Siblings

Siblings pt. 2

word count: 28,395

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Robin Buckley + Steve Harrington x Female!Harrington!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic/Familial Occupation: University Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: flayed reader, angst, violence, blood, vulgar language, murder, character death

“Siblings” pt.1, pt.3

@eddiemunsonsmiddlefingers​ has a map of hawkins and I’m constantly using that to reference where shit is. it’s awfully helpful.

I wasn’t planning on making a part two to this story but I suddenly got an idea from a line I kept repeating in my head and thought “why the hell not” to the point I might make this a story.

so I was going to write the scene where el saw billy’s happiest memory but chose against it, since we all know what it is, I’m not going to bother and just write [f/n]’s.

might eventually make this a story on my wattpad account because I dove too deep into this.

I rushed the ending, it sucks but I needed to finish this to settle my mind.

that is all.

“You know? I’d probably find that downright hilarious if not for the fact that you’re dating my brother, Billy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Plus, that bitch is weird. There’s actually a word in the dictionary for what she’s doing.”

“And what might that be?”

“Grooming.”

[F/N] and Billy were having one of their late night hangouts at the Hideout, sitting at the bar drinking alcohol, not really shit faced yet but they were slowly getting there. Billy was in the midst of telling [F/N] the reoccurring times Karen Wheeler, mother of Nancy and Mike Wheeler, has been opening flirting with Billy. She remembered the first time Billy had told her about this, of course she was weirded out about it but she laughed that this grown ass married woman was flirting with a guy that was about two decades younger than her, basically the same age as her eldest daughter! She would’ve laughed again when he flirted back with her, just to get her off his ass, but now he and her brother were in a relationship. The four of them would never make their relationship public, never. They’ve simply stuck to being friends on the outside, but when they’re alone, they do all things a couple would do. Sometimes when they’re on a double date, people would always mistake Billy and [F/N] as a couple as well as Steve and Robin, mostly because each duo were always seen together. They took advantage of that, so whenever either Billy or Robin came over to the Harrington household, there was never bad air lingering around. So sometimes it would fuck [F/N] off when middle aged women would flirt with a minor, knowing that he was in a committed relationship with her! The people of Hawkins were so fucked in the head.

“Doesn’t she make you uncomfortable, Billy?” she asked out of concern, reaching forward to place a hand on his knee and squeezing it lightly “I won’t bring this up with Steve, but you know in this town, word travels fast. Besides, I don’t want him getting worried and getting the wrong idea.” Billy softly nods his head.

“I know. That pretty boy would probably lose his shit on me first, then go after that Wheeler.” they both look up in thought, trying to imagine the thought of Steve going apeshit on Nancy’s mother, they were almost tempted to tell him just to see it happen to the point that burst out into laughter “He is your brother, so if he’s anything like you, he’ll probably beat the shit out of her!” she throws her head back with a laugh.

“Hah! As much as I agree with that, he respects women now. He’d probably ask me to drag her out by her hair, to which I will gladly do it!” they laugh again before grabbing their drinks and raising it up “To Steve potentially losing his shit on Wheeler’s mum!” they clink drinks before proceeding to down it, when they finish their drinks Billy raised his empty bottle to the bartender.

“Two more, please!” since the two of them drove to the Hideout, and the fact they had things to do early in the morning, they couldn’t get totally hammered so after a few drinks they later stuck to drinking water to sober themselves up then continued chatting or peacefully listening to the music that the Hideout had or the few indie bands that performed that night. After a couple hours of having fun they finally decided to drag themselves out and back to their cars, however, they were both leaning on each other to help each other walk whilst laughing and giggling to themselves. Billy’s laughter echoed throughout the car park as he watched [F/N] collapse to the ground and nearly face plant into the side of her front bumper but managed to catch herself before she gave herself a bleeding nose and possibly a concussion “Will you be alright, Harrington?” she waves her hand to brush him off.

“Please, you’re just as shit faced as I am.” they start laughing again before settling in their cars, [F/N] rolls down her window to let the wind blow through her car after starting her car before briefly pausing when Billy flashed his lights at her, she raised a brow at him then narrowed her eyes when she saw him smirk at her “The fuck are you looking at me like that Hargrove?” his smirk only widens when he revved the engine of his Camaro.

“How’s about a little race? I wanna give my pretty boy a little smooch before going home.” she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Gross, I don’t need to know that.” she hummed in thought before raising her finger “I’ll race yah after seeing Robin, alright? We’re passing her house, and I wanna see her if you’re gonna see my brother.” Billy shrugs his shoulder with a laugh, brushing his hair out of his face. 

“Alright, might wanna tell your girlie that you’re gonna lose after I smoke your ass back to your place.” she scoffed.

“Whatever.” they both laugh and finally pull out of the parking lot. Robin was currently laying on her back, head bobbing softly as she listened to the music coming from her headphones playing through her cassette player. [F/N] graciously made her a mixtape of songs that they both liked, she smiled as she remembered that memory fondly. Because of the wealth the Harrington name held, [F/N] would always buy her expensive gifts after hearing the type of lifestyle she had grown up in. As lovely as each gift was, Robin asked her for something sentimental instead of jewellery like necklaces and earrings and rings (though she does appreciate them and wears them on special occasions), Steve told her that [F/N] had been hauled up in her room ever since then and when she came to pick her up, [F/N] presented her the mixtape. She’s probably listened to the entire playlist on repeats so many times that she can remembered ever song in order, but she just can’t help it, she was so in love. 

*TAP*

*TAP*

“Hmm?” she hums out in confusion, just briefly hearing the sound of tapping when the song faded out. She pulled the headphones off her head and looked around in confusion, she got a little angry when she thought that it was her siblings fucking with her but stopped when the tapping was coming from her window. She pushed herself upright and a big smile appeared on her face when she saw [F/N], who was currently looking down and talking to someone before raising her head to look at Robin once more, wobbling back and forward “[F/N]?” she muttered softly in question before stumbling to her feet and rushing to the window, throwing it open to greet her girlfriend, only to wince at the stench of alcohol and cigarettes coming from her breath.

“Robin~” she cooed out with a shout, only to shush herself when Robin raised a finger to her lips while shaking her head so she in turn covered her mouth with her hands “Sorry, sorry, I just missed you.” Robin rolled her eyes.

“We saw each other a couple hours ago.” she giggled to herself when she saw a flash of confusion come across her face before she nodded her head.

“Oh, you’re right… but I wanted to see you again.” Robin shook her head once more with a soft smile, she then realised that there was quite a distance from the ground and her window so she leaned forward whilst looking down and had to slap a hand over her mouth to quiet herself when she saw that [F/N] perched herself on Billy’s shoulders, to which he was just as equally drunk and could barely stand straight “Oh yeah, and Billy is here as well.” he looks up and gives a grin, saluting Robin, to which she returns to gesture.

“Howdy.”  “Hi?” she chuckles and looks back at [F/N], to which she was grinning ear to ear as she leaned forward, closing the small gap between them and pressing a small peck on her lips “What’s with the kiss, [F/N]? Not that I don’t like it.” the slightly drunk girl smiled at her, winking softly.

“Thought I’d drop by and give you a goodnight kiss, why? Don’t want any?” Robin scoffed before reaching forward, grabbing [F/N] by her cheeks and pulling her into a kiss. Robin couldn’t help but let out a groan when she could taste the alcohol and cigarettes against her tongue, she briefly pulled away but was only brought into another kiss when [F/N] grabbed her by the back of her neck to keep her still. By the time they separate [F/N] was grinning ear to ear, Robin flustered up a little when she saw the left over lipstick from her lips smudge across [F/N]’s neck “I’ll see you in the morning, sweets?” Robin giggled, wrapping a strand of her hair around her finger and twirling it around.

“Mm hmm.” Robin and [F/N] were giggling at each other before [F/N] started falling backwards, she let out a startled yelp and looked down at Billy and saw he lost his footing and couldn’t hold her up anymore and was starting to fall backwards, to which she tried to grab Robin’s windowsill to save herself but it slipped right under her grasp and the two of them fell to the ground with a loud thud. Robin gasped and stuck her head out of the window to see if they were alright, shaking her head slightly with a tired smile on her face when she saw the two of them slightly dazed and groaning.

“Nice one, Billy…” she murmured under her breath, grunting softly when he slapped her leg.

“You’re fat.”

“You’re weak.” he scoffs at her before proceeding throw her legs off of him, they then pull themselves to their feet and start retreating back to their cars, [F/N] sparing Robin one last glance followed by a kiss then finally scurried into her car. Robin sighed dreamily when [F/N] waved her goodbye as she and Billy drove off, she closed her eyes then pushed herself back into her room where she collapsed into her bed, smiling like a dork when all she could think of was how lucky she was to finally have someone that loves her. Speaking of which, [F/N] and Billy were gunning it down the streets, they were going to have to deal with the police and Hopper later but they didn’t give a shit as they sped down the empty streets of Hawkins, laughing wildly. They took a slight detour just so their moment of fun could last a little longer, that’s where they found themselves side by side, the both of them trying their best to get ahead of the other.

“We should’ve made a bet, Harrington!” he shouts at her, she scoffs and looks back at him.

“Oh, yeah? Then how about the first one back to my house has to buy us both gas for our cars for three weeks!” he smirks at that.

“Then I hope your wallet can handle the expenses of gas because you’re on!” he lets out a laugh as he shifts gears while putting more pressure on the gas, she grimaced when she saw him get a head of her and was creating some distance. She knew his Camaro was significantly faster in comparison to her Mustang, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a few tricks up her sleeves to keep up with him. Billy looked into his rear view mirror and saw [F/N] hot on his tail, he licked his lips with a laugh as he turned his attention back to the road ahead of him, he had this in the ba— he lets out a shout when something flew into the windscreen. [F/N] let out a confused noise when she saw Billy swerving around but when she saw that she was still speeding towards him, evidently going to crash into him, she lets out a shout and slammed on the breaks and quickly swerved out of the way before she could hit Billy. She managed to get control of her car as it comes to a halt, she was breathing heavily at what happened before remembering about Billy.

“Oh my god, Billy!” she shouts, jumping out of her car and running over to see if he was alright “Billy! Shit!” she runs over to his car and winced at the state of it, she moves over to the drivers side and opened the door.

“Piece of shit…” she heard him groan out.

“Are you okay, Billy?” he sucked in a breath, pushing himself back into his seat then raised a hand to press against his forehead, wincing when his hand touched his bleeding forehead “Shit, you’re bleeding.” he scoffs at her.

“No shit.” she frowns at him, reaching forward to cup his face and make him look at her. 

“God, I hope you don’t have a concussion.” he smacks her hands off of him then gestures for her to move, she does so but ultimately helps him out of the car.

“Just great, this is just fucking great.” he mutters to himself as he looks at the state of his Camaro, she in turn approached the front of his car and saw the cracked windscreen, she furrowed her brows in confusion and mild disgust when she saw some sort of slime on the windscreen where it was cracked. She reached forward and gently touched it, only to regret it as she shudder at the feeling, she wiped it off against her pants “Fuck, this is going to cost a fucking fortune to repair.” Billy threads his fingers through his hair, at the verge of yanking them out of his scalp but calmed down slightly when [F/N] placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, Hargrove. I’ll help pay for it… with my parents money.” he scoffs, shoving her back softly to sit on the hood of his car.

“I don’t think they’ll appreciate the loss of money in their account.” she scoffs right back at him, sitting down beside him and offering him a cigarette, to which he graciously took and let her light it, enjoying the feeling of the nicotine filling his lungs then letting it all out.

“Please, I’ll be lucky if they notice a couple grand is missing.” the two of them start smoking away, she sniffles a little as she let the cigarette hang loosely by her lips “Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea on our part. We’re drunk, possibly high and extremely tired.” Billy rolls his eyes, taking the cigarette from his lips and held it in between his fingers.

“Yeah, but we’re both competitive and like to win.” she pursed her lips.

“True.” they fist bump each other “Anyways, what hit your car? A bird?” he shrugs his shoulders.

“Not sure, was going way too fast to get a glimpse of what it was.” she looked back at where they were previously then looked around at their surroundings, she suddenly felt a chill run down her back as the abandoned steel works factory loomed over them, she swallows thickly then turned back to Billy and gestured to her car.

“How’s about we get the fuck out of here? This place is giving me the heebie jeebies. I’ll be even more generous as to let you stay at our place while someone looks over your car, I personally know a good mechanic that can get your baby whipped back up into shape in no time.” he looked liked he was considering that option, he then winces when she cupped his face once more and looked at his bleeding forehead “But after we take care of this, I don’t want Stevie getting worried about this.” he nods his head.

“Agreed… we’re not telling him about this, right?”

“Are you crazy? Fuck no.” they both stand up but whipped their heads in the direction they heard something shuffle.

“Who’s there?!” Billy shouts, neither get a reply “I said who’s there?!” [F/N] shook her head, noticing that Billy was getting paranoid. Before she could say anything Billy’s feet were suddenly swept out from under him, he all but dropped to the ground before he was being dragged away. He desperately clawed at the ground to stop himself but there just wasn’t anything to cling onto, this continued as he was dragged through the factory and as he was going to be pulled down into the lower level of the factory he managed to grab a hold of the railing of the stairs. He clung onto it desperately, panic coursing throughout his body when he could feel his grip slowly slipping and when it did he expected to be dragged down the staircase but [F/N] caught him.

“I… got you!” she strains out, her grip on him deathly tight as she tried to pull him back but her feet where being dragged forward. She tries to dig the heels of her feet into the ground to keep herself from moving any further, their sweaty hands weren’t helping their predicament because she did lose her hold on his left hand but she quickly grabbed the railing. All this was for naught when something slithered around her ankle and yanked her, she fell to the ground with a thud with Billy on top of her before they were both dragged down the stairs into basement. The moment the two of them came face to face with this weird goopy looking thing they couldn’t help but scream at the top of their lungs as it roared at them, holding each other right as it loomed over them. The next few moments were silent, just the sound of chains swaying in the soft wind followed by quiet rumbling, this moment was interrupted when both Billy and [F/N] managed to pull themselves out of the basement. [F/N] starts pushing Billy and herself away but they both stumble to the ground, pushing themselves back as they spare a glance back at the entrance to the basement and shudder when they hear a roar come from that thing. Billy pulls himself onto his feet first and grabs [F/N] by the back of her jacket to yank her to her feet, she’s holding onto his arm as they’re scrambling out of the factory and rushing to their respective cars. They don’t waste a second to drive the fuck out of there, Billy driving ahead of [F/N] but he pulls to the side when he saw a phone booth, neither of them turn their cars off as they jump out but Billy makes it into the phone booth to make the call while [F/N] stood outside, breathing heavily as she kept looking back towards the direction they came from.

”911, what’s your emergency?” Billy goes to speak but the words got caught in his throat, I mean, how could it not? What the fuck was he supposed to say? Hey, my friend and I got in a car accident because we were drunk then we found this weird fucking monster, send help right away please! The two of them started to panic when the light in the phone booth started flickering as their surroundings changed ”Is someone there? Hello—” the voice cut off when the light completely turned off, Billy hangs up the phone as he walks out of the phone booth. He hears a noise and starts walking towards it, flinching slightly when he felt something so he glanced down and saw [F/N] just as equally terrified as he was holding onto his arm and hand. He places his free hand on her shoulder then the two of them walked towards the fog where they heard footsteps coming towards them.

“What do you want?” Billy manages to croak out, voice shaky and not sounding like his usual self “Hey, I said what do you want?!” he was desperate for an answer but the two of them started to panic again when they saw a group of people coming towards them. Red lightning struck as the group of people came to a halt, instead two people from the crowd came walking towards them and they both equally froze when their vision cleared up and they were staring right back at themselves.

[time skip: the next day]

Steve stood in front of his full body mirror as he does his hair up, something he always does in the morning though it was usually done for naught because of that stupid little hat he has to wear that was apart of the uniform that was just as stupid. He sets his hairspray on his desk, looking at his iconic hair and touching it up for the nth time of that morning before nodding his head when he was satisfied with how it looked. With everything ready he picked up his keys and tucked them into his pocket then walked out of his bedroom with an extra skip on his step in his step, things were finally looking up for him that he couldn’t not be happy. His sister was home for the summer break, he’s actually enjoying work (kind of), he’s made friends with the girl at said work, his sister is dating said girl while he himself has gotten himself into a relationship that first started off rocky but evidently he fell in love with him. He wasn’t expecting to see his sister as he walked past her room, she was always gone in the morning to go pick up Robin, but he halted at her door when he saw the state she was in.

“[F/N]…?” he muttered softly, pushing open her door that was left open just a bit and his eyes widened when he saw her. She was sitting hunched over at the edge of her bed, elbows planted on her knees as her head rested on her interlocked fingers. She was panting heavily while sweating profusely, she looked downright horrible “Oh my god, [F/N]! Are you okay?” he exclaims as he rushed over to her side, kneeling down to try and get a look at her face and saw her face was pale while her [E/C] eyes were dull from their usual shine.

“Steve…” she weakly breathed out, he moved his hands to gently place a hand on her forehead and quickly withdrew it when he felt a burning sensation under his fingertips.

“You’re burning up, [F/N]!” he shouts then proceeds to push her onto her back so that she was lying on her bed but she shook her head, weakly pushing him back so she could get up.

“No, no… I need to get Robin, I promised to get her.” she weakly hits at his chest, letting out a whine when he grabbed her by her wrists to stop her futile attempts to get him off and gently lays her down on the bed.

“I’ll get her, okay? I think she’ll understand why you couldn’t get her if I tell her that you’re sick, alright? You’ll only worry her if you show up as the mess you are right now, besides, I don’t think you can drive in the state you’re in.” she lets out a groan, slapping her hands onto her face and dragging them down “I’ll open the window so it can help you can cool down, if there isn’t anything in the cabinets I’ll grab some shit from the pharmacy on my way back from work. Don’t do anything that’ll make you feel any worse than you already are.” she chuckles weakly, placing a hand on her chest and looking over at Steve.

“Since when were you the one… to look after me?” he just shook his head, he walks into her bathroom then later came out with a wet cloth to wipe away the sweat on her forehead then placed another wet and cold cloth on her forehead to help cool her down.

“Since my sister was the one that got fucked up in my stead.” she scoffed then hummed when she felt Steve cup her cheek, she leaned into his touch but winced when it got too hot for her liking and jerked away, he sighed sadly and retracted his hand from her “I’ll try and get off early so I can take care of you, alright? Don’t do anything to drastic while I’m gone.” she waves her hand.

“No promises…” she pants out as her hand dropped back down onto her chest, he sighs softly then knelt down to press a kiss to her temple then retreated out of her room to leave for work. Hours go by but not a single thing changed, she only felt worse and worse as she tried to calm her breathing down, tried to stop herself from sweating so much, but the summer heat was just becoming to unbearable. She closed her eyes as she tried breathing through her nose, a horrible mistake on her part when the memory of the night before came flooding back. Her fingers dug into her shirt when the flashing images of those rats scattering along the floor reappeared, being held down by some fucking monster as it forced something into her body. Her eyes snapped opened as she let out a scream, shooting up straight as she continued to pant, she takes the cloth off her head and throws it to the ground as she weakly makes her way to her bathroom. She leans her weight into the sink, her hands gripping onto the sink as her head hung loosely in front of her. She managed to lift her head to stare at her reflection, her vision slowly clearing up so she can get a good look at her reflection but then another flashback from last night appeared before her.

”What do you want…?” she managed to whimper out, her usual personality nowhere to be seen as she leaned closer into Billy’s side, who held onto her tightly but neither one of them could tear their eyes away from their doppelgängers.

”To build.” both doppelgängers said in unison, they even sound like them but their voices were slightly disoriented with a deep, echoing feeling to it. Billy and [F/N] manage to tear their eyes away from them to look at each other, nothing but confusion were seen on their faces ”I want you to build.”

“To build what?” Billy asks.

”What you see.” [F/N] shakes her head.

“I-I… I don’t understand.” they both flinch backwards when that same lightning struck and they were suddenly back on the side of the road, [F/N] all but collapses to her knees as she threads her fingers through her hair, her shoulders trembling at the terror the two of them witnessed. Billy was still standing as he looked around for wherever they could have gone, shaking his head.

