly. This is all an act. Steve is a true king because he knows just when to give and just when to take. Just like the ruler of a country. A good one anyway.

Max: Latin; greatest: Her strong will and determination make Max not actively seeking to be the best, but always striving to survive to the point that no one can strike her down. Therefore, the greatest.

Kali: Hindu; destroyer of evil forces: She is exactly what her name states, no need for interpretation. She destroys evil not just in her own life, but in the lives of others. For Funshine, Mick, Dottie, and Axel. She guides El to a path of healing, of destroying the evil inside of her, by showing El how to use her anger, her own destructive power, to eliminate evil, both within and without. Kali’s strength is in death and destruction, because this allows she and her loved ones to carve a path to renewal. 

Jim: derived from Jacob - Hebrew; he who supplants: Supplants means “replaces”. Hopper “replaces” Brenner for El. He “replaces” Bob for Joyce after Bob’s death. Hopper knows how to help, but only his way, and sometimes that hurts him and others more than it helps. But he keeps trying to help, with a steadfast strength that’s never shaken, and in that way he’s a hero.

[planetsam]

omg i just found your blog and i love it!! please please write a mike x eleven story kali goes to hawkins and reunites with el and that’s how mike, hopper, and the rest of the boys find out el has a sister

Kali doesn’t believe in miracles anymore.

Not if she’s one of them.

She believes in 011 though, so she goes after her. Back to Hawkins. She sends the others off to do it too, not sure how this will go. If she was odd before she’s a freak on another level now, with her painted appearance and her shadowed eyes. She shouldn’t be surprised to find 011 has done the same things she has. Built a family, carved a life, drawn what she needs into her sphere. It looks different, it still has the shine Papa liked so much.

“What are you doing here?” 011 asks quietly when she sees her.

“I came to see what all the fuss is about,” she says with a flip of her hair, “didn’t realize I was interrupting third period and homecoming,” she sneers and 011 at least has the grace to turn pink in the ears before her face hardens.

“I’m sorry I’m not robbing a bank,” she shoots back and Kali glares.

“Well not as the daughter of the police chief. Though you’d have an easier time of it. No surprise there.”

It’s a cruel thing to say but she’s cruelest at her most vulnerable. 011 grabs her wrist and yanks her over to the phone booth. She pulls out a quarter, jams in a number and talks quickly. Quietly. Then she turns to Kali.

“Stay here,” she orders.

“Going to be late for fourth period?” Kali demands, making her voice high and girlish.

She rolls her eyes as 011 storms away, rolls them again as she runs when the bell starts to ring. It was a mistake, she thinks. Coming here was a mistake. Next time she’s going to someone else. She bets 01 has a way cooler life than this town. Running away from here makes more sense than whatever the hell is happening here. She rolls these thoughts in her head, enjoying them as she waits as instructed. Trying not to wonder at why she’s waiting at all. The car that pulls up comes dangerously close and she almost has to slam on the hood to get it to stop. The driver has the grace to look surprised but then his eyes narrow, like this is just a regular day for him.

“Are you Kali?” he questions, opening the door.

“Depends on who you are,” she says giving her best devil may care smile. He lets out a long suffering sigh like this is just what happens now. “you are?” she prods.

“I’m Steve,” he says, “Jane called me.”

She appraises him, all slim lines and chiseled jaw. He looks like one of those boys that Dottie likes seeing on her magazines. Or Axel sometimes stares at a little longer than he should. His clothes are good quality but have seen better days. Unless he’s just been gardening, in which case, he’s not like the boys on those magazines at all. She wonders if 011 has been stupid enough to tell him the specifics, or if she’s just told him to stand still like Kali’s some wounded, skittish animal.

“Are you my babysitter?” she asks and he smirks.

“Yeah, so get in the car,” he says without missing a beat.

She looks back at the high school and shrugs.

Can’t possibly be worse than where she’s been.

He actually is a god damn babysitter.

It floors her when the day lets out and there’s a dozen rugrats 011’s age scurrying around. For all the things they can do, she forgets how young 011 actually is. And yet no age can make this better as they talk about things they shouldn’t know about like they’re discussing the weather. Steve has snacks ready to go and somehow gets the circus that’s happening under control while she stares at it with a mix of frustration and exasperation. 011 seems to be steadfastly ignoring it, looking down at her textbooks like a coward.

“Does this happen every day?” she demands rounding on Steve.

“Uh, most days,” he says.

“And what are you doing here?” she questions.

“Identity crisis,” he says without skipping a beat.

She lets out a noise of frustration.

“Screaming room’s there,” the one called Dustin says pointing his pencil, “we killed a Demidog in there so it’s got bad vibes. Get it all out.”

She’s going to kill them all.

Steve makes up the sofa because, again, he’s a babysitter. And a maid. And a chef apparently, which seems like a lot for someone going through a crisis. He studies a lot too and she finds that even stranger. She remarks that one day, flopping on the couch and watching some dumb gameshow she’s never seen.

“You’re very busy for someone in the middle of a crisis,” she says.

“I multitask,” he replies.

She swings herself off the couch, dressed only in a long t-shirt and saunters over to him. He glances up once and then looks back down, focusing intently on a book until she grabs it out of his hand, spinning it back towards her. She glances at it and then looks at him, raising an eyebrow as he suddenly finds the counter interesting.

“This is a chemistry text book,” she says.

“Yeah.”

“You graduated didn’t you?” she asks and he nods, “so why are you—“

“I’m taking a year off,” he gets out, clearly embarrassed and she rolls her eyes, shoving the book back at him.

“I didn’t even go to high school,” she says airily and retreats back to the couch.

011 has told her boys everything. Kali’s been smart enough to keep her band at an arms length, not telling them everything. 011 hasn’t extended that courtesy. They aren’t even surprised to see her, though she supposes that one can go to straight old logic as the labs were kind enough to number them chronologically. Her 008 has caused her a lot of frustration over the years but now it feels obvious. Like a marker everyone is aware of in ways she doesn’t want them to be. Irrationally she wants to hunt Terry Ives down and demand to know if the crazy bitch has more plans to ruin everything. Or maybe her sister does and can meddle some more.

“I cried when they tattooed me,” she tells Steve one day when it’s raining out, “they said it wouldn’t hurt but it did,” she fingers the numbers, “at the time.”

“You get any since?” he asks and she turns over her shoulder to flash him a wicked smile that makes him shift his weight.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she says. His eyes linger just a fraction too long on her collar bone and she rolls over, gets to her knees, “do you have any tattoos?” she challenges and he laughs.

“Not the type,” he says.

“What type is that?” she asks, “the dangerous type? The rebellious type?” she closes the distance between them, “the delinquent type?”

“I was gonna say the kidnapped and imprisoned type,” he says and she purses her lips.

“No, I suppose you’re not the type at all.”

She really can’t place him which becomes a source of frustration to her. They’re known for drawing in people who are useful to them—which he isn’t—or who please them—which he doesn’t—or who are trustworthy. He offers nothing, pleases no-one and he might be trustworthy but she doesn’t trust people. 011 trusts too many it seems. She corners the bowl haircut one with the sad eyes. Not to be confused with the bowl haircut one with the goo goo eyes and questions him. He coughs up the answer with minimal prodding and she saunters over to Steve.

“So,” she says, “you got your heart broken. Trying to win back fair maiden’s hand?”

“No,” he scoffs. She leans forward and he pulls back.

“Your ears are red,” she says, curling a piece of hair out of the way as if to show him. He jerks at the touch and she grins, “you know being a stay at home dad is kind of a libido killer. You should be out there showing how desirable you are.”

“Thanks, but, I’m not taking romance advice from—from—“

“Someone who can make someone do anything they want?” she asks, “I could win Nancy faster than you,” she says, wicked ideas occurring to her, “I could win her back for you,” she says, “make her want to see you instantly.“

“That’s not love,” he says and she laughs.

“They can’t tell the difference.”

“Yeah, but you can.”

It’s an obvious statement. Her laugh is edged in brittle all of a sudden, sharp edges clawing out. Brittle doesn’t have a place here. Not in this storybook kitchen, not in the lives of people who haven’t been ruined. She knows she’s the oddity here, but just how odd seems to hit her with the unexpected look in his eyes. She knows that look, the scientists used to give it to her all the time.

“It’s all the same to me,” she dismisses, pushing away from the table, “when you want me to get your girlfriend back, you let me know.”

She lays awake that night seething. It’s been a long time since she turned a conversation over in her head like this. She’s not sure why. Steve Harrington is a loser, in the kindest sense of the word. A bright star who fell fast and he’s now reduced to this shit town with his shit job and babysitting these shit kids. She hates this town. She never should have come back here. She starts to formulate a plan to leave.

She must talk in her sleep because there’s a lot of waffles for breakfast.

She stares at them and then at the one responsible.

“Don’t win my ex-girlfriend back,” he says, “not loving someone back isn’t a crime. And she has someone she loves so, just, leave it.”

She stares at him.

“Are you really that good of a person?” she questions.

He shrugs.

“Nah, i’m not.”

“Thats what a good person would say.”

