𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝︱steve harrington

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟗. show me where my armor ends.

"It wasn't your fault," Elijah declares firmly. He presses his hand over Nancy's knee and feels it tremble under his touch as if she was barely holding herself together. "How could you have known, Nancy? You didn't. So you can either wallow in guilt or strap your armor on and smoke this son of a bitch that took your best friend from you." He waits until Nancy finally lifts her head to look at him, really look at him, and see the determined stare to end this thing once and for all.

The door pushes open and Jonathan, who must have been drawn to them, strolls in. His gaze fell on them. If Elijah wasn't gay, he would've probably been worried at the sight of Elijah holding the knee of the girl he was crushing on. But he only gives them a sad smile before planting next to Elijah's other side.

The three bask in silence for a while. It's nice to have such a calm feeling before being hit with the storm they know is coming.

"We have to go back to the station," Nancy finally admits. She stares at her knees, hard. "Your mom and Hopper are just walking in there like bait. That thing is still in there. And we can't just sit here and let it get them, too." Her voice breaks. "We can't."

Elijah knows Nancy is talking from hatred instead of guilt this time. She loathes the thing that will haunt them forever, that cut her best friend's life short. His words gave Nancy the final push she needed. She was on his side, ready to kill the monster. All they needed was Jonathan.

He at least seems interested. It's hard to pick apart Jonathan's feelings. Elijah still struggled to do so even after having been friends for so long. "You still wanna try it out?" He asks.

"Of course we do," Elijah answers as if that was the most obvious, clear answer in the world.

He'd never start something he wasn't able to finish and neither would Nancy who nods. "I wanna finish what we started. I want to kill it."

The three of them - Elijah, Nancy, and Jonathan - are no longer two. Elijah opened himself enough for Nancy Wheeler of all people to join because he admired everything she was. She was exactly what the boys needed to become the perfect trio. Elijah, his creativity, leadership, and rage that could get him killed one day. Jonathan, his intelligence, loyalty, prepared to follow those he loved to the end of the world. And Nancy, her ambition, fighting skills, it was what made her the perfect soldier.

And even though they felt perfectly balanced, Elijah still felt empty. He couldn't help but wonder if something was missing even when everything he wanted was right in front of him.

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The Byers's house seems to be the perfect place to draw the monster in. It was quiet, further from Hawkins's already small town. No one would suspect what they were doing. No one would be able to see the bear traps, gasoline, ropes, firearm, bullets, and other various weapons they snagged from the station that had them in custody. It felt amazing and powerful all at once to have their shit back. Elijah hadn't stopped grinning until the beam of the headlights hit the house. His gut starts to churn.

The awful feeling grows every minute they take to step up. They don't waste time to brace themselves for the inevitable. Jonathan uses chains to keep the bear trap in place while Nancy loads the gun and Elijah splatters the gasoline across the maroon carpet. He makes a mental note to apologize to Mrs. Byers later. The strong smell is going to be impossible to get out and if they're lucky enough to send this thing back to Hell, the fuzz will be charred and covered in ash.