“I don’t understand!”

“Ah!” she screamed at her reflection before proceeding to punch it, not bothering to remove her fist when the shattered glass fell into the sink and cut her hand. When her breathing calmed down she pulled her fist and let her trembling hand hang by her side, she took deep breaths through her nose before turning her head to the side “I need to talk to Billy…” she muttered softly then quickly left the bathroom, putting on her shoes and grabbing a jacket that had her keys in her pockets. The drive to the Hawkins community pool felt like a nightmare, her windows were all the way down and her AC was blasting to cool down her overheating body, but what freaked her out was when she was stopped at a red light. She perched her arm on the open window as her finger nervously tapped against the stirring wheel, she hissed in pain when she felt like she was being burn so she glanced down at her hand and furrowed her brows when she saw a burn mark forming on the back of her hand, she immediately pulls her arm back into the car. She pulls up to the pool and quickly hops out of her car, not bothering to lock it up and just simply slams the door shut and rushes into the pool. She spots Billy just as disoriented as she is, she didn’t waste any time to whistle to catch his attention, when his head shot up and looked for her, he managed to spot her waving her hand.

“[F/N]…?” he mumbles in confusion, he pushes himself up when he saw her waving him over, mouthing that they needed to talk. He all but jumps out of his seat and rushes over to her as fast as he could, stumbling with his footing but he managed to reach her in the end, grabbing her by her wrist and dragging her into the changing rooms, the showers specifically “What are you doing here?” she takes a shaky breath, holding her arms and digging her fingers into her jacket.

“Are we not going to talk about last night?” she asked, she inhales sharply as she runs her hands over her face “Have you been seeing things? Hearing things? I feel like I’m losing my mind…” she croaks out, she lets out a yelp when he grabbed her wrist again to look at the burn on her hand.

“What happened here?” her eyes trailed down his arm and noticed a similar looking burn on his elbow, they both started feeling hot again, [F/N] tears her jacket off but that isn’t enough and so Billy shoves her into the shower and turns on the cold water. They both silently soak in the water but start to get distracted when the pain in their burns starts aching, they’re both reaching for their wounds and grimace when they could hear something moving beneath their skin, the moment their hands grazed against the wound a flash of a monster appeared in their heads followed by high pitched screeching. They both fall to the ground, clutching their heads in agonising pain, pressing their heads into the tiled walls to try and lessen the pain but nothing was working, they were yelling in pain but it soon came to a halt when they heard a voice.

“Billy…?” [F/N] couldn’t recognise it, the two of them managed to push themselves back to lean against the wall behind them as they watched the girl kneel down in front of them “Billy. Take me to him.” they both stare at her in confusion.

“What?” they mutter.

“I said are you hurt?” she then looked in between the both of them as they continued to stare at her “What’s going on? I heard screaming. Should I call an ambulance?” she asked out of genuine concern, she then slowly backed away when she noticed the look of pain and confusion disappear and was replaced with one of malice. She lets out a scream when [F/N] shoots towards her, her hand slamming against her mouth to muffle her screams of terror whilst her other hand held both her wrists in an iron grip.

“I’m so sorry about this.” she whispers, she then pulls her up then slammed the back of her head against the ground to knock her unconscious. Both herself and Billy stand up and stare down at the unconscious girl then looked at each other and nodded.

[time skip: starcourt mall, scoops ahoy]

Robin felt a little deflated that entire day, first she wasn’t able to see [F/N] and Steve was the one to pick her up in her stead. She was confused when the younger Harrington pulled up to her house and so she obviously asked where her girlfriend was, the answer she got was a worried looking Steve telling her how awful [F/N] was and that she was very sick to the point she could barely move. Sure, she was worried for her girlfriend and completely understood why she couldn’t come get her, but she just couldn’t understand how she got sick. Last night she looked completely fine, only being a little tipsy but other than that, she was fine. Robin now found herself serving free samples to some little girl that was slowly getting on her last nerve, ready to pop a nerve, but then the sight of [H/C] hair her eyes.

“[F/N]?” she mumbled under her breath, wasn’t she supposed to be lying down in her bed at home? She shook her head and turned towards the window into the back room, throwing it open to get Steve and his little friend Dustin’s attention “Hey, Harrington! Man the counter, will you? I need to go check something out!” she shouts, choosing to ignore his shouts of protest as she abandons the counter and rushes out of the store, pushing past people to check if who she saw was actually her girlfriend. Her face lights up when she heard her familiar laughter so she turned the corner and was going to greet her but froze up at what she saw, there she saw [F/N] talking with some guy as he openly flirted and joked with and she was laughing at it.

“That is the dumbest pick up line I’ve ever heard, you dork.” he scoffs, bumping his shoulder against hers.

“But it made you smile, didn’t it?” she then shoved him back, not being able to hide the big smile on her face.

“Barely.” her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw [F/N] grab the guy by the collar of his jacket and pull him back, the two of them stumbling out of view. Robin grits her teeth and rushes over to where the two disappeared, she rounded the corner but was left flabbergasted when she saw neither of them, they just simply vanished. Maybe she was just seeing things, maybe she was just desperate to see [F/N] that she conjured her up, but why the hell was she shamelessly flirting with some random fucker? The end of the night came sooner than later, from seeing her girlfriend with some guy to helping her brother and some random child with a Russian translation, she was currently sitting in Steve’s passenger seat as he drove them to his house.

“Is she really sick?” Steve let out a dramatic sigh, rolling his eyes.

“Yes! How many times do I have to tell you, Robin? What you saw was definitely not [F/N]. For one, she’d never flirt with a guy. Two, she’d never let a guy flirt with her, because she’d either fight them or throw up.” that option made her chuckle, that sounded like her “My sister isn’t the type of person to cheat, okay? She actually beat that into me, so I highly doubt she would ever do something so frivolous.” Robin sighed, the back of her head hitting the car seat.

“I know… I think I’m just getting paranoid.” she jolts in her seat when Steve placed his hand on her shoulder, she looked at him and saw him giving her a reassuring look.

“Robin, if my sister does anything and says anything hurtful to you, you’ll tell me right?” he inhales through his nose and looks back towards the road “She doesn’t do or say things without meaning it. When she said she was in love with you, she meant it. When she said she wanted to be with me, she meant it. So if she somehow says she doesn’t want to be with you anymore… she’ll say it to you straight and she won’t do it behind your back, she isn’t like that. She isn’t one for hiding her feelings and she isn’t afraid to voice her opinions, rarely have I ever seen her bottle up her emotions. I don’t see any reason why she would ever go behind your back, but if she does anything to you that just doesn’t seem right, tell me. I’ll make sure to talk to her, so don’t worry about anything, alright?” she couldn’t help but get a little teary eyed, Steve smiled softly when Robin tearfully nodded her head.

“Alright, thank you.”

“No problem.” Steve then lets out a laugh when he pulled up to their house, gesturing to the driveway “Look at that, Robin! Her car is here.” Robin shrugs, sure, but it doesn’t cross out the possibility that she still left the house. Entering the Harrington household, Steve flips on the hallway lights and shuffles out of his shoes, letting out a slight grunt when Robin shoved past him to rush up the stairs to get to [F/N]. Steve told her that her condition was horrible, that she was sweating profusely and couldn’t stop her body from trembling, going so far as she couldn’t control her breathing. She needed to see this for herself, she needed to see how sick her girlfriend was to calm her mind of the image of her perfectly healthy girlfriend that she saw at the mall with some gu—

“S-Stevie…? Is that you?” Robin jerked backwards a little shocked after throwing the door open, there in the dark room with the hallway light to illuminate the room, was her girlfriend laying on her back whilst clutching her chest, looking just as terrible as Steve described “Stevie…?” she called out once more, she nearly tripped over her feet when she finally managed to move.

“N-No, [F/N], it’s me.” she saw [F/N] perk up at the sound of her voice and so turned her head towards her, smiling weakly when her eyes set on girlfriend.

“Robin…” she cooed, Robin smiled softly and knelt down, placing a hand on her forehead and let her thumb caress her skin “You’re here… why?” they hear Steve clear his throat, he decides not to turn on the light as he took a spot on the other side of Robin, standing over his sick sister who smiled at him.

“She wanted to see you, asking me after our shift to bring her here to check up on you.” Steve decided it would be for the best to keep Robin’s actual intentions a secret from his sister, it was the better option because that reason made [F/N] smile at the both of them.

“Y’all are saps…” she mumbled out, she then reached for Robin and gently tapped her shoulder “I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up this morning, I feel so awful for leaving you hanging like that.” Robin shook her head, taking her hand into here and squeezing.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just glad that your brother came and got me, would have sucked if I have to bike instead.” they both giggle at that, Steve smiled at his sister and her girlfriend, not understanding where Robin ever got the misunderstanding of [F/N] ever betraying her in the worst way. He then pulled a face when he realised why and swore in his head to never voice that stupid thought of his, he reached forward and placed his hand on [F/N]’s cheek and she leaned into his subtle touch.

“Your fever seems to have calmed down a little, did you take some tylenol?” she nods softly.

“Mm, I found some in my cabinet.”

“Alright, that’s good.” Steve has Robin help him with taking care of [F/N] to the best of their abilities, staying with her until she was drifting off to sleep, and when she finally did he pulled her out of the room and closed the door behind them “See? What did I tell you? She never left the house, Robin.” she nods her head, holding her arms.

“I know, I know. I just can’t help but feel insecure, you know? She’s totally out of my league, and yet she wants to be in a relationship with me! A nobody, a weirdo that’s apart of band and is employed in an ice cream shop.” Steve scoffs at that, placing his hands on his hips.

“That’s exactly what she likes about you, Robin. She finds it cool that you can play instruments.” she rolled her eyes bashfully, spinning one of her rings around with her thumb.

“Stop it.” Robin takes on last peek at [F/N] before finally leaving with Steve so he can take her home, it didn’t take long for the younger Harrington to return home nor did it take long for him to fall into a deep sleep. The moment silence fell upon the Harrington household [F/N] eyes shot open and she no longer looked sick anymore, she sat up and threw the covers off her body to reveal the clothes she was wearing were never changed. She shuffles out of her bed and walks over to her locked bathroom, pushing the door open to find the same boy Robin saw her with submerged in cold icy water. [F/N] did indeed see Robin in the corner of her eye when she was at the Starcourt Mall, that was the reason why she pulled that boy into empty hallway but she pulled him into an empty room before Robin could see them and proceeded to choke him out with little to no effort. 

She now found herself back at the abandoned steel works factory, exiting her car, she lifted her head to see Billy was there as well. Neither said a word to the other, just silently moving to the trunks of their cars and opening them up, finding their tied up victims unconscious, Billy lifts Heather into his arms while [F/N] throws the guy over her shoulder and the two of them walk side by side back down into the basement where it all started. Settling the two down, they hover over their unconscious bodies that slowly started regaining consciousness. Of course the two of them were unaware of the situation they were, blinking their eyes as they looked around in confusion, their eyes met and they were both confused when they saw their mouths were duck taped shut while their hands and feet were bound. Panic started to arise as they tried to free themselves, Heather letting out whimpers as she tried to shake free while the guy was screaming under the tape, they were both silenced when Billy grabbed Heather by her shoulders while [F/N] grabbed the other guy by his face and held his jaw in a tight hold.

“Don’t be afraid.” they said in an emotionless tone, both victims ceased their muffled cries and movements “It’ll all be over soon. Just stay very still.” they then remove the tape from their mouths before finally pulling away and stepping back, standing together as the same monster that did something to them crawled out of the shadows towards its latest victims, snarling at them as they screamed in terror. 

Billy and [F/N] could do nothing but watch.

[time skip: two days later]

The two of them continued to collect more and more victims for the monster to turn into mindless zombies, sometimes almost getting caught by their respective siblings, but they always managed to play it off. [F/N] remembered bringing a girl home she met in the middle of town, she recognised her as an old classmate friend and said how she wanted to reconnect. The girl was helpless against the mind controlled girl, struggling under her iron grip as she ties her hands up but was interrupted when the front door to the house was opened and in came walking Steve. He enters the kitchen and there he found his now healthy sister by the counter with an innocent smile on her face, waving her hand to greet him on his return home.  “Anything interesting happen today, [F/N]?” she only shrugged her shoulders.

“Same old, same old.” he was satisfied with the answer and ventures upstairs to his room, unaware of the whimpering girl under the counter wanting to cry out for him to save her from his crazy sister but could only whimper silently when [F/N]’s fingers dug into the meat of her face whenever she felt her struggle. She was now hauling her down into the basement of the factory, she hummed softly when she saw Billy and Heather already down there with two victims of their own “You’ve been busy, huh?” she mused, Billy glanced up at her and saw the girl over her shoulder.

“So have you.” 

[F/N] now found herself sane and sitting in her car, inhaling and exhaling softly as she watched the unknowing people walk by her, not knowing that she was picking out her latest few victims to bring to the monster. A pinch of her sanity was clinging to the back of her mind, she was already losing her mind because she could do nothing but watch her body go around kidnapping people and offering them up to this monster to do who knows what. She takes a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair before her eyes settled on a group of girls, she remembered one of them as a girl she hooked up with a few times while they were still in high school, this could be an easy catch because the other girl still had some lingering feelings for her. She rolls her neck, ready to do what she’s been doing for the past few days but her body suddenly fought against it. There were two fights going on in her mind right now, one was sweet talking this one time fling into bringing her and her friends back home to have some fun, possibly get them wasted out of their minds then bring them back to the factory, but the other was against it. This last piece of her sanity was fighting against that, she didn’t want to flirt with this girl, she didn’t want to tell her words that were rightfully reserved for her girlfriend. She lets out a groan, aching pain throbbing in her head as she tried taking control of her mind but ultimately lost when the pain became to unbearable.

“Don’t make this harder for you than it already is…” she muttered to herself, her voice not sounding like her own. Flicking down her sunglasses, she pulls at the collar of her jacket before finally opening the door to her car just as the girls were walking past her car. This obviously caught their attention, they were already checking out the ridiculously nice car but the moment [F/N] stepped out of the car the girl she hooked up with couldn’t help but freeze up when she saw her long time crush. [F/N] pretended to pay them no mind, throwing her car door shut and locked it, walking past the group of girls and as she walked further away, she stopped when the girl called out to her.

“H-Hey, [F/N]!” her friends snickered at how shaky her voice was as she stuttered over her words, she cursed at them but straightened up when [F/N] turned her head over her shoulder to look at the group.

“Yes?” she swallowed thickly, taking a step forward as she clutched onto the straps of her hand bag.

“D-Do you— do you remember me, by any chance?” her face flushed up when she tilted her head down, her sunglasses slipping down the bridge of her nose so she could see past the tinted lenses and at the girl in question “We were in the same chemistry class? We sat together and did a few projects together?” she was really hoping that [F/N] would remember, she took a step forward as she turned around fully, raising her hand to grab the frames of her glasses and pulled them down as she looked her up and down.

“Chemistry…?” she muttered to herself, looking up in thought then smirked down at her “Right, you’re— you’re Veronica, right? Veronica Gibbons?” her face lights up immensely because [F/N] Harrington remembered her, she actually remembered her! She enthusiastically nodded her head, reaching forward to grab her hand.

“Yes! I’m so happy you remember me.” her friends were giggling from behind her, knowing just how big of a crush she had on the female Harrington, also remembering how much she cried when she left Hawkins to study in a different state, but now she’s back as she has a chance to be with her. She then tilted her head when [F/N] pouted softly, taking off her glasses then biting the end of one of the frames.

“Actually, I’m still having a little trouble remembering, think you can help jog my memory up?” the group of girls giggled at the suggestion, Veronica turned back towards them and saw them gushing at her and giving her the thumbs up, gesturing for her to shoot her shot with [F/N].

“S-Sure.” 

Robin felt like she accomplished a mission. You could really do a lot with just twenty bucks, she exits the post office and stuffed the entire layout of the Starcourt Mall into her bag and jogs over to where she parked her bike, only slowing in pace when she heard soft giggling. Turning to see what the laughter was all about, she saw a group of girls gushing about how lucky their friend was, she thought nothing of it until the name “Harrington” left their lips. She then glanced over at the parked Mustang and immediately recognised it as [F/N]’s car, she then noticed that they kept glancing back towards the little alleyway and her insecurities started getting the best of her again. The name “Veronica Gibbons” left their loose lips and more thoughts started circulating in her head, she remembered that girl. She was definitely one of the best looking students during her year at Hawkins High School, she was that iconic popular girl that did cheerleading, was beautiful, smart and was wanted by the entirety of the male population. But there was a rumour that she was into girls, that she was into the particular Harrington that was untouchable, a heartbreaker who’s heart would never beat for anyone but her brother.

She didn’t hesitate to drop her bag on the ground and rush over to the alleyway, turning the corner and her heart stopped when she saw it. Veronica was pushing [F/N] back against the wall, her hands tightly gripping onto [F/N]’s biceps as she pressed her lips against her own. [F/N] didn’t bother reciprocating the loveless kiss, just let the shorter one of the two take the lead as she desperately kissed her. She tried not to think about it, she tried so hard not to think how awful she feels for playing with this girls feelings just because she couldn’t control her own body, she didn’t want to think about how much this was going to hurt Robin, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Veronica pulled away and gave [F/N] a sheepish smile, flushing up when she noticed that her lipstick smeared onto her lips, she turns away to avoid her intense gaze but a gasp left her lips when she noticed a figure at the end of the alleyway.

“[F/N]…?” her heart dropped into her stomach, visible fear in her eyes that were hidden under the tinted lenses of her sunglasses. Robin gritted her teeth when she saw Veronica pushed herself off of [F/N], clearing her throat and fixing herself up, excusing herself from the heartbroken Robin as she tearfully gazed at [F/N], who had yet to acknowledge her existence “[F/N], please… tell me that what I saw didn’t really happen.” [F/N] just let out a sigh, crossing her arms and leaned against the brick wall behind her, finally sparing Robin a glance that just wasn’t kind.

“What’s there to talk about?” Robin’s hand clenched into a tight fist, whoever this person was, it wasn’t her [F/N]. Her loving and sweet [F/N] who’d give her the world, who would fight the world just to see her happy, whoever this imposter was, she hated their guts for what they’ve done with her girlfriend. She marches over to her and stood in front of her, glaring up at her with a tearful gaze and saw that [F/N] had an indifferent expression on her face, like she didn’t care that she just got caught “You seem upset, little birdie.” she cooed out, Robin nearly keened at the nickname, any other time she would turn red, but right now she was filled with anger and anguish.

“Is this just a joke, [F/N]? Are you not going to acknowledge the fact that I just caught you kissing another girl, or the fact that you let that girl kiss you despite already being in a relationship with me?! Is she another relative of yours you and Steve forgot to bring up? If that’s the case, that’s really fucking weird.” Robin turns away, running a hand through her hair than back at her “I thought you loved me, [F/N]. I thought you said you wanted to be with me, but as of lately, I feel like you’ve become an entirely different person. Ever since that night, I haven’t seen a trace of the girl that said she was in love with me. What the fuck has happened to you, [F/N]!” Robin continued to rant and rave at the betrayal and [F/N] just took it, because another war was raging on in her head.

Take her.

Not her.

Bring her.

Ignore her.

Kill her. 

Spare her.

[F/N]’s fingers clawed at the wall behind her, her nails digging into the bricks to the point they were being crushed under her hold. Her teeth were biting down so hard on her lips to the point they were bleeding, she was trying to distract herself from the grotesque thought of bringing one of the few people that she loves to that fucking thing. She was trying so hard the past two days to avoid Steve and Robin, she was trying so hard to limit her time with those two because if she was with them for more than a couple minutes then she would lose all control of her body and she would hurt them. That was the last thing that she wanted, she didn’t want to hurt them, she didn’t want them to die all because she made one stupid decision. She said nothing as Robin continued to question what their relationship has come to after two days of her acting off, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Robin and tell her everything, tell her that everything is going to be okay and that kiss with Veronica whatever meant nothing to her. But she knew the moment her arms were around her, there was no letting go of her, and not for a good reason either. She wanted to do something to keep Robin away, give her a reason to avoid her, to never see her again.