She takes the peace offering, realizing what it is. When she’s done she sets her silverware down and stands up, coming in front of him. He follows her with his eyes as she gathers the hem of her shirt in her hands and pulls it over her head, turning her back to him. He stares at the tattoo and she gathers her hair up for the full effect. He swallows tightly and she drops her shirt back on.

“They marked me with their name, so i marked my own.”

She enjoys the look in his eyes maybe a little too much as he watches her sit back down and dig into another waffle. Steve stares at his plate silently and she feels a shiver of delight at a power that she rarely gets the chance to use. When color comes back into his cheeks, he clear his throat before getting up and walking away, shifting his too tight jeans as he goes.

Running away taught her a long time ago that men come in all shades of monster. There’s all kinds of violations your body can go through, all kinds of walls you need to keep them out. Steve could easily be one of them, he has the constantly frustrated look of someone who spent a long time thinking the world was one way, only to find out it isn’t. There is nothing malicious about him though, but Kali has been wrong about that assumption before. Trusted too easily, paid a price in a long line on her right breast that will never go away.

She resolves to try it, just a little push to see how he reacts. Little is often easier with proximity and darkness so that night she goes to his room. She closes her eyes and reaches for his mind. It’s pliable and soft, he’s no great genius nor does he have a wealth of defenses up against her. The goodness is there, somewhere deep in all of this but deeper still is the determination. The grit. It catches her off guard, slips her control and she’s wrenched back to where she is, standing above him. His eyes open and he jerks awake, looking at her with wide eyes. She chokes on something that she’s not calling emotion, waiting for the anger. But he just reaches over to the side of the bed and pulls out a tissue.

“Your nose is bleeding,” he says. When she makes no move to take it he presses himself to his feet. He towers over her but maybe for the first time in her adult life, this is simply a fact. “Here, lemme.” He touches the tissue under her nose and takes her hand, guiding it there. She goes to tilt her head back and he shakes his, “lean forward,” he says. She looks at him doubtfully, “just trust me?” She doesn’t move, “what do you have to lose?”

At the moment? Nothing.

She doesn’t want that to change.

She tips her head forward anyway. The bleeding stops quickly. He hands her another tissue and she takes it, careful not to touch any of him. He sits back on the bed as she tosses them into the bin. He looks up at her and she feels unsettled by how calm he is.

“You okay?” He asks and she starts at the question, “you wanna sleep here?”

She waits until his breathing is deep and even before she risks looking over at him. He’s curled on his side, his back is to her and she wonders what else Dottie said is a lie. Or if Steve is just different. She doesn’t like either option. She closes her eyes and lets out a long breath, trying to steady her pounding heart.

She has to get out of here.

“And go where?” 011 demands.

“Nowhere you need to worry that pretty little head about,” she says.

“Why did you come?”

The question stings and makes her feel embarrassed all at once. None of which she’s willing to show. She looks over her shoulder. Steve is pretending to read, but his eyes are fixed on one word. It stings across her mind like a brand and she hates him for it. Especially the intent behind it.

“I was looking for my sister,” she says, “if you ever find her, tell her I was here?”

She walks out as Jane’s face collapses. As the book slams shut. As Steve catches the door she throws open and follows her out. Venom floods her mouth as she turns, ready to burn the last thing she has here. The stupid, fragile thing that will ignite with nothing from either of them. That’s how the world works.

“Hey!” He says, “you can’t talk to her like that! She’s just a kid!”

“I was a kid once too, that didn’t stop anyone from talking to me like that!”

“That’s your excuse?” He demands and she feels her hackles raise, “someone did it to me so I’m going to do it to someone else?”

“I’m sure that’s not easy for you to understand with people giving you everything and you just passing it along. I’m surprised your parents aren’t worried with you playing house like this, surprised they’re so willing to share their precious boy.”

She knows she crossed some kind of line, knows it a moment too late at the look on his face. Amidst her crashing stomach she consoles herself with the fact that she made him angry, which was always her plan. The anger is there, but it’s mixed with something far worse and she rails against the pity. She doesn’t want anyone’s pity. She wants his fear, she wants his respect, she wants–she shoves away the alarming number of things she wants and glares up at him.

“You don’t know the first thing about me,” he says and she laughs cruelly.

“I don’t need to,” she says, “you’re just like everyone else.”

“Spoken exactly like someone who shaved half their head,” he snaps, “you think standing in the corner makes you unique? Or better? Everyone has their own story. Their own past they’re trying to deal with.”

“I’m sure you had such a hard life,” she sneers, “delaying growing up playing house with all these kids. Going for Dad of the year like yours was?”

“And you’re doing the exact same thing the lab did.”

She slaps him.

Not with her mind, with her hand. Slaps him and feels the sting of it in her had.

“Take that back,” she hisses. He says nothing, “take it back!” She yells and reaches for his mind.

He screams through gritted teeth as she digs in. Everyone’s yelling and she hears them coming as he drops to his knees. The bastard still throws a hand out to stop them. She ignores it and digs through his thoughts, his emotions. Past the goodness to the determination, to the core. She sees parents who aren’t there, parents who don’t care. A mother who laments her son losing a great girl without knowing he was lied to, a father who shakes his head and never sees. She sees bruises under his skin, pain that isn’t the kind you can stop but leaves a much deeper scar. She sees a boy sitting forgotten on the steps of a school, his pain indistinguishable from a girl who goes to sleep with no one to tuck her in.

“Let him go!”

The boy who tackles her ignores him and though she catches him, she’s not quite fast enough to catch 011 who severs their connection. Steve’s bleeding too, his eyes going in and out of focus but he still staggers up, catches Dustin in his arms.

“It’s okay, man, I’m okay,” he says, “let it go.”

“Leave!” 011 roars at her, the moment they’re in the house, “I want you gone. Steve did nothing but be nice to you and you hurt him. We might be sisters but you–you are not welcome here anymore,” she looks at her, “apologize first, fix it, then you leave.”

Kali stares at her quietly, unable to find her anger.

He really is a good person, she thinks dully, too shell shocked to push the thought away. She trails down the corridor to the bathroom. Steve’s hunched over the toilet, Dustin, Lucas and Max all arguing above him over a bottle of aspirin. Steve’s trying to wave them off. She feels the memory of no-one doing this for him. They all look at her and she feels rightfully embarrassed, but it’s been a long time since she has and she refuses to give into it around them. Steve’s head moves up and she rolls her eyes, realizing she’ll have to get over it.

“Can I fix him? Please?”

“Hey screw you, you’re not going in his head again,” Dustin snaps.

“Fine, he can stay like that,” she says as he hurls again.

“Let her in,” Steve groans and she moves in, sticking her tongue out when he isn’t looking. She kneels down by the toilet, ignoring the smell, “can you–” he begins miserably before being sick again.

She’s not good at this, it’s on her tongue to say so, but he looks like he wants to die and the three kids behind him look like they want to go with him. She has to try. This is her fault. Taking a deep breath, she reaches forward and flushes the toilet. Her hand comes out and pushes through his hair, finding the spots on his skull. She closes her eyes and nudges again. Steve chokes and she bands her other hand around his chest, stabilizing his jaw. She feels and pulls, soothing the sharp edges of their connection she forced. She tries to cling to his determination, his goodness, all the things that seem so miraculous to her and are so natural to him. After a long moment, she releases him and they collapse onto the tiled, staring at each other.

When she goes to push herself up, his hand covers hers and he shakes his head.

She looks back at 011 who raises her chin and then turns, walking away. She pulls her hand back, knowing that he may have seen things that she didn’t want him to. She’s embarrassed, suddenly. Even though she doesn’t think she should be. She is. She licks her lips and tastes blood. He pushes himself up and grabs toilet paper. Instead of giving it to her he looks at her and she nods, letting him touch the paper to her upper lip. He tosses it into the bin and lays down. After a moment she scoots over, pulls his head into her lap.

“I don’t want to be like them,” she says, “I don’t want to be like this,” she shakes her head, “I don’t want to be stuck.”

“Me neither,” he says finally.

Kali closes her eyes and lets herself feel ashamed.

Steve grasps the hand she has settled on her shoulder.

For the first time in a long time, she feels fear.

She wakes up with a stiff back and a Steve snoring in her lap. She’s as stuck as he is in a completely different way. She doesn’t know why she cares or even if she should. She probably shouldn’t. No, she definitely shouldn’t. The thrill it sends to her is dangerous on every level. Dangerous in a stupid way. She really does have to get out of this shit town. She folds a towel and replaces Steve’s head on it. She throws another one over him in case he gets cold and goes off to find his protector.

“We need to talk.”

A few hours later Steve comes out as they’re finished packing. He rubs at his eyes which are less bloodshot. His head still might be sore but he’s just going to have to deal. Dustin elbows her and she steps forward, handing him the two aspirin and the water. He takes them both silently, looking at her with confusion.

“So, I am sorry again for psychically attacking you,” she says, “they don’t make an apology card for that.”

“This works,” he says hoarsely and takes the pills.

