sitting, waiting, wishing - 001/human vecna/Henry Creel

sixteen.

We have our plan. Right before the sun rises and the night crew shift switches, we will set out on our journey to leave the lab. After reviewing Henry's map, we must quickly leave the hallway and make our way down to the boiler room. Our bodies are too big to fit in the normal tunnel leading out of the lab, but there is another exit down there. The trick is getting there quickly, without suspicion, without being caught. We have to leave together, avoiding causing any trouble or noise.

I clean up my room and we place the Soteria tracker underneath my bed. I change into a fresh black tee shirt that matches Henry's, I grab Pride and Prejudice, and we quietly leave my room. We walk quickly but calmly, avoiding running and peering around corners to make sure nobody is around. As we come quickly down the stairs into the boiler room, we run into a man cleaning the walls and dusting the steps. His eyes are wide as he tries to grab for his walkie, but I take over his mind with anger, with the feelings of abandonment and anxiety. His body levitates in the air, and I grab his walkie. Henry puts his hand on my arm and says, "You okay to keep going?" I nod and wipe the blood from my nose, and his body falls to the ground as I lose eye contact with him. As we enter the boiler room, the dim blue lighting calms my nerves as we search for the exit. I follow Henry's lead through the unfamiliar room, and he stops in front of the rickety, dusty fire exit. A cobweb-covered window holds our fate. I look at him for reassurance as he grins down at me. "This it it." He says softly. As we try to creak the old window open, we hear a loud door shutting. The loud sounds of voices and the dim shadow figures and flashlights quickly follow our path. "This can't be happening," he says quietly before grabbing my free hand and running to the other flight of stairs. We fly out the double-doors into the hallway, and I feel like I've been here before. I know who is waiting for us before I even see his smug face and ugly suit. Behind Brenner, two armed guards protect him. "I knew there was something going on between you two," He begins, obviously preparing some monologue ending in our demise. I look to Henry, whose eyes are fixed onto me. His thumb softly strokes my hand as he holds it, and I just want to tell him I love him. "I ignored it because I thought better of you, 001. After all the years we've spent together, I thought you wouldn't give up all of your privileges for some stupid..." I close my eyes, letting Brenner's words fade into the back of my mind. I focus on my love for him, and I broadcast it to him quickly. I shout 'I love you! to him, and I know he can hear me and feel me. I quickly come back to reality, wiping the blood from my nose, and hearing Brenner's words once again. "And for you, 022, I had big plans for you. Were you really planning on running away? Is that it? Do you love each other? You don't know what love is. He doesn't care about you, 022. He's using you. Your kind isn't capable of love. I'm the only one that is going to show you your true power.." I hear his voice fade away as my senses are overcome with his smell, his touch, the way his lips feel, the way his voice sounds. I see us together, I think of how much I love him. I know he's making me do it, it's his way of telling me that everything that Brenner says isn't true. I already knew that, but it's nice to have his reassurance. As my mind swims back to the present, Brenner is still continuing his monologue. "You're going to come back with me to your rooms, and both of your privileges are going to be revoked. I tried with both of you, but you've proved you cannot be trusted. Now, follow my orders and maybe we can reason a bit more." He points his finger at the wall like we're animals, but neither of us budge. I don't need to speak with him to know that we aren't going down. He doesn't know how powerful I have become, or that Henry even has his powers back after being weakened from Soteria. I squeeze his hand tighter in three quick pulses, then two, then one last time before letting go. At the same time, we both lift the armed guards to the ceiling, hit them against the tiles, and drop them to the ground. Brenner watches the guards crumple on the floor, and then turns to us. "It looks like I've underestimated you two." He says, holding out his hands, pleading. "If you come with me, I'll make your life better. You don't know anything about the real world. I can give you a good life here. You can have your privileges back, I promise." I look at Henry with sympathy, and he nods. I shake my head, and I nod to him. I look at his expression, and I make mine say, Do it. This man has traumatized, abused, and ruined Henry's life since he was 12 years old. If anyone deserves to kill him, it's him. Brenner has relaxed, he thinks that our expressional banter is about taking his offer, but he has no idea what's coming. I look to Henry one last time before putting all of my energy into lifting Brenner off the ground for him, and holding him in place. His face is terrified and scared, but still holds the same smug and evil look it always does. It's not like how he was in his coma, he holds all of his vile disgust in his expression. I watch as Henry stares at him with so much hurt, so many years of pain and suffering. There is no evil in his eyes, only sadness. He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. His silence speaks louder than any last words could, and he jerks his neck to the side. I watch as Brenner's body falls to the ground, limp. Henry looks at him, and then we run quickly down the hallway away from it all. We hear the shouting and static walkie noises fade into the background as we slip out of a side door.

We walk through the woods, feeling the fresh air in our nostrils for the first time in so long. He holds me tight as we walk, and I feel the weight of the world lift off of my shoulders. This once plain world has never been brighter, and I am next to the person who illuminates me. I still hold on tightly to the copy of Pride and Prejudice that represents our hope. I don't know where we will go, but we are free. As we walk through the peaceful small town, I know that there is nowhere else I'd rather be in the world than next to him. We love each other, and we no longer have to wait or wish for our happy ending. Our happiness is here, but the story is just beginning.

(Authors note - wow. This story is finished! I cannot believe it. I hope you guys are happy with the ending. I took components from episode 7 of season 4 and tweaked them (a lot obviously) to have our final ending. But, this is the END of sitting, waiting, wishing! I will be posting one more part to this story that is simply answering some questions I've gotten from readers and a couple extra things! Feel free to check that out if you'd like! Now, this is not the end to my account. I will be working on some more fanfics of Stranger Things characters very soon! So, if you're a fan of Eddie, Jonathan, Mike, or Steve or any others stay tuned! If there are any characters you'd like to see fics from by me, comment and let me know! Sending so much love to you all. Thanks for reading!)

Please go check out my Eddie x Reader fanfic, Hellraiser, and my Jonathan x Reader fanfic, Memories Can't Wait!