Peter Ballard Imagines

Afraid

Peter Ballad (stranger things) x Gender Neutral!Reader

Requested by Anon

You didn't like Peter. There was something about him. Though he was calm and angelic looking there was something about him that made the back of your neck tingle. Nerves built whenever he was too close and there was something in the pit of your stomach that told you to run.

"Good morning." Peter said as you passed him. You smiled politely and tried to hurry past but he stopped you. "Are you working with Dr Brenner today?"

"No. He delayed the checkups. There's a new test today." You explained. He nodded and moved on. You got the impression that he assumed that the two of you were friends. When you ate lunch he would sit with you, passing in the corridor he would stop to chat even if you tried to hurry away. If you were on a shift in the medic room he was the one that brought all of the lab kids to you, no one else could manage it. It wasn't that you didn't like him. It was just that there was something off about him.

He seemed to try a great deal to get you to befriend him. You tried to imagine a reason why he would befriend you, one that was a good reason, but all you could come up with was nightmarishly devious and something you couldn't truly fathom.

You thought perhaps that you were simply over exaggerating your uncomfortable assumptions. Until the halls filled with screams.

"Eight come with me." You insisted as one of the guards tried to guide you out. You could hear the screaming getting closer and once you were nearly out, one of the security guards that you'd run into helped hurry you to the exit.

"What about the other children?" You asked.
"Are you insane? Did no one tell you about number one? The rumours. I'm getting out of here." The guard said. He agreed to take Eight as you turned to go back. You wished you hadn't as you saw the state of the corridors and tried not to vomit.

You heard yelling and slowly made your way to the rainbow room. The closer you got the more certain that you were, you'd embarked on a fool's errand. Almost turning back the cries ahead of you drew you forwards. You tried to push the doors open but they wouldn't budge. When they finally opened you stumbled through, falling to your knees and looking up. Eleven was in the air and you tried desperately not to look around the room. At the people you'd spent over a year caring for since you'd started working for Brenner. You had saved Eight. You might be able to help Eleven you thought.

"(Y/N)." Peter said as his attention turned to you.

"Let her go." You snapped quickly. Your bravery was beginning to waver as you took in his blood-stained clothes. It had been on rocky ground until now. But you couldn't quite find the strength to get to your own feet.

"I can't." he said calmly as if the ruins of the labs around didn't exist. The frantic look in Eleven's eyes as she tried to look at you had you finding the courage again. Or adrenaline. You couldn't tell the difference now. "If you listen. I can explain. You'd understand. We're friends. I know you'd understand. You hate this place too. You fear him as much as we do."

"You did all this instead of helping anyone in here." You said quietly. Taking hesitant steps forward you wonder if you could get yourself between Peter and Eleven. The rainbow room was several floors away from the nearest exit that you knew about. But maybe you could buy her time and someone would find her.

"I saved us. All three of us. I know that's what you wanted. We're friends. I know you wanted this place destroyed." He said. He wasn't wrong. You'd once been so infuriated with Brenner that you had complained about the lab. Peter had latched onto your frustration. By now you had gotten close enough that you were between him and Eleven. He was leaning down and trying to look as innocent as one could while being covered in blood.

"I still don't like you." You snapped and glared at him. He frowned and straightened up. He didn't see your fist swing for him and it collided with his face just sharply enough for him to drop Eleven. You grabbed at her, thinking that you had enough time. But as you reached the doors you were both yanked backwards. You felt yourself fly through the air and you lost your balance. With a pained grunt, you collided with one of the walls. Your head smacked against the tile and you found yourself feeling dizzier. You tried to get up but before you could do anything, you fell into darkness. You woke up in the Hawkins hospital. There were flowers on the table next to the hospital bed. You could see one of the notes on a bouquet was from your neighbour Joyce Byers. It said something about taking care of your pets until you were better.

Brenner was sitting in a wooden chair with a blue cushioned seat. He hadn't noticed that you were awake. He was looking over his folder. He would want to ask you about what happened. You didn't want to think about what happened. How you'd probably failed Eleven. How Eight was out alone. How all of the evidence you'd gathered to shut down the program was probably lost. Or worse. Brenner had found it. What would he do to you if he had? You tried to close your eyes. But when you did you could see his face, burned into your mind.

"I told you (Y/N). You're afraid of him too." A deep voice said in your mind. As clearly as your own thoughts. You sat bolt upright and doctors rushed in and tried to hold you down. Brenner was across the room watching curiously as you panicked. "Now you are trapped alone with him." The voice continued.