“You’re making me think that everything about our relationship was for nothing!” she shouts, tears now running down her face, oh how she wanted to wipe those tears away but she didn’t want to touch her with the hands that have been the cause of people losing their minds and possibly their lives “Was there absolutely nothing, nothing special about our relationship?” Robin stood their panting in front of [F/N], the girl silently looking down at her.

“… are you done?” she flinched back at the harsh words.

“Wha—”

“Was anything in our relationship special? Wow, you were really deep in that delusional fantasy of yours, huh? Well, let me tell you something, Buckley.” she harshly jabs her finger into Robin’s chest, causing her to stagger backwards as each jab got harsher and harsher at each step she took “Your love for me was nice, it was, but it’s gotten boring. There’s nothing about you that excites me anymore, so yeah, maybe our relationship was for nothing.”

“[F-F/N]…” she lets out a whimper when her back was no pressed against the opposite wall, [F/N] looming over her with a dark look on her face.

“There is no us, not anymore. I don’t need you.” [F/N] makes sure to grab her by the jaw, lifting her up off the ground as she glared down at her “You mean nothing to me.” Robin lets out a whimper when she felt her nails digging into her skin, she spares her a glance through her teary eyes and when she looked into [F/N]’s eyes, there was no warmth but dull and empty eyes staring right back at her. She let out a gasp when [F/N] dropped her, letting her collapse to the ground and grovel at her feet. She turned on her heel and started walking away, ignoring how much she wanted to stop and apologise to Robin, how this isn’t what she wanted but this was the hill she was going to die on if it meant that Robin was safe from her ”And Buckley, don’t even think about telling Stevie about this, not that he’ll even be on your side in the first place. I’m his sister, he loves me, and you? You’re nothing but a coworker he has to put up with.” she didn’t even bother looking back at Robin when she finally left the alleyway, leaving Robin to wallow up with a broken heart as she cried out in anguish.

“[F/N]?” she let out a hum, turning towards Veronica who now sat in her passenger seat while her friends were excitingly sitting in the back “Are you alright?”  “Why wouldn’t I be, sweetheart?” she flushed at the pet name, she points at her face.

“You’re crying…” her eyes widened softly at that, glancing down at her face to see a single tear running down her cheek, she chuckles softly at that and wipes it away with her thumb.

“Just a little dust that got in my eye, nothing to worry about.”

Hours go by and night has enveloped Hawkins, to which [F/N] was currently loading the drunk, unconscious and tied up girls into her car once more. Getting them completely intoxicated took no trouble whatsoever, they were more than happy to get wasted with the more popular Harrington. [F/N] herself was drinking away her sorrows after breaking up with Robin, wanting nothing more then to numb the pain and forget that look of pain and betrayal on Robin’s face, but it’ll forever be burned into the back of her mind. She lets out an exhausted sigh after loading the last of the girls into the backseat, rolling her shoulders after walking back and forward from the house and her car repeatedly. Steve had yet to return from Scoops Ahoy despite how late into the night it was becoming so she was taking his absence as an opportunity to get everything done. Driving to the factory wasn’t as eventful, driving legally to avoid unwanted attention so she doesn’t get pulled over, when she reached the basement she was quite surprised to see the state Billy was in.

“Fuck happened to you?” she questions, quietly offering up the girls to the monster then returned to his side with a rag and some water “You look like you got the shit beaten out of you.” he looked up at her, letting her clean up the blood and sweat “That girl, was it her?” he nods.

“Yeah. It was her.” she nods softly, taking his hand and wiping away the blood on his knuckles “She knows now. She knows about me. She could’ve killed me.” she nods again, she puts the rag down and gently pats his hand.

“Yes, but not us. Not us.” they then glance at the crowd of people they’ve either managed to kidnap altogether or were infected by the rats that were controlled by the monster “There’s no way she’ll know that there are more of us. She could barely handle you, so what makes her think she can handle all of us?”

“You’re right.”  “I know. Our time is nearly upon us, so we needn’t worry until then.”

[the next day, with the party]

The party along with Jonathan and Nancy were all hunkered down in the Wheeler household in the basement, each discussing what had happened the following night and their latest discoveries. The children told the two young adults how the Mind Flayer had returned and that Billy Hargrove was under its control, in return they told the party how an old woman, Mrs Driscoll, was found eating fertiliser and was acting crazy. Nancy then deducted how that since the attack last night along with their sauna test happened at the same time, the possibility of the Mind Flayer flaying more than just Billy.

“Billy was doing something to her, but there was someone else as well.” they all look at El when she spoke up, she looks at Max “There was another girl, but she looked more worried for him.” she closed her eyes to remember seeing Billy, she remembered seeing that girl who looked terrified as she called out for Billy.

“Another girl? What did she look like?” Max urged, maybe if they find this girl she could help them find Billy and maybe even the Mind Flayer.

“Um, she was tall, maybe about Billy’s height. She had [H/C] hair, [E/C] eyes and a few beauty marks on her neck and face.” she closed her eyes to remember any other features that stood out to her “Her eyes, though, her eyes reminded me a lot of Steve’s.” this subtle feature caught Nancy’s attention, her face lighting up in remembrance, this caused the others to look at her when she started snapping her fingers.

“W-Wait— Wait right there.” the others watch as Nancy rushed out of the basement, questioning what she was planning on grabbing, and when she returned she had a handful of polaroids and a few articles “El, is the girl you’re describing… her?” El leans forward to see Nancy was looking through the photos before pushing a certain article towards her, she ignores the headline as her eyes zone in on the picture. They she saw the girl she saw through her vision but this time she had a giant grin on her face, a bit of a crazed expression on her face as she stuck her tongue out while one of her hands was doing the rock on devil horns.

“Y-Yes, yes! That’s who I saw,” Nancy and Jonathan share a look of disbelief “W-Who is she?”  “That’s Steve’s sister! That’s [F/N] Harrington!” this caused the lot of them to lurch forward and look all the pictures of said Harrington “I remember her being back in town, but to think that she and Billy were actually friends.” she muttered under her breath, Max was looking at a picture had in his hands and her eyes widened when she too recognised her face.

“Holy shit.” Max says, now they look at her when they saw her pick up a different photo, this time it was of a polaroid of the girl at a party, sitting on a couch with her legs over the arm rest as she was chugging down an entire bottle of vodka “That’s Billy’s girlfriend.” now Nancy and Jonathan were in even more shock.

“Fucking, what?!” Max nods her head.

“I’ve seen her around the house a couple times, and whenever she’s around he’s a lot more happier. I remember hearing a girls laughter from his room and when I came in to see what it was…” she shudders at the memory, shaking her head “It wasn’t particularly a fun sight.” the certain memory she’s remembering back to was when she, Steve and Robin snuck into Billy’s room through his window with some weed and alcohol they were planning on sharing with each other. None of them had realised Max was home until they heard her calling Billy’s name followed by her footsteps, Robin and Steve were quick to hide away and when [F/N] attempted to jump out the window, she instead tripped over her own feet and landed on top to Billy, that was when Max walked into the room and misunderstood the entire situation. All the residents of the Hargrove/Mayfield household are one hundred percent convinced that the two are in a relationship, this fact was rather beneficial for the both of them.

“I heard rumours going around that Billy was dating [F/N], but I never believed them.” Jonathan admits “But it makes it all the more believable that the two of them were together.”  “Then do you think she’s flayed? Like Billy?” Nancy takes a breath.

“There’s only one way to find out.” they now find themselves driving to the Harrington household, all feeling concerned and anxious. Nancy was the most worried because she’s witnessed firsthand what the older Harrington was capable of, she was already crazy as is and would only tone it down when her younger brother was in the picture. She loved her brother to bits that the moment someone looked at him wrong she didn’t hesitate to beat their asses with a chair, she remembered how she got arrested for nearly beating a kid near death because they threatened to kill her brother. They reap what they sow, no? Pulling up to the house, Jonathan and Nancy recognise the car that’s in the driveway, it was [F/N]’s infamous Mustang that could rival Billy’s Camaro when it came down to public disturbance.

“Is there anything about her that we should be careful about?” Jonathan looks up in thought as they approach the front door.

“Um, if you thought Billy was bad… I’d say she’s worse.” they pale at that, she’s worse than Billy? “But if you get on her good side, she’s actually a pretty decent person, nice even.” Nancy nods her head, agreeing with what he’s saying. The two now stood in front of the two, both equally hesitating to knock because they share an equal fear of the female Harrington, Nancy was the one to take a deep breath and knock on the door. They waited for a while for the door to open, awkwardly looking around to pass the time, they hear stumbling footsteps and a few things getting knocked over before the door was open. Nancy and Jonathan reel backwards when the smell of alcohol hit their faces, there in front of them was the sight of a depressed and intoxicated [F/N] that was leaning against the doorframe to keep herself from falling to the ground while in one of her hands was a bottle of tequila. 

This is not what the party were expecting.

“Who the fff… phuck are you?” [F/N] slurred out, clearly not in the right state of mind and very much drunk.

“Is that you… [F/N]?” Nancy asked, very much unsure that the girl in front of her was the Harrington that she knew. [F/N] was one to get drunk at the oddest times of the day, but it looked like she had been crying, and she does not shed tears for anything or just about anyone. [F/N] giggled drunkenly, swaying softly before lifting the bottle of tequila and taking a long swig from it, letting out a satisfied breath as the alcohol burned her throat.

“Yeah? What’s it to you?” [F/N] was going to ignore the bothersome people who came knocking at her door while she was trying to wallow up in sadness, ready to just outright slam the door in their faces but paused when in her drunken eyes she could just make out who exactly the girl is “W-Who are you?” she stuttered out, Nancy swallows thickly, patting her dress to smooth it out.

“Um, it’s me, Nancy Wheeler?” [F/N]’s blood starts to run cold, sobering up just at the mention of the name “I dated your brother a while ago, and we’ve met a couple times when we weren’t dating?” the silence scared them, maybe it was because [F/N]’s drunken state disappeared as she stared Nancy dead in the eyes and wouldn’t break eye contact no matter how many times Nancy looked away or turned her head away, [F/N] just continued to stare at her. Soon, a soft smile appeared on her face as she chuckled softly, she then leaned down to put the bottle of tequila on the ground then reached forward to grab Nancy by the sides of her head. The others watch in confusion as [F/N] gently caressed her face but it changed when she leaned her head back then slammed her forehead right into the bridge of Nancy’s nose hard enough to break it. She let go of her head and let her fall back onto the ground, not really caring as the girl cried out in pain and clutched onto her nose, she then leans back down to pick up her tequila as the children and Jonathan surround Nancy.

“Oh my god, Nancy!” Mike shouts as he falls to his knees, comforting his sister as she tried to stop her bleeding nose “What is wrong with you?!” he shouts up at [F/N], who once again threw her head back as she downed another swig from her bottle, completely ignoring him.

“I don’t like you, Wheeler.” she sneers out, taking a step forward and glaring down at the girl “I know what my brother did to you and Byers over there back in 83′, as his older sister I apologise, but what you did to him last year? He told me everything, how the girl he wanted to be with said everything between them was bullshit, then went and ran straight into the arms of the guy she told him not to worry about. You should’ve thought twice before showing your face to me, Wheeler, because now you’re on my number one hit list.” she makes the “I’m watching you” gesture with her fingers then turned around to go back into her house, only stopping when Jonathan used his foot to keep the door from closing properly.

“Wait, [F/N]!” she glared at him “We really need to talk to you.” she scoffs, throwing her head back.

“About what?”

“About Billy.” she was in the middle of taking another long swig from her bottle but froze up at the mention of Billy, slowly lowering the bottle to look at the older Byers “We really need to talk about him, and we’d appreciate it if you could tell us everything you know about him that’s happened in the past couple of days.” she stared at the lot of them being letting out a sigh, that’s where they found themselves in [F/N]’s kitchen as her drunken rage turned into a sob fest.

“You know?! I feel like he’s been acting different as of lately, and— and that he’s been distancing himself! I feel like he’s become a completely different person!” she cried from where she was seated, the others all sat across from her as her body moved dramatically “Then he broke up with me, saying how it was for the best! What the fuck does that mean?! Why does breaking up with me the best for us?! I still wanted to be friends, but I couldn’t even have that either! So here I am, drinking myself into a stupor!” she shouts and goes to drink again but let out a whine when nothing came out, pulling it away from her lips and tipping the bottle only for a few droplets to come pouring out. The others all glance at each other and watch as she moved to a wine cabinet to grab a bottle of expensive looking wine.

“She’s totally not flayed, right?” Lucas questioned, Mike shook his head.

“Not a chance.” they all wince when she trips into the wine cabinet, no chance.

“Hey, where can I get some ice?” Jonathan asked, [F/N] looked back towards him before shakily pointing at the fridge.

“Should be some in the freezer, Byers. Help yourself out.” Jonathan nods and goes to get some but Mike was already on his feet to grab it himself, wanting to soothe his sister’s pain, at least Max and El stopped the bleeding. He’s in front of the fridge and about to open the freezer but stopped when he saw a picture hanging on the fridge, taking a closer look, his eyes widened at what he saw. There he saw [F/N], Steve, Billy and that cashier that works with Steve, Robin Buckley if he remembered correctly, standing together with wide smiles and looking happy “Mike, the ice!”

“Oh, right, sorry!” he opens the freezer and grabbed the ice tray, handing it to Jonathan, and closed the freezer door but continued to look at the picture just as [F/N] came over “When did you take this?” she let out a confused noise and leaned forward to see what he was looking at, they all watch as she froze up once again, her hand lifting up from her side to look at the photo. It was during the time when they were at the fair, Steve wanted to take a photo and there was no saying no to Steve. [F/N], Robin, Steve and Billy, in that order, stood together and took a round of different photos and each kept one, right below it with the caption “night of 85′ where it started”. She closed her eyes as a bitter look crossed her face, nothing will be the same ever again and that memory of the four of them happy together will be one of her fondest memories.

“It… doesn’t matter.” she lets out, grabbing the corner of the picture she yanks it off the fridge and tucks it into her pocket “A-Anyways, what’s this about Billy? What’s he done that’s caused you lot to come to me?” El was the one to speak, reaching forward to hold [F/N]’s hand.

“We would like to know if… if you’ve been with him in the past few days, if by chance you’ve been feeling strange.” she stares down at her hand in confusion, she doesn’t pull her hand back though and just simply squeezes it.

“Well, if drinking before five counts as weird, then not particularly, no.” they all sigh at that, she pulls her hand away and crossed her arms, humming to herself whilst looking up in thought “Um, he and that Heather Holloway have been acting weird together. He doesn’t usually hang out with that girl, but the way he talked about her was weird. He even dressed modestly when planning on having dinner with her parents, and that man usually dresses like a complete whore.” they look at her weirdly as she snaps her fingers, she lets out a grunt as she popped the cork off the wine bottle and proceeded to pour herself glass.

“Heather Holloway?” [F/N] nods her head, head falling backwards as she brings the glass to her lips and drinks the wine “Alright, anything else?” she begrudgingly looked off to the side, thinking of anything else that came to mind.

“Uh, he told me he had been planning on visiting this old lady in the hospital? Does that mean anything to you?” she noticed them all visibly flinch, sharing knowing looks with each other “Telling by the looks on your faces, I guess that was helpful?” she questioned, her face scrunched up when Nancy nodded her head in her direction.

“Very!” she bit her tongue and shrunk back when [F/N] glared at her, El grabbed [F/N]’s hand once more and shook it lightly.

“Billy is in trouble, and what you’ve told us has helped our chances on finding him and helping him.” El’s face lifted up when she noticed the way [F/N]’s face softened up at that, she pursed her lips as she averted her eyes from the girl.

“I hope he hasn’t gotten himself into anything too dangerous.” they all hated how that wasn’t the case, with everything they got out of the drunk yet slightly sobering up Harrington, they left just as quickly as they arrived. Will was the last out the door but he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, his hand immediately slaps onto his neck and he turned around to see [F/N] following them out so she can shut the door behind them. She felt his gaze so she looked down at him to see what he wanted, the chill went away when her drunken eyes looked him up and down “What?” he nervously shook his head.

“N-Nothing.” she narrowed her eyes on him but evidently shrugged her shoulders, the moment they were at their car she slammed the door shut, not waiting for them to pull out of the driveway.

“Will, are you alright?” Mike asked, his hand reaching over to gently grab his hand, Will looked up at Mike and gave him a nervous smile as he nodded his head.

“Y-Yeah, I’m good.” [F/N] stood in her empty kitchen, wine glass in her hand as she tapped her finger against the marble countertop. If she played her roll well enough, the group will probably go and investigate the Holloway household then make their way to the hospital to check on poor old Mrs Driscoll, she was now rolling her fingers against the counter.

“Well, why not give them a surprise for snooping in things they shouldn’t go poking their heads in?” she laughs to herself, downing the rest of wine in her glass before proceeding to round a few other flayed people to come help her.

[later at night]

The party arrive at the hospital when the sun was down and it was late into the night, they quickly rush out of the car and towards the hospitals entrance, completely unaware of the Ford Mustang that was parked not to far away from where they were. Per hospital visits, only two people were allowed to visit a patient at a time so Nancy and Jonathan went ahead while the others lingered around the waiting room. The two walk down the hallway to get to Dorris Driscoll’s room in silence, but to be honest, it was a little too quire despite it being a hospital. They hadn’t seen a single nurse or doctor since they arrived at the floor, it was rather unusual but they shrugged it off with that it wasn’t that busy of a night. Entering the room, they were met with the sight of Mrs Driscoll nowhere to be seen while the flowers Nancy brought and placed into a vase were knocked over.

“Where is she?” Jonathan asks as they scan the room, Nancy shakes her head.

“I don’t know.” she answers as she rushes towards the fallen vase, Jonathan following right behind her.

“Are you sure this is the right room?”

“Yeah.” they both then look up when the lights started flicking on and off, footsteps were heard from the hallway until a figure appeared at the door, the two turned around just as the figure spoke.

“She’s gone home.” there they see Tom Holloway, appearance looking disheveled as his hands and end of his button up were covered in blood “We were hoping you might come back.” the two start backing away when Tom enters the room and starts approaching them slowly, Jonathan raises his arm in front of Nancy to keep her behind him as they inched further and further away from Tom.

“Who’s blood is that?” Tom doesn’t answer him as he gets closer to them.

“Tom, whatever you’ve done, it’s not you. He’s making you do this.” now that they were practically within arms length from Tom, Jonathan didn’t take any chances and grabbed the vase, smashing it into the side of Tom’s head. The older man fell into the wall giving Jonathan and Nancy a chance to flee out of the room, they didn’t get far when another flayed appeared down the hall with a wound exactly where Jonathan hit Tom with the vase.

“Owie.” he feigns the pain as he caressed where his temple was bleeding but it healed, black veins bulging out from his temple as he started walking towards them.

“Go, go, go!” Jonathan shouts, pushing Nancy towards the staircase in an attempt to escape the two flayed men. The two of them are racing down the stairs, they aren’t really aware what floor they’re on but they don’t want to take any chances as they’re running down the hall, going further and further they see the dead bodies of the hospital workers, at least they now knew whose blood that was “This way, this way!” he shouts as he pulls Nancy down a part of the hospital that had construction being done, the two men that were chasing them weren’t even running and were just simply walking at a steady pace.

“You haven’t got them yet?” Bruce glanced over to see [F/N] on a chair, body hunched over with her elbows resting on her knees. Beneath her foot was a nurse whimpering, crying silently as [F/N] pressed the heel of her shoe into her head and slowly applied more pressure as the nurse squirmed to get free “How hard is it to grab those two idiots?” she questioned.

“Just playing a little game of cat and mouse, that’s all.” she chuckled cruelly, shaking her head.

