CHAPTER SIXTEEN — PAPA
PART TWO
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FORMING A plan was seemingly more difficult than actually executing one. They brainstormed dozens of ways on how to carry through with Max's idea, plus Dustin's original theory, until Eddie slapped a newspaper onto the table.
The group formed around him. Jackie read the image he was pointing at, which showed a man with long hair holding a gun, the American flag in the background. "Check this out," he said. "The War Zone. I've been there once. It's huge. They got everything you need for, uh... well, killing things, basically."
"You think fake Rambo has enough guns there?" Robin asked. "Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?"
"Well, lucky for us it is, so. This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks."
"If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to dome store called the War Zone."
"Without any protection, you mean," Jackie cut in. They turned to look at her in confusion, and she flashed a grin, quickly breaking away from the group. "When Vecna got me here, I had come for two things. To apologize to my mom. And for..." She climbed onto the couch, and reached into one of the cabinets that hung above it. She pushed a box aside, and unwrapped the paper that was hiding the gun Hopper had given her the previous summer. Jackie hopped off the furniture and showed them. "This."
"Well, you've officially lost it," Steve said. "Put those damn headphones on."
"Well, Jackie is supplying us with protection against hicks," Nancy mused. "Anybody else have any concerns?"
"Yes," Dustin spoke up. "It'll take all day to bike there and back."
"I mean, mine and Steve's cars are here," Jackie bit her lip. "But there still wouldn't be enough room to fit all of us, plus our new toys. Some of us could just stay here and hold down the fort."
"I do have an idea," Eddie straightened upright. "It's not exactly a car. And it's not exactly mine, but it'll do."
Jackie grimaced. "I'm not liking the sound of that."
"Hey, Double Trouble," Eddie turned to the Mayfield sisters. "Either of you got a ski mask, or a bandanna, something like that?"
They shared a look. Max nodded her head after a moment. "I may have something."
Eddie looked absolutely ridiculous in Max's old Halloween mask, and it took everything inside of Jackie not to bust out laughing. He quickly explained the plan, and soon, they were all outside, ducking behind a trailer. Eddie peaked out, and then ushered for them to follow. Traveling in a big group like this wasn't exactly subtle, and Jackie was shocked with how well they were pulling it off.
They maneuvered through the trailer park, until they were at the end. Eddie let them to the side of a decent sized RV, and slid open a window. He easily climbed into it. Steve paused, looking to Jackie. "Is your ankle healed enough for something like this?"
"Trust me, if it was hurting, I'd be making it everyone's problem," she eyed his worried expression, then sighed. "I'm okay. Promise."
They piled into the camper one by one, until finally, they were all safely inside. Eddie hotwired it from the front. Jackie watched him, dubiously. The engine roared to life, and the owners started to pound on the door.
"Oh, shit."
Chaos erupted, and Steve demanded they all found something to grab on to. Jackie fell into one of the couches next to Robin as the vehicle began to rock with every movement. "They look pissed!" Dustin yelled.
"It's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop," Robin replied.
Jackie threw her head back against the cushioning with a laugh. "God, we're already turning into hicks, and we aren't even in the store yet."
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War Zone was huge—Eddie hadn't been lying. And it was crazy busy. Jackie stood from the couch along with the others, and caught sight of the gash on Steve's neck. She hadn't really gotten the chance to really look at him since he'd been back, and she realized that he was covered in dirt and dried blood.
She lifted her gaze to see that he'd caught her staring, and she awkwardly pursed her lips and looked away. "We're going to be fast, okay?" Nancy said. "This is a quick stop. We don't need to run into anyone we might know."
"I guess we're all Zoomer now," Jackie mused. Max smiled from her spot next to Lucas.
The inside was even more intimidating. They all agreed once again to be fast, and hurriedly went their separate ways. Jackie found the right bullets to the gun she already had in possession, and piled a few boxes into the cart. She turned the aisle and found Steve trying on some jackets.
"Oh, hey. What do you think of this?"
Jackie had to bite her tongue to stop her actual thoughts from spilling out. Ones that were probably not appropriate for an ex-girlfriend to say. "You look good in green, Harrington. But your collar is messed up."
"Where?" He fumbled with it. Jackie snorted a laugh, temporarily abandoning her cart to sidle over to him. She didn't think twice before reaching up to adjust the piece of clothing, and Steve went still under her touch. The fabric was heavy as she flipped it over, and she was trying very hard to focus on that, rather than the fact that Steve was watching her. "Jackie."
Whether it was the tone he'd said it in, or because they were lapsed into such a thick silence that she felt like she was about to explode, she snapped her head up to meet his eyes. "Yeah?"
"I, um..." He trailed off, and then abruptly grabbed another jacket. "Wanna get matching ones?"
Jackie rolled her eyes, smiling. "Only if you're paying."
"Oh, but of course. I am a gentleman, you know."
"Right, sure." She took the jacket, and pulled it over her shoulders. "So?"
Steve swallowed. "Yeah. You look, um, nice."
They wandered through the store a little while longer, until they found Robin grabbing gasoline. She glanced over as they approached, giving Jackie a weird, knowing look. "How many of these do you think we need?"
"Five or six," Steve said, adding a couple to the basket.
Robin stopped short, and the two of them followed her gaze to see Vickie. Jackie lightly shoved her arm. "What are you doing? Go talk to her."
"Yeah, what are you gonna do instead? Just stand here and gawk?"
She actually looked ready to go over there, until a blonde boy appeared next to her, and they kissed. Robin's face fell. Jackie shifted on her feet. "You know, Cynthia's spring break starts today. She was talking about coming down here."
