𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 ⟿ s. harrington

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART

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A TRIP IN A STOLEN WINNEBAGO ALLOWED THE GROUP TO RECOLLECT IN SOFT-SPOKEN WORDS IN A COMFORTABLE SILENCE. It was a sweet and easy road trip that one day they all wished they could take again, this time across the country— far from Hawkins, and banded together, not by the end of the world doom, but for the fun of the family they made together. That one day was all they could hope for.

Up front, Steve Harrington sat alone as he listened to the radio play gently over the speakers. It was the most relaxed he felt in months. Maybe things weren't in the best of place, but after this, he had to count on the idea of them at least starting to come together the way they were supposed to. When a heavy weight of a hand rested on his shoulder, he tensed up wishing that it was instead Alex Henderson to come keep him company.

He hadn't bothered to give a glance over his shoulder, knowing who had approached him for a private conversation. The way the hand rested gently, but with a purpose, it could have only been Nancy Wheeler. Eddie Munson would have made it a point to be heard before giving a sharp smack to Steve's arm. Robin would have raced to the driver's seat, throwing her weight against the back-- most likely after a slight trip of her feet that would land her in that position. And Alex would have wrapped her arms around him from behind. Her touch would have been enough to feel that this journey was going to work in their favor. Whatever it was, she had that touch that would immediately bring a sense of safety.

Giving a quick glance over to Nancy as she slipped into the passenger seat, he hadn't bothered to return the smile she sent his way. Rather, he readjusted himself in his seat and kept his eyes focused on the road in front of him. It was reasonable for him to be angry-- he was stuck in a losing battle to protect all those around him and Nancy had been the one to fight against him with her quick decisions to let others take the fall to save the world.

For a moment, Steve held his breath to keep calm. Brewing up another fight about the plans ahead would only delay them further. Any delay meant that Vecna would claim another victim and he would only be one step closer to claiming Hawkins as his own. Finally resting back, he questioned her, "Did you make your round of apologies?"

Nancy's smile faltered while looking at him with an open mouth. Shaking her head, she acted more surprised than she felt with his tone of voice. "Yeah," she scoffed softly. "Listen, Alex said she'd come with us and Max isn't backing down. I know you're trying to protect them..."

"Yeah, well, Nance, you shouldn't have made it sound like it was our only option. I just think... I don't know, maybe there's something else we could do instead. Alex stays with Max or... or better yet, Max doesn't go through with this insane idea of a plan. The two of them stay put and we go chop off this creeps head or drive a stake through his heart... whatever. Anything but this."

"Except you know that we need him busy and we can't risk the fact that we have no idea who his next victim would be. There's no pattern, no sense to it." Nancy's eyes stayed on him as he kept his silence. Rather than give him that chance to sit deep in thought and come up with another plan to debate over, she cleared her throat knowingly. "Steve, Max is refusing to listen to Alex too. And Alex..." Letting out a breathy laugh, she turned her eyes away from him and focused on the dashboard in front of her. "She's made it clear to me that you don't get to do this without her. You know that I love Alex a tremendous amount and I know I make mistakes. Sometimes... sometimes I don't think I deserve her as a friend. And, uh, I know this plan I came up with is crazy and... and I'm sure it won't be perfect. And if her or Max dies... I'll take that blame. You can yell at me, hate me for the rest of our lives for whatever happens, but I truly believe this is our best shot at killing him."