“Get them before they cause us more trouble. That girl isn’t here to assist them, so one of you should be enough to handle them both, alright?” he nods his head and rushed off to go find Nancy and Jonathan, not like that would be hard. She finally turned her attention to the crying nurse who looked up at her, eyes pleading with her to let her go “It’s a shame that you weren’t able to see the world he was going to create, but I guess it’s better for you not to stay and find out.” [F/N] then reached over to the axe that was resting against the wall, both her hands and the blade drenched in blood of the various victims that were claimed that night. She now aimlessly walked the hospital halls, whistling a random tune as she felt the flayed Bruce find the two and so she made her way over to where they were, Bruce was chasing after Nancy as she screamed for help while Tom was making his way over to where Jonathan was.

Find them.

Kill them.

Erase them.

Annihilate them.

“They’re working on it.” she murmurs under her breath, getting closer and closer to where Tom was with Jonathan, he was playing with his food. She shook her head, maybe it was wrong to bring those two along with her and she probably should have brought two other peo— she suddenly let out a grunt, her head being thrown back as she stumbled into the wall. She brought a hand to her mouth and saw black blood bleeding from her mouth, she drops the axe when she felt another impact smash her across the face and she finally fell to the ground. She was growling under her breath, panting as she starts pushing herself up but fell back when another smash to the head was delivered to Bruce while Jonathan stabbed Tom in the neck. The shared pain they felt sucked and had [F/N] grovelling on the floor, both hands slapped around her neck as black bleed bled from her face and neck, her veins then started bumping black as they started turning visible “You worthless… imbeciles!” she roared out, the Mind Flayer gifted her and Billy more power since they were the first to turn into his mindless zombies, so their regenerative abilities were superb in comparison to the rest. While Bruce and Tom lay motionless on the floor she picked herself back up, rolling her neck and hearing it crack under the pressure, she leans down to pick the fallen axe up and dragged it behind her to find the two causing them so many problems. 

She was greatly irritated, gripping onto the axe with so much force that the wood started to crack under her hold. Those two had one simple job to do and they failed horrendously to the point that their bodies turned into goop, she heard the sound of panting so she looked over and saw a doctor she thought she had killed, dragging himself along the floor to get to safety. The moment he heard footsteps he thought he was saved so he turned to see his saviour but his face fell at the sight of an enraged [F/N], dragging her axe behind her and leaving a trail of blood behind her. The doctor let out a cry as he tried crawling away again but was stopped when she stomped on his back, she brings the axe above her head and swing it down, landing a clean hit into the back of his skull and killing him. Blood splattered onto her face as she didn’t bother wiping it off, just simply yanked the axe out of his head and continued on with her journey. She was walking down the hall when she saw the goop of what was Tom and Bruce form into the monster, a miniature version of the Mind Flayer.

“Now look what you’ve done with yourself.” she speaks, walking out from the hallway as her body was drenched in a mixture of black and red blood, she then turned her head and a wicked smile spread across her face at the sight of Jonathan “There you are~” she cooed, now standing beside the Mind Flayer as she stared Jonathan down while the monster stared at Nancy.

“[F-F/N]…?” they both stutter out, she giggled to herself, throwing the axe over her shoulder and bounced it lightly.

“The one and only.” she winks at Jonathan then turns towards the monster, lifting the axe up to point at it “You had one job, right? One! And you failed it, immensely. All you had to do was kill them, and you couldn’t even do something so simple to the point you’ve gone and turn yourself into that. Good job, really, good job.” she shook her head in disappointment as the monster lets out a whine, knowing that the original Mind Flayer favours her and Billy over the rest.

“[F/N], w-what have you done?” Nancy whispers out as she looked the older Harrington up and down seeing she was covered in blood that just wasn’t hers as her veins were pumping with black blood “You were flayed? For how long?!” she cries out, she just shrugs.

“Does it matter? You’ll be dead anyways.” she looks back up at the monster and whistles, pointing with her thumb towards Nancy “Get her, I’ll deal with the other one. You won’t have trouble with this, will you?” she chuckles when it lets out a roar and starts charging towards her, she in turn starts marching over to where Jonathan is.

“Shit.”

“Nancy! Run!” she immediately backs into the door to the staircase but let out a panicked cry when sandbags were keeping the door from opening fully, Jonathan starts to panic as well because the monster was quickly closing the distance between the two of them and [F/N] was also getting closer to him. When Nancy manages to break through the door and run away he felt a sense of relief but it didn’t last when [F/N] was on him, he grabs one of the IV poles to defend himself but lets out a grunt when she kicked him in the chest, he evidently falls to the ground because of this.

“I’m really going to enjoy this, I never really liked you anyway, creep.” she lets out a grunt as she tries slamming the axe down on him but he managed to roll away just in time. He’s pushing himself back to get away from [F/N] as she leisurely strides after him, dragging the bloodied axe behind her in an almost taunting way “I don’t even need to do much to influence this body into wanting to kill you, it’s already rather homicidal and her hatred for you and that other girl is pretty deep.” Jonathan manages to push himself onto his feet and starts running away from her but in a way that he was chasing after the monster and Nancy.

“Is this because I beat her brother up and Nancy broke up with him?!” she only shrugs, easily matching his pace as she chased after him.

“Probably, but she was already crazy even before that, I’ve just pushed aside her rationality.” she swings at him again but he ducks out of the way, wincing when the axe made contact with the wall and a crack formed under the impact “Her love for her brother is both her weakness and her strength. She’d do anything for him; anything.” she’s swinging at him left and right, him narrowly dodging out of the way when he’s finally at the hallway where he sees the miniature Mind Flayer at a door that he believes Nancy has locked herself in.

“No, Nancy!” this was his shortcoming when he froze up, watching as the monster lost its physical form to turn back into a state of goop so it could slip under the cracks of the door. He was kicked in the back and fell onto his stomach, he pushes himself onto his back but let out a grunt of pain when she hit him with the butt of the axe, causing him to fall limp onto his back and daze him.

“No more running, little Jonathan. You’re making my job harder than it needs to be, so just sit still,” she starts, raising the axe over her head and smiling crazily down at him “and let me kill you.” she laughs wickedly and finally swings the axe down, having a clean shot to kill Jonathan but the axe is stopped inches away from his face. He gasped, eyes widen in shock as he stared up at the blade while [F/N] in turn was confused, letting out a strained grunt as she tried pushing it down but it wasn’t budging.

“Jonathan!” the two of them whip their heads around and see the party down the hall, El’s hand stretched out a stopping the blade from meeting Jonathan’s face. They all flinch back at the vicious look in [F/N]’s eyes, god, she looked exactly like Billy during the sauna test. El didn’t waste any time as she raised her hand, this motion caused the axe in her hands to move away from Jonathan, and because she was still holding the axe in her hands, El used it to send [F/N] flying back and pin her to the wall with it pressed against her throat, just like Billy.

“Holy shit, she was flayed the whole time!” Lucas shouts as they all rush towards Jonathan to help him up, they all spare [F/N] a glance and saw she was growling at them, letting out a animalistic roar as she pushes against the axe that was keeping her at bay, El in turn was putting more power into keeping [F/N] still “Does that mean she lured us here?!”

“It doesn’t matter now!” Mike shouts, they all shudder when [F/N] starts giggling maniacally “Why the hell are you laughing?!”

“You dumbasses a-are… are exactly where I want you.” Mike shakes his head.

“Really? But aren’t you the one being pinned to the wall right now?” she continues to laugh, her head rolling backwards and resting against the wall behind her. The dark blood pumping through her veins become more visible as she lets out another roar, finally managing to push El’s hold off of her and throw the axe towards them, they all duck out as the way just as she lands on the ground with a heavy thud.

“Jeez, way to go dickwad.” Max sneers at him, [F/N] wipes away the blood dripping down her nose as she leaned down to pick up the fallen axe. She throws her head back, running a hand through her hair as she laughs again, El is panting as she ignores the blood running down her nose.

“What’s so funny?” blood is running down her face and she can’t tell whether it’s hers or not, but she doesn’t care as she looks down at the children, she throws her axe over her shoulders and motions with her eyes to the room behind them.

“Aren’t you forgetting about someone?” at the mention of that they heard a scream, they all turn their heads towards the door and [F/N] laughs once more “I know a fight I can’t win when I see one, so here’s how this is going to go. You lot have two options. Option one, I run away and you lot are given the chance to save Nancy from meeting her inevitable end because you choose to save her instead of chase after me. Or option two, you give up on little Miss Nancy to chase after little ol’ me, this gives you the chance to learn things about where the monster is and what he’s planning on doing, but this also means that Wheeler meets her end. So what’s it gonna be? Are you going to be the hero that saves the damsel in distress, or the hero that sacrifices her to save the world?” she doesn’t wait for them to answer as she’s already running in the opposite direction, El raises her arm to stop her but flinched when she heard Nancy’s cry for help.

“El, leave her! Please, you’ve got to save Nancy! You’ve got to save my sister!” Mike cries out, tears swelling in his eyes when Nancy’s screams got louder, he then desperately tugs on her arm “Please, El! Please!” El’s eyes were still on [F/N]’s retreating figure, growling softly under her breath when she saw the light smirk on her face before she turned the corner and disappeared. [F/N] was pouting softly as she exits the hospital, spinning the axe around her wrists, and was slightly disappointed she couldn’t kill Jonathan or that Nancy. Oh well, there was still plenty of time to get them next ti— she jumped up in surprise when the monster was thrown out of the room and landed right beside her, she looked up from where it fell and saw the lot peering outside the window, she then gives them a two fingered salute before rushing over to her car and driving away as the monster turns itself into goop once more to escape through the sewers.

“… so which one of us is telling Steve?” Lucas murmurs, they all pale at that. Back with [F/N], she finally reaches the factory, letting out a groan as she walks down the stairs to the basement, hand on her neck while rolling her neck as the axe rested on her shoulder.

“You look like hell.” she scoffs at Billy, wiping the blood on her face with the back of her hand.

“I feel like hell. I couldn’t get shit done because the two idiots I brought with me were of no help whatsoever.” the goop that escaped from the hospital the appears, slithering towards the original to merge with it, it grows in size as the two stare up at it.

“It’s time.”

[time skip: the next day]

El sat in front of the TV that was playing nothing but static, a blindfold over her eyes to help her focus on finding where the Mind Flayer could possibly be while the others sat back and watched her overexert herself. She was panting as she tried so hard to keep pushing herself but in the end she couldn’t anymore and ripped the blindfold off her eyes, she now found herself in the kitchen getting a glass of water, gulping it down until the glass was completely empty. The others were discussing what they should do, they could possibly go and find [F/N] but they didn’t want to take the chance on fighting the newly psychopath and she probably wasn’t going to be home, the other option was Billy who definitely was home but him being there was just a trap waiting for them. El set her empty glass on the kitchen counter and let her eyes wander under until they landed on a box of lucky charms, staring at the rainbow, she got bitter flashbacks of her mother but then an idea struck in her head that she went back to the ground.

“It’s too risky.”

“Yeah, and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won’t stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it’s spreading from. We have to find the source.”

“Billy and [F/N] know it.” they all turn to El when she entered the room “They’ve both been there, to the source. She even said that if we went after her and caught her, we could’ve learned where the Mind Flayer was.” Mike shook his head.

“Yeah, but—”

“It’s a trap, I know. We can’t go to Billy or [F/N], but I think there’s another way. A way for me to see where they’ve been.” she’s sat in front of the TV once more with a blindfold over her eyes, concentrating on the static noise coming from the TV. She takes a deep breath and concentrates until she finds herself in the void and in the distance she can see something. As she gets closer she finds herself staring down at Billy and [F/N] sitting beside each other on what she assumes is Billy’s bed, [F/N] had her eyes closed as she rested her head on his shoulder and Billy himself was sitting up straight while staring into nothing. The one thing the two of them were doing was holding each other’s hand, occasionally squeezing, as her other arm was wrapped around her waist as his other hand rested on his knee. El now stood in front of the two, who weren’t completely unaware that she was there, but they both had a feeling that someone was there. El lets out a shaky breath as she reaches down, grabbing both of their free hands “Billy… [F/N]. I want to see. I want to see what happened.” Billy raises his head and [F/N] opens her eyes, El could see the tears in their eyes as they stared up at her, she lets out a gasp when the hands she was holding let go of hers and instead held a tight grip on her forearm. She tries to break free but neither one of them were letting go, their hold on her only tightened as she fought against them but when they did let go of her, she falls back but their memories of everything they’ve done flashed in her head. From [F/N] and Billy killing people, from them kidnapping people, from them hurting people, from the Mind Flayer infecting the two of them, from the very beginning when Billy crashed and [F/N] rushing to come to his aid.

El let out a grunt when she fell onto the concrete sidewalk, she groans as she rubs the back of her head and slowly pushed herself up so her hands were holding her up, she looked around and saw that she was on some random street that she couldn’t recognise but the sun was up and there weren’t many people around, it was practically empty. She finally pulls herself onto her feet and starts walking around, maybe trying to find someone or something she can recognise. She lets out a gasp when she heard laughter so she goes to turn around and see what it was but paused when a young child, a little girl, ran past her laughing to her hearts content. Looking her up and down, she wore a [F/C] sweater and shorts while her hair was tied up with a hair tie that had small little ladybugs on it, the girl laughed again before turning around and waving her hand in the direction El was standing in.

“Stevie, come on! You’re so slow.” El gasps softly and when she turns around she sees the child version of Steve Harrington, he looked to be about ten years of age, pushing a bike where the girl was standing “Didn’t you ask me to teach you how to ride a bike?” Steve pants as he walks past El and towards his older sister.

“You’re not the one pushing the bike [F/N].” he complains, she just rolls her eyes.

“Stop being such a big baby, dingus.” he pouts, El follows them and finds that they’re in some neighbourhood in Hawkins that has smooth terrain for Steve to ride his bike. El smiled softly seeing [F/N] tease Steve while he in turn was crying at her to stop, she did eventually stop when she saw his eyes start getting misty and started pushing his bike. It was quite sweet watching the older Harrington treated her brother rather delicately, he seemed like such a crybaby when he was a kid.

“I-I’m having second thoughts, [F/N].” Steve said to her, his voice barely above a whisper. He was currently on the bike, his hands clutching onto the handles as his feet rested on the pedals, [F/N] stood beside him while holding the back because she knew that he didn’t have the balance to hold himself. She exhaled through her nose, looking him up and down.

“Well, we can always do this another time, not everybody can get it on their first try.” she tries reassuring him but noticed that he still looked upset over the matter, her eyes looked down in thought before she reached over and placed her hand on top of his “Hey, Steve, I’ll be right beside you, alright? I’ll always be with you every step of the way, I promise you that.” Steve sniffles at that, looking down at his sister with teary eyes.

“R-Really?” she nods, a big smile on her face.

“Really, I’ll always be there for you.” seeing her smile made one just as big spread across his lips, he then nods as he looked ahead of them.

“Okay, I can do this.” and as [F/N] promised, she was right beside him to help keep him balanced as he pedalled down the sidewalk, but the moment she noticed that he was doing on his own was when she pulled her arms back and instead ran beside him.

“You’re doing it, Stevie! Look at you go!” she cheered, he took a quick glance at her and saw that he really was doing it on his own, a big smile broke onto his face as he went on. When [F/N] could no longer keep up with him, she stopped running at his pace and let out an exhausted breath as she hunched forward to catch her breath. El approached the young [F/N], looking at her face and there she saw the look of pure love as she watched her brother go, she saw that she completely adored her brother to no ends. El remembered Nancy mentioning how [F/N] would do about anything for her younger brother, it didn’t what it was, it’s just that she would go to great lengths for him. [F/N] gasped and this caused El to stop looking at her and instead back at Steve, who winced when she saw the wheel get caught in something, causing him to fly off the bike “Steve!” she shouts out and immediately rushes to his side, to which he was bawling his eyes out as his knees were bleeding and hands were scrapped.

“It hurts, [F/N]! It hurts so much!” he cries out, [F/N] drops to her knees as she looked him up and down, trying to figure out what to do as he continued sobbing. She then tries to calm him down but it just doesn’t seem to work, nothing she was doing was working and he only seemed to be getting worse, so she starts to cry with Steve. El found it a little funny that the two siblings were crying, Steve because he was hurt and [F/N] because Steve was crying. She never would have imagined that the drunk, depressed and psychotic [F/N] she met the day prior was the same caring little girl she watched before her. When [F/N] did manage to calm down, not enough to stop crying, she picked Steve up and carried him on his back and ran to the closets house, abandoning the bike in favor of someone helping her brother. The person she chose was quite startled to find two crying children at her door step, awkwardly question what was wrong but managed to understand what happened through all the snot and tears [F/N] blubbered out.

[you can skip past this, this is basically her past that I accidentally started to write and I couldn’t fucking stop]

[F/N]’s happiest memory was anything that involved Steve, she was the eldest Harrington child of the Harrington couple. The two of them never wanted a daughter and expected their first child to be a son, but when they got [F/N] instead they didn’t hesitate to have sex again just to conceive another child in hopes of getting a son, and their hopes came true when Steve was born. [F/N] noticed at a young age how her parents favoured Steve over her every time, it didn’t matter what it was, it was always him before her, but she never did care about that, because her parents were just assholes and her baby brother didn’t do anything to deserve the anger she had for their parents to be directed at him. There was just something different between the two of them when they started getting older, they were joined at the hip when they were children but the moment they were in middle school, it was a different story. [F/N] naturally entered middle school before him and she already earned herself a title, the up and rising star of Hawkins Middle School that would surely become the Queen of Hawkins High when she graduates middle school. She was beautiful, a Harrington genetic gift, naturally smart and athletic, very kind and charismatic that she was the person everyone wanted to be with.

So her achievements greatly overshadowed Steve’s to the point that their parents attention moved from him to her, at first she was happy that she got their validation, but noticing how her and Steve were drifting apart and his admiration towards her turned green with envy, she started second guessing all the popularity she gained. It got worse for Steve when he started middle school, he was known as the “other Harrington” that just couldn’t match up to his sister, he was just constantly in her shadow no matter where he went. Constantly being compared to her was like a nightmare to him, he was struggling to finish an English essay? [F/N] would have easily gotten it done in half the time it took him to write a single sentence. He managed to score a three pointer in basketball during P.E? How about winning against Hawkins Middle School’s rivalling team with the most points they’ve seen in years. He didn’t want to be known as the younger brother of [F/N] Harrington, he wanted people to know him as Steve Harrington, but that was never going to happen as long as people knew that he was her brother. [F/N] obviously noticed the treatment her sweet little brother was going through, she tried so hard to talk to him or get people to stop with their bullshit, but that made Steve angrier, he didn’t want her pity.

“Steve, why won’t you talk to me anymore? Please, I just want to make things between us better, like what it used to be when we were children!” she pleads out to him, she flinched back when he slammed his hands down on his desk, whipping his head around to glare at her.

“You want to make things right? Alright, maybe stop being better at everything! Maybe stop being the topic of every conversation people have when they come to talk to me! Maybe just stop being the reason my life is ruined!” he pushes his chair back with his legs as he approaches her “Stop being smart! Stop being pretty! Stop people the centre of attention!” she lets out a grunt when he shoved her back, her stumbling out his room as he reached for the door “Maybe just stop being my sister altogether!” he finished and slammed the door in her face, she continued to stand where he left her as she stared at his door, she let out choked up noises as tears glistened in her eyes before finally sniffling and walking away.  That was definitely the last time the two of them properly spoke with each other and no matter how many times she tried to work things out, how hard she tried to make things better, he just never gave her the time of day to hear her out. Her graduation from middle school to high school was probably her worst day because Steve didn’t even want to be there and only came because their parents would be more disappointed in him if he didn’t come to support his sister, and for him it was probably a great day because it meant that he didn’t have to see his sister the following year at all. If she didn’t do anything soon she was possibly going to lose Steve, so staring at her reflection she stared at herself and couldn’t help but hate she was looking at. She never felt like she was looking at herself, just looking at the person her parents made her out to be without her ever being able to properly find herself. She wanted to change, she wanted to be different from the person she saw in the reflection, and there was just one person that could possibly help her.