Robin shook her head bashfully. "I don't want to think about Cindy. Could you ever even see me ending up with a cheerleader, anyway?"
Jackie watched Vickie and the guy some more. "Well, dating Vickie would be like dating yourself. You're both band nerds. I feel like Cynthia really pulled you out from your shell."
"Yeah, she's right," Steve nodded. "Besides, you and Nancy get along just fine, and she's more on the popular spectrum. Not that it matters to me anymore. I'm just saying."
"Well don't," Robin started to push the cart. "I was just a summer fling to her. She left for college and we haven't spoken since. I don't want to think about her."
"Fine," Jackie replied. "Let's go look at explosives."
Steve grumbled something that sounded along the lines of: Jesus Christ.
They turned a corner, and Jackie pulled Robin back, rougher than she intended. "What?"
"Who is that talking to Nancy? Isn't that... what's his face?"
Steve stood directly behind her, she could feel his presence as much as her own. "Jason. Shit, we need to get out of here."
They hastily purchased their things, and gathered their group before rushing out of the store. Steve swung the camper door open with a hard slam, and they rushed to climb inside. Dustin looked up.
"What happened?"
"Your old friends are here," Erica explained quickly.
Lucas' eyes widened. "Shit."
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Jackie adjusted the weapon in her hands, aiming it at the fake body she'd made for target practice. The others were still getting set up—Dustin and Eddie were on her left, making shields out of metal trash can lids.
She wasn't as familiar with guns as Nancy was. Her friend seemed to never miss, but Jackie kept hitting the shoulder of the dummy. Max sighed from behind her, and Jackie lowered the gun. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she shrugged. "I just... I don't know. Dad taught you how to shoot a gun. I wish I had more time with him."
Jackie tried to smile. "I doubt he would've taught a five year old how to shoot a gun."
"How old were you?"
She hesitated. "Uh, ten."
"My point."
"Well, I'm no expert," Jackie offered her the weapon. "But I could teach you something."
Max shrugged. "Yeah, okay. How do I hold it?"
Once they had all completed their tasks, they piled back into the RV. She knew why they were all silent, the realization of what they were about to do was finally settling in.
The vehicle rattled with a bump, and Jackie spared a glance over her shoulder to see that everyone was wearing the same expression, one she was sure that she had on her face, too.
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,
Carry on, carry on,
as if nothing really matters
"You know," Steve's low voice drew her attention, and she slowly turned her head to face him. She didn't know how she ended up in the passenger seat next to him, she'd been expecting Robin to take the spot, but when she'd climbed back into the vehicle, there'd been no other space open. "In a really weird way, I find comfort in this."
Jackie cocked a brow, despite her pounding heart. Though they weren't technically by themselves, the pair of them hadn't been alone since Jackie had broken up with him days prior. It had been the roughest few days, excluding the Vecna shit, might she add, because not only did she regret her decision, she felt dumb for it. All she wanted was Steve. Steve to hold her when she was stolen by Vecna. Steve to whisper that everything would be fine. For Steve to kiss her in victory when all of this was over.
It wouldn't happen now. With everything she was struggling with beforehand, losing Steve seemed to be her final straw. She felt unbalanced and almost .. empty without him by her side.
"You find comfort in this?" She asked, gesturing around them. "A stolen RV?"
Steve snorted, hands still on the wheel as he shook his head. "No. Not that, though it is a charming feature. Just.. you know, all of us being together. Like a family."
She felt her heart squeeze. There were a few things he didn't talk about—and his family (or lack thereof) was one of them. Steve's parents were never home, which made it easy for Jackie to stay over on the weekends, or for them to cuddle on the couch with no interruptions, for them to kiss late at night in the kitchen, but it was hard on Steve, and she knew that.
"I can see that," Jackie admitted. She didn't have much of a family left, she realized. With a deceased father, a runway step-father, a drunk mother, a possessed step-brother who was also deceased, the only family she really had was Max. But as she glanced back, she realized that maybe blood didn't just make a family. "Even when the world is ending, we still fight together."
"I've always wanted a big family," Steve said after a moment. Jackie watched him swallow from the corner of her eye. "You know, no kid left behind. No kid to be alone—a shit load of siblings."
"Shit load?" She repeated, though she was starting to smile. "How many is a shit load? Don't tell me you want to raise a pack of wolves, Harrington."
Steve grinned, too. "Nah. Just, you know, five or six?"
"Six?" She quipped.
"Yeah, six little nuggets."
Jackie fell back into her seat, shaking her head, and crossing her arms. "I wish you luck on finding a woman that's crazy enough to push six bowling balls out of her in the future just because she loves you so much."
Steve briefly took his gaze from the road and caught her eye. "Yeah? You think it'll be difficult?"
Jackie didn't answer—she didn't have to—the secret smile the two of them shared in the dimly lit RV was enough of a response, and the two of them sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the drive.
They arrived at the Creel's house. Jackie turned in her seat once again as Max stood up. She grabbed her hand before she got the chance to exit. Max squeezed it, and it felt like a spark flew up her arm. Jackie tried not to jump at the sensation of it, because this hadn't been the first time she'd felt something so... electrical light up inside of her. She squeezed back. "See you soon, yeah?"
Jackie nodded, holding on for a moment longer, before releasing her. "Yeah. See you soon."
authors note
i know a lot of u did not like cynthia for some reason & it's 🤨 to me but ... idc that is my girl she will be returning
also idk shit about guns cause like y would i so if it isn't accurate OH WELL!
double also!!! i think i explained it before but i forget, in s2 i wrote jackie & max's dad as dead, but apparently he is not. it's a plot hole on my part, so in our little starcrossed reality, their father isn't alive