“And,” she continues, “I’m leaving,” he pauses and sets down the glass. Her mouth goes dry at the stab of disappointment and hurt in his eyes. Emboldened she puts her chin in her hand, “but I can’t get there in time by myself, so, you’re going to have to come with me.”

He drops the glass.

“What?” He croaks, looking at the fragments on the floor, “I can’t just–”

“Drive off with a mysterious stranger?” She asks, “that’s odd because they say you can.”

Dustin grins and holds up his duffle bag. Steve stares at him and he nods encouragingly. He looks at her and she meets his gaze. They are both stuck, that’s been admitted even if it was under duress. She’s stuck in a way that she’s not sure she can ever undo. Even wants to undo. He’s stuck in a different way. One that seems so easy to fix for her. Maybe some part of him hopes that the way she’s stuck might be easy for him to fix too. She can see him thinking everything over and realizes she doesn’t want the embarrassment if he says no. She’d rather lick her wounds alone. She picks up her bag and slings it over her shoulder, stepping out on the road and shading her eyes. She flits with the idea of stealing his car and dismisses it. Though it would be a good lesson. By the time she turns around, though, it’s too late.

He’s there.

Something in her chest gives. He looks nervous as hell and she can’t blame him after the past day, but that stubborn look is in his eyes. This is why he’s not like his parents, because he refuses to be. It’s not the kind of thing that can be taught, not in time. But she can marvel at it anyway. He opens the trunk and puts his bag in, looking at her for a second before nodding. She drops her bag besides his and smiles daringly up at him, squinting in the bright light. Whatever catty thing she’s about to say is lost as he settles a pair of sunglasses on her nose.

“Better?” He rasps.

She stands on her toes and presses her lips to the corner of his mouth. Electricity shoots through her in a way it hasn’t before and her seems to jump with it too. For a moment she considers their connection might still be there, but she’s out of his head. The only thing that’s done this is the part of her that is very much like everyone else. She gets her smile up just in time, pressing her finger to his jaw.

“We’ll see.”

[coffeeandbyers]

Family | Eleven x Reader _Pt1

Eleven x Male! Reader x Kali (kind of)

Warnings: season 2 spoilers, reader injury

You were the first to climb out of the van, stretching your arms out with a content sigh. You turn and see Jane looking around the area of the small gas station. and you nudge her shoulder. “What, never been to a gas station?” She looks at you blankly, before shaking her head, “Um, no.”

“Well, you’re in for a treat. Come on!” The next thing Jane knew, your hand was in hers as you pulled her into the store. She tries to ignore the feeling in her stomach, one that wasn’t all unfamiliar - as she remembers feeling this way when she was with Mike.

The bell dings, and the man at the counter greets the two of you. You let go of Jane’s hand when you get to the candy isle near the back, and a grin appears on your face. “Ever have chocolate, Jane?”

“No.” She looks away, seeming embarrassed, and you hold in a chuckle.

“Here,” You grab a Twix bar and place it in her hand, and she stares at it in wonder. “It’s good, but honestly I prefer..this.” She looks up and sees a plastic bag half full of some kind of candy shaped like bears. “What is that?”

You let out a delighted sigh, “These, my dear Jane, are gummy bears. They taste like fruit and are heaven on Earth-” A loud bang cut you off, making you both look at each other in surprise, and you quickly walk to the front where Kali, Axel, and Dottie were. Axel was behind the counter, stuffing cash into a bag, and you scoff. Then you notice the man pointing his gun at Kali, and you rush to step in. “Hey, hey, hey! No need to get hostile, sir.”

“Stay back!” He threatens, he himself stumbling back as you keep moving forward. You can’t help but grin, “Don’t do anything stupid,” You tease, “Look, here. Even?” You dig your hand into your (f/c) jacket’s pocket and show him a stack of 50 dollar bills, which you’d been saving for whatever reason. “Please excuse Axel, he can be an idiot, too.”

As you were talking, he must have thought you were too close for comfort, and he pulled the trigger in a panic. Everything flashed before your own two (e/c) eyes, the sound of Jane and Kali screaming as you stumble backwards. A pain shot up your torso, and you feel yourself being pulled up from the floor. The last thing you hear is Jane calling out to you.

Im making a part 2 since it was gonna get too long if I kept it all in one!

Hope you liked this :’’)

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

So let’s talk about Kali’s backstory because it’s INSANELY interesting to me and for some reason I’ve barely seen anybody mention it.

Kali was kidnapped from London as a child- meaning that she was not abducted as a newborn like El. We know this from the newspaper clipping that Terry had- which, btw, also gave us her full name: Kali Prasad.

As a sidenote, she has a really interesting name meaning. 

“Kali” is the Hindu Goddess of Death, Time and Doomsday, and is associated with violence but also with motherly-love. [x]

“Prasad” is an Indian Surname meaning “clearness, brightness, purity, graciousness.” [x]

And then we know she was kept in the same Lab as El. While she was there, she seemed to be violently abused, specifically remembering being shocked with a cattle prod. She also apparently knew Brenner and he also established himself to her as a Father.

Kali: “Fight, and face them again.” El/Jane: “Face who?” Kali: “The man who calls himself our father.” El/Jane: “Papa is dead.”

Kali remembers El from the Lab, and seemed to form a bond with her. She says she remembers the day that she went to the Rainbow Room and El was gone, and she also seemed upset in the rooftop scene when El didn’t remember her.

“And this memory your mother shared that is your only memory of me?"

She then used her illusion powers to escape the Lab, and she managed to find a place to hide with a Found Family- she’s very vague about what happened after that, but from her words, my assumption is that the Lab killed/hurt them to get to her, or they betrayed her to the Lab, and she had to leave them.

Her exact quote is: “And it was there, far away, that I found a place to hide. A family. A home. Just like you and your policeman. But they couldn't help me. So, eventually, I lost them, too. So, I decided to play the part. To stop hiding. To use my gifts against those who hurt us.”

“So, I decided to play the part” makes it sound like she decided to fight back after she “lost” her new family.

She decided to go on a revenge-quest against the Lab, and managed to gather her squad. Funshine says that Kali “saved” them and they all seem to be emotionally attached to her. 

I just find their dynamic super interesting? They all are very loyal to her and respect her as the leader even though she’s (probably) the youngest of them. She also seems to be very loyal to them: from what I picked up, she either is also hunting the people who hurt them, too- which could only delay her own revenge-mission- or she trusts them enough to let them help her destroy the Lab, and they’re totally okay with that. Kali also takes the time to go back and save them when the Police swarm the hideout, when she could easily have just ditched them with El.

Kali seems to see killing the people from the Lab as her coping mechanism- a really shitty one, but she doesn’t appear to know that. She also justifies all the illegal stuff she’s doing as her own form of justice.

She and her team also seem to only want to hurt the people who wronged them, and not any innocent bystanders. 

Axel and Kali showed no signs of wanting to attack the guy at the store- and Kali actually spent time trying to talk the guy out of hurting them instead of attacking him, trying to justify stealing from him.

Axel and Dottie also avoided hurting Ray’s daughters, even though they were calling the Police, and went to get Kali instead.

tl;dr why don’t we talk about Kali’s backstory, pls guys I need answers

[grahamcracker1995]

Stranger Things Characters x Hogwarts Houses

GRYFFINDOR:

Eleven/Jane Hopper (Ives)

Will Byers

Joyce Byers

Jonathan Byers

Lonnie Byers

Sam Owens

Terry Ives

Axel

Diane Hopper

Connie Frazier

HUFFLEPUFF:

Mike Wheeler

Max Mayfield

Steve Harrington

Barb Holland

Holly Wheeler

Ted Wheeler

Benny Hammond

Funshine

Claudia Henderson

Troy

SLYTHERIN:

Lucas Sinclair

Billy Hargrove

Jim Hopper

Kali/Eight

Becky Ives

Mick

Dottie

Murray Bauman

Neil Hargrove

Mr. Sinclair

RAVENCLAW:

Nancy Wheeler

Dustin Henderson

Bob Newby

Martin Brenner

Erica Sinclair

Scott Clarke

Karen Wheeler

Susan Hargrove

Mrs. Sinclair

Flo

[ao3feed-strangerthings]

Tether

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2rABOZ1

by CrackingtoastGromit

It's been almost a year since Faye Wheeler's best friend Will Byers came back from the Upside Down. Now it's up to Faye, her twin brother Mike and their friends to try to get back to normal- whatever that means. But how do you get back to normal when your life is anything but? (OC x Will Byers) (Eleven x Mike Wheeler)

Words: 2595, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Original Female Character(s), Will Byers, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Joyce Byers, Bob Newby, Karen Wheeler, Kali Prasad, Axel (Stranger Things), Dottie (Stranger Things), Funshine (Stranger Things), Mick (Stranger Things)

Relationships: Will Byers/Original Female Character(s), Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Joyce Byers/Bob Newby

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2rABOZ1

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E7; Chapter Seven, The Lost Sister - [Pt. 4]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

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

A/n: lots of flashbacks my dudes, sorry. Kinda messy since it happens at the same time as the back to back moment with reader so apologies if it's funky.

||3rd Person POV||

"It's me."

