CHAPTER FIVE.
wavelengths, bad memories, and dustin henderson - oh, my!
heyo! so up in the media^^ is how i kind of pictured the clothes that nineteen wears in the finale. like i said before, they got rid of polyvore so it's sloppy lmao
y'all i wrote this in like two hours that's literally a record for me
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when steve and nineteen finally make it home that night, he talks to her carefully, so he misses nothing. he makes her explain everything that has happened. what all happened last year that he was unaware of, what all she can do, and what he needs to do with her.
halfway through the conversation, she raises up her left arm and pulls back her sleeve, showing a little '019' printed there.
"holy shit, is that permanent?" he asks, touching it. nineteen squints. "perm..." she softly starts in confusion.
"like it's going to be there forever?" steve helps, sitting back in his chair. his words make nineteen's heart ache. forever. forever is an awfully long time.
she nods and pushes her sleeve back down. "so that's why you're named nineteen?" he asks again. she nods once more, thinking as far back as she could when she lived in the lab.
"hopper." she states, as serious as ever. "he understands. he can help."
steve was astonished. last night, the girl was terrified of going to the police, even running out of the station with tears in her eyes. now, the only person who could help her was the head cop, the sheriff.
nineteen had taken a shower for the first time that night. after steve showed her how to use it, of course. he had brought new, clean clothes for her to sleep in, and had taken the outfit she had worn that day and 'washed' it, bringing a new blue sweater with three stripes in the middle of the waist. the middle one was the thickest and was red, while the two on opposite sides were thinner and white. she looked at it closely before smiling at steve and taking the high waisted jeans as well. he had told her he had bought those that day for her. he had also brought her a black sweater and sweatpants to sleep in.
she had come out, hair still wet, with her clothes on. she was shivering, despite a towel catching the drops of water coming from the ends of her hair. steve had chuckled and grabbed a cotton blanket and handed it to her, making her smile up at him.
"are you tired?" he asks. she nods before grabbing at her stomach. "hungry." she says. he nods, expecting that. he glances at her quickly.
"would you be opposed to pizza again?"
nineteen and steve eat pizza again that night, no olives, no peppers. then she becomes
tired once she's done and makes her way to the bedroom she slept in last night.
steve leaves both of their doors open that night, just in case.
when she awakes the next morning, it was on her own. steve was home when she went downstairs, poptarts laid out in front of him. nineteen grabbed one quickly, eating it eagerly.
"you're a late sleeper. it's all ready 11:15." he tells her, checking his wristwatch. she scrunches up her nose, thinking. "afternoon?" she asks.
"almost." he informs her, taking in her messy hair. he affectionately reaches out, messing it up even more. her eyebrows furrow as she looks up at him, remembering owens used to do that. the gesture makes her smile.
"i have to go grab something real quick, okay? i'll be right back, though. and then we're going out. you might wanna change." he stands up. "can i trust you to stay here?" he asked, picking up his keys. nineteen bashfully looks away and nods. "trust me."
he smiles once before walking out the door, leaving nineteen alone once again.
she quickly races up the stairs and into the bedroom, closing the blue curtains and making it darker. she goes over to the bed, moving the blankets out of the way and laying flat on the sheets.
she closes her eyes soundly, silently sending out her thoughts to wherever eleven was. unfortunately, nineteen was never able to go under when they put her into the bath. it just never worked. she wasn't ever able to go to the upside down, only to other parts of this side of the universe.
she hopes that eleven could pick up the senses that nineteen always tried to contact her with.
are you there?
nineteen's eyes suddenly pop open as eleven shows her everything she had done. she had found her mom. she was with her, but not completely. her mom wasn't even there. not really.
nineteen's heart ached. eleven had been wanting to find a home forever. somewhere she could be safe. with people she cared about.
she feels eleven's pain, but also her happiness at finally finding her mother. now only if she could get to nineteen.
nineteen sits up, pushing her legs over the bed and sighing. that was it. she needs to get to eleven as soon as possible. she looks around, spotting the clothes steve had bought and going to the bathroom to change, even though no one else was there.
she walks back to her room when she's done, picking up steve's coat and slipping it on. she opens the door and starts making her way downstairs.
her heart suddenly drops to her stomach when she hears the sound of the front door closing. she runs to the hallway. steve stands there, hands on his hips. he catches her when she suddenly collides with him, taking a few steps forward. "guess you heard me coming. ready to go?" he asks, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.
"where?" she asks. he takes a deep breath. "um, we're gonna meet one of my.. friends. but it's okay, she knows everything all ready."
nineteen furrows her eyebrows. "nancy?" she asks quietly. steve breathes through his nose sharply. "yeah. her."
