may 14, 1986
will dug through the suitcase, unpacking his clothes. he tried to come up with places bea could be. the creel house? destroyed. work? she wouldn't just leave her car. there had to be somewhere she would be. at the bottom of his bag, he found something. a crumpled up note.
'will,
this is going to be short and sweet. i'm sorry for everything. i did visit max before i left. tilly is with my next door neighbour, catherine vee, if you want to see her. i'll try to see you whenever i'm back in town, i promise.
i just need you to know that none of this is your fault. i can tell when i am not wanted in these kinds of place and i wasn't. you are always welcome to stay with me, remember that. stay true to yourself, kid.
see you on the other side,
beatrice francis.'
"the other side," he murmured to himself. those words specifically stuck out to him. "the other side." he repeated, realizing what she meant. upside down. she was returning to vecna. that's where she had gone. he told them this would happen. if they didn't fuck it up, they would still have a chance.
'i should tell someone, right?' he thought. something in his gut told him not to. he didn't usually want to withhold information about vecna after what had happened over the past couple of years, but after everything that went down, the idea began to grow on him. it wasn't technically lying, just leaving out details.
it might've seemed petty, but will had earned that right. ever since el had returned during the mind flayer situation, he felt cast aside. he was a second thought now. even his mom was more worried about whatever she had doing on than about him.
he tore the note into the tiniest pieces he could muster and threw them in the nearest garbage bin. no one would be able to piece it back together even if they tried. not like anyone would even notice.
"if i'm going to stay, we need to set a few things straight," bea said, sitting up her bed. bea fixed up her room for their temporary stay. just until they can fix up a real place. after she cleaned the room the night before, they just held each other, basking in each other's presence.
peter kept waking up at night, checking to make she was still breathing, anything to convince himself she was okay. after confirming she was fine, he pulled her closer and tried to get back to sleep.
peter nodded, swinging his legs off the bed. he turned to look at her, "i agree. what did you have in mind?"
"okay so first, what do i call you? peter, henry, one?"
"any of them is fine. it's whatever you prefer, my dear."
"where is max?"
that was the burning question. if he brought back max now, the gate they needed would close and the progress they had would be lost. he had to find a way to keep four gates and bring back max.
he pointed to his head. "she's in here. i can't let her out yet, bea. trust me on this one, please," he pleaded, taking her hands in his. "as soon as i figure this out, i will let her go. for you."
she looked in his eyes. he was always readable to her. she could he was genuine about this.
"fine. as long as it is soon, and i mean soon, peter," bea spoke, thinking of her next inquiry. "oh, do you know what happened to eddie, the boy who was left here?" she questioned, remembering his body was no longer where she laid him to rest.
"there's actually something i want to show you," peter smiled, standing up. he held a hand out to bea. she looked at his hand then to back to him. she hesitantly took it as he didn't actually answer her question. was he just bones now? was he dust? where were they going? why did she expect the worst?
peter led her into the halls and in front of the rainbow room doors. peter stops in front of the doors, dropping her hand. she looks to him, hoping he'd say something. anything. he simply responded with a nodding gesture to the door. he noticed how unsure she looked.
his voice echoed the hall. "open it, my love. i promise it's a good thing."
she walked closer to the door. she took a deep breath in and let it out as she pushed the doors opened. a figure in the room turned around. she knew that shaggy hair anywhere. she almost couldn't breathe. her eyes glossed over with tears. "oh my god."
"bea!"
will was tired of these meetings. since bea left, they were happening a lot more frequently. the group was split.
"i just don't think we thought this through!" hopper announced, voice booming. will could've sworn his voice almost shook the room. "now she's missing and we are more vulnerable."
"eleven's got this! right, eleven," mike argued back, looking to his girlfriend.
eleven definitely didn't have a good feeling about this. she did believe bea could be a spy. bea was the one who encouraged henry to give eleven the key card. bea was the one who wanted to leave. she was in love with henry after all.
if it were both of them against her, she wasn't going to win. eleven was starting to feel more unsure herself. bea and peter were more experienced, more mature. she had only ever fought one of them. together, she was, but a mere speed bump to them. she knew that.
mike called her again, snapping her out of her doubtful thoughts. "eleven?"
"right." her eyes darted across the room. she couldn't let them down. especially mike. "i can do this."
"see!" mike's voice squeaked. eleven knew it was wrong to lie. friends didn't lie. but she did it anyway.
"the problem is she knows his strengths and weaknesses. we could've used that," robin reminds. "now, she knows ours and if she does end up joining henry-slash-one-slash-vecna-slash-peter, which given their history and your dumbassery, she probably already is with him, we really don't stand a chance."
"then she would prove herself to be a spy after all," erica replies with a snarky attitude. "i told you guys."
"so, let me get this straight, we are basically doomed," steve says, shoving his hands in his pockets. "right?"
will just tuned the whole ordeal out. he hated what they did. he could've told them where she was. he could've told them she was definitely sided with him. he didn't want to. for once, he was the one who held the knife. he made the decision whether the group would be left in the dark or not.