The world is black, but the familiar voice rings out like a beacon in the void. She can't remember entering, so she wonders why she is here. In the distance, Jane can see the all too familiar wooden table and the ham radio that sits atop the adjoining stack of trunks. The tiny lamp that rests on the wooden table provides a soft homey light that blankets the otherwise dark and cold void.

"I know that I've been gone too long, and uh..." It's Hopper, her policeman. "I just want you to know that it's not because of you. And it's not because of our fight."

Jane finds herself being pulled towards the machine, the soft pitter-patter of her feet against the pool of water provides white noise other than Hopper's shaky voice echoing through the radio. It's garbled, and it has the usual static form the machine, but she can sense his emotion. The lump in his throat.

"Something came up, and, uh, I'll explain everything soon. I just, um... I want you to know that I'm not-- I'm not mad at you. I..."

She can feel a lump of her own forming in her throat as she waits for the words, they are almost here and she stands patiently. She is breathing heavily, trying not to cry and that is when the words come.

"I'm just sorry."

She feels a hand grab her shoulder and her eyes rip open.

"It's okay." Kali soothes. "It's only me."

Jane sighs, and sits up slightly.

"Bad dream?"

Jane only closes her eyes, trying to will away the sleep plaguing them. Her gaze wanders to the empty spot next to her, and she looks to Kali who caught her gaze.

"It seems your friend has left."

Jane only stews at the spot Y/n once was and huffs, before banishing her from her mind.

"What time is it?"

Kali smiles at her response.

"It's late. You slept well. Come. It's time you meet my friends. Properly this time."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Jane follows Kali eagerly throughout the warehouse, she had slept in her overalls and having gotten used to the temperature she had slipped on her jacket. She was being led to a new area she hadn't seen yet when the man with the crazy hair stepped into view with a small folded white box and two wooden sticks.

"We need more money, Kal," he says. "I can't keep eating this garbage."

"This is Axel," Kali states, leading into the room full of her friends.

"The spider hater?" Jane asks, eliciting several chuckles around the room.

"Yes," Kali says with a smile. "The spider hater."

She gestures to the crazy looking girl that with the large bow in her hair, she smiled as she twisted a lock of her oddly colored hair.

"This is Dottie, our newest. Like you, she just left home."

"You mean the loony bin." Axel shot, taking a swig from a white can.

"Mick," Kali gestures, to the woman in green with dark cloud-like hair. "our eyes, our protector."

She then looks to the large, seeming bald man with one long braid trailing from the back of his head. He smiles, stepping forward.

"This is Funshine, our warrior," Kali informs as Jane steps forward to greet him. "Don't let his size frighten you. Like I said, Fun's a teddy bear."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Jane." He says, holding out his hand.

Jane takes his hand, turning it over to find a blank wrist.

"If you're looking for a number, you won't find one," Kali informs, crossing over and taking a seat at the table.

"They're not like us," Jane says, in realization.

She releases the man's hand and goes to stand at the head of the table.

"No, not in that way." Kali answers. "But like us, they're outcasts."

"Outcasts?"

"Freaks," Axel says shortly.

Dottie scoffs. "Speak for yourself."

"Society left them behind, hurt them, discarded them," Kali explains.

Funshine speaks out, his voice is somber as he fiddles with his hands.

"We were dead, all of us. Kali saved us. Here," He pointed to his mind, and then to his heart. "And here."

"Don't get all mushy on us now, Fun."

"No, not mushy. True."

"Now we help her," Mick says.

Axel leans forward, his beer can in hand.

"In this life, kid, you roll over or you fight back."

"We're all fighters here." Mick finished.

"Fight who?" Jane asks, intrigued.

||Reader's POV||

I wince as the bus hits yet another bump, my head resting against the glass bumps against the windowpane once more. I tear my eyes away from the blurry green scenery of the trees we pass to check my watch for the umpteenth time, twelve twenty-five. We just left Illinois, but I still have a way to go. I'm thankful El still had money left over from Becky's, of course, I curse myself at the memory.

Mom is probably freaking out right now, I'm sure by now she's gotten word from chief Hopper. I don't what I'm going to do. I don't know how I'll possibly explain this.

Maybe I can say I was looking for Mews? No, that wouldn't work. For several reasons. I already told Dustin that I was at Will's and besides, I was reported as a possible runaway while on a secret trip with El. And no one was supposed to know about her.

Yeah, Mom's gonna flip.

And my fight with El keeps playing over and over in my mind, twisting my chest and stomach into uncomfortable knots. Everything about it left a sour taste on my tongue.

How could she say those things? How could she not see that I was looking out for her? Part of me wishes I could have just left in the middle of the night and never told her. Left without a word. Like she probably would have done to me.

The trees begin to slow, and an odd popping elicits from the back of the bus. It turns many heads including my own, and I spot the driver near the front. I see his face from the wide mirror overhead and it's clouded with worry and frustration.

Just as I feared, the bus grew slower and eventually pulled off to the side. Murmurs broke out all along the bus after the driver announces the issues with the bus. I wish I had taken a seat closer to the front as all the people around me have burst into angry complaints and I can't hear a word the driver is saying.

"Four hours? I need to get home to feed my dog!"

"My babysitter is off the clock soon, I can't wait that long!"

Four hours until we're back on the road? I can't wait that long either. I'm far too restless and I don't care if I have to walk. I am surprisingly restless given the amount I have exerted myself in the past twenty-four hours, and there is no way to tell if it is from some cleansing after effect or my fight with El but I need to move. I take a moment to kneel on my seat, and I glance out along the street studying my surroundings. Lucky for me, I recognize this spot, I'm not far from Becky's house. Which means I'm just on the edge of Hawkins.

I can walk that far.

And I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be able to afford a ride that went any further. Instead, I rose from my seat and slipped out the front. For all I know, it just might take me four hours to get home, but at least I'll be home by then.

||3rd Person POV||

Kali empties the box's contents onto the counter, dozens of badges, ID's and various records of previous or current employees at Hawkins Lab.

"Everyone you see here was in some way responsible for what happened to us," Kali informs, her team standing behind her.

Jane stands across the table from her, she picks a laminated card from the bunch to examine. She looks to her counterpart and raises a brow, her interest peaked.

"You hurt the bad men?"

Dottie makes a face, shaking her head.

"No," she says, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "We just give 'em a pat on the back."

[FLASHBACK]

A van screeches to a stop outside an undisclosed apartment building. Five masked figures exit the vehicle and storm the building. There is a knock on one apartment door, a confused man opens it only to be met with a bullet to the head.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

"You kill them?" Jane asks.

"They're criminals." Kali days simply, shrugging. "We simply make them pay for their crimes."

《•••》

Kali is seated in the passenger seat, her eyes closed and her hand raises to eye level. The van is racing at tops speeds as the police ride their tail as they enter a tunnel. With her full attention, and a sly smirk she whispers.

"Boom."

The cement ceiling of the tunnel explodes, debris falling and blocking the tunnel. The police cars swerve to miss the avalanche of rock.

《•••》

Jane examines the badge further, and it isn't until this has been explained does she realize the badge is sprinkled in splattered of blood.

"Damn, Shirley," says Axel teasingly. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Jane tears her eyes away to glare at the spider hater with the crazy hair. She notices that each of Kali's companions are smirking at her in a similar matter. Dottie merely shifts her weight to one foot and tilts her head, speaking sluggishly.

"We can't all be fighters, I guess." She sighs.

"I'm a fighter." Jane corrects. "I've killed."

《•••》

The second man spared a second to look before turning to her to try and restrain her.

Before he could even step foot in the room, he was dead on the floor, his neck snapped. All with the flick of her head.

•••

El stands at attention, she gravitates towards the front protectively in front of her four friends. The bad men surrounding them freeze and she tilts her head, her attention laser-focused on each and every one of the soldiers. They begin to twitch and squirm, and as her nose begins to bleed so do their eyes. A horrible squelching sound echoes throughout the hallway as the lights flicker violently and they each drop like flies, blood pouring out of their eyes, nose, ears, and mouths. Eleven had squeezed their brains like grapes.

《•••》

"Did these men you killed," Kali asks. "did they deserve it?"

Jane nods confidently.

"They hurt me."

《•••》

Eleven struggles to break free from the men's hold as they carry her by her arms down, back into the room.

Sobs track her body as she uses all her strength to turn and look back at Papa.

"Papa!" He steps out into the hallway and remains standing, doing nothing to help her, yet she still calls for him.

《•••》

"And they still want to hurt you," Kali presses. "To hurt us. We're just making the first move."

Kali nods her head, gesturing to the doors.

"Come."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Kali and Jane break off from the others as Kali shows her outside. They walk for a short while, Jane once again finds herself taking in her surroundings as her friend explains. By now they had found themselves a great fair distance from the warehouse and they wander through a scrapyard of boxes, abandoned shelves, and steel shipment containers.

"I was just like you once," Kali says. "I kept my anger inside. I tried to hide from it, but then that pain festered."

"Festered?"

