Aiden opened his eyes and was met with light... White light.
'Well that was one hell of a way to go out'
Aiden soon blinked and realised he could hear.
Beeping.
'So I guess I'm not dead...'
He'd anticipated that fire release technique would most likely be his last one, seeing as it came at the expense of his whole chakra reserve. And since he'd already told the whole party he loved them,he didn't really overthink it this time. Though he did have a small fragment of hope that he'd survive.
He turned his head to the side and saw a couple of familiar people.
"Mom... And Nancy?"
The Wheeler ladies snapped their heads up at his low voice.
"Aiden!"
Karen got off the chair and immediately pulled the boy into a hug. "We were so worried!"
"You can say that again" Nancy folded her arms in mock annoyance, but Aiden seemed to see the relief in her eyes.
Karen pulled away and placed a kiss on the boy's forehead. "How do you feel?"
"Still really tired..." Aiden managed to let out.
"Here" Nancy handed him a cup of water. The boy took a single sip which did wonders for his throat. He soon noticed that his leg felt better, almost numb but he could move it around.
"How long was I out?" Aiden asked.
"About twelve hours" Nancy sat by his bed.
"I got here as quickly as I heard about the mall fire, '' Karen said. Aiden frowned; he didn't think Karen would even find out about this,but of course it was a small town and the news spread fast. He felt bad for putting her through all that worry.
"I'm sorry" he shook his head, reaching over to wipe the woman's tears. "I didn't mean to make you scared like that"
"It's okay,honey," Karen said with a smile. "You're awake and that's all that matters"
Then the most important question suddenly hit him.
"Nancy..." He looked at the older girl. "How's Billy?"
Nancy's breath hitched at the name and she looked at her brother's expectant brown eyes. She couldn't break his heart,but she couldn't lie to him either.
The older Wheeler shook her head, sending a non verbal yet very clear message to him.
He didn't make it.
"What... What happened?" Aiden asked, feeling a chill creep up his body. "How?"
Suddenly the door opened and a redhead walked through it,her eyes red and puffy. Seeing him awake seemed to make her shed a new set of tears as she practically ran into his arms, sobbing quietly.
"He's gone, Aiden" Max choked out.
His heart ached as Max's body shook. This was the thing that he'd been trying so hard to stop. What happened? He'd stopped Billy from being impaled,he was sure of that. Despite the many questions that flooded his mind, Aiden knew better than to say anything.. he just needed to hold her.
The whole thing was just surreal to him.
"He said to tell you thank you..." Max managed to whisper once she'd seemed to have stopped crying. Aiden nodded as he stroked his girlfriend's hair comfortingly.
"I'm sorry, Max... I'm really sorry" Aiden whispered back to her. All his efforts seemed to be wasted as Billy was still taken from him.
Karen stood up and decided to let the kids have privacy, placing a kiss on Aiden's cheek before leaving.
"What happened?" Aiden turned to Nancy once his adoptive mother was out of earshot.
"He died a while after the gate was closed..." Nancy explained. "And since he'd unwillingly drank a lot of chemicals while he was Flayed... "
"They fucked up his system" Aiden realized in horror. Shaking his head,he wondered why hadn't thought about that at all. He'd never seen Billy himself consume any of the chemicals do he didn't think about it much. But now that he thought over it, of course it stood to reason that Billy would be forced to drink a good amount of the substances himself.
Aiden wrapped both arms around Max and held her tighter as the rest of the party started to walk into the hospital room he was in. Aiden looked down at his girlfriend,trying his best not to get emotional himself.
He'd failed... Despite everything, he'd failed.
__________
"Turn around, look at what you see!" Max,Lucas and Mel sang to mock Dustin,much to Aiden's amusement as Dustin tried to pack the boxes he was holding. "In her face,the mirror of your dreams!!!"
"Guys, c'mon stop!" Aiden managed to say between laughs.
"If we're not singing it right, Dusty bun can always help us out" Mel smiled while Lucas blew a kiss at Dustin.
"Yeah, Dusty bun, why don't you join us?" Max asked.
"Nooo!" Dustin rolled his eyes. "that's for Suzie's ears and her ears alone"
"Well,you did sing it for the whole party to hear..." Aiden shrugged.
"I once loved you, y'know that?" Dustin glared at the lightskin boy.
"Love you too, buddy" Aiden winked at the boy who immediately flipped him the bird. The other three immediately went back to singing,much to Dustin's annoyance.
It'd been three months since the incident at starcourt which had claimed not just Billy's life but Hopper's as well. After hearing the news,Aiden hoped beyond hope that Hopper had cheated death like he'd known him to do. It'd also been three months since Aiden's chakra control became essentially nonexistent. He still had the energy flowing through him but he essentially couldn't use it anymore,also meaning Kakashi had been blocked out of his consciousness.