“Eddie Munson!” she screamed at the top of lungs at the trailer park, she knew the bastard was home, telling how the lights in his trailer were on. Eddie “the Freak” Munson was her polar opposite in middle school and a boy who was in the same year as she was. She remembered first seeing him during their middle school’s talent show with how him and his band “Corroded Coffin” performed heavy metal, it was very loud and a little disorganised, but it was pretty good in her opinion. She met Eddie on a few occasions but each time weren’t really pleasant, mostly because he spoke to her as if she didn’t know how the world worked since she was a privileged little girl that got everything she wanted. She didn’t know what hurt more, the fact that he isn’t entirely wrong or that it was him that woke her up. Eddie opened the door to the trailer and was surprised to see [F/N] standing there, so with his usual cocky attitude, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

“Well what do we have here? What can this jester do for her majesty, [F/N] “the Queen” Harrington?” he cooed, [F/N] didn’t bother to say anything and just went straight to the point.

“I need your help.”

“And what can little ol’ me do for you?”

“I need you to make me look like you.” now he was a little thrown off at the request, the one and only girl that everybody loves and has everything at the palm of her hand, was asking for his help in making her… look like him? She noticed that he was confused so she raised her hand, she goes to speak but a chill ran up her spine when a burst of wind blew through her body “Can I come in? I’m fucking freezing.” her swearing was even more startling, [F/N] was prim and proper and wasn’t know for using such vulgar language, and yet here she was.

“O-Oh, yeah, of course.” and that’s where Eddie found himself holding a box of tissues for [F/N] as she told him everything that happened during her year in middle school, bawling her eyes out as she told him that her worst fear was possibly coming true “So, let me get this straight… you want me, to make you look like me so that your parents and possibly others start viewing in a different way and that people will start liking your brother?” she sniffles, nodding her head.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” he sucks in a breath, running a hand through his growing hair after growing through his buzz cut.

“I don’t know if I find that endearing that you came to me for help or insulting that you came to me for help.” she gave him an apologetic look “But I see where you’re coming from, female Harrington. You don’t want people to see you in a positive light and if they hate you enough they’ll draw their attention towards the better Harrington.” she nods her head.

“That’s exactly what I want.” he lets out a startled yelp when she grabbed his hand, holding it in between her own and gave him a desperate look “I’ll do anything to drift the attention away from me and give it to him, I won’t care how people view me as long as they stop making my brother feel even worse than he already feels. I want to be there beside him instead of on the sidelines.” he inhales sharply, this really wasn’t what he was expecting to happen on a Saturday night.

“Well… alright.” she lights up, a big smile on her face “But I want no complaining from you, alright? The moment you start doubting anything I do, I’m gonna give up on you,” she nods her head at the terns he set.

“Of course, totally!” she stands up, still holding his hand, and shakes it rather vigorously “If this works, I owe you big time, Munson.”

And being a man of his word, on the first day of her high school year, the soft and kind [F/N] was nowhere to be seen. Instead Hawkins High was met with the new and improved Harrington that wore leather or denim and had several piercings that were definitely not done by a professional, she even wore dark make up instead of the light or natural one. To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement, everyone was in disbelief when she pulled up to school in such attire but it was the fact that she was with Eddie Munson of all people! They were laughing about and talking as if they have been best friends since they were children, even his group of friends were in on the deal of making her less popular so she wasn’t seen without being with Eddie and his group of freaks. Her entire personality was a total flip as well, from the well spoken and polite young lady turned to a rude and vulgar woman who’s attitude was the worst that people couldn’t stand being with her. The teachers couldn’t believe what they were seeing either, she was once a straight A student but now she was barely passing with D+ and C-’s.

She learnt everything from Eddie, and she was always grateful for him because she actually felt free. Being with him and his group of friends was so relaxing because she didn’t have to worry about how she looked and how she acted anymore, she could actually properly be herself. Listening to heavy metal and screaming at the top of her lungs, smoking weed and laying on the floor of his trailer, letting him ramble on and on about some fantasy game called D&D, she didn’t care, it felt nice to actually have real friends instead of those people leeching off of her. But that didn’t matter, well it did, but what really mattered was the fact that it was working. People didn’t want to be associated with the former Queen who now hung around with the freaks and because she was barely pulling her weight in school and was constantly failing, her parents were absolutely livid with her.

“What has gotten into you, [F/N]? You were never like this leading up to this year! It’s all because you’ve been hanging around that Munson boy! He’s not a good influence on you!” she just rolled his eyes as her mother shouts all sorts of nonsense at her, both her mother and father have cornered her and sat her down to have a proper talk with her.

“Not only that, but you’re failing every single one of your classes! You’re barely getting marks above F’s, and at this rate, you’re not even going to pass at the end of your senior year! You’re sullying the Harrington name, [F/N]! I thought we raised you better than this.” she scoffs this time, leaning back into the sofa as she crossed her arms.

“Well I’m sorry for not being mummy and daddy’s perfect little princess anymore, but if you’re not going to accept the me I am today, then why the fuck should I pull my weight anymore? Besides, you still have your perfect little golden child Stevie to take my place if I ever go too far.” she snickers to herself when they continued to yell at her, telling her to that this rebellious act of hers better come to an end or she will face consequences, to which she just laughed in their faces before shoving past them and out the front door where Eddie was waiting for her with his shitty van.

“Dude, we could hear the shouting all the way from out here!” Gareth exclaims, throwing open the back doors for her to jump in, to which she laughed as she took Jeff’s hand as he helped her in “They sounded really angry, you alright?” she just shrugged.

“Honestly I could give less of a shit at what they’re saying, but it’s definitely working, I can just feel them ready to disown me and label me as the family disappointment, I’m just waiting for it now.” Eddie laughs from the drivers seat, glancing back at her.

“You’re crazy.” she winks with a click of her tongue.

“I have you to thank.” they all laugh as he drives to the Quarry.

Steve was completely baffled when people started treating him differently. For some reason he was now known as the better Harrington, the one that didn’t stray from the path of righteousness, or whatever the hell that meant, but it felt good that every topic wasn’t about his sister anymore. Well, when his sister was brought up, it was to tell him how awful it was to now be related to the psycho apart of Eddie Munson’s group of friends. When Steve first saw [F/N]’s transformation and change of behaviour, he didn’t believe it until he saw the way she now argued with everything their parents said. She never used to fight back against them, she would usually just nod and agree with anything they said, but not anymore. Now their parents were looking at him again, telling him they expected great things from him, how he was the new light of the Harrington family and that he was better than his good for nothing sister. As for [F/N], she was happy to see that her brother was finally getting that popularity he deserved and it didn’t matter that she had hell to pay for such a cost, all that mattered to her was that Steve wasn’t bitter having to go to school anymore.

She didn’t care that people insulted her.

She didn’t care that her parents hated her.

If Steve was happy, that’s all that mattered.

Sitting on the hood of her car, [F/N] had blood running down her nose and a bruise forming on the side of her cheek, knuckles torn and bloodied as her clothes were a little disheveled. The bruise on her cheek was given to her during an altercation with her father once again, this time he couldn’t stand her attitude and backhanded her clean across the face hard enough to give her a nose bleed. She didn’t see an ounce of regret on his face and not even her mother did anything to stop anything from escalating, she couldn’t take staying in that house any longer and just left without another word. Her knuckles bleeding were from her brutally punching a brick wall until she physically couldn’t close her knuckles anymore and just tired herself out until she sat on the hood of her car while smoking a cigarette to calm herself down.

“… fuck.” she muttered under her breath, she was totally going to Eddie’s trailer to get high and drunk to the point she couldn’t remember who the fuck she was. When she finally decided she was done, she hopped off the hood of her car and snuffed out her cigarette, getting to ready to jump into her car but paused when she heard her name.

“[F/N]!” she was confused when she saw Steve rushing over to her, she was confused as to why he was there.

“Steve?” she called out, she really didn’t want to deal with him right now be decided to stick it out to see what he had to say “What do you want? Don’t you have basketball practice going on right now?” he scoffed, shaking his head as he looked her up and down, wincing when he saw her bloodied knuckles.

“I don’t give a shit about that.” he reaches for her hand but flinched back when pulled her hand back.

“Why are you here? Don’t you have better things to do than deal with me?” he swallows the saliva in his throat, not liking the tired look in his sisters eyes.

“I-I’m here because I’m worried about you, I just— I don’t understand why you’re acting like this, [F/N]. You’re nothing like the way you were in middle school, what happened to her? Why did you suddenly change? Why are you so different now, [F/N]? I just don’t understand.” he shakes his head as he remembered back to the year prior when his sister first changed, the once quiet house was now filled with arguing and shouting matches between her and their parents to the point that Steve couldn’t handle it “Why are you like this, [F/N]! You had everything and then suddenly you threw it all away because of what? What?! Why did you do it?! What was it?!” Steve didn’t understand why he was yelling at his sister, he usually wouldn’t raise his voice like this and especially not when his sister was bleeding because of their father, but he just needed to quell his curiosity as to why his sister would do such a thi—

“I did it for you, Steve!” she shouts, he was taken aback, what? “I threw away everything for you! The popularity! The attention! Mum and dad’s respect, everything! I gave up everything because I saw how my popularity was affecting you! I couldn’t stand the thought that my brother was feeling the way he was in middle school all because people couldn’t see past me whenever they were with you. I hated the fact that we aren’t as close as we were when we were children, so I thought, if I act differently to what people are used to, then maybe people will start liking Steve Harrington instead of his older sister. And look at that, it worked! It actually worked, because people fucking hate me now and they adore you! You’re the Harrington that isn’t a fuck up!” [F/N] hadn’t realised she started crying until she felt the tears running down her face instead of blood, she pulls back and quickly wiped away the tears, grunting out in pain when she clenched her fists.

“B-But… why? Why would you do that?” Steve stuttered out, not believing she would do something like that, she just rolled her eyes before throwing her arms open at him.

“You said it yourself, Steve! I asked what I had to do to make things right, and you listed everything off! I had to stop being better at everything, I had to stop being the topic of every conversation, I had to stop being smart, I had to stop being pretty, I had to stop being the centre of attention! I did everything! I did everything you asked! Now all that’s left is to stop being your sister!” god, the fact that she remembered everything while he didn’t had Steve start tearing up, she had to tear her eyes away from him to stop her urges to comfort him, she takes a breath and jabs her finger into his chest “I gave you what you wanted, so I hope you’re satisfied with what you’re given. I’m only waiting for mum and dad to fulfil you’re last request and maybe then you’re ruined life will be magically fixed.”

“[F-F/N], I’m sorry— I didn’t—” she raised her hands, rubbing her sleeve under her nose.

“Save it.” she sniffles as she turns her back “Go home, Steve. I’ll stay out of your life as long as you want. Wouldn’t want to ruin the perfect life you’ve accumulated since I’ve fallen from my grace.” with that she leaves Steve standing all alone, feeling even more worse when she finally saw those tears run down his face.

That… that was her worst memory that she regrets.

She regrets shouting at him.

She regrets making him cry.

She regrets that she hurt him and left him alone.

[yeah, that’s all I’ll write for her backstory. I definitely had more to write, but it’s gotten too long and I want to get back to the main plot]

El tears off the blindfold, panting heavily after finally leaving the memories of Billy and [F/N] when she found the location of where the Mind Flayer was located. She looks around to see no one in sight, she was all alone in the cabin despite hearing their voices not to long ago.

“Mike?” she calls out but got no answer, she repeatedly called out his name again but was left unanswered until another voice spoke up.

“He can’t hear you.” turning her head, she gasps when she sees Billy emerge from out of one of the rooms “You shouldn’t have looked for me. Because now I see you. We can all see you. You… let us in. And now… you are going to have to let us stay.” as the Mind Flayer speaks through Billy, he’s slowly approaching El as she backs away from him in tears, she’s gasps when someone was right behind her.

“Don’t you see?” looking over her shoulder she saw that it was [F/N] with that same psychotic grin on her face, leaning over the couch El backed herself into but quickly pushed herself off to get away from her “We’ve been building it… for you. All this time, we’ve been building it. All that work, all that pain… all of it, for you.” the two of them now stood together, eyes misty as they held each other’s hand.

“And now it’s time. Time to end it. We are going to end you. And when you are gone, we are going to end your friends. And then we are going to end… everyone.” they speak in unison and before they could do anything, El screams at the top of her lungs as she throws her hand out towards them, sending them flying back to where they came from, and so the two of them woke up exactly where El found them in Billy’s room. [F/N] had a sad look on her face as she lifted herself off of Billy’s shoulder, neither one of them said a word as they sat in silence and squeezed each other’s hand.

“This sucks.”

[starcourt mall]

It all happened so fast. One moment they’re being attacked at Hopper’s cabin, next thing they know they’re hiding out at the Starcourt Mall because Billy had somehow managed to find them and was waiting out for them in his busted up Camaro. [F/N] was nowhere in sight and they didn’t know what terrified them the most, the fact that she was just lurking around waiting for them or that Billy was ready to run them over without a second thought. Hiding in the mall didn’t go as well as they thought, because the next thing they knew was that the Mind Flayer was right on top of them and broke through the skylight, landing right where they were and was now in search for El. The group consisting of Nancy, Johnathan, Lucas and Will somehow managed to escape and were hurriedly trying to replace their stolen ignition cable, their hearts beginning to race at the sound of Billy’s engine revving.

“Shit!”

“Get the car started, go!” Nancy cocks her gun as Jonathan jumps into the drivers seat to start the car, Nancy raises the gun and aims it towards Billy. She doesn’t back down when he starts driving towards her, she narrows her eyes as she starts firing at him, the others are panicking as she’s shooting at his already shattered windscreen that’s doing little to no damage as he continues to get closer and closer to her. The moment her gun ran out of ammunition was when she started to panic, she looks between the gun and Billy before ducking down and curling up against the car despite knowing that was going to do little to nothing to suppress the pain of getting smashed against the car but was surprised when Steve, in a different car, rammed right into the side of Billy’s Camaro. Both he and Robin grunt out in pain at the impact but were both pretty much okay, Robin looked up at Steve and saw that he had a panicked look on his face due to the fact that his boyfriend almost killed his ex and in order to stop him from doing that he crashed a car into him.

“Steve, are you alright?” she asks him, he’s panting as he continued to stare at Billy’s unconscious body laying limp in his car.

“Ask me tomorrow.” their gaze then goes upwards when they heard snarling, Robin gasps in shock to see the disgusting fleshy monster dubbed as the Mind Flayer on top of the Starcourt Mall, they whip their heads around when they heard the honk of the other car pull up beside them.

“Get in!” the Mind Flayer was quick to give chase but paused when a new pair of headlights flashed on, it decided she could take care of them. Johnathan thinks they’re in the clear, the Mind Flayer isn’t in sight as they’re driving away but he wasn’t taking any chances as he continued to high tail it away from the mall. He spares a glance back at Will and saw he was gently caressing the back of his neck, he was close, and he just wasn’t showing himself.  “What the hell was that thing back there?!” Robin shouts, pointing out the car in the direction they just fled.

“I’m guessing that was the Mind Flayer, and that was the body made of the flesh of various dead people?” Steve sums up as he looks at the other four, to which they all nod their heads to confirm what he said “Great, I can’t wait to get back home and explain to my sister why I was gone and why my face is beaten up. Hopefully she doesn’t go on a murder spree upon seeing my face.” the four of them wincing didn’t go unnoticed, even Robin flinched hearing the mention of his sister.

“Um… about that, actually…” Lucas starts, rubbing the back of his neck “Your sister, uh— she’s kind of um, like…” Lucas peeks back at Steve and felt a chill run down his spine, Steve was wearing an expression that he normally never wore. His expression was a mixture of concern and slight anger, concern for the safety and well-being on his older sister and anger that something has happened to his sister while he was trapped in an elevator then tortured by Russians.

“What’s wrong with my sister?” Nancy licks her lips, not really sure where to begin on the matter of his older sister.

“Steve, your sister…” she sighs, running a hand through her hair “Your sister, kind of…” Steve was getting more irritated over the fact that they weren’t telling him, he grits his teeth as he glared at them.

“What’s wrong with my sister?!” he shouts this time in hopes it’ll get them to spit it out, Will lets out a shuddered breath when he felt a tingle in his neck, he glances backwards and saw a flash of someone’s high beams hit them. They all turn around to see what it was and the roar of a car engine slowly gaining on them made their hearts drop into their stomachs when they recognised the car, Steve and Robin look out through the back window and their eyes widened when they saw the familiar license plate “[F/N]…?” he manages to mutter out then let out a grunt when the car rear ended them.

“Shit! Jonathan!” he curses under his breath as he changes gear to create some distance between them and her but their car was nothing in comparison to her mustang because she caught up to them easily, each time she made sure to rear end them. When she noticed nothing was happening she pulled back a little just so she was now driving beside them, they all turn to look at her but Steve and Robin were the most shocked because they haven’t seen her like this. Deranged looking, eyes bloodshot and teary as her body was sweating uncontrollably while her veins were pumping black ooze throughout her entire body.

“You wanna know what’s wrong with her?!” Lucas shouts, letting out a scream when [F/N] drives the side of her car into theirs “She’s been flayed by the Mind Flayer and this entire week she’s been kidnapping people and offering them to the Mind Flayer, and not too long ago she killed a bunch of people at the hospital and nearly killed Nancy and Jonathan! There, now you know!” Will smacks Lucas for the way he said it, gesturing to Steve and saw how the boy looked confused and scared. What confused them was that Robin shared the same expression, Lucas said that she was under that things control for about a week, so does that mean…

“Wait, you’re telling me that the whole reason she’s been acting different— that she’s acting like that, is because that monster we saw before brainwashed her?!” Will nods his head, she slumps back in the back as she recalls how [F/N] was acting when she broke up with her. She knew that there was something wrong with her but she just couldn’t pin just what was wrong, her eyes had lost their usual shine and she was avoiding eye contact with her, refusing to. It felt like she was talking to someone entirely different, and all that was true, that person from before was not her girlfriend but an imposter in her body. Robin looks at Steve and saw his eyes never left [F/N], she had a crazy smile on her face as she stared Jonathan down “Steve…” she mumbles.

“What did it do to you, [F/N]?” he’s only ever seen that look on her face maybe once or twice, and that was when she was getting some sick pleasure out of beating the shit out of a few high school kids that picked on him, she was crazy like that, but she made sure not to make that face again whenever he was present because it was a little unsettling “That’s… that’s not my sister, that’s not [F/N]. Is this— is this also happening to Billy?” they nod.

“They were together when it happened.” that just made things worse, it must have happened just after they left Robin’s. Was that why [F/N] was sick that morning? Oh my god, it was happening right under their noses and neither of them noticed. Jonathan steadies the car again when [F/N] rams hers into them again but let out a confused noise when she suddenly stopped, he glances over at her and saw she was looking ahead of them. He watched in confusion when she drove ahead of them then turned around but stopped in the middle of the road, Jonathan slams on the breaks to stop them from going any further and there the two of them are staring each other down.

“Jonathan…” Nancy mutters, not a single one of them breaking eye contact with [F/N], Jonathan takes a breath as he grips the stirring wheel, swallowing thickly every time he hears [F/N] rev her engines as her car jerks forward. [F/N] was no longer in control, no matter how hard she was trying to fight the Mind Flayer for control it was no use and she was locked inside her own body as she watched it move on its on accord. A dark grin was adorn on her face, watching closely to what Jonathan was going to do next. Was he going to back up and continue this game of cat and mouse? Was he going to play a game of chicken instead? Both options sounded fun to her, but she decided it was going to be her to choose for him because she pushes the handbrake down and slams on the gas and exhilarates forward “Jonathan!”

“I know!” he fumbles with the gear but switches it to drive and starts driving towards her as well, he had a plan in his head to swerve out of the way just at the nick of them, but he failed to inform the others as he kept getting closer and closer. Steve looked between Jonathan and sister and he couldn’t calm down, he could only think of how bad the collision will have on [F/N]. He was always like this, worrying for his sister than for his own well-being, just like her worrying for Steve rather than herself. Like brother like sister. Neither one of them were slowing down to the point [F/N] was laughing hysterically, changing gears to go fast enough to kill them and quite possibly herself. Well, if she hurt herself it didn’t matter, the Mind Flayer can heal her body no matter how severely injured her body gets.

“Jonathan, what are you doing?!” Will shouts at his brother.