Kali comes to a stop and looks sadly to Jane unable to meet her eye immediately as she is forced to relive the memories.

"It spread. Until finally I confronted my pain, and I began to heal." She said, her voice growing excited before she continued on through the scrapyard.

Jane did not follow immediately, she almost felt stuck as those words echoed in her mind. She knew what Kali spoke of all too well.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Y/n ducks under yet another low hanging branch, her hand gently pushing it away. The pads of her heels had begun to sting but she presses on. Despite the long trek behind, and before her, she has yet to regret her decision to go on foot. Much to her great delight and surprise, she finds that she is not as tired as she typically might have been. Only minutes after her departure, when she was safely out of sight of the bus and its impatient passengers did she drift off into the woods where she would not be as easily seen.

And though she is hidden well within the trees, the wind manages to snake within the trunks and whips against her clothes and the exposed skin on her neck and hands. She feels the damp earth sink beneath her shoes and she is thankful her shoes were able to dry faster than her clothes - the one thing she successfully managed to dry with the aid of her abilities.

She realizes with a dry laugh that she has once again left without her clothes but she does not care anymore. Once again her mind drifts to her last conversation with El.

Jane, she reminds herself bitterly.

Y/n has given it much thought and she had admitted to herself she had assumed that El had used that name do draw less suspicion. It hadn't quite dawned on Y/n that she truly did want to assume that part of her identity and she feels a twinge of guilt. But she can't ignore the itch of it all, something nagging at her that something about that was off. It just didn't seem like the same person, but Y/n dismissed the thought and was able to admit to herself that she was in the wrong on that front.

But that didn't mean her feelings weren't still hurt. El- Jane, had completely tossed her aside the minute she laid eyes on Kali. Y/n could still hear - and see - that exchange all took well.

Sister.

It brought another pang of jealousy to her heart as she so desperately longed for such a connection. Y/n, of course, loved her bother and friends with all her heart, but her whole life she had longed for such an iron-clad bond with another girl. And she supposed she had that with Jane. But it seems it was one-sided.

Quickly, Y/n shakes the thought from her head. She was not partial to thinking about that night, that night had hurt her deeply and it would only exhaust her.

She focuses her eyes on the ground before her, watching her step as she navigates the uneven terrain hidden under layers fallen leaves when she noticed something. A very simple thing that would most likely go unnoticed by any other being, or even her if it were any other given moment. Y/n saw a flurry of leaves swept up in the wind, moving across the landscape like a wave crashing in the ocean. And much like many other times in her life, something so simple triggers a memory in her brain like a feeling triggers the memory of a forgotten dream.

The details, not only what it looked like but what it felt like, of the phenomenon of what she had experienced the night before. Not her fight with her friend, or the scary adventure that led her to the other side of Hawkins and all the way to Chicago, but the explosion in the old train yard. And while it had not quite been forgotten, merely set aside in the unfurling events of her split with Jane, remembering the event felt silly. What a catastrophic thing to have forgotten.

Perhaps it wouldn't be the worst idea to practice, she thought.

She was all alone after all, she was out of sight and far away enough from the road where she couldn't be caught. She knew not to strain herself of course, given the long walk ahead of her. But she was rather bored and she figured she'd never really get another opportunity like this. After all, she couldn't quite practice this in her room.

In the end, temptation - and boredom - won, and she gave a quick sweep of the area before she settled in one spot. Worried of the potential exhaustion she was in fact risking, she figured she could rest for ten or twenty minutes or so. This also allowed her feet a small break. She found a small gap in the trees, a long stretch of open space where she wouldn't risk a fire hazard on any of the tree trunks.

Y/n finds her focus driven on the path of damp leaves before her. Her hands outstretched and with all her might she pictures the path before her blown away into a small ditch in between the long stretching gap between the trees. The forest still smelled of rain and even the trunks around her were still a bit damp, though she did want to risk it. The wet sludge of fallen leaves before her was her goal and she planted her feet preparing herself.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Kali's heels hit the pavement as she jumps off the platform, Jane's sneaker-clad feet soon follow. Kali strides across the damp pavement and she turns to face the clearing as Jane joins her side.

"You see that train?" She asks, gesturing towards the large abandoned car.

"Yes."

"I want you to draw it towards us,"

Jane looks at Kali with unease, and Kalie gives her a sly smirk. Jane takes a breath but looks back at the train. She raises her hand, her mind focusing on the train and the surface around it. She can feel her mind strain and her hand trembles violently and all that comes to show for her efforts is the faint sound of metal creaking, and slight separation of the cart from its wheels.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The wind had died down but still few leaves moved under her control. The signature blur emits from Y/n's hand, it reminded her of heat reflecting off concrete on a hot summer day. She felt herself smiling over the feat, but it quickly died out as her ability did. It quickly fizzled out and she felt a great strain on her body, and she sighed collecting her breath.

Something wasn't right. This wasn't how it went.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"I can't," Jane pants, hands on her knees collecting her breath.

"Last night you told me you lifted a van once."

《•••》

Her vision locks onto the van barreling towards her and her friends, and she scowls. With one flick of her head, the van flies through the air and over their heads.

《•••》

"Yes."

"The bad men were trying to take you away again, and that made you angry."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Y/n's mind flips through her memories, every experience she has had with her powers and her mind lands on the scene from the night she always chose to forget. The night they almost took her.

《•••》

A violent scream erupted from the young girl's throat, a scream that pierced even her own ears and ripped her throat raw.

A powerful force of energy exploded off of Y/n swept across the hallway mowed down everyone, including the man holding who had been holding her hostage. Most of the men were knocked into the concrete walls and slid down to the floor unconscious, blood dripping from their heads.

Y/n landed on her knees, Eleven only about a foot away who had miraculously avoided the line of energy while on the ground.

Panting, she looks up to the man several feet away, laying on his back slowly coming to, and with all the remaining courage and energy she can muster, she slowly rises to her feet, breathing harder, her fists clenched and eyes filled with rage.

《•••》

Anger. Anger was the common factor of every incident she realizes suddenly. This had been the first time she had allowed herself to dwell on the memories of that night. Ever since it had been much too painful to revisit and she never bothered. And yet all this time she had wasted, trying to figure out her powers, figure out herself, and she had been ignoring the answer.

And for the first time, she thinks not of the people she's hurt. But the comes who have hurt her.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Good. So, find that anger, focus on that, not the train, not its weight."

She raises her hand once more, and with a deep breath preparing herself for the task at hand. Not the boundaries she is preparing to test, but unlocking her heart and mind to the floodgates of bitter memories and untapped anger waiting to be unleashed.

"I want you to find something from your life. Something that angers you."

《•••》

The friend Y/n trusted most in the entire world, turned on her. Undeniable hatred and disgust in eyes instead of a loving gaze.

"Get out," Will seethes.

"What-?"

"I said, get out!" He hissed.

Y/n flinches at his tone, and backs away fighting tears and struggling to hide the hurt in her eyes.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

《•••》

"Now channel it."

The girl's hand trembles and the ground begins to shake as she unlocks this side of herself. the gates are opening, the gates to her full potential. She is strained but unwavering as she watches in glee as she moves the world around her.

"Dig deeper. Your whole life you've been lied to..."

《•••》

'THE MISSING EXPERIMENT'

Y/n gazed at the folder in shock, looking to her sleeping friend with fire in her eyes.

She had this with her the entire trip. And not once did she share it with her. Every file, every news clipping, every theory on her life that almost was. On her. And she was the last to see it.

《•••》

Anger rises to the surface, it is now all the girl can feel. At this moment in time, all she knows is white-hot rage and it is powerful enough to break the world. She is powerful enough.

"...imprisoned."

《•••》

Y/n loses the ability to speak when the man's eyes meet the agent holding her back. With one simple gesture, she is torn away from her brother and friends and straight into the man's clutches.

"What- what are you doing?" She cries, continuing to fight and kick against the steel hold.

An overwhelming storm of panic and frustration takes over and she begins to hyperventilate.

Instinctively, she struggles to turn in the agent's grasp to meet her brother's anxious and fearful eye and cries out to him.

"Dustin? Dustin!" She shrieks.

Her brother's desperate calls for her break her heart, but it turns to fire when she hears the man's voice.

"Y/n, don't fight it. You belong with us. We are your true home. Come home to us, Nine"

《•••》

She can feel her jaw clench, her muscles tense as she focuses all her energy - all her anger on the target before her.

"The bad men took away your home, you're mother,"

《•••》

"She was pretty." She began, smiling sadly. "She had [h/l] [h/t] [h/c] hair. And [s/c] skin. She was [y/h]."

•••

"She disappeared... Bang" El said slowly, a saddened frown forming on her face. "Gone."

•••

"So, my mom? She's...?" Y/n took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat and El nodded.

《•••》

Her whole body began to shake, a raw and forceful screaming tearing from her throat and piercing the cold autumn air. It was only a small fraction of her emotions, only a mere glimpse of a wild hurricane bursting forth from within her as her powers unleashed.

"They took everything from you."

