april 27, 1986
after the 'earthquake', the grey skies and dusty air stayed. however, the movement of the upside down came to a crawl and so did vecna. he was still weak from the fight. they speculate that he is recharging before his next big move.
they had no idea where to find him or how long they had to prepare, but it wasn't looking too good for hawkins's heroes. the skies grow darker, the air feels thicker, and more of the upside down seeps in every day.
the town tried to return to normal, but it will never be the same. the event drove a large number of residents away. many townspeople blame the earthquake and some blame eddie munson and his 'demonic and homicidal' club.
eddie was an innocent caught in the crossfire. it took everything in bea not to get up and scream at the people accusing eddie just because he was different. because he didn't fit their perfect narrative. because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was a kid who didn't know what to do. because they needed a scapegoat to cope with the horror of hawkins. it wasn't fair that he sacrificed everything for a town that didn't give a rat's ass about him.
max was still in the hospital. bea visited so frequently that the nurse at the front desk no longer require her to show her id every time she came in. some times she was with the sinclair siblings or some of the kids, other times it was just her.
bea sat in the chair next to her, holding her hand. she would be just watching her heart monitor to assure herself that she was still alive.
"um, ma'am?" the young nurse called from the doorway.
bea stood up, walking to the door. "is everything alright, lacey?"
the nurse had a solemn look. "so, you know how...i am pressing the doctor to retest her...to see if there is any progress."
bea's eyes began to tear up. she knew that look and tone. she crossed her arms over her chest. her fingers gripped her upper arms, trying to stop herself from sobbing.
"and?" she asked, voice cracking a bit.
the nurse wanted to cry seeing her reaction. this was one of the hardest parts of the job. the nurse opened her mouth, but she couldn't form the words. she closed her mouth, just shaking her head.
"i'm sorry. her broken bones and limbs are taking longer than we expected to heal. it's like something's preventing them from healing at its normal rate and...they don't know if or when your daughter will wake," the nurse said, voice quivering.
bea looked down at her shoes. she wanted to scream, but she couldn't. she would've told the nurse that max wasn't her daughter, but she had more important things to worry about in that moment. they didn't know. no one did.
there was a chance she wouldn't wake up. even if she did, would she just be a shell of a person? eleven and bea couldn't find her. maybe she was gone forever.
she nodded her head and sucked in a breath, "thank you, lacey. i'm gonna go sit with max for a minute, then i'll be out of your hair."
"again, i'm so sorry. i was really hoping to give you good news, but..."
"it's okay, lacey," bea gave her a sad smile. "it's not your fault."
she returned to max's side and sat back in her chair. she held max's casted hand and just talked to her. max looked so peaceful. she didn't know what she was thinking, if she was even thinking at all.
"i don't know if you can actually hear this, but i miss you like hell. we all do," bea sniffled. "i was supposed to be there for you and i wasn't. i'm so sorry, lovely. i gotta go meet with robin. i'll be back tomorrow."
bea stood up, wiping her face. she planted a kiss to max's forehead before grabbing her bag. "bye, lovely. love you."
peter could see she was breaking and it broke his heart. but he knew what had to be done. these were the sacrifices he had to make. by losing the last of his humanity, he could secure his family. however, he never could lose that last drop of humanity.
though becoming vecna, a part of him has always been human. he could never rid himself of it, even if he tried. it always tried to pull him back to the light.
max hung up on a pillar next to fred and chrissy. unlike fred and chrissy, she still had something left. a glimpse of life. even peter was baffled by it at first. she was still alive, just divided. her body and mind were in different places.
peter watched bea leave the hospital room. when he focused enough, he could see a glimpse into the overworld through the same portal max had previously escaped from. max is body was still living, the heart monitor beating rhythmically. however, her mind was separated, trapped in vecna's mindscape.
vecna closed the portal as max vaguely watched, exhausted from being there for almost a month. most of the time she was in a nightmare that repeated all the time. it was like her own personal hell. she didn't know how she survived, but she did.
her mouth was covered by a cluster of vines so she wouldn't disturb him if she could fully wake. she could see him begin to pace. he could sense she was semi-conscious.
"did you know that she's my wife, maxine?" vecna questioned, staring at her as he slowly walked around. "i bet she never told you guys that. i guess being the wife of a monster isn't the greatest thing."
max tried to drowsily move, but she couldn't get out of his grip. she could only stay put and listen to whatever he had to say.