He was adjusting to life again quite nicely but he still worried for El and Max. They'd both lost people close to them. Granted, Max and Billy didn't have the best sibling relationship,but watching him die had definitely done something horrible to Max and the fact that Aiden didn't get to see him before he died only worsened his guilt.
As the Byers family continued to move things into the truck and the house got more and more empty, causing Aiden to feel a pang of sadness at the thought of not seeing them again.
Finally, Eleven brought out the last box and the tearful goodbye hugs commenced.
"Thanks for everything,Aiden... Saving me..." Will looked at him and smiled a little. "And playing DND with me when no one else would"
"Don't mention it,man" Aiden pulled him into a hug. "Hey... Never stop being yourself, alright?"
He felt Will nod against his shoulder.
Next was Joyce who immediately pulled the boy into a hug.
"Thank you so much,honey..." She said, 'for everything.. for helping find my boy, for trying to help us as much as possible. Thank you"
"I should be thanking you, Mrs Byers," Aiden chuckled. "I'd probably still be wandering Hawkins by now if you all hadn't trusted me that day"
"You're one of the only ones I can actually trust to be sensible" Jonathan said to Aiden. "watch everyone okay? And take care of Nancy"
"Yes sir" Aiden gave a small salute, causing Jonathan to laugh and ruffle his hair.
Next was El.
"I can't believe you're leaving again..." Aiden said.
"I don't have a choice...* El stated.
"I know,kiddo" Aiden gave a sad smile. "I'll miss you a lot... Watching you mimic the TV, eating countless eggos, making fun of Mike..."
El laughed. "I'll miss you too"
"You promise to call?" Aiden asked.
"I have something better" El said, immediately pulling out a familiar object: the same triple pronged kunai Aiden had given her the tear before. "You can come visit whenever you want"
"You kept it..."
El nodded. The boy immediately tackled her in a tight hug.
"I love you,buddy..."
"I love you too" El pulled away from him and stretched her middle and pointer fingers to touch his forehead. "We'll always be best friends"
"Always" Aiden smiled, lightly poking her forehead in return. "If you ever miss me too much,just-"
"Throw the kunai against the nearest surface," El nodded. "I remember"
Aiden nodded.
The whole party then gathered for one last group hug before Joyce told them it was time to go.
They all said their last good-byes before the Byers drove away, taking El, who was now Jane Hopper with them.
Aiden sighed as he watched them drive away, knowing one chapter in his life was closing slowly.
__________
As soon as Aiden, Nancy and Mike headed home,they walked in and were met with the sight of Karen and Ted in the middle of conversation with a man they didn't recognize. He seemed to be in his thirties, black hair, eyes and he had on a suit. He had a warm smile on his face.
"Oh,there he is!" Karen smiled at her adopted son, confusing all three of them.
Aiden looked at Mike and Nancy before looking back at the three adults. "I'm sorry,what?"
"This is Mr Oakley," Karen said. "He told me the school found out about your poems and stories and recommended you to get a six months program"
"Wait,what?" Aiden was even more confused.
"Yes,I had the same reaction," Ted chipped in. "seems like locking yourself in your room and scribbling all day finally resulted in something useful"
"I've seen quite a few of your pieces,Aiden," Mr Oakley said. "I must say, I'm highly impressed by your level of creativity. Could we speak privately?"
"Could my siblings come with me?" Aiden immediately asked as Nancy put a hand on his shoulder. "Y'know,just in case?"
"Of course" the well dressed man gave a curt nod.
As they made their way to his bedroom,Aiden was concerned and with good reason; for all he knew this was a real life manifestation of Patrick Bateman,plus he didn't have his jutsu anymore.
Once they all arrived in his bedroom and shut the door, the siblings turned to face the man.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Nancy folded her arms.
In response,the man lifted his index and middle fingers together,much to everyone's confusion and Aiden's alarm.
Mr Oakley immediately dispersed in a puff of white smoke and in his place stood a man with black hair,a black cloak on and apparently black eyes,though it was hard to make out his left eye as it was covered by his hair. He had fair skin and seemed to be missing one arm.
Aiden's jaw went slack as he took in the appearance before him.
Sasuke Uchiha.
"Sa... How... What..." Aiden stuttered. Mike had a similar reaction,but to a lesser degree. Nancy was shocked but didn't recognize the man right away.
"Calm down," the Uchiha stated in his usual voice. "I know this is overwhelming,but I need you to listen to me. I'll answer all your questions"
"Okay..." Aiden nodded.
"First of all,I know we haven't directly interacted with you at all so it must be a shock to see me pop up here" Sasuke started. "But we've known about you for quite a while. Kakashi informed Naruto of what he'd seen from his father,a vision of done sort. After a brief use if Edo Tensei,we confirmed that not only Sakumo,but the Fourth Hokage sent you to come find us,but obviously it didn't go as planned"
Aiden couldn't believe it,so they did know he was stranded here at first.