《•••》

But then she saw it. The small, lifeless body. He was wearing the same red vest he wore on that night. She was speechless. Hot tears streaked down her cheeks and she forgot how to breathe. She collapsed into Lucas's arms, his own grip weak and shaky, and she buried her wet face in his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her tightly, a lifeline of his own as he witnessed the horrible sight.

"It's Will. It's really Will." Lucas croaked, unable to speak above a harsh whisper.

Y/n felt tears fall on her head, telling her that Lucas had started crying as well.

The noise she made was incoherent. She let out a painful wail and tore herself away from Lucas's embrace when she gathered enough strength.

"Will? Will!" She cried.

Lucas and Dustin pulled her back. She fought and screamed, her throat aching from the strain. All previous worries of being spotted were forgotten, wanting nothing more than to be by his side. She wanted to be with him. To see if it was really true. But she was too weak. Defeat set in and she went limp, collapsing onto the ground and hugged her knees. She buried her tear-stained cheeks in her knees and hid from the cruel world that took such a loving soul from her. She rocked back and forth trying desperately to convince herself that this was a nightmare.

•••

And it had been. Not even a week later had she learned his body was a fake. The bad men lied. To her. To his family. To everyone. They stole him away and they didn't care who they hurt.

《•••》

Blood dripped from her nose, spidery veins spread across her face and hands. The violent force of power overtook the world and her body but it felt fantastic. She felt truly free for the first time in her life.

"They stole your life, Jane"

The final and most forceful burst of anger comes forth, the final push she had been waiting for. The scream echoes and rings throughout the air long after she silences, and she collapses to the ground as exhaustion overtakes her.

She had done it.

Before her, a long deep trench stretches on for several feet. Y/n had uncovered not only the thick layer of damped leaves but several layers of earth creating a lengthy ditch where the earth had been carved. Raining down from the air were the discarded leaves raining down from the heavens like bright golden confetti celebrating her accomplishment. Y/n smiled despite her exhaustion, her hands on knees the palm of her hands still hot to the touch.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Jane collapses to her knees, gasping for breath and gazes at the train before her in disbelief. Distant cheers erupted in the distance and she looked to find Mick, Fusnshine, Dottie and Axel jumping, hooting and hollering.

"WAY TO GO JANE!"

She doesn't fight the smile that sneaks up on her and Kali kneels beside her, smirking.

"How do you feel?"

Jane nods, her smirk turning sly and confident.

"Good."

+++

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[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E7; Chapter Seven, The Lost Sister - [Pt. 5]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

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

||3rd Person POV||

Jane is lead throughout the warehouse once her strength has returned, herself, Kali and the rest find themselves in a newer room that Jane has not yet seen. She and her sister come face to face with a wall decorated with photographs and documents of various people.

"These are the bad men, as you call them. The ones we believe are still alive. Do you know any?"

Jane's brown eyes sweep the wall, she is careful to take in every face studiously as she scans. Not a single photograph or document, no individual piece of parchment has gone unmarked. The words filter to the back of her brain as she soaks up the images, the only useful information to her. She finds no familiar faces, that is, until her eyes land on a folder news clipping of a bald man caucasian man. But she knew him as the four-fifty man.

The man in charge of hurting her mother. He did it. He hurt her mother, turned her into what she was today. Stuck.

"Him." Says Jane, taking the paper from the wall. "He hurt Mama."

"His name is Ray Caroll," Kali informs. "And he did more than hurt your mother."

[FLASHBACK]

The men step forward, the electrified weapon crackles as he whips it forward towards the cowering young girl. She knows what's coming, she knows the pain all too well.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

"The bad men like Ray, they about us. It's made hard to track. But maybe not anymore."

The anger returns once more and Jane crushes the paper in her hands in a fit of rage. The paper rolled tight in her hands, she now sits in the warehouse her new companions surrounding her as she searches. They watch studiously as she sits almost statuesque, and some begin to grow irritated by the white noise of the static but then she moves. Her face scrunches up into a tight scowl behind her blindfold and she rips the paper in half. She discards the cloth from her eyes and looks to Kali, nodding.

"Gramercy Apartments. Washington and Bethel." Dottie reads, the phonebook hanging lazily in her hands. "That's gotta be it. Right?"

Kali is seated above her at the table and reaches out, taking the phonebook from her waiting hands as sits criss-cross on the floor.

"'Linburn.' Where is that?" Kali asks, leaning back.

"About an hour east." Funshine answers.

"We don't even have a new ride," Mick argues worriedly.

Kali leans forward, a smirk on her features.

"So we swap plates. We have plates, right?"

Axel looks to her incredulously but nods anyway from where he is seated beside Jane. "Yeah..."

"It's risky," Mick adds, beginning to pace.

The sly smirk returns to Kali's lips as she looks to her friend. "Where's the fun if there's no risk?"

"We want to give my sister a memorable first day, right?" She asks, a gleaming look in her eye as she looks to Jane.

"I'm in," Funshine quips, a kind smile directed at the girl. "For Miss Jane."

Jane smiles, and Axel sighs exasperatedly as he waves his beer can in the air exaggeratingly.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? Mick?"

Every eye falls to the woman and she sighs at the sky, shaking her head despite the ends of her lips curling into a smile. She looks to her friends and throws her arms in the air.

"Screw it!"

The group disperses into an organized flurry and Jane finds herself stranded in the middle, unsure of what to do. Though she finds relief when Kali sneaks behind her and gives her a smile and a reassuring squeeze of her shoulders. All around her, the gang prepares. Mick and Dottie wait as Funshine and Axel empty the safe, cocking their guns and checking ammo.

Kali drags Jane back upstairs to the room, for the final touch. Jane sits in the desk chair, albeit a bit confused as Dottie stands over her gauging her color as Kali plucks a dark blazer and shirt from the masses. Jane waits patiently as prods around her head, floating her hair back and adding a strange powder to her eyes and lips.

Finally, the rest of the gang is called up to the room once she is changed and ready, Dottie spins the desk chair and she revealed to as the newest member of their group. They gaze at her awe and there are several gaps and nods of approval.

Dottie folds her arm in as she leans against the wall, observing her work and she nods with a confident smile.

"Bitchin'."

"Bitchin'." Jane agrees.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The gang steps out into the sun with great stride, their newest member decorated proudly, her head held high. Like her friend before her, she wears cuffed jeans and black tee. A wool blazer hangs on her body, the sleeves pushed to her elbows but she is comfortable. Happy. Bitchin. Unsheathing the van from the tarp, they waste no time in piling into their "new ride". The can takes off, weaving through the twisted corners and alleyways and even blow past a bust, drawing a wandering eye from a suspicious officer.

The van hits the open road, Mick in the front seat and the others piled into the back. She takes a puff from her cigarette, one hand on the wheel and spares a glance to Axel in the passenger seat and blows a puff of smoke in his face. The music sounds in their ears and he sits bouncing in his seat, banging his head to the music.

In the back, Dottie plays a rhythm in the table as she hangs her head, Funshine nodding along next to her with a smile. Kali digs through the pile of masks, holding out different options for Jane before eventually losing herself in the music. Her head begins to move with the rhythm of the music, her purple hair flying all around her and Jane watches. She smiles in awe, a warmth spreading in her chest, finally feeling a sense of belonging and she allows her own head to sway to the music losing herself in the moment.

Times passes and much to Jane's disappointment the moment ends. The van pulls off the road at George's Gas n' Go and the gang piles out of the van. Jane lingers in the van door at Kali's side as she stares at the gas station uneasily.

"What are we doing?"

"Stocking up."

The duo joins their friends in the convenience store to find them already dispersed as planned. Jane sticks to Kali's side as she stops lingers by the store clerk.

"Hey, your bathroom is leaking."

The man frowns in response, hiking himself over the counter to see a pool of brown water flood out from under the door.

"Oh shit."

"Yes," Kali agrees. "Shit."

The pair watched in amusement as the man scurries over to the bathroom door, tiptoeing over the dry ground in disgust and heads inside closing the door behind him.

Axel stalks around the corner with a cocky smile and mischief in his eyes. He looks around at his mates and gestures eagerly around the store.

"Okay, contestants, you have a minute and a half, let's begin your supermarket sweep!" He cheers gleefully, sliding across the floor arms outstretched.

They sweep the area, Jane wanders down an aisle and picks up an apple. Her eyes venture further down the aisle to find the freezer of frozen treats and she discards the apple without a second thought. Making a beeline for the freezer door, she rips it open and grabs as many boxes of Eggos as she can carry. On the other end of the store, Axel jumps the counter and grabs a plastic bag fluffing out before pulling it with cash from the register. Funshine raids the other freezer for beer and Dottie - having already snatched some useful supplies for her and the other ladies - takes a gander at the selection of sunglasses.

"Hey! Put that back, or I'll blow your head off."

All heads turn to the counter where the clerk has returned and is now aiming a gun at Axel who raids the register. Axel slowly raises his hands, and the clerk steps forward.

"You hear me, freak?"

"Put the gun down," Kali orders slowly, stalking forward carefully her arms in a small surrender.

"Stay back." He warns. "Stay back."