-
steve's car pulls up to a big house. it wasn't quite as big as steve's but it had a pretty big yard.
"stay here." steve tells nineteen, grabbing.. flowers.
flowers, nineteen thinks pleasantly. she had never seen flowers before and she almost reaches out for the red ones. steve hops out of the car, smoothing down his hair as he walks to the house. he talks to himself as he does so. nineteen tries her best to block out his thoughts for 'privacy'.
however, halfway across the yard, a person walks out of nowhere. nineteen sinks back in her seat nervously. she starts breathing heavily when the boy walks to steve. they converse for a second before the boy starts walking to the car after grabbing the flowers straight out of steve's hand. nineteen sucks in sharply.
nineteen then flattens herself against the seat and leans back so the boy couldn't see her. he was talking animatedly, too focused on his own situation to notice a body in the passenger seat as he opens the door.
"oh." the curly haired boy says as he makes sudden eye contact with nineteen. "um, hi?"
"hi." she says back. steve sighs and starts walking forwards. "this is blue." he says. "blue, this is dustin."
dustin confusedly looks back and forth. "blue?" he asks. steve wipes his forehead. "show him your arm. he'll understand it." nineteen stares at the boy for a second, trying to remember where he was from, before she pulls back both the dark, cotten sweater and the jacket.
dustin gasps, dropping the flowers he was holding. he stares at the small '019' in complete shock. "holy shit." he says, raising his hands to his head. "i gotta tell my friends." he says to the brunettes quickly. "they're gonna shit their pants. this is crazy." he rambles.
"hey," steve catches his shoulder. "you know what we have to do?"
"keep her safe and outta sight, right." dustin calms down, smiling at nineteen, who nervously looks back. "i know what to do." before she can help herself, she reaches into the back of his mind, prying everywhere. the first thing she finds is everything that happened last year, it seems to be the front thoughts in his brain. she stares up at him quietly, picking everything apart from his perspective.
"you were.. with eleven?" she softly asks. dustin's eyes boggle.
"you knew eleven?" he asks, stepping forward. nineteen shifts back and forth uncomfortably under his gaze. she nods slowly. dustin lets out a long breath. "holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. oh, my god!" he huffs out. "this is crazy. how-" he starts to talk to nineteen again but is interrupted by steve.
"okay, whatever. listen, we can all talk about this later. what do you want?" he pokes the boy's chest.
"fine, fine." he sighs, stepping back. "do you still have that bat?"
"bat? what bat?" steve asks, leaning on the car. "the one with the nails?" dustin replies in a 'duh' tone. steve is quiet for a moment before asking why in an alarmed tone.
"i'll explain it on the way," dustin says, moving to the back car door and getting in. "now?" steve asks, moving around the car.
"now!" dustin sighs, annoyed. nineteen sits back in her seat at the exchange.
nineteen feels dustin's eyes on her the entire way. he's confused, intrigued, and already wanting to talk about everything. he seems to realize that there was some stuff he still didn't know about. nineteen feels bad for him.
she sits there, listening to his thoughts flick around his brain, moving from one thought to the next quickly. he's trying to make sense of nineteen. pick her apart. he suddenly leans forward.
"so you have powers? like eleven's or..?"
nineteen glances to her left at him, not answering. powers? steve helps out.
"get this. she can read minds."
dustin gasps loudly, looking over to the girl. he laughs in glee.
"you can read minds?!" he yells. "holy shit, this is crazy." he leans back in his seat, holding his head. "okay, listen." he speaks towards both her and steve this time. "lay everything out for me that has happened since you met her. and everything that you know about her. right now."
steve looks to his right at nineteen, silently asking her if it was okay. she nods solemnly, looking forwards. so with a deep inhale, steve explains everything.
-
it was now quiet in the car as dustin sits forward with his arms on his knees, hands covering his face. nineteen is blocking out his thoughts, not wanting to know what he is thinking.
"okay." he finally speaks aloud after almost 15 minutes of complete silence. "so you have more than one power? and you came from hawkins lab, too?" he asks. nineteen nods and looks down at her lap.
"do you bleed from your nose?" he then asks, leaning forward. steve scoffs and barks out a laugh of surprise.