"We could've reverse summoned you over to us,but there were threats we needed to deal with and this dimension seemed to need your assistance as well" Sasuke continued. "Lord Fourth constantly updated us on your progress and how you'd been faring. You have made quite a lot of mistakes,but you have the things that make up a splendid ninja"
"Arigato" Aiden nodded.
"In that light, Naruto and I decided it was time to send you over to our side," Sasuke said. "You've shown the skills,intellect and bravery akin to a jonin. So Naruto thinks it's fitting that you serve in the ANBU for an amount of time to solidify your status as a ninja"
"When you say 'amount of time'," Nancy spoke up. "How long are we talking"
"Six months," Sasuke replied simply.
"Six months?!" Mike was stupefied. "you can't just take our brother for six months!"
"Mike," Aiden spoke up. "It's okay..."
The 15 year old looked at Sasuke. "Do I have to leave right away?"
"No," Sasuke shook his head. "We'll give you a month to think about it as we know it's a hard thing to swallow. You don't have to say yes,but this would officially make you a ninja of the leaf"
"I'll..." Aiden sighed. "I really have to think about this"
"That's alright" Sasuke nodded before pulling out a scroll. "If you want to talk to me or change your mind,just open this and bleed a little on it. I'll use my Rinnegan to transport us through dimensions to make the journey smoother. None of your chakra would be spent"
__________
"So what're you gonna do?" Lucas asked as he and Aiden walked through the school hallways. It had been a week since Sasuke's visit and he'd already told the party about his predicament.
"I don't know,man," Aiden said. "I don't wanna leave but this could up my training to another level"
"That would be awesome to see," Lucas smiled.
"It's just a hard choice," Aiden said. "You guys are basically my whole support system and I gotta be here for Max"
"Yeah, she's not doing too well lately," Lucas sighed. "Mel says she barely sleeps now"
"Mhmm" Aiden confirmed. "I've had to spend a few nights at her place just to make her sleep"
"It's really been rough on her," Lucas commented.
"It would be on anyone," Aiden said. "could you imagine losing Erica like that?"
"As annoying as she is,I can't," Lucas shook his head.
The rest of the school day continued but there was no sign of Max. Aiden was getting worried.
By the end of the school day,he was walking towards the exit when he saw the familiar red hair at her locker, causing him to sigh in relief.
"Hey, Max," He called to her. "Where were you all day?"
The girl seemed not to hear him and shut her locker, walking away.
"Max?" He followed after her as she headed out of the school. "Max, what's wrong?"
"Max,come on talk to me!"
"Talk to you?!" The girl quickly turned to him. "Where has that gotten me? Huh?"
"What?" Aiden furrowed his eyebrows.
"I got close to you,I opened up to you" Max said. "I trust you,cause I'm sure you know what you're doing? And what happens? I lost my brother and my life got ruined!"
"Dude, what're you saying?" Aiden asked. By this time, bystanders were starting to stare.
"You claim to know what's going on and that you can fix things, but you only make things worse!" Max yelled. "You told me you'd save Billy,you promised me. But where is he? Hm? He's dead!"
"Max, I'm sorry.... '' Aiden's voice started to go quiet,he knew she was hurting... She was just talking,she didn't mean this.
"No wonder your mom died just from giving birth to you!" Max yelled. "I've been thinking and y'know what? Mike was right! You always worsen everything by trying to be the hero! I don't blame your dad for treating you like that,you deserve it! And Kyle made the right choice jumping off that bridge! If you were the only person he had,he knew he was better off dead anyways!"
It felt like Aiden's world had been put on pause. There was no way Max was saying all this...
"Max..." Tears started to pool in the boy's eyes.
"I can't and won't do this anymore, Aiden Wheeler" the redhead gave a sarcastic smile. "This... Whatever we were... It's over"
Aiden softly nodded as Max walked away. The other party members stood by and watched in horror and sadness.
__________
Aiden had been in a daze all through his walk back to the house, trying to process what had just happened. But once the boy got home, he locked himself in his room and sat on the floor,near his bed, the reality of his situation dawned on him. He unlocked his phone and scrolled through his playlist, finding the song Car Radio by twenty one pilots... It was Max's favourite one by them. He plugged in his headphones and listened for a while.
Then the tears came.
The boy sat there and cried for what felt like hours,his body quaking as he let out painful sobs,all the guilt finally crashing down on him.
He'd lost Bob,Billy and now her...
Mike was probably right that night at the Byers house. There was no point in him being in the party... He just made every situation more complicated just by being here.
They would've been much happier if he didn't crash-land into their lives.
Aiden pulled out the scroll from a drawer near the bed and opened it,he then brought a small blade to his thumb,ready to do what he should've done that same afternoon he landed in front of Hawkins Middle...
__________
Aaaand that's season 3! Thanks again to everyone who's been reading this so far,both the ones comment,vote and even the ghost readers. I really appreciate you all.
As you can imagine, Season 4 would definitely be darker but I might update that season more slowly cause I feel like I have to take my time with that.
Thanks again to everyone who's reading!
Bye!