"Darrel," she eases. "Your money is insured. We are only stealing from the war criminal billionaires who own this place. You won't even lose a dime."

As the words calmly leave her mouth, the others stalk forward to her aid in slow cautious steps.

"You won't even lose a dime."

"I said stay back." He spits, stepping forward in view of Jane.

Kali raises her hand further, her stature showing nothing but ease.

"We're on the same side. I promise."

Jane steps closer down the aisle. She has gone unnoticed so far and so she remains. The clerk is in her sights now as she reaches the end of the aisle.

"Stay back." He says once more, gun pointed in Kali's face.

With a forceful scream, Jane steps forward throwing her arm up the man. He is sent flying through the air and he crashes into a stockpile of goods that now surround him as he lays on the ground unconscious. The group gathers as they admire her work.

"Damn, Shirley," Axel marvels.

The sound of sirens quickly grabs their attention and it only takes them a matter of moments before they are safe in the van, loot in hand. Mick is quick behind the driver's seat, having taken watch over the van during the raid thanks to her quick thinking and driving skills, they lose the sirens in a matter of minutes leaving nothing behind but a cloud of dust.

||Reader's POV||

My stomach rumbles and I can feel the sharp edges as it growls. My hand comes to rest on my stomach and I fight a groan. Either I was slowing, or I didn't take into account how quickly it would grow dark. Most likely, it was a combination of both. I haven't eaten since Becky's and it's already getting duller out. I have to squint a bit to see but thankfully my eyes adjusted as the sun slowly began to fade away.

I've been taking breaks every hour and a half or so, and I've quickly come to enjoy them. I've already made a habit of checking my watch and I have to stop myself from checking it every other minute. I debate it carefully in my head and I decide that thirty seconds has been long enough. I turn over my wrist and examine the watch, and it is not a surprise at all to find that second hand has only moved thirty notches.

But eyes to linger on the watch itself and I smile as the memory of receiving the watch come back to me slowly. Dustin gave it to me for my last birthday. He had known I had been eyeing it for a while and he saved up money to pay for it. Well, technically he went splitzies with mom since it was a bit expensive, but I didn't care. I love it.

My smile fades and my stomach turns. I miss Dustin. And Mom, although I know I'm going to get an earful when I get home. Knowing Dustin, when he confronts me about going out on a solo adventure and lying to him not only as a sister but as a party member, he's going to give the silent treatment for a while. And that's just Dustin, I have no idea the extremity of what I'm in for when I return.

||3rd Person POV||

Mick draws the van to a slow as it creeps through the parking lot Gramercy Apartments. The sun has set over the horizon and the headlights sweep over glistening cement and the vehicle pulls to a stop. Mick and Axel turn to face the others, and Mick begins giving orders.

"We should case the place, stick to the routine. We have time."

"We also have her," Adds Kali. "Can you look?"

Jane nods and closes her eyes, the others watch her carefully with more patience than the last. A speck of blood peels from her nostril and her eyelids flutter open.

"He's watching television."

"Is he alone?" Mick asks.

"I saw him. No one else."

"Good enough for me." Kali shrugs.

The others nod in agreement, and Jane fiddles with the plastic doll mask in her hands. Mumbles of agreement percolate from the group and Funshine speaks up, adorning his namesake mask, a pink carebear.

"Let's do this."

The others follow his lead, and soon each face if covered, and one by one they pile out onto the street.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Punky, what's the matter?"

Ray looks at his drink uncertainly, and readjusts in his Lay-Z-Boy as the man on television storms in the room, flipping on the switch and coming to the child's aid with great worry.

The small girl named Punky pets her dog comfortingly but looked desperately to the man her eyes wide and frightened.

"A nightmare. I dreamt I was in the doctor's office. All of a sudden, he's started to give me a shot in my arm."

Unbeknownst to Ray, the chain lock on his door silently unlocks itself in the other room as the frightened child on the television set continues to describe her nightmare. As he listens, he realizes it is not his drink that has left the bitter taste on his tongue.

"Then the needle got bigger and bigger and bigger..."

The chain comes undone and dangles tauntingly against the wooden door, scratching it lightly and the TV pops, the screen going dark. With a grunt, he rises from his seat and reaches the set, fiddling with the knobs to get it to work. Out of sight, Kali is the first to enter the apartment, followed closely by Jane and Dottie and the rest.

"Hello, Ray."

The man whirls around, his heart pounding in his chest to find four masked figures standing in his living room.

"Jesus Christ!" He pants, running for the door.

He comes to halt to find a masked Funshine blocking the exit. Funshine stalks forward, getting in his face.

"Sit down. Please."

Ray continues to back up, the larger masked man never ceasing his advances and he is backed into his spot in the living room. He grabbed by the shoulders suddenly and thrown into the chair.

"I said sit." He spits.

He holds out a trembling hand, too afraid to meet their eye.

"Just, please... just take whatever you want."

Axel, leans forward mockingly, his hands on his knees. All the man sees is the tallest of the bunch with a spikey mohawk - which added to his already intimidating height - and contextually unsettling mummy mask over his face.

"Oh, we will." He growls.

Dottie imitates his moves, leaning forward behind her clown mask and tilts her head. "Where's your wallet?"

"Bedroom. My bedroom. My jeans." Ray stutters, gesturing around the corner and Dottie disappears pulling Axel with her.

Funshine stands guard at the only exit at attention, arms crossed his large frame blocking anyone from moving. Axel and Dottie raid his bedroom, stealing not only the money from his wallet but pills from his drawer and anything else of cash value. Meanwhile, El and Kali stand over the cowering man who looks between them swallowing thickly.

He expects the worse, but much to his surprise the taller girl - the one he knew was in charge - took off her mask revealing a familiar face. She glared at him, before giving the ok to her companion. She complies, peeling back the doll mask to reveal a young face. The leader raises a brow.

"Do you remember us?"

Not daring to speak a word, he shakes his head no. The girls do not move but every light, every bulb in the apartment flickers violently. The entire room flashes like a funhouse with a sharp hiss furthering the illusion. The lights darken completely for a brief moment and when they return he is shown two small girls, all too familiar.

"What about us?" The braided girl asks. "Do you remember us, Ray?"

He gapes in fear and the lights flicker once more, the older girls return and he met with a strong right hook to the face. He falls to the ground, hissing in pain where he know rests on his hands and knees. Pleasingly, he looks to their angered and vengeful faces and begins to weep as they did all those years ago.

"Please. Please."

"You hurt Mama." The younger girl spits, disgust and hatred dripping from her voice.

Yet another forceful scream erupts from her throat and she whips her arm out, Ray is sent flying with it. Like the clerk, he is sent into the wall where he lays now cowering in pain and fear. The pale girl with dark eyes marches forward, disgust and rage in her eyes at a mere glance. Her shoulders move rapidly, her breathing increases as she tries to control her hated but it too strong.

Blood drips from his scalp, and his whole body is shaking. He cowers as far as he can into the broken wall, though he can't escape. Kali watches in a trance as she finds the man who haunted her memories and cowered as she did under his wrath. She did nothing to stop Jane as she advances.

"Wait..." he croaks, his voice barely audible. "Wait, please... I just did what he told me to do."

Jane tilts her head, hot angry tears flood her vision but she does not let this break her focus or her goal.

"He said she was sick." He wept.

"You had a choice, Ray," Kali says, her voice stern. "And you chose to follow a man you knew was evil."

Jane throws her hand up and he flinches violently.

"No, wait! No, wait! Wait!"

Jane falters, though her anger does not.

"I can help. I can help you find him."

Kali's jaw clenched and she speaks through gritted teeth. "Find who?"

"Brenner! I can take you to him."

This is enough to shake Jane's confidence. She can feel herself breaking at the mention but it only fuels the emotion. Her eyes cloud and she tries desperately not to allow her voice to break.

"Papa is gone."

Ray shakes his head, a mixture of regret, pity, and guilt cross his face.

"No, he is alive."

"Don't lie to us, Ray."

The man's shoulder begins to shake and he is crying once more, tears streaming freely from his cheeks.

"I'm not lying!" He croaks, his voice falling into pitiful whimpers. "I swear... he trusts me."

Jane watches in horror, her stomach flipping and her heart clenching into impossible knots she fears it will stop beating. She refuses to believe it, she does not want to. She can't.

"I'll take you to him." Ray eases.

"If he is alive, Jane will find him. Just as she found you. Do it, Jane."

But Jane is frozen, she battles the fear of the horrid possibility and yet the image of him replays in her mind on a torturous loop. Four-fifty.

"Do it."

Four fifty.

"Wait."

The man is pulled slightly from the ground, his hands clawing desperately at the invisible hold around his neck. He chokes and gasps for air as Jane scowls at the man, her hand outstretched and clenched. He topples to the floor completely, and his eyes begin to roll back in his head as he slowly moves across the floor from her forceful hold. Jane only looks at him as nothing more than something brought in on someone's shoe.

She follows him, her grip still firm and Kali trails behind her proudly, whispering in her ear.

"Not too quickly." She suggests. "He wasn't so generous with your mother."