“Relax, I know what I’m doi—” he was cut off when Steve pulls himself out from the back, reaching past Will and Lucas for the handbrake “Steve— what are you doing?!”

“I’m sorry, Jonathan! But you’d honestly do the same.” he pulls the brake up and the car instantly starts to drift, Jonathan tries to regain control while Nancy smacks Steve’s hands off the handbrake but they were too late when [F/N]’s mustang hit the side of their car, luckily. They spin off the road while [F/N] came to a stop in the middle of the road, she didn’t expect that outcome but she was happy that it was in her favor, she guesses Steve doesn’t want to hurt her either. Such a loving little brother.

“I didn’t think things were gonna be this easy, honestly. Even Billy’s having a hard time.” she snickers softly and looks in the rear view mirror, pouting softly when she noticed a small cut on her forehead that was bleeding a little. With a shrug, she swipes her thumb over it and grins when it healed up instantly. Kicking her door open, she steps out then leaned in to grab the axe sitting in her passenger seat and doesn’t bother turning her car off as she starts approaching the other car, throwing the axe over her shoulder and continuously bounced it while whistling a song. Jonathan lets out a groan, clutching his forehead after his head took the force of the airbags that deployed, he really was going to kill Steve later for this, but he couldn’t help but understand what Steve was going through. Not too long ago it was his brother that was under the Mind Flayer’s control and now it’s Steve’s sister that didn’t even know this shit was going on in the first place, oh the irony. He whips his head around when he heard Nancy let out a scream, they all look over to see that it was [F/N] “Yoohoo~ open the door.”

“Fuck no!” Nancy promptly locks the door to emphasise her point but [F/N] just rolled her eyes, pulling her fist back then punching through the door then proceeded the tear it off. Nancy doesn’t hesitate to push herself away from [F/N] just as she leans into the car, her eyes scanning through the many occupants inside but she let out a sigh when she didn’t see the one they were after.

“She’s not here.” she muttered under her breath, probably informing the Mind Flayer that El was still at the mall and not with the others that fled. She was going to leave it at that, the Mind Flayer was calling her back, but those feelings for what Nancy fucking Wheeler did to her brother started to resurface, and that’s where she found herself grabbing Wheeler by her hair and dragging her out of the car.

“Nancy!”

“Nancy, no!” Nancy cries out in pain from the roots of her hair being violently tugged on, the pain gets worse when [F/N] slams the side of her face onto the hood of the car and holds her there.

“[F/N], please… don’t do this. You don’t want to do this.” [F/N] lets out a hum, looking up in thought before nodding her head.

“No, no, that’s where you’re wrong. You have absolutely no idea how much I want to do this; how much I really want to kill you with my own hands.” Nancy starts to tremble, tears swelling up in her eyes when [F/N] raises her free hand that was holding the axe, seeing the dried blood splatter all over the blade and some on the shaft “I’ll pay your little brother a visit after I’m done with you, I’m sure he’ll be happy seeing your decapitated head mounted on a stick.” before she could bring the axe down she’s being pulled back by Jonathan and Steve, Nancy falls to the ground as Robin goes around and tries to pry the axe out of her hands.

“[F/N], please… stop this! This isn’t like you to go this far!” Steve pleads. Steve knew his sister was strong, but right now was just plain ridiculous, it was taking both himself and Jonathan putting their entire weight to keep her from moving but even that wasn’t enough. She lets out an animalistic growl as she lets go off the axe and letting Robin stumble backwards, she throws Steve off next and hunches forward to lift Jonathan off the ground as she grabs his arms that were wrapped around her neck and proceeds to throw him over her, this also causes him to tear her jacket off but she could care less about it. She sets her sights on Robin and doesn’t hesitate to punch her across the face, Steve goes to stand up to reprimand [F/N] again but let out a grunt when she kicked him down and grabbed the axe that she managed to catch. His breath gets caught in his throat as he watched [F/N] swing the axe over her shoulder and it comes down as quickly as it was raised, he wants to raise his arms to shield his face but what can that do? With tears in his eyes, he looks up at his sister with pleading eyes and there— there he saw a flash of color return to her eyes, a flash of regret and confusion when they met his. He saw a glimpse of his sister inside those eyes that were fighting back against the Mind Flayer, but he knew she couldn’t hold it for long but he was grateful for the time given because she redirected the blade aiming for his face into the side of the car. He flinches at the impact, watching as the car rocked back and forth before finally settling down. His sister is now panting above him, staring down at him with a slightly less hostile expression, but he knew she wasn’t herself yet, her eyes were still in a dazed state while her veins were still black “[F/N]…” he whimpers out, all he wants is his sister back.

“S-Stevie…?” she croaks out, he gasps at her voice whispering out to him but soon her face twists in pain. She pulls away, pressing the heels of her hands into her forehead to fight against the aching pain the Mind Flayer was inflicting on her, fighting for dominance within her head and it managed to win because now she was fleeing the scene and back to her car. She did hesitate to leave, her eyes glancing back at the others that were slowly picking themselves off the floor, but she shook her head before driving back to the Starcourt mall.  “Welp, that hurt,..” Robin groaned out, holding her cheek as some blood pulled up in her mouth “I can’t believe she hit me.”

“She… she didn’t mean it.” Steve muttered, hand over his chest. 

“But I don’t understand.” Robin says rather bitterly “Why didn’t she kill you? She was clearly going to do it, but she stopped at the last second.” Jonathan let out a groan as he pushed himself onto his feet, his hand clutching tightly onto the jacket he tore off her body before he was thrown off.

“Back at the hospital, the Mind Flayer said… it said that Steve was both her weakness and her strength. She got more violent with Nancy and I because of what happened in 83, but once she saw Steve it settled, even if it was for a brief moment.” Steve continued to lay on the ground, his hand instinctively reached up to caress his cheek as memory flashed in his mind. He was remembering back to a time where [F/N] punched him across the face because he was basically screaming at her to punch him, he didn’t expect her to actual do it because she swore that she’d never hurt him, but she did.

“W-Why— why’d you hit me?” he whimpered out, tears being to swell in his eyes as he cradled his swelling check, to which she just sighed while rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips.

“You told me to, and besides, you were acting like a shit so you definitely deserved it.” his lip trembled and a small sob escaped his lips, she rolls her eyes again and smacks him in the shoulder “I hope you know that this goes for show that I’ll practically do anything for you, Stevie. But this will be the first and only time I’ll hurt you like this, mmkay? You’ve been acting a little entitled these past few weeks and you needed a little wake up call. Your arrogance will be your undoing one of these days, so don’t let it go to your head. I won’t be around to wake you up next time.” he sniffles, raising his hands to wipe away the falling tears.

“I promise, as long as you promise not to hit me like that again.” she chuckles softly, wiping away his tears.

“I promise. From today, I’ll never hurt you like that ever again, not even if you deserve it.” she starts to laugh when she ruffled his hair and he cried out in horror, screaming at her that she ruined his hair, she just continued to laugh as she ran away from him whilst he screamed bloody murder.

“[F/N]…” he starts tearing up but held them back when a hand was offered to him, he saw that it was Robin wearing [F/N]’s discarded jacket.

“Get up, Harrington. We’re gonna save your sister, and when we do, I’m gonna give her a proper ass whoppin!” driving back to the Starcourt mall they sat in silence, Jonathan breaking all the road laws as he sped down road in the car that was hanging onto its life by a thread. Steve raised his eyes from where he sat and saw Robin digging her face into the fabric of [F/N]’s jacket, he noticed that she was thinking about something because she had a look on her face that was debating whether or not she should speak or not “… she broke up with me.” this caused his body to straighten up, even the others in the car peeked back to listen in on the conversation, rude.

“What do you mean she broke up with you? W-Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she let out a sigh, blinking back the tears that were slowly swelling up in her eyes.

“I guess it was because of that Mind Flayer, or whatever the fuck that thing is. I think she was in the middle of choosing that things latest meal, because I caught her in an alleyway letting a girl kiss her. It was when I went to go look for the blueprints.” Steve gasps softly at that, so that’s why she looked so dejected when she came back “I couldn’t recognise her, she stared at me with these cold, dead eyes and the way she spoke to me… I felt so scared being there. I wish I knew, I wish I knew she was going through that and then maybe I could’ve helped her. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt so angry at her that she broke up with me, left me in that alleyway all alone— and for what? To protect me? So she wouldn’t have to hurt me ever more than she did by breaking my heart? She even threatened me if I told you, saying you wouldn’t believe me because I’m nothing but your coworker while she’s your sister.” she sniffles to herself, wiping away the tears that fell from her eyes, she spared Steve a look but flinched a little. He now wore a very livid expression, Robin became a really close friend to Steve after he and his sister got together and they became closed after their encounter with the Russian soldiers under the mall, so hearing how his flayed sister threatened and broke up with her pissed him off.

“If you don’t kick her ass, I’ll kick it for you. But first, we’ve got to find her and Billy and free them from the control of the Mind Flayer. Whether you forgive her or not, that’s up to you, but she’s still my sister.”  “What about Billy?”  “I hope he can forgive me for totalling his camaro.” they stare at each other and laugh weakly, Robin now rested her forward on his shoulder and let her hands dip into the pockets but she hummed in confusion when she felt something. Pulling it out, her breath hitched when she pulled out the photo of the four of them at the fair. Steve felt her body tremble so he looked down and he himself flinched at the photo, seeing that photo almost felt like yesterday. Steve wished he could go back to the time where the other three were clueless about the Upside Down; clueless about the true horrors of Hawkins and that he was the only one who knew the truth. Where his sister was madly in love with his friend, where his boyfriend was in the safety of his arms, where none of this was happening on the first place and that the four of them were having their weekly sleepover at the Harrington household.

Man, what a distant memory.

[starcourt mall]

[F/N] arrives right on time, finding Billy pushing himself off of El just as the Mind Flayer descends from the skylight. El was regaining her consciousness as the blur of the monster slowly registered in her mind, [F/N] wordlessly stands beside Billy and reached over to take his hand into hers. He doesn’t spare her a glance and neither does she, and though they were still under the influence of the monster in front of them, the two of them squeezed each others hand to let each other know that they were still in there. The Mind Flayer is paying the two of them no mind, slowly approaching the small child to devour her, rid the last obstacle in its way, when something blew up in its face. Billy and [F/N] cry out in pain at the blow, sharing the pain with the Mind Flayer, blow after blow Billy and [F/N] grovel to their knees in pain as the Mind Flayer roared at the intruders. [F/N] peeked through his hands and saw the lot she nearly killed had followed quickly after her, how she never noticed them was beyond her, but she was going to finish what she started.

Deal with them.

Finish the job.

Make no mistakes.

“Shut up…” she growled out, managing to push herself onto her feet and towards the escalator to where their unwanted guests were, leaving Billy to watch over El. Of course none of them were expecting to see [F/N] on them, they were all to preoccupied laying waste to the Mind Flayer to notice that she was there. Lucas was the first to suffer at her mercy, the others heard his cry for help and immediately turned to see where he was, watching in shock when they saw [F/N] turn him around and strike him across the face that he fell to the ground after spitting out blood from his mouth,

“Lucas!” next was Will, who was unfortunate to be within arms length because she did not hesitate to raise the axe and hit him with the butt if the axe and knock him unconscious “Will!” Jonathan screams out and was ready to drop everything to help his brother but was stopped when Nancy grabbed his arm, pulling him back and shaking her head.

“No, no! Jonathan, I understand what you’re going through, but no! She will kill your the moment you’re within her grasp, she’s not letting us go this time.” he shakes his head.

“I don’t care! I need to get Will!” he cries out and rips his arm free from Nancy’s hold but stopped when he saw Steve and Robin already rushing over to stop [F/N] from going any further with the children, Nancy grabs his arm again and tugs at it to get his attention.

“Steve and Robin will deal with her, we’ll keep the Mind Flayer distracted, alright? Steve won’t let anything happen to your brother.” speaking of which, the Mind Flayer’s anger was beginning to mix in with her own, anger for the previous host that managed to slip through its grasp. Placing her foot on Will’s chest, she raises the axe up to slam it down but was once again stopped when it was smacked out of her hands, she growls at the perpetrator and saw that it was Robin, who had her hands out in front of her to keep some distance between her and [F/N].

“[F/N], baby, please… it’s me, it’s Robin.” she pleads, she flinches and takes a step back when [F/N] pushed herself off of Will but kicked his unconscious body away to approach Robin “Whatever this thing has done to you; has made you do, I want you to know that this isn’t your fault, none of it is. You’re just as innocent as the next person is, and I want you to know that I… I forgive you. Everything you said in the alleyway, I know you didn’t mean any of it. I want you to know that I still love you, through everything that’s happened, I love you.” Robin felt hopeful when she saw [F/N]’s hardened gaze soften, maybe she was caught up in her delusions of freeing her mind that she reached for her hand, that was her mistake because her hand quickly grabbed a hold of Robin to keep her from moving and with her other hand sucker punched her straight in the gut so hard that she spat out saliva. She didn’t let when Robin gasped out of breath, collapsing to her knees as she hunched over and clutched her stomach.

“I care not for your words, they mean nothing to me. Didn’t I already tell you that?” Robin lets out a sob at her cold words, wishing nothing more than to feel the warmth she once had only for her, but she could only cry out in pain when [F/N] twisted her arm “You’ve lost your chance of staying away, so I hope you’re prepared for the consequences.”

“Hey!” turning her head, she was taken aback when Steve came rushing over and slammed the bottom of a fire extinguisher into her face. She let out a gasp at the sudden blow, letting Robin go as her head was thrown back after the impact, she then raised her hand to cradle her throbbing nose as Steve’s arm dropped due to the weight of the extinguisher “You need to stop this madness, [F/N], I beg of you. I need you back, I need my big sister back!” he takes a step back when she growled at him but her face screwed up in pain once more, a mixture from getting hit with a fire extinguisher, the fireworks the Mind Flayer was getting hit with, but also [F/N] fighting for dominance over her mind once more.

He’s lying to you.

He doesn’t need you.

You don’t need him.

“Please, let’s just go home. With Robin and Billy, we’ll go home and watch movies like we used to. Talk about how much we hate our parents, how much we hate Hawkins and how we’ll leave as soon as Robin and Billy graduate. We’ll be together, like we always have. Just you, and me.” [F/N) groans out in pain, shaking her head as she slapped her hands against her forehead to quell all the madness that was going on “Just come back to me, my big sister.” Steve takes a step forward, reaching for her but gasped when she punched him in the face.

“Shut up!” she screamed at him, she struggled to stay standing whilst clutching her throbbing head.

Destroy him.

Annihilate him.

Murder him.

Kill him.

Steve couldn’t remember what happened next, first he was struggling to keep himself standing, the next thing he knew he was barely clinging to consciousness as he laid on his back while he suffered continuous blows to his face. [F/N] was currently on top of him, screaming at the top of her lungs as she punched him left and right, holding nothing back as she delivered blow after blow. At this right she was definitely going to kill him, but she just couldn’t stop herself, this time not pulling her punches and putting all her strength into each one. She saw him weakly reach out to her but she merely smacked his hand away then grab him by the collars of his shirt to pull him forward, reeling her head back to slam her forehead into the bridge of his nose. Blood gurgled in his throat and he was questioning why he was still conscious, wishing nothing more then for this continuous chain of pain to end, but he knew his sister was in a lot more pain. Weakly opening his eyes, he saw the pain in her eyes as she unwillingly hurt her sweet little brother that used to cry at the drop of a hat, so he reached for her once more when she held him up by his shirt as her other hand was pulled back.

“We… we were kids.” she furrowed her brows in confusion, what nonsense was he spouting out now? “We were k-kids and you were tea— teaching me to ride my bike. I wouldn’t stop crying, and you were making f-fun of me. You promised you’d be with me every… every step of the way. You never broke that promise, [F/N]; never. Even when you were gone, you made sure to write letters. Even when I s-said I hated you, you were still there.” his trembling hand managed to reach her face, gently cupping her cheek and caressing it with his thumb, her face softened and she leaned into the touch, a single tear running down her cheek “I love you, [F/N]…” his hand finally dropped to his side just as [F/N] took a deep breath, closing her eyes to reminiscent on every good memory she had of Steve, slowly but surely the black veins disappeared and the voice that screamed in her head grew silent. She blinked her eyes a few times in confusion, leaning backwards and looking around to see where exactly she was before finally looking down, and there her eyes widened in horror.

“Steve… Steve!” she screams at the top of her lungs, the tears swelling in her eyes falling freely down her cheeks. She hurriedly jumps off of him and lifts his weakened body into her lap, cradling his body into her arms while rocking back and forward “No, no, no, no, no! I didn’t mean to hurt you, I-I’m so sorry! I tried— I tried so hard to keep myself away from you, to stop myself from hurting you, but I’ve gone and broken my promise to you! I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!” she kept apologising over and over, but she just felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t look at herself anymore, she couldn’t even look at her hands knowing that she was beating her brother that she swore she’d never hurt anymore. It hurt even more knowing that she hurt the love of her life, breaking her heart to keep her safe but then she hurt her when she was trying to save her from the monster that plagued her mind.

“[F/N]…” she gasped, looking down at her brother and saw that he was reaching for her again, she doesn’t hesitate to take his hand into hers and caress it, nuzzling the side of her face into it “You’re back…?” she chuckles weakly, nodding her head as she smiled weakly at him.

“Yes… yes, it’s me. It’s your big sister, who loves you very much.” he smiles at her but it breaks her heart seeing him looking up at her, face beaten and bleeding as his eyes were barely able to open “Will you ever forgive me?” he chuckles, closing his eyes and feeling his body relax under hers.

“What a foolish question, I’ll always f-forgive you…” she hunches over his body, her own trembling as her tears fell onto his body. A sob leaves her lips but her attention was torn off his body when she heard a loud roar, recognising it, she turned her head towards it and it widened at the sight of the Mind Flayer, her gaze soon hardened in rage at the mere sight of it. This fucking piece of shit was the cause of it all, for her and Billy hurting people, kidnapping people, killing people… her breaking up with Robin, and her hurting both Robin and Steve. She’ll never forgive it, she’ll never forget what it’s done to her and Billy, all because they were foolish enough to not go home and stayed out longer. Steve let out a confused noise when his head was lifted off of her lap, he watched as she picked up the fallen axe and at first he was worried she was back under the control of the Mind Flayer, but her gaze was trained on the Mind Flayer instead of anyone else “[F-F/N]…?” she breaks out into a running start then proceeds to step onto the railing and over it, raising the axe over her head then swings it down on the Mind Flayer.

“[F/N]?!” Billy, who was also free from the Mind Flayer’s control, shouts in surprise. Billy was holding one of the tentacles back that was aiming to kill El, pushing it back with everything he head, when [F/N] jumped off from the upper levels screaming and swinging the axe into the Mind Flayer’s body.

“You fucking piece of shit!” she yells, ripping the blade out of its gooey flesh then swung it down again “You made me hurt my brother! You made me break up with my girlfriend! You made me hurt so many people, and all for what?! Because you couldn’t make your own body?! You rat sack son of a bitch!” [F/N] knew what she was doing was stupid, that what she was doing was going to get her killed, but she really couldn’t care at all. She wanted to pay for what she’s done, why should she get off scot free? She wanted punishment, retribution for her actions “The only ending you’ll get is with your death!” she knew her actions would lead to her downfall, that what she was doing was meaningless, because the Mind Flayer easily threw her off and she landed on the ground with a thud. The next thing she knew was that one of the many tentacles surrounding the monster pierced her body, she slowly looked down and coughed up blood seeing the many teeth sink into her chest.

“Billy!” she hears a scream, turning her head, she sees that Billy has been met with the same fate. Pain runs throughout her body when several more of that things tentacles pierce through her body until it finally let her go, her body collapsing for she had no more strength left to keep her up. This was it, she was going to die alone knowing that she hurt her brother and her girlfriend— her ex? She didn’t know, all she knew was that she was going to die without making it up to the two people she loved the most, especially now that she was leaving her little brother alone. She coughs up more blood as she turns her head, noticing that Billy was still kicking so with what little strength she still had, she pushed herself onto her stomach and started dragging herself over to where he was laying. Finally reaching him, she pushes herself up then collapsed onto him, he looked down at her and saw she was crying.

