september 8, 1986
"we need to find one of them. if we find one of them, i can extract the information. do you guys know where they would be?" peter asked, trudging through the woods.
"we could try the wheeler's," will suggests, pointing in the direction of the wheeler home. "mike or nancy could be there and dustin and lucas live nearby."
eddie pushes a branch away. his hair was shoved up into a baseball cap and he wore a striped polo and jeans. he was practically unrecognizable. will's hair was cut shorter, detracting from his awful bowl cut. he wore jeans and grey t-shirt. peter wore a white polo with a grey sweatshirt on top and jeans.
they began to approach the first house. it was the henderson home. will walked up to the door as eddie and peter stayed hidden. he knocked firmly on the door.
"coming!" a woman's voice sounded. a couple of clicks echoed from the door as she unlocked it. "will? i thought you were in california?" she asked, opening the door.
will shakes his head. "we are back visiting! do you know where dustin is?"
mrs. henderson thinks for a moment. "i don't sorry. he said something about the wheeler's and going to melvin's before he ran out the house. let him know he needs to be home before five tonight. i don't know if your mother knows, mayor elsberry is setting a curfew with everything that is happening. the small earthquakes and the murders. the curfew starts at six."
"i will, mrs. henderson. thank you!"
"no problem, dear!"
will ran to the hiding spot.
"anything?" eddie asked.
"dustin went to melvin's and he mentioned something about the wheelers. could you read anything, peter?"
peter had searched mrs. henderson's memories. "dustin was going to the wheeler's house with max and lucas."
will smiles, "to the wheeler's."
"max, what is it like being blind?" dustin asked. lucas shoved dustin's shoulder. "ow!"
"she's not blind! she just waiting for the nerves and stuff to heal dumbass!"
max shakes her head. "lucas, it's fine. everything is just really blurry. all the colors kinda melt into one."
"woah," dustin mutters under his breath.
mike races down the stairs. "i hate this. we are sitting ducks!"
"relax, mike," lucas rolls his eyes as mike plops down on the couch.
"none of this would've happened if you guys weren't idiots," max mumbled under her breath.
"what was that?" mike asked, raising his voice.
max looks in the direction of his voice. she carefully annunciated the words again. "none of this would've happened if you guys weren't idiots," she spat. "i understand that we are all stressed, but rash decisions are escalating the situation. i mean, have we really stooped so low as to kidnapping a pregnant woman?"
mike thinks about it for a second. "yes. considering she could kill us...yes, we have."
"well, she wouldn't have left if guys weren't stupid. how many times do people have to spell it out for you?"
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.