"hell, no. it comes from her eyes, gives me a heart attack." he tells him. dustin leans forward and stares at her. he notices the area below her eyes and on her cheeks was red, but smeared. it almost looks like the pink blush his mom wore.
nineteen scrunched her lips up, wondering what 'pink blush' is.
nineteen.
the banged girl opens her eyes and glances to the two boys in the car. they're too focused on the road. she closes her fists.
yes?
get to me. right now.
why?
i need you.
i'll try.
so nineteen closes her eyes again, finding eleven's mind and slithering into her thoughts. she's going down under again.
it's silent for a few moments, eleven thinking about nothing. just wisps of certain thoughts floating from the people around eleven. it's like that, until nineteen hears a new voice. it comes out of nowhere.
it was someone hurting. they feel like they're being burned. nineteen winces. she had never felt that thought before.
they're in so much pain, it's starting to scare her. she reaches further into their mind.
will byers. nineteen lets out a little gasp. she hadn't thought about him in a year.
"what?" dustin asks, leaning over her. "what is it?"
"will." she informs him. dustin leans closer. "what about him? is he okay?!"
she shakes her head. "it's-it's here." she gasps. "and will's with it." she says.
"what's here? who's with will?" dustin asks frantically again. she leans forward, as if she's watching the road.
"oh, my god.. steve.." dustin starts.
"i know." steve answers, pulling off on the road to a dirt patch.
"no, steve." he stresses his name louder. steve stops the car and looks back at him, only to see that he's staring at nineteen worriedly. steve leans forward, and looks around dustin's head.
nineteen's eyes are a glowing white.
"what the hell?"
-
nineteen squeezes her eyes shut hard enough that she feels the sudden motion of her falling forwards. when she lands, water meets her dry palms. she cries out in surprise, standing up quickly. she looks around, nothing appearing, until loud whimpering noises meet her ears.
she whirls around, spotting will laying on the ground. a boy knelt next to him, who nineteen recognizes as mike wheeler.
she leans down beside will, opposite mike, frantically looking his body over. he's screaming and gasping, his eyes roll into the back of his head. she stares at him, suddenly scared.
but then, just like that, he stops and stares upwards. nineteen waits for a second, glancing between mike and will.
she reaches for will's arm, her hand passing through it. she looks at them as they start to fizzle away. "no. no, no, come on!"
it was only when they were almost gone, that a hand shoots out and grips her wrist. she yelps as will's body reappears once again. he looks directly at her.
"get him." he says and she gasps, shaking his hand off and falling back.
she lands in the water, staring at the spot where will had been. she breathes heavily.
get him get him get him get him
nineteen looks down at the spot where the two boys just were in shock. she could still fill the presence.
"hello?"
nineteen flinches and turns around quickly.
will's standing there, a baby blue shirt on. he doesn't even closely resemble the boy that had been on the ground, suffering. he looks healthy, but also scared.
"you're the girl from the lab." he states. nineteen gathers herself and gets up quickly, staring at him.
"yes." she says softly. "my name is nineteen. he nods. "you're like the girl that mike talks about?" he asks. nineteen nods.
"yes." she tells him. he swallows and opens his mouth to speak.
"can you-
-help me!" steve cries to dustin urgently. dustin looks around the car, exasperated. "what can i do?" he asks before the girl's eyes suddenly pop open. steve jumps in relief.
but nineteen is only looking into steve's eyes for seven seconds when a sudden sharp pain goes through her head. she gasps and clutches it with both hands.
she can distantly hear steve frantically asking what was wrong again, but before she can answer, she feels her senses overtake her as multiple quick images flash before her eyes.
first, it's papa. he's wearing a white mask over his face. nineteen lets out a cry at the sight of the horrendous man. next is a vase of bright, yellow flowers. then terry ives, she starts screaming, and doctors run in.
the next image is of terry talking to a woman with brownish-blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. her face is similar to nineteen's own. nineteen feels her body being shook. the hands disappear, and nineteen blindly opens the car door, throwing herself out. she lands in the grass.
the next picture is a gun, and then the worst place that nineteen could ever think of: hawkins lab. a sudden rainbow on a wall appears, then three young girls sit in a circle with toys. one has dirty blonde hair and pale skin, the next one has dirt brown hair with bangs and rosy cheeks, and then a dark skinned girl with french braids sits opposite them. she looks older.
the last pictures are of papa. papa staring into her own eyes, lifeless, uncaring.
then, it's all gone.
"nineteen!"
nineteen pants, as if her eyes open. steve is scared. she looks up at dustin, who's staring down almost disgusted. nineteen feels of her cheeks and discovers that blood is oozing from her eyes.
"what's going on? are you okay?" steve asks frantically again.
"we have to get this over with." she finally says.
"get what over with?" dustin finally speaks up. she looks up at him. the boys share a look.
"the monster."
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this chapter was all over the place!! i am aSORRY