“I won’t let you… die alone.” she muttered weakly, reaching her hand to rest on his cheek “I won’t leave you alone.” in turn for this final act of gentle affection, he raises his own hand to take her hand into his and the two of them stare into each other’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you leave me…?” he asked her, questioning what sanity she had for going back and saving him. She wouldn’t have had to suffer everything if she just abandoned him, he was used to it anyways, but she just gave him the best smile she could muster.

“Because… I wanted to see yours and Stevie’s wedding.” he stared at her but it did manage to crack a smile onto his face, and that was enough for the both of them.

“You’re stupid.”

“Maybe I am.” Steve was being helped down to the lower levels by Nancy and Jonathan, Robin following closely behind as the immense pain in her stomach still hadn’t settled, and Steve couldn’t properly walk on his own after the continuous blows he took to the face and head. They finally made it to the ground level and Steve looks over to see where Max was, crying in El’s arms, he looks where she was collapsed and his heart immediately dropped into his stomach at what he saw.

“No… no, no, no!” he cries out, Robin follows his gaze and herself saw both Billy and [F/N]’s motionless bodies that continued to bleed out “[F/N]! Billy! Please, god, no!” Steve thrashed in Nancy and Jonathan’s hood until they finally let him go, he fell to his knees but he scrambled to his feet and rushed over to their bodies. His hands trembled over their bodies, the tears in his eyes falling onto them “Please, no. Not like this, please. You can’t leave me, you can’t leave me alone…! You promised to be by my side, you promised!” his trembling hands reached to cup their faces and his face fell when they felt cold under his touch, god, this was really happening. Robin fell to her knees by his side, shaking her head at the sight of [F/N]’s lifeless body, she couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She doesn’t hesitate to throw her arms around Steve’s body, squeezing him tightly and the two of them cried together knowing that they both lost somebody they loved.

But at least the two that did die, died in each other’s arms smiling.

Contract pt. 2

word count: 39,011

Fandom: Gravity Falls Pairing: Stanley Pines x Alvah (OC) Pronouns: He/She/They (usually goes be she/her) Relationship: Problematic Occupation: Guardian Ability: Demonic Powers

Since the individual is a resident of the Nightmare Realm, while also being the embodiment of evil from across multiple dimensions, the power they have is almost unlimited. They are capable of traveling to different dimensions throughout the multiverse but when they do step foot in such dimensions their powers become limited unless they are able to form a contract, similar to Bill through his deals, that allows them to have full access to their powers. They are capable of shapeshifting their appearance to blend in with the locals or at least influence the minds of those who set their eyes on them, but if there were anyone to bear witness to their true form, their own minds would destroy itself and drive them into madness.

Keys:

n/a

Warnings:

blood, violence, and spoilers for those who haven't read the book of bill.

"Contract" pt. 1, pt.3

there are bound to be mistakes in here that I a. missed or b. could not be fucked fixing.

season 2, episode 12. a tale of two stans

Her eyes widened slightly when Ford pulled the gun strapped to his back and aimed it at her, causing her to halt in her tracks and stare at the end of the barrel. She raised her hands and opened her mouth to say something but he had already pulled the trigger and a beam shot out of the gun and shot right through her face, taking out the entirety of the left side of her face.

"Alvah!" Stan shouts, this causes Ford to flinch and slowly lower his gun and stare at the woman in front of him. Her remaining eye slowly moved to look at the giant-sized hole in her face, and instead of the red substance known as blood dripping down her face, there was a black-like tar oozing out and dripping down the side of her body. Her eye looked back towards Ford and the shocked expression slowly twisted into a sadistic grin as maniacal laughter erupted out of her, a black smoke with a red glow burst out of the gaping hole in her face that was full of eyes staring at him. She raised her hand and gestured to the shadow to return inside where it escaped from before hovering her hand over the wound on her face and healing it, the way it healed was odd. Instead of seeing skin weave itself back together, her skin was like a shattered porcelain doll slowly putting itself together piece by piece.

"Is that how you greet an old friend, Stanford?" she asked after the last crack was sealed up, and it was as if she was never broken in the first place.

"Alvah, I... I didn't recognize you." he spoke as he looked her up and down, she did the same thing and sighed.

"That's on me, I suppose. This isn't a form you're accustomed to seeing." they all watched as she approached Ford, placing a hand on his shoulder that slowly glided across to his other shoulder when she moved behind him, soon both of her hands were on his shoulders but when she peeked out they were surprised to see that she-- or rather, HE looked different "This one was more to your liking, was it not?" even his voice made them shudder. Dipper and Mabel take a closer look at Alvah, and their jaws drop when they recognize him, it is him. It was the mystery man from McGucket’s memory that none of them had any recollection of, the man who was the cause of McGucket’s decline in sanity.

"I see you've not grasped the concept of personal space in the years I have been gone." he let out a laugh as he wrapped his arms around Ford's neck, nuzzling his cheek against his more rugged one.

"Nope. But I've missed you, Fordsy~" he cooed out, he snickered and pulled away when Ford aimed the gun at his face again, raising his hands up in surrender "You know those human weapons aren't going to work on me, but it is a pain to fix these bodies. That was the first time it was damaged since I first made it." he let out a huff as he lowered his weapon.

"Then it's a good thing that they can even penetrate a body like yours." he looked towards his brother again, who was staring at the both of them in shock, and grumbled when he felt Alvah's hands caressing his body "What are you doing now?" he let out a grunt when the end of his coat was lifted up a little as his hands glided up and down his torso, squeezing it a little before moving up to his biceps.

"I see you've bulked up a little throughout your travels. You're not that puny little stick that would get blown over by a small gust of wind." Ford sweat dropped when he pulled his hands back, wiping away the imaginary tear running down his face while sniffling a little "I can't help but be a little... proud." he laughed when Ford pushed him away by the face.

"Enough of your needless chatter, devil." Alvah let out a laugh as he lifted himself off the ground, floating in front of Ford with a cheeky grin.

"A devil you summoned to care for your loved ones." Ford let out a sigh at Alvah's childish behavior, seems he hasn't changed a bit. He turned towards the audience staring at them in bewilderment as Alvah hovered close behind him, his head hovering over his shoulder with his long black hair draping itself over his shoulder "I did as our contract stated, Ford. I kept your loved ones, and their loves ones, alive." his eyes zoned in on the poor state they were in and glared at Alvah.

"You were supposed to protect them, Alvah! Protect and keep them out of danger!" now this caused him to scoff as he rolled off of Ford's shoulder, he continued to float in front of him as he snapped his fingers and they all watched as his hand burst into a black and red flame and a scroll formed in his hands that slowly unraveled. In a text they could not understand, except for Ford himself, Alvah pointed to a specific section.

"It says I am to keep your loved ones alive. Not keep them out of danger, nor protect them. As long as they do not die under my watch, I haven't broken our contract." he shrugged his shoulders as Ford took the contract, reading over it to see that it in fact, did say that "Perhaps you should have worded it like that." he lowered the contract and glared up at Alvah, who continued to grin.

"You..." he then sighed.

"But it's also my fault that I got stuck here for thirty years." this caused him to raise a brow, Alvah points to a different section this time "For the time you are not in Gravity Falls, I am to remain here until you return. That was technically to protect your research and whatnot, but I never would have thought to change it when you disappeared." this managed to crack a smirk on his face.

"So you could not return to the Nightmare Realm?" this caused him to scowl.

"No, no I could not."

"Hang on, hang on." they both look to where Stanley spoke up, approaching the two of them with a confused expression "You... you two know each other? And Alvah, you're... a man?" Ford shook his head with a sigh.

"Yes, we know each other. I am the one who assigned him to take care of things in my absence, but I see that he failed to stop you from reactivating the portal." he just shrugged.

"And for me being a man, well, no." they watch as he lowered himself to the ground "I am neither man nor woman, I am not a being that can be identified by something like sex or pronouns. I am an interdimensional being, an embodiment of all that is evil. An amalgamation of evil from across multiple dimensions and parallel worlds. I am... evil itself." he looked even more confused, Ford raised his hand in front of Alvah's face.

"He is quite literally the embodiment of all that is evil, created in the Nightmare Realm that managed to gain a consciousness." he nods.

"In simpler terms, yes. My name wasn't even Alvah, to begin with," he then gestures to the man beside him "Ford is the one who bestowed the name "Alvah" onto me because he didn't want to call me by my title." this caused him to huff, pushing his glasses up a little.

"The Harbinger of Chaos is hardly a name." he shrugged, he winced when he was flicked in the nose.

"You were trying to be sweet when you gave me the name as well, not knowing that the biblical meaning behind "Alvah" means evil." he then chuckled, leaning back and allowing his body to float again while resting his head in his hands "It's the reason I even kept the name." Ford sniffled.

"Wait!" turning their heads, they see Dipper looking up at Alvah in shock while flipping through the pages of the third journal "Harbinger of Chaos? That's you? That was you, Alvah?" Ford's eyes widened at the sight of his journal, along with the fact that there were children present, now that he fully registered it.

"Aw~ you read my chapter. He said some real nice things about me, didn't he?" Dipper gasped when Alvah snapped his fingers and the journal disappeared from his grasp, he read through a couple of lines and snickered softly while showing Ford "With the few details I gave you, I think you captured my likeliness rather nicely." he tried taking the journal from him but this only caused Alvah to laugh and pull it away from Ford's reach.

"Alvah, give it back to me!" he laughed.

"Nuh-uh, it's his now." with that he tossed it back over to Dipper, who just barely caught it "He managed to find it all on his own, I don't think that hiding spot was good enough. A different snot-nosed brat managed to find your second journal as well, so you're not good at hiding things."

"Right." he cleared his throat and dusted himself off, Alvah floated behind him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders "It seems you already know who Alvah is, but allow me to properly introduce him. This is the Harbinger of Chaos, a being I contacted to keep my research safe and those I care about alive." he glared at Alvah, who snickered beside him.

"And you only did it because things went south for you. You never would have formed a contract with me if he didn't--" Ford promptly slapped his hand across his mouth, silencing him.

"They do not need to know the full details." Alvah scoffed and pushed his hands away, his eyes then moved to where Stan stood along with the kids.

"Other than that, he is correct. From the time you all stepped foot in Gravity Falls, I have been watching every little thing you've done. Every. Little. Thing." when he said that he booped them each on the nose "However, I am not allowed to directly interfere with what you do with your daily lives. So with each adventure you've been on, I was just watching in the shadows and making sure you didn't die at the end of the day. Like so." with a snap of his fingers, a burst of smoke formed in front of them that was playing back to each adventure. If they were being honest, it always felt like they were being watched, but seeing it for themselves, made them shudder "At times I had to rush you for you to get to places in time, at others I would manipulate the background to help you."

season 1

for the gnomes, she knew mabel would be walking into a trap to become the gnome queen and hurried dipper along to go save her.

when the "sea monster" was trapped in the cave entrance, she snapped her fingers so when it was thrashing, a particularly large chunk of debris would fall and make it malfunction.

made the sun rise so that the wax figures would melt.

spoke to mabel to get her to hurry along and stop gideon from killing dipper.

couldn't do much but would have stepped in if the ghosts were going to kill dipper, mabel and the other teenagers.

kept an eye on dipper in case the manotaurs or the multi-bear were going to double cross him.

kept her eye on the doubles if they overpowered dipper and would set off the sprinklers if things went south.

their lives weren't particularly in danger but if they got too far from gravity falls she would have chased after them herself.

each time they went back in time she was there to make sure they didn't get stuck in that point of time.

made sure mabel and stan wouldn't fall to their death and would prevent dipper from getting too hurt against rumble.

kept a close eye on the twins when gideon shrunk them down as well as stan if they didn't figure out he was ticklish.

kept her eye on the summerween trickster so he didn't get too close to the kids, almost interfered if soos didn't eat it from the inside.

if they weren't able to apprehend the monster she would have interfered.

no real threat.

just kept a close eye on them.

kept a close eye on the children in case they weren't able to figure out the body swapping.

no real threat.

was there to help them save waddles, but if push turned to shove, she would have interfered.

was the one to keep bill in check and save the children, stan and soos from intentionally losing to bill. 

would have killed that little brat gideon if he did serious damage to the twins.

season 2

was there to protect the children and stan from becoming zombie food.

distracted the shapeshifter when they were in the caves and would have killed it if they didn't manage to capture it in the cryo-pod.

would have set the mini-golf park on fire if those little "golf people" really did hurt the children.

made sure bill didn't do anything "too" bad to dipper when he took his body.

kept her eye on giffany and would have short-circuited the place if things got out of hand.

no real threat.

was the one that got mcgucket moving so he could protect them from getting their mind erased by his memory gun.

kept her eye on the children when they went through globnar.

she and the love god kind of know each other, so she threatened that little cherub to not do anything funny while she was there.

kept her eye on them but couldn't do much with that ghost lingering.

"I now see what you meant by just "keeping them alive", Alvah." he just giggled with a shrug.

"I have seen every possibility, every timeline, every choice, every win, and every failure you have ever chosen. I know the outcome of every scenario, and even today, I knew would be the day Stanley succeeds in finishing the portal to bring Ford back to his original dimension." this revelation slowly caused Stan to look up at him.

"So... did that mean you knew that my brother would be trapped in the first place?" this caused them to look at him, a hint of betrayal in his eyes as he looked towards Alvah "If you were watching that whole time, did that mean you could have helped me save my brother? You could have helped me speed up the process instead of watching me wallow in misery for thirty years as I tried to fix my mistake?!" Alvah, whose face was blank as he stared down at Stan, blinked slowly before a soft but pained smile appeared across his lips.

"Yes, I could have." Stan's face slowly scrunched up in anger as he grabbed a hold of Alvah, pulling him close.

"You did nothing! You could have done something to help me, but you didn't! You said you were on my side... you said..." Alvah exhaled deeply through his nose as he gently took Stan by his wrists and pulled them off him, he lowered his face and gave him a sympathetic look.

"I would have if I could have." he spoke, Stan takes his hands back from Alvah as he refused to look at him "There are events in this timeline that I am not allowed to prevent or speed up. Thirty years ago, your brother was meant to go through that portal, he was meant to be trapped and it was on this day at this time that he was meant to return because of you and your efforts."

"Still, you could have helped me." this caused Alvah to sigh.

"Alright, let me break it down for you." they watch the smoke disappear when he slaps his hands together and then pulls them apart, they watch a blue thread surround the room as he pulls his hands away. He floats off the ground and starts looking through the thread before finding a specific one, he brings himself down and holds it out in front of them "Here is the timeline we are currently in. Here it contains every event that's occurred leading up to today. See how the thread is flowing smoothly? No hiccups or anything. My interferences are minor, and it doesn't cause any damage. Now let's go back thirty years, to the day where all this began." he pulls the thread back and it stops at a park that was glowing bright, he enhances on it, and they see in both awe and shock the exact moment Stan accidentally pushed Ford into the portal.

"Now let's say I did help you on the reconstruction of the portal, say instead, that it took us a couple weeks or months to get it fixed and we bring Ford back. Ta-dah, the day is saved." pulling his hand back a thread branches out from the original one and expands out "Because of this change, a new timeline is created out of the original; a new story is born. So, what happens to the original one?" his hand hovers under the original thread and they flinch when he closed his hand over it, crushing it beneath his palm and severing it completely "It's effectively destroyed and erased like it never existed, meaning everything that's happened so far never-- or rather, it never WILL happen. And even so, I'll get into serious trouble if I were to mess with serious events in the timeline."

"But, like," Alvah makes everything disappear when Mabel spoke, looking all nervous under his gaze "aren't you like a super powerful being? Can't you break the rules? Couldn't you have helped Grunkle Stan save his brother?" this caused him to chuckle, kneeling to Mabel's level so his drastic change in height didn't scare or overwhelm her.

"I find it flattering that you think I'm oh so powerful, I am, and I do tend to bend the rules a little bit, but if I were to break this..." they watch his already pale skin turn paler as fear struck his face, he's now curled up in a ball while clutching his head "I'll get in trouble with... them. It's been thirty years, and I've neglected my duties because I was stuck here, they're gonna yell at me." the sound that escapes him is like a whine like croak.

"Ah hem, uh, who exactly is them?" he points at Dipper, shaking his head.

"Someone you don't wanna know and don't wanna cross. They may seem all nice and mystical, and sure they're an extra-dimensional being that could wipe out my very existence but doesn't because if they do then they're erasing the very aspect of evil and they can't have that because it's just a pain... anyways, they're basically god." he lets out a sigh, pressing his hand against his forehead "So you see, Stanley, I couldn't help you even if I wanted to. The only thing I was allowed to do was... watch." his shoulders slump when Stan refused to look at him.

"So, when you say you're evil..." 

"I am every bad choice you make, every selfish action, every terrible mistake. You could say I'm like that devil on your shoulder telling you to ignore the angel."

"So, you tell us to do bad things?"

"Pft, no. I'm just giving you the option, I'm not telling you to do anything. You're the one who chose it in the end, so that technically makes you a bad person." he then shrugged his shoulders, they then point up at him.

"Then what about old man McGucket? We saw that memory of you two, or the woman you. You two were arguing about something." he then let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair and messing with it.

"I went to see him to say sorry, and what did I get in return for my efforts? I got shot in the face!" he looked at Ford and saw him looking up at him in confusion "It was back when you two were first testing out the portal and he got sucked in by accident, remember how he lost his mind because he saw something that freaked him out?" he nodded his head.

"Yes? It was what convinced me to quit the project." he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hehe, yeah, well he saw... me." they all stare at him in confusion, not understanding what seeing him mea-- they were taken aback when Ford grabbed him by the arms and started shaking him.

"You mean Fiddleford saw you? He saw the real you?!" Alvah manages to rip himself free from Ford's hold and push him back.

"Yes! But it was completely by accident. We figured you two were getting close to finishing the portal but we didn't realize just how quickly, so imagine my surprise when I was relaxing in the Nightmare Realm and some scrawny little human poked his head through a hole in our dimension." he can almost remember it like it was yesterday, just casually relaxing in the Nightmare Realm because there's basically nothing to do except laze around when a hole opened up. Curiously, they did approach it and concluded that Ford and his little assistant Fiddle-whatshisname had finally managed to successfully finish the portal, but what caught them by surprise was when a head poked through. They recognized the human as Ford's assistant, they tilted their head to the side as they stared at him while the human looked up at them and their face slowly morphed into one of pure terror.

"You... aren't supposed to be here." they spoke, voice disoriented through the chaos that was their body. They sighed softly when the human screamed in fear so they did the only sane thing they could think of, they raised their hand and pushed him right back where he came from, and the hole disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

"What was that?" looking over they see Bill approach them, his singular eye tinged with curiosity.

"I believe your toy has finally finished his project." this made the triangular figure glow with glee, clapping his hands joyfully as he floated circles around their head "Congratulations, Bill. You're finally getting your doomsday." he let out a laugh as he hovered in front of their face.

"I know, right? I'm gonna go round up the others!" ah, good times, he then shrugs his shoulders.

"He saw my real body and I pushed him out before any more damage could be done, or if he saw anyone else." Ford starts rubbing his temples to ease the forming headache, Mabel raises her hand "Yes?"

"What does having seen your body have anything to do with McGucket going coo-coo?" he opens his mouth to speak but stops when Dipper opens the journal.

"Oh, I know the answer to that. It says here that since their body is made of all the evil throughout countless dimensions, parallel worlds, and alternate universes their body is so corrupted that if anyone were to gaze upon their true form then their minds would slowly descend into madness from all the chaos stored into one being." Alvah snaps his fingers.

"Ding, ding, ding. You are correct." he then sighs again "Because of that and our contract, I went to say sorry but even in a different form Fidds still recognized me and lost his mind. I tried to calm him down but in the end, he made me lose my temper and then I got shot with the memory gun." Ford heard him use the nickname he usually used for Fiddleford, sputtering a little when he used it.

"Fidds?" Alvah laughed.