Jane watches with satisfaction as he slides across the tile floor, his face turning purple and his going bloodshot. Veins pop from his head and she feels strength in his pain. But her eyes drift to the broken frame near his head. It was him, smiling, his arms wrapped around two young girls.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Axel and Dottie reach the final door in the hallway and swing it open. Their stomachs drop when their eyes land on the sight of two young girls hiding in the corner, clinging to one another and a working phone, 911 on the other line.

"Oh, shit."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Jane releases her grip, her strain lifting and she begins to paint. The man coughs and gasps for breath, but he is relieved. Kali looks to Jane frantically.

"What's wrong?" When she receives no answer, she asks again louder and harsher. "What's wrong?"

Axel appears in the hallway, gesturing to the open door behind him where Dottie appears.

"We got a problem."

"Kids in the apartment." Dottie pants.

"Please..." Ray whimpers.

Kali desperately returns her attention to the task at hand, urgency creeping up.

"Did he show your mother mercy? No."

Ray's cries go ignored as Kali continues to whisper to Jane, her motives and wounds pushing her and Jane stands to stare at the pleading man. Torn.

"He took her from you, without hesitation."

"Please don't. Please."

"We got to go, K!" Axel shouts. "They called the cops."

"We finish this first." She snaps, returning to the girl. "Jane, now!"

"Please don't... Please. Please."

Unable to waste any more time, Kali whips out her gun, pointing it at the man who shrieks in fear. Jane's attention snaps to her hand and with one swift flick of her head, the gun flies across the room and crashes through the window, shattering the glass. Kali looks disbelieving at Jane, fire in her eyes seething and for the first time, Jane falters. Her eyes flicker to the ground and once again she feels like a scolded pet, nothing more than she was in the lab.

"Kali, we gotta go!" Axel shouts, running down the hallway Dottie on his tail.

Sirens were approaching and only then did they snap out of their trances. They fled down the apartment and out of the back door and down the stairs. They fumble across the grass out back, the police already swarming the apartment from the parking lot. Just in time and as promised, Mick pulls the van to a halting stop at the curb where it waits for them

The van is in motion before the door closed and when they find themselves ok the open road, Kali begins to speak. She turns to Jane, who sits beside her, her arms folded in and she closed off. Tears streak down her cheeks but this does not lessen Kali's venom.

"If you wanted to show mercy, that is your choice. But don't you ever take away mine. Ever. Do you understand?" Her voice raises as she gets in Jane's face. "Do you understand?"

Jane flinches, her breathing still heavy and spotty but all she can do is look away swallowing the bitter taste.

+++

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[coffeeandbyers]

Family | Eleven x Reader _Pt2

Eleven x Male Reader

Warnings: season 2 spoilers, angst??

“Are you okay?”

“Does it hurt?”

It’s been an hour and all Jane did was pester you with questions. It was quickly getting tiresome, so you turn around to face her, “Jane, darling, I’m fine. See? I can stand, I just have to be careful.” Jane’s face turn pink - the sweet name you begun calling her always got to her head, making her warm inside. She looked down at her gloved hands, “Sorry...sweetheart.”

“W-what?”

Jane looks back up, oblivious and embarrassed. “I.. I thought we call each other names like that..” You can’t help but laugh, instantly wincing and clutch your side, making Jane grab your arm in worry. “I’m fine. Jane, I call everyone darling, well, besides guys. I call them ‘dude’ or something.”

“I thought you do if you.like someone. Mike used to say I’m pretty, and he asked be to the Snow Ball. We’re..’more than friends’.”

“Oh. People do that, but sometimes just to be nice. This Mike guy, is he why you’re going back?” You give no expression, but she can hear the doubt in your voice, and shifts on her feet. “Yes..friends don’t lie. I promised I’d see him again.” A sigh came from you, “Well. I’ll miss you.” You both stare at each other, and ever-so slowly subconsciously moving closer. 

Jane was the first one to notice and pulled away before contact, “Me too.” You feel your chest tighten as you step back, “I..I think I heard Kali calling for me? Yeah,” Without another word, Jane watches you walk - with a small limp - up the staircase to the second floor, leaving her alone.

She smiles to herself, think about what would have happened. But she had to go to Mike. Her family needed her. 

When she thought about the Wheeler boy, she felt different. She didn’t have that..fluttery, happy feeling anymore.

“Jane! Get in!” You hold out your hand for her, and she grabs your hand. You begin to pull her in, but at the last second Jane seemed to have a change of mind, and she pulls away with a jerk. You stumble out of the van, barely catching your balance as pain erupted up your abdomen.

“(Y/n)!” Kali shouts, and a hand grabs your arm. You’re pulled out of the way just as a bullet brushes past your head. Jane looks around at the chaos, eyes filled with uncertainty. 

“Jane! Get in, there’s nothing for you back there.” Kali yells at her, and you reach out again. “Please, stay..” Her heart literally shatters at the look on your face, of pure hurt and hope. “They can’t save you, Jane.” Kali says one last time, Mick and Axel’s shouts getting more frantic. Jane reaches into her pocket and finally grabs your hand. Something is placed in your hand before she lets go. You look to see the Twix bar, only it was half gone. “No, but I can save them.”

Without a second thought you push yourself up and in front of the girl dressed in black, the girl, even from the little time you known her, you grew to care for and like. Her eyes widen when your lips fall upon her own, harsh yet sweet. Your hand holds her face as Jane takes it all in. 

“We’re out of time!” Axel’s voice draws you two out of your shared moment all too soon. Kali was staring, an unknown look in her eyes. “(Y/n).” Jane shakes her head, “I’m sorry.” Kali was the one to drag you back in, and the last things Jane heard before you both fled the scene was:

“Save your family, Eleven.”

She didn’t stop running when the van’s tires screeched, racing away from the hide out she found herself at home in. Her eyes stung with tears, her throat tightening as she allowed herself to let it out. Her legs got tired after a while, and she caught her breath by a gas station, the one you all stopped at. Jane looks in the direction she came from, hugging herself.

Rain poured down, and Jane shivers as she walks down the path. She wanted to go back, to go back to you. But you were gone, and she had to let it go.

A bright light illuminated the empty, slippery street, blinding her, and she turned around as a old van pulled up on the other side of the street: but she knew it was for her. Her breath caught in her throat as the sliding door opened, a familiar face greeting her. (Y/n), Kali, Dottie - Jane couldn’t help but let out a joyful shout when you held out your hold for the millionth time that day, She ran across the street, shoes splashing into a few puddles but she ignored it.

She arms wrapped around you, her face nuzzled into your chest. You squeeze her once, “Come on. You’re going home.”

Okay the end! I thought it’d be cute for that ending, instead of El walking all the way to Mike the group found her after losing those bastard cops. EPIC MILEVEN MEETING THO

I hope you liked it..

[coffeeandbyers]

Number Six | Kali Prasad (008)

Kali x Male Reader

Summary: Before Jane, you stumble into and join Kali’s group of outcasts. You’re revealed as one of the missing children from the lab all those years ago, and Kali instantly gains an interest in you

Fluff, season 2

“You’re one of us. Stay, this is where you belong.” You turn to Kali after shaking Mick’s hand, and stare at the dark-skinned girl, “Is this what you do? Bring other in?” Your voice shakes as you shiver, wrapping your arms around yourself despite the warm clothes you had just gotten. You had stumbled across Kali and her group when she found you over the bad man she was after, blood on your hands.

It was obvious to her you weren’t normal, and after persuading, brought you to her hideout - otherwise, home.

Kali nods, stepping close to you and taking a deep breath, “Home for the broken and forgotten. We’re all family. Join us, (Y/n).” You close your eyes for a second in thought, reopening them only to see Kali holding out her hand. You grab it, confused, before everything around you changes. You were back in the room with the dead man who did you wrong all those years ago back in Hawkins lab.

Kali watches you look around, “(Y/n), why did you kill that man?” You answer without a second thought, “He hurt me when I was a child. He hurt all the others, I wanted to..feel closure,” She turns around, looking down at the man. She processes what you’d said, piecing it all together. “Who are you,”

“I would ask the same thing, but I already know. Eight.”

She twists around, eyes wide, and just stares at you. The scene fades back into the warehouse, she doesn’t hesitate to grab your arm and yank your sleeve up. The others watch in curiosity.

Kali turns your arm so your wrist was face-up, and see the numbers 006 in slightly faded ink. She looks up and into your (e/c) eyes, “What is your gift?”

“Will it be of use?”

“We’ll find something,” She replied easily, crossing her arms. You pause for a moment, planning your next move, before giving a wide grin. “So be it,” You look over to the group watches, and point to Dottie. “There.” In a second, Kali swears she sees you glitch and disappear. She spins around when Dottie lets out an excited shout, only to see you between her and Axel, who as also surprised. “I can teleport at will,” You sigh out, “Just a few times a day, though. I’m still not that strong with it, it’s not a pleasant feeling to literally have yourself break apart..”

Kali raises an eyebrow, but can’t help the grin forming on her lips as you grin at her. There was something about you that peaked her interest: maybe you will be useful after all.