"we were going to leave everything behind, have children and what not. she wanted children so badly, but the lab prevented it. if they had found out we had a relationship, they would've locked us away again. if we had a child, they would've taken them away from us, tested them for their powers, and use them as weapons."
max never knew the extent that bea struggled in the lab. she knew she even couldn't imagine it. now she understood why she took everyone in as her own. how she could love people in the worst circumstances. because she wanted to give what she couldn't have. she couldn't be a mother, so she would be a mother figure for those who needed it.
"no matter how badly bea wanted it, she couldn't bear to see her own flesh and blood turned to a military weapon," he spoke, intently.
he stopped pacing and looked at max. "i had found a way for us to guarantee our happy ending in a world where nothing could touch her, hurt her. i took that power for her. i made those sick men pay for what they did to her. i did what i had to for her. bea ran and eleven tried to stop me, but she opened the door. the door to the future for my family. if i have to watch the world burn, the only thing that matters is her."
"so, we're really just going to sit here and wait?" robin dropped a box on the counter in bea's kitchen. tilly pranced arthey were donating more things at the high school to help those in need.
bea sighed, leaning against the opposing counter. "it's the only choice we have. eleven can't find him, i can't find anything in the visions he shows me, and max isn't in her headspace. we are flying blind in the dark. he has to make the first move, then we have more of a chance to find him."
"it's just making me anxious, sitting here and doing nothing. i mean, we have a government schism and a threat with weird telekinetic stuff. this is kinda like star wars! vecna is kinda like darth vader...and eleven is probably luke because you know the whole..." robin stuck out her hand, imitating eleven's battle stance.
"her powers?" bea finished, laughing. she was an avid star wars fan so she understood the connection robin was trying to make.
"yeah! but maybe without the whole," robin deepens her voice, imitating darth vader. "'no, i am your father' stuff because that creepy scientist guy was her father but still...kinda cool! well, not cool that he's trying to like end the world and everything, that's actually kinda scary but you get the point." robin explains, packing up kitchen stuff that bea was no longer using. robin picks up a dusty plate from the top of the shelf. "do you still want this or are we donating it?"
bea looked over at the plate. it was an ordinary white plate. the last time it was probably used was when lila was still around, before bea came back. "hmm...donate."
"'kay," she replied, gently placing it in the box.
"speaking of donating, how are you and vickie?" bea teases in a sing-song voice.
robin blushed, sealing the box with tape. "shut up," she rolled her eyes, playfully. "we are pretty good. i think i want to ask her out."
bea smiled, happy for the girl. she was glad that someone had something good after what happened.
"about time! if you need, i can give you a ride. and even though my relationships are...well, um..."
"shitty?"
"ouch, robin," bea winces, jokingly.
"am i wrong?" robin leaned against the counter, mirroring bea.
"i mean no...anyway, i am always up to giving you relationship advice. it might be a bit better than steve's."
"i might have to take you up on that offer. anything is better than dingus," robin scoffed, brushing hair out of her face.
bea looked over at the red clock on the wall. two-twenty-three. the donations started at two-thirty and bea's house was only a couple minutes away.
bea grabbed her keys, twirling the keychain on her finger. "well, let's get going."
[REDACTED], 1978
peter brushed away beatrice's hair from her face. she laid on his chest as they tried to rest. one of his hands rested on her waist.
it was around ten at night and the lab was quiet. late at night, beatrice loved to ponder about a future family with peter. peter loved to listen to her ideas.
"if we have children, i'm thinking sawyer for a boy like tom sawyer. my parents used to read me the adventures of tom sawyer all the time when i was little," she explained, holding one of his hands in hers. she traced lines on his palm as she talked.
"yeah?" he smiled, looking down at her. "and a girl?"
"hmm...elodie. i think i might've had a friend with that name and i always liked it."
"i love it. sawyer and elodie," he paused, trying to imagine how they would look. "i hope they would look as lovely as you, my dear."
"oh, stop that. i think they would look like the perfect mix of both of us. they better get your beautiful eyes," she laughs with a gleam in her eyes. her laugh was like the perfect song to his ears. she looked up at him with pure admiration.
he leaned down and planted a sweet kiss on her lips. every kiss felt like everything to her.
"i love you," she whispered as she started to fall asleep.
he looked to her with a longing gaze. he was absolutely entranced by the woman in his arms. his lips pressed on the top of her head.
"i love you, too, my dear."