Galaxies Apart (Marvel X Stranger Things) ON HOLD

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Dakota's POV

"Dustin, can your hear me? Dustinn!"

I jolted awake and looked around, confused for a minute. "Earth to Dustin."

I yawned and got up, grabbing Dustin's walkie talkie off the coffee table. "Hey, it's Dakota. What's up?"

"Maximoff, hey! Um, I'm gonna need a food delivery, like, really soon, unless you want me going out into the world-"

"No, no. Don't do that." I yawned again and sighed. "Just stay where you are, and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Yeah, yeah, listen. Um, can you...pick me up a six pack?" I rolled my eyes. "I know it's stupid as shit, drinking right now, but uh cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I looked around the Wheeler basement, everyone still asleep.

"Ooh and do you think you can-"

"Shit!" I cursed, realizing Max was gone. "Eddie look, I'll be right back, okay?"

"Wait! No, don't-" I turned the walkie talkie off and ran over to Dustin, shaking him awake.

"Dustin!"

"Mmm..."

"Dustin, wake up!" I hissed angrily. "You were supposed to be on Max watch!"

He suddenly awoke and rubbed his eyes. "Mm, yup. Yup, yup, yup."

"Where is she?" I demanded and he looked toward the empty couch Max was supposed to be sleeping in.

"She's right-" He cut himself.  "...she was there a second ago. I swear I just dozed off for..." he looked at his watch, his eyes widening. "An hour."

I inhaled angrily and he sent me an apologetic look.

"If she's not upstairs you are in so much trouble." I sneered and he gulped.

I turned on my heels and ran up the stairs with him right behind me. We looked around frantically before walking into the kitchen and I sighed in relief when I caught sight of her sitting at the table.

"Morning guys!" A voice exclaimed and I jumped. "Everything okay?" Nancy's mom asked and I nodded.

"Yeah..." I took a deep breath. "Everything's okay."

Karen came up beside me with a pan of bacon in her hands. "I think it's so sweet that you all are sticking together like this." She smiled.

I nodded, running a hand through my messy hair just as Max turned around and caught sight of us.

I smiled at her.

"Could try sticking together at a different house for a change." Mr. Wheeler muttered and I rolled my eyes, leaving Dustin with Nancy's parents and joining Max at the table.

She took her headphones off as I sat down. "Am I in trouble?" She asked.

"Why would you be in trouble?"

"I didn't tell you I was coming up here." She said, setting her crayon down. "I know I'm supposed to tell you  guys so you don't think Vecna got me again..."

"No, no." I looked down at her drawings. "It's fine, I just, after yesterday, I need you to be safe. Did you sleep well?"

She shook her head. "No, people kept blasting music in my ears for some reason."

I chuckled and studied her drawings more carefully. They were so detailed but at the same time, super vague.

"Holly let me borrow some of her crayons." She looked across the table toward the little girl. "We're having a fun morning, right Holly?"

The girl hummed and I smiled before pointing to one of Max's drawings. "Is this what you saw last night?"

"I mean, it's supposed to be." She sighed. "I thought it'd be easier to draw it out than to explain it, but... not so much."

My gaze landed on another drawing, but unlike the others, this one had two skeletons on some type of tree. "Is that...?"

Max nodded. "It was like they were on display, or something. And then there was this red fog everywhere." I looked up at her. "It was like a dream. A nightmare."

"Do you think Vecna's just trying to scare you." Dustin joined our conversation and Max nodded again.

"With Billy? Yeah. But when I made it here..." She gestured to the drawings. "I don't know, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like he didn't want me there."

Dustin leaned forward. "Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his?"

"Like Freddie Krueger's boiling room?" I asked.

"Freddie Krueger?" Holly repeated.

"He's a super burned up dude with razors for fingers." Dustin told her. "And he kills you in your dreams."

"Dustin!" I scolded.

He stopped and I shook my head. "Don't worry, it's just a movie." I told Holly. "It's not real."

"Just...think about it." Dustin said, turning the conversation back to Max and Vecna. "What if you somehow unlocked a back door to Vecna's world?  Like, maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing." He picked one of them up before cursing. "God, we need Will!"

"No shit." Max said. "But I tried them again this morning and it's the same busy signal."

I sighed and looked down at the drawings again. One in particular caught my eye and I picked it up.

"Is this a window?" I asked Max and she nodded.

"Yeah."

"Stained glass with roses?"

"Yeah. See? I'm not so terrible after all." She joked.

"Well, it helps that I've seen it before." I muttered, grabbing all her other drawings and folding some of them.

"What are you-"

I grabbed a sharpie and started connected the lines, adding a few windows to the drawing.

"It's pieces of a house." Max realized.

I added the final drawing. "Not just any house." I stood up. "It's Victor Creel's house."

"What? How do you know?" Dustin asked.

"I did my research." I said, exiting the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" He yelled.

"To wake the others!" I responded before heading down to the basement and grabbing a pillow off the couch, smacking everyone awake.

"Hey! What the hell?"

"Dakota!"

"What are you-"

"Steve, control your girlfriend!"

"C'mon!" I smacked Lucas. "We don't have all day guys!"

"What? What's going on?" Nancy asked tiredly.

I sighed and looked around at everyone who had just woken up. "We think we know where Vecna's hiding."