ruby's body ━━ steve harrington

026. 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐰𝐧

So now, she trudges around the lab hallways, annoyed and upset.

"Ruby..." Her grandpa's voice rings through the hallways, over the speakers. "Ruby, I need to talk to you, they need your help..."

"They always do!" she groans, rolling her eyes.

She starts walking back to her room. At least she can barricade herself in there, far away from whatever experiment her grandpa wants her to be involved in.

Ruby has given up. Not on life, but like, she's done with her powers. She's almost died too many times for this now. Her boyfriend is in constant danger now, because of her. Her sister has always found herself in trouble, same as her dad, but Ruby's done with fixing things that aren't because of her. All she wants is to be normal, and yet, there's this massive weight on her shoulders, demanding her to do the right thing. But she can't put herself first, because if she stops helping, it's all on Eleven. Ruby madly wishes she could give up.

She pushes open the door to her room, and as it closes, she notices her grandpa standing in front of her. Ruby starts to step backwards, refusing to do this, but her grandpa already begins to plead.

"Ruby, please!"

"Give me a break," she snaps.

"I'm not your grandpa!" he — it? — says.

Ruby raises an eyebrow. "So... who are you? Jesus?"

Her grandpa gives her a dirty look, and Ruby recognises it as something she'd dish out. "Well, think for a second. This is your memory, your subconscious... I don't know, maybe I'm a projection of your own mind, dressing up like your grandpa because it fits for this memory?" it suggests to her. "Come on, Rubes."

"Could you, like, not dress up like someone that traumatised me, then?"

Her subconscious, disguised as her grandpa, rolls her eyes. Ruby's reminded this presence is, in fact, herself. "I've got to fit this memory or else he will know something's wrong."

Ruby frowns. "Who's he?"

"I can't say his name, dummy?" her grandpa (her subconscious?) says. "Then he'll know we're talking about him!"

"Oh," says Ruby, eyes narrowing. "You mean... tentacle guy?"

"Yeah," says her subconscious, in Dr. Brenner's voice. "Tentacle guy."

This is so weird.

"Look, Steve's in trouble," says her grandpa. "You need to help him — we need to help him."

Ruby pauses, and looks around for a moment.

"How the fuck do you suggest that?" she argues. "Did you forget something, like the fact that my — our — body has been possessed, and I'm trapped here?"

"No," says Brenner. "God, we need to listen before we react sometimes. I can help you free, Jesus Christ, and then you can save Steve. But tentacle guy is trying to push me out. It's only a matter of time before you're on your own again..."

"OK," says Ruby. "So how—?"

"You've escaped this place before, haven't you?"

Ruby grimaces. "Has it seriously been that easy to leave?"

"Yeah, if you go now, before he realises what you're doing!" says her subconscious. Her grandpa's body puts his hands on his hips, rolling his eyes again. Does she seriously roll her eyes that often? "He's distracted right now, he's using your body and Billy's to fight the kids—"