mercy ; peter ballard

37. m r l o v e r m a n

mike pushes himself up, plastering a gritted smile as if max could even see it. "you know, what i'm going on a walk. you guys stay here and figure this shit out without me." he mumbles under his breath as he leaves the room, "not having this stupid argument again."

"max," lucas began.

"fuck off. you guys need to stop letting him take the reigns before he gets us all killed," max scoffed, crossing her arms.

september 9, 1986

bea awoke to the sound of robin's walkie going off. its static noise filled the room, alerting everyone. steve gripped the remote to the cage in his hand as the noise startles him.

"we need everyone at the lab now. they took mike. i repeat! they took goddamn mike!" dustin yelled through the phone.

robin hastily replied, "who? the government? vecna?"

"vecna, i think! mike went out for a walk and never came home. we found his walkie on the ground this morning. the government would've taken us all."

"fuck," steve mumbled under his breath.

bea placed a hand on her stomach. she could feel the child's faint energy radiating.

'your father is coming,' she assured in her head.

"lock down the lab," joyce's voice echoed. "they know where we are. we don't have time to relocate her."

'well, this is a wonderful tuesday morning.' bea was finally going home and these goons could finally give up.

the walkies began to go in and out. he was here. bea smiled as the lights flickered.

"you want to talk? let's talk," peter said, walking into the meeting room. will and eddie followed behind, holding mike. peter looks to the boys. "let him go."

eddie nods and shoves him forward. mike runs to the other side of the table where the rest of the group were.

"where the fuck is my wife?" peter demanded raising his voice.

hopper walked closer. "watch what you say, pretty boy."

peter raises his chin. "i don't think you understand who has the upper hand here, sir. i swear, if i find even a scratch on her, i will make the rest of your miserable life hell."

joyce immediately turns the attention to will. "oh my god, will! you're okay!"

she gestures for will to come to her, but he stays resilient. peter holds and arm in front of will. "no," he replies, firmly.

joyce ignores peter. "sweetie, they are putting these ideas in your head. they are not your family. we are. if you come home, bea can go free."

"bullshit! it's all just bullshit to save your own asses! we are taking bea and going home! i would recommend you stay out of the way."

jonathan stays quiet. they all knew he was right. they only had their own interests in mind.

mike glared at will. he wasn't mad at will. he was mad at himself. how did he let things get too far? he should've just listened. listened to bea. listened to will. listened to everyone. he fucked up.

the group began picking up whatever could be used as a weapon and armed themselves. eleven raised her hands to attack.

peter shrugged, smirking. "suit yourselves."

eddie smiled as he raised his arms. suddenly, demobats began to fill the room. while the group was distracted, peter and will run to find bea. eleven was distracted so he could finally sense where bea was. will followed behind as peter lead the way.

peter stops at a door. he knew what this led to. he tried to open the door, but it was locked. he gently pushes will further back and makes some space between the door and himself. he braces himself and kicks the door in.

bea perks up at the sight of her husband. "peter!"

he walks quickly towards her. "shield yourself, my love."

bea pulls her knees to her chest and covers her head. the glass that held her captive shattered. she dusted the glass off the sleeves of her sweater and ran into peter's arms. robin and steve stayed curled up in the back corner of the room.

"are you hurt? did they hurt you? is the baby alright?" he asked, anxiously inspecting her.

"peter, i'm okay."

he places a sweet kiss on her lips. "i'm so sorry, bea," peter said, holding her like she was going to disappear again. "i was supposed to protect you and i failed."

bea rested her head on his chest. "it's okay. it's not your fault."

peter opened his arms and included will into their reunion. bea placed a kiss on will's head then sighed. "i missed you boys."

robin's perception changed of the man. he was not a monster. he was a father. he would do anything to protect them. and he did. bea was happy for once in a long time because of him.

steve tried to get up, but robin stopped him. "no. let them go."

"rob-"

"steve," she whispered. "let them go."

steve hesitantly gave up.

the reunion was short lived. they needed to escape.

"where's eddie?" bea asked.

"eddie and the demobats are distracting them. eddie will meet us in the lobby area," peter said, grasping bea's hand. bea nods in response. bea intertwines her hands with will's too. peter begins to guide them through the familar hallways towards the lobby.