"will, you good?" dustin asked, patting his back. will looked at dustin. in the background, mike began to argue with robin about bea's 'motives'.
robin argued, "she wouldn't have left if you didn't kick her out!"
"she would've done it anyway!"
nancy glared at him. "mike, i swear if you do not stop arguing."
will decided to keep it to himself. "yeah. just a lot on my mind."
"alright."
he remembered all the things bea had sacrificed. she deserved more than a sliver of happiness. he understood more now than he did before meeting bea. he knew why henry felt so ruthless, so vengeful. the world took the one thing in his life that made everything okay. his wife. and that same world took advantage of her longing for family then fucked her over, just because she was different for her abilities and who she loved.
will understood. he knew bea couldn't control who she loved or who she is. he was like bea. he couldn't control who he loved. he just did. even if it hurt him.
mike used to be at his side. they were inseparable. he made everything feel better. he stayed with him in the hospital when he was sick and comforted him when the mind flayer got him. but then he left will feeling like his newly healed scars were bleeding.
will tried telling him how he felt, hoping he would understand. he never did. he was done. he was done trying. he no longer wanted to be an afterthought.
'why don't you join them, too, huh?' mike's words echoed in his head. mike didn't care anymore. the way he spat it was like salt in the wound.
bea would understand. he wanted to run to her. will wondered if they would even take him in? how would he even find them or ask them? would anyone even care if he left?
if someone would've told will a year ago that he was even considering joining the thing that had haunted him for years, he would've looked at them like they were insane, but now it didn't seem like a bad idea.
suddenly, it hit him. he was still connected to vecna, which meant vecna was still connected to him. if will tapped into that connection, he might be able to find where in the upside down they were.
bea's eyes filled to the brim with tears as she went to embrace the boy. she couldn't believe her eyes.
"i thought you were dead," she cried happily into his shoulder. peter watched from the doorway. he loved seeing her happy. the way her eyes lit up. her sweet smile.
eddie cried with her. he laughed, "i thought so too."
she let go of him, wiping her eyes. she inspected him like a mom checking her son for cuts and scrapes after he took a tumble on concrete, lifing up his arms and asking him if he's hurt. his wounds were mostly healed, scars covered where once he was impaled by the fangs of demobats. "how is this possible?"
eddie smiled, pointing to the man behind her. "your man right there fixed me right up. he just brought me back a few days ago, gave me a second chance. i owe him my life. before that it was just," he made a popping noise with his lips. his hand mimicked a small explosion. "pitch black."
she glaces back to peter and mouths a 'thank you'. peter nods in return.
'happy wife, happy life,' he thought. it made him happy whenever she was happy. he watched her suffer so much, he knew she something back. he believed eddie could also make a good asset somehow.
"what have you been doing in the upside down these couple of days then?" she turned, staring back at him.
she could swear he was a hallucination. he was standing in front of her. not even two months ago, she closed his lifeless eyes. now they were staring back at her with that eddie energy she missed.
"nothing much. exploring, trying to teach that dude dungeons and dragons. oh! did know old man wendell had a stash of pot under his trailer?" he clasped his hands together before pointing them towards bea. "anyway, what are you doing here?"
"umm-" her body felt tense again. she was still pretty hurt about the whole accusation thing. she couldn't even find the words to describe it. she definitely didn't regret joining peter. how could she kindly explain that she was accused of treason and was genuinely terrified of being locked up again. being locked up were both the best and worst years of her life. she wanted to jump out of her skin even thinking about it.
peter looked at her, studying her face. he knew how to answer and spoke for her, "the wheeler boy somehow convinced everyone she was a spy and they wanted to lock her up. they only wanted her because their friend, eleven was gone and she had similar abilities."
she gestured for peter to join them in the middle of the room. she could feel the warmth of his body press against hers as he stood behind her shoulder. his hand intertwined with hers. he felt her relax a little more.
"wait, what? bea, did they really?" eddie's face fell. he almost couldn't believe it. almost.
bea nodded. "yeah, i just didn't want to be treated like that just because i was different so i came here."
"i understand. you know after the whole chrissy situation and my high school reputation, being a freak is kind of my staple. they're idiots for that. i know you always tried to do what was best for us...oh, how was henderson after i...um..."
bea watched as dustin tried to stay afloat for eddie over the past couple of months. "he's still the same old dustin. he's staying strong for you, eds."
"good. good...you know, i'm really happy to see you, bea," eddie nodded. he was pretty glad he didn't wake up in hell, burning or something. "i would've gone back, but i know it's better for everyone if i just don't," eddie sighs. he didn't want to be alone but it was best for him and those around him.
"i get it, eddie." peter wrapped his arm around her waist as she spoke. bea smiled, "you always welcome to join our family, eds."
eddie returned the smile. honestly that family didn't seem too bad at the moment. they understood each other. they were all cast out because they were different. there was something about the way they looked at him. bea and peter were able to see his differences and beyond. to them, he wasn't just eddie the freak. he was eds. he was eddie. he was so much more.
"why not? i'm technically dead anyway so it couldn't hurt."