"Oh, yeah! Ever since you kids helped him jog his memory, he came to me and asked, or more like demanded, I tell him everything he's forgotten. So once a week I'd visit him to help him remember what he's forgotten, we've gotten quite close since then." he winks at Ford, shrugging his shoulders as he floated off the ground again and wrapped his arms around his neck to nuzzle into his cheek once more "Aren't you happy we're getting along? You always scolded me when I made fun of him." he snickers when he started pushing him off again, struggling against Alvah's iron grip.

"Sure, but I'm not happy that he spiraled so deep because of my mistake." Alvah hummed softly.

"Then what are you going to do now?" this caused him to look up at the demonic being, he pulled himself away and smirked at him "Now that you're back, I have completed my end of our contract. But how about we extend it a little longer?" Ford narrowed his eyes on him.

"What do you mean?" Alvah placed a finger on his chin as he looked up in thought.

"Well, since Stanley opened the portal a second time, the connection between this dimension and the Nightmare Realm has gotten stronger. Who knows how long until Bill forces his way through, and the end of the world happens." a look of concern immediately crossed his face, he looks away to think but gasped softly when Alvah was directly right in front of him "Extend our contract, Stanford, and I'll continue to keep you and your family alive. I'll make sure Bill doesn't come into contact with them this time. I'll make sure he won't be able to make deals with them like he did with Dipper. You can leave their well-being to me while you focus on keeping him at bay." his gaze hardened on the man floating in front of him, showing off those pearly whites that could tear him to shreds.

"... the last time I didn't listen to you, I was met with betrayal and nearly lost my mind." Alvah was silenced when Ford glared at him, knowing what he was going to mutter "If we change up the conditions of the contract... then so be it." Alvah's grin returned, this time stretching from ear to ear as he clapped his hands.

"You made a fine choice, Stanford!" snapping his fingers, the contract reappeared before them once more. A red spark of lightning shot out of his finger, and he changed that he was able to come and go from this dimension to the Nightmare Realm whether Ford was in Gravity Falls or not, Ford himself changed up the part where Alvah was to protect his family instead of just keep them alive. They made a few more changes here and there before concluding that they were satisfied with the new contract, Alvah grins as he reads through it "Now, until the defeat of Bill Cipher, I am to protect your family from any potential dangers while making sure you don't make any past mistakes. In return, I have more access to my powers while I am in this dimension, and I can do whatever I want as long as no human gets hurt in the process." Ford reads through it one more time before nodding his head.

"Yes... I am satisfied with the changes to the contract."

"Wonderful!" they watch as both Ford and Alvah lift their thumbs to their mouths before biting into their flesh hard enough to get it to bleed, they hover their open wound over the contract and let a few droplets get on the golden parchment until Alvah snaps his fingers again and the palm of his hand burst into flames. This time a quill appeared, and he used the blood as ink to sign his name then he gave the quill to Ford to do the same, after he finished signing it Alvah felt a surge of power course through his body "Oh, yeah. Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Just remember to keep up your end of the contract." he only grinned as the contract rolled up and flew into his hand, it disappears when he closed his hand into a fist.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." his hands were then enveloped with a bright yet dark red flame, he stared at the smoldering flame before waving it off and booping Ford on the nose "With that I'll finally take my leave and return to the Nightmare Realm." this caused the others to stare in shock.

"You're leaving?" he laughed softly.

"Yeah, but not forever. I've been away from my real body for thirty years and I need to go and check up on it to see if I'm alright. I might be a little stiff for being away from it for so long." he then crossed his arms with a smile "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd miss me." the twins look at each other, still a little intimidated under the gaze of his red eyes, but they did nod a little.

"We'd like to think that you didn't lie to us this entire summer, Alvah. That the woman we've been hanging around didn't just look after us because of a contract, that you genuinely did it out of the kindness of your heart." this comment caused the smile on his face to drop a little, his face twitching as guilt ate at his nonexistent heart.

"I..." he couldn't finish his sentence and instead turned towards Ford, they let out a sigh but then gasped softly when something was thrown at them, Mabel was able to catch it and when they saw what it was their eyes widened "Take a look at that when you're not busy. You might find something worthwhile." it was his memory tube they were searching for that they couldn't find, he winked at them before finally turning away. Ford took a step forward and they watched as Alvah's body went limp, his body falling into Ford's arms before it could fall to the ground. There they watched as his shadow leaked out of him and loomed over them despite being attached to the wall "See you later." it spoke before a burst of laughter rang out through the room and the shadow disappeared.

Elsewhere... 

In the chaotic hell that was the Nightmare Realm, a somewhat surreal unstable void filled with swirling shades of dark purple, red, and yellow almost like a lava lamp. However, the being we're focusing on resides in a different section of the Nightmare Realm. Though the sky was still red they were surrounded by stars as they lay motionless in a body of clouds, that was when their body twitched as they stirred awake. After being in a coma for about thirty years, the Harbinger of Chaos arose rather slowly and weakly from where they had been lying for the past three decades. With a body made of a chaotic tangle of writhing, red tendrils and jagged lines adorned with numerous glowing red eyes that peer out from the dark depths of its flesh, they opened their mouth, and a horrific scream roared out that would deafen the ears of mortal beings... turns out they were just yawning. 

"Mm, it's been a long time." with a voice made up of the screams of all that they have slain, they spoke for the first time, and it almost felt foreign "I need to remember not to make the same mistake twice the next time I form a contract with a different being. I do not want to be stuck in such a predicament ever again." they note to themself, grabbing onto nothing to pull themself up until they were no longer laying in the luscious clouds that was their bed. Since their consciousness had been in that vessel alone, their main body had remained dormant the entire time and gave off the atmosphere like it was dead, but now their power was surging through their body and anyone residing in their section of the Nightmare Realm could feel that they had returned.  

The Harbinger of Chaos, the embodiment of evil throughout entire realities woke up one day and decided that they weren’t just going to be just a meaning, they were going to be alive. Where there is good, there will always be their counterpart that is evil, influencing individuals to do what they believe is the better option. As the devil on their shoulder, as the temptation that led Adam and Eve into biting into god’s sacred fruit, they are tasked with bringing the darkness out of people’s hearts. They do not crave world destruction, they do not want to destroy or take over dimensions, they think that’s just hard labor and a waste of time and effort, they’d rather just let their influence seep into the minds of others so they can destroy their own worlds. 

“My old friend, it has been a long time.” this being of evil perked up at the voice, tilting their head to the side at the sight of such a majestic being “I am a little hurt at the words you spoke.” they let out a chuckle themself. 

“I was only teasing. Besides, I knew you were watching ever since Stanley completed his mission to save his brother. And was I lying? The only reason you haven’t wiped me from existence is because if you do, the very concept of evil would disappear? But wouldn’t that be a good thing? Worlds without evil would be… perfect.” they let out a sigh. 

“But a world without evil would be out of balance. Good and even coexist together for a reason.” a hum is the only response they get. 

“Anyways, what are you doing in the Nightmare Realm? Did you venture across worlds just to visit little ol’ me? I’m flattered, really? It does things to my already inflated ego~” a chuckle leaves them as they float off, the Axolotl following close behind them “Are you worried Bill might pick up a fuss now that I’ve returned from dimension 46'\? He always avoids areas that you’re in.” the ethereal being let out a sigh. 

“I suppose. He was always one to bottle up all his feelings then let it all out at once rather than sharing his thoughts.” this caused them to let out a laugh while snapping their fingers to open windows to other worlds, peering into one they were met with talking frogs “I think it would be better for him to show a different side, don’t you think?” this caused them to roll all their eyes. 

“The last time he showed a vulnerable side he got his “heart” broken, remember? It’s the whole reason I was in dimension 46'\ in the first place.” they swipe their hand and peer into another window, now seeing a bunch of magic fly across their vision “If you want him to share his thoughts, you’ve got to force it out of him. The only way I see him talking about his feelings is in Theraprism.” 

“You’re right.” this earned them another laugh, they watched as a dark energy seeped out of the tip of their hand and infested the open windows that surrounded them, corrupting a few individuals before quickly closing the windows “I hope you don’t make too many changes with the Pines family, friend.” 

“You don’t need to worry about that, Axolotl. I’m a tough nut to crack.” this earned them a raised brow, and they shrunk a little under their gaze. 

“Perhaps, but what about that vessel of yours?” 

“What about it?” Axolotl gave them a knowing look, floating around them as they laughed softly. 

“You and I both know what I’m talking about.” they laugh a little more when they see all their eyes look in different directions, avoiding their bright gaze “Oh, I am only teasing. But you’ve been in that vessel for over thirty years. Sure, time works differently on beings with such a long lifespan, but your mind was in that of a human body for so long. You and I both know that things changed, whether for the better or for the worst.” they were met with silence, they peak over their shoulder and saw their gaze was back on the Pines family once again, namely on the Stan twins. 

“It… really complicates things.” 

“What will you do now?” their hand hovered over their view of dimension 46'\, their finger tapping against the image before swiping it away. 

“Fulfill my contract and come right back, I suppose.” 

“I see. Then, I’ll take my leave. I hope to see you well, my friend.” and with that, Axolotl left as silently as they appeared. They floated aimlessly in the chaos that was known as their home and sighed to themselves, this is why they preferred to laze around instead of doing fieldwork, it was always stressful and required too much thinking. They spent most of their time taking care of businesses that had been left unattended due to their absence and watched their influence fill the heads of people who couldn’t make a choice, it was always fun watching people be conflicted in their choices. Time certainly worked differently in the Nightmare Realm and different dimensions because when they looked back to dimension 46’\ the two brothers had left the basement and were staring at each other’s reflection, Ford even had a different change of clothes. 

“Perhaps I should inform them that I might be gone for a while to catch up on my work.” they thought it over before nodding their head and expanding their view on dimension 46’\, their finger circled around the image before allowing some of their consciousness to seep into the dimension before continuing their work. Alvah manifested within the second dimension (as a flat figure within the shadows) and looked around to find himself in the hallway, he travels through the shadows (similar to how giffany traveled through digital screens) until he found himself in the room where Stan and Ford were arguing with each other “I don’t suppose I’m interrupting anything, am I?” they both jump at the sound of his voice, turning in the direction it came from, they found the male version of Alvah in the reflection of the mirror in between them. They both turned their heads to look but found the space empty, so they looked back toward the mirror and saw him pressing his fingers against the glass, showing off the sharp, pearly whites as he looked at them. 

“You’re back, Alvah.” he chuckled softly, pushing himself off the surface of the mirror to cross his arms. 

“Yes, but not for long. I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on, so don’t expect to see me lingering around for a while. It won’t take me long to finish up, but I won’t physically be around to keep an eye on your family. But if you really need me, just say my name and I’ll be there to save the day.” he snickered softly when Ford scoffed, readjusting his glasses. 

“I highly doubt we’ll need you to “save the day”, Alvah. You’ve made it clear that you’re not allowed to directly interfere with events, as you’ve put it.” he chuckled and looked Ford up and down, Stan was a little startled when he saw the end of his brother’s coat lift up to mirror what Alvah was doing in their reflection. He was looking him up and down once more, throwing his coat open to see he swapped out that black sweater for a red one while also messing with his hair “Would you quit it, Alvah?” he demanded and attempted to smack his hands off him through their reflection, it almost looked like he was fighting air, but Alvah just laughed and pulled his hands back. 

“Oh, you know I’m just teasing.” he giggles softly when Ford tugged on his coat and tidied up his hair. 

“If you want to make yourself useful, could you deal with the U.S. government? Stanley here tells me that they know about the portal, I’m just surprised they haven’t kicked down the doors to the shack yet.” this caused Alvah to start laughing, throwing his head back before wiping away a tear and leaning against the mirror with his elbow. 

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about those government officials. They won’t be bothering us again.” they both shudder when they saw him lick his lips “I made sure of that.” Ford glared at him. 

“Alvah! I specifically told you not to harm humans.” he rolled his eyes with a groan. 

“Hey! That was after we signed the updated version of our contract! I did it before then, okay? I also made it look like an accident, so you shouldn’t have to worry about backup coming to check up on things. Oh, and I gathered up all the evidence they managed to secure while they were stalking us.” he snapped his fingers, and a stack of discs and folders appeared behind them on a desk “You’re welcome.” Ford hummed softly as he looked over the documents. 

“Well, this is perfect. Well done, Alvah. I knew I could count on you to handle matters like these.” Alvah bows his head rather dramatically with a smirk “I’ll deal with these; I’ll call you when I need you.” he twiddles his fingers to bid Ford goodbye, this leaves Stan and Alvah alone, to which the demonic being pressed his hands against the glass of the mirror once more to look at Stan, who refused to look at him. 

“Are you mad at me, Stanley?” he asked, tilting his head to the side to try and get a look at his face but with the angle the mirror was facing he couldn’t properly see him “Is it because I didn’t help you with the portal, or because I knew the truth the whole time? Or was it because I knew what exactly you were suffering and did nothing about it?” he continued to watch him through the mirror for any sort of reaction but even then, Stan didn’t give any sort of reaction. Lowering his gaze to his hands, he saw that they were balled up into fists and shaking a little, was it anger or sadness? His fingers tap against the glass a little in thought, thinking of any way to get him to turn around “… do you hate me, Stanley?” Stan flinched at the sound of the voice and that was enough to turn him around, and there he saw the version of Alvah that stood by his side through thick and thin, his Alvah. Looking at him were those sharp green eyes that held a warmth like an early morning day, that kind and beautiful smile that lit up a room, and hair that was as soft as a freshly washed blanket. 

“You…” she tilts her head to the side and watches Stan approach the mirror, finger raised to point at her face “You don’t get to ask those questions, Alvah. From the beginning, you knew who I was, but I didn’t stop to question you. I should have known that someone like you wouldn’t have stuck around for as long as you did out of goodwill. You probably programmed that body of yours to meet my preferred standards, huh?” she tilts her head again, her eyes looking around the room in thought before landing on his again. 

“That is how I construct my vessels, yes. They take up the physical traits that would best suit those who gaze upon it, just like the male version of this vessel. I adorn that appearance because when I was first summoned, I knew how much the female population made Ford uncomfortable. I copied the personality of somebody he once cherished, but I didn’t drop it because it’s quite funny.” she took a step back and opened her arms to gesture to herself “For you, this was the ideal type of woman you have been craving; both in appearance and personality. This body was modeled just for you.” she watched the way his face screwed up but this time he looked like he was in pain, he swallowed thickly while gritting his teeth. 

“Then, did anything… did anything matter to you?” he wasn’t looking at her, so he didn’t notice the way her eyes twitched a little “Did any of what we had… matter to you, at all?” he looked up at her and saw the way she just continued to stare at him, his shoulders slumped, and he turned away to leave. 

“… from the day we first met to today, I have never lied to you.” this caused him to look back at her but noticed that she was no longer in the mirror “Take that as you will, Stanley.” 

season 2, bonus episode. harbinger of chaos 

“So, dudes, Alvah gave you that memory tube that contained the memory old man McGucket erased from way back then?” Soos, who was unconscious the entire time Alvah revealed she wasn’t who she seemed, questioned as he and Wendy followed the twins to where they could watch the memory tube. They hadn’t seen Alvah in a couple of days, Grunkle Ford told them that he, she, they? Whatever, she was so busy in her dimension that she wasn’t going to be around much, and the times she was she was down in the basement helping Ford out with his stuff. It was quite odd in the beginning, mostly because Alvah usually stuck by Stan’s side, but from what they were told, when he first met her, she always stuck by his side and watched him through mirrors or shadows. Anyways, they snuck back into the former base of the Society of the Blind Eye to steal the contraption that allowed them to watch the stolen memories of Gravity Falls and hauled it back to the Mystery Shack “What do you think we’re gonna see?” he asked curiously as they hooked it up in the attic. 

“Do you think we’re gonna see the world's secrets?” Mabel suggests rather excitingly. 

“We don’t know what exactly McGucket put into the memory gun, but I highly doubt it went that far. It would probably be something recent during that time.” Dipper answers, Wendy hums softly. 

“Whatever it is, I’m glad I brought snacks. We can munch on these while we watch.” Dipper laughed softly at Wendy, lightening the mood. Now that they know that Alvah is actually a being of pure evil, he was a little nervous to peek into that mind of hers to see what was going on thirty years ago where it all began. Soos and Mabel rearranged the room a little so they would be more comfortable to watch, so after finally setting it up he inserted the memory tube and took a seat beside Mabel. The screen spurred to life and the dark room was filled with static until it turned black, it stayed like that for a couple minutes and it confused them, was something wrong with it? 

“Hey, dude, did you set it up right?” Dipper scratched his head as he stood up, approaching the screen to see if he had done something wrong. 

“I thought I did, maybe I missed—” he let out a startled shout as he fell backward when a loud crash came from the TV, looking back up at it, they were all startled to see the shadowed figure of Stanford in a mirror, and he looked enraged as his fists banged against the mirror glass. 

“FORD!” he shouted as he continued to bang on the glass, he pushed his face against the glass to get a look at Stanford and he found the young man hunched over his desk. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days, which was true, now that he had angered Bill Cipher, that triangular bastard had been tormenting the poor human to the point he couldn’t even sleep anymore in fear that his body would be taken advantage of “You’re going to allow yourself to wallow away in this shack? You’re not going to do anything to retaliate against him, and why? Because you’re afraid? You allowed him to take advantage of you despite all my warnings, and now that you lost poor little Fiddlesticks you’ve come to realize that you’ve got no one left. Tell me, what exactly are you going to do now? Have you finally given up, Stanford?” 

“As… as long as I don’t give in, he won’t win.” he glares back at the mirror where Alvah lets out a malicious cackle, his fists continuing to bang against the glass. 

“You think that’s enough to keep him at bay? Do you think that’s enough to keep him from getting what he wants? Unless you dismantle that portal of yours or destroy those journals, he’s going to continue torturing you until he succeeds. You sealed your fate the moment you took his hand, Stanford.” he scoffs, red eyes void of emotion but you can tell that he is giving him an unimpressed expression “You were such a gullible and naïve little thing that just a tiny bit of praise had you dancing in the palm of his hand; had you constructing the very thing that could destroy your universe.” he let out a laugh when Stanford stood to his feet and approached the mirror, slamming his hands against the frame and glaring at his shadow. 

“Mock me all you want, Alvah, but I made the discovery of a lifetime. I was able to create something that could have changed the world; that should have changed the world.” 

“Yeah, in a bad way. And sure, you were able to create it from scratch, but that idea wasn’t yours. You weren’t able to create something without his blueprints, this portal was his idea in the first place, and you were foolish enough to make it for him. To him, you were the perfect little puppet that didn’t even realize his strings were being pulled.” he laughed when Stanford punched the mirror, shattering it to pieces as the shards scattered across the floor beneath his feet, but he still saw his shattered reflection through the shards “If you had just listened to me from the very beginning, none of this would have happened. But why listen to me? As a being made up of an amalgamation of evil, of course, you shouldn’t trust me. Your muse would never lie to you~” he watched Stanford continue to glare down at his reflection before walking off, Alvah chuckled and followed him through the shadows that lingered through the barely lit house “He is never going to quit. He is never going to leave you alone. You will never be safe. You will never get to live a normal life again. You will never be sane. He sees everything no matter where you are. He is always watching.” Stanford stops in front of another mirror and faces Alvah once more, glaring at the shadowed version of himself instead of his own reflection. 

“Then what do you suppose I do? The only other option would be to…” his eyes glance over at a closet that kept his weapons, he hears another chuckle and raises his head to see Alvah leaning against the mirror. 

“You really think a bullet would end this madness? Hardly. You can’t get away from him, not even through death. Unless you can figure out a way to sever the connection between your mind and his control, you’ll never be able to get away.” he thoroughly enjoyed the way Stanford’s face crumbled up in pain “Well, what if I can help weaken it?” this caused him to perk up. 

“What… what do you mean?” he jerked backward when a bright light burst out of the mirror, his face hardened when he saw the same scroll of paper Alvah first introduced to him a few months back when things weren’t so bad “You know I’m not going to agree to that after what happened.” Alvah’s hands rolled along the side of the scroll as he peeked his head out from the side, lowering it a little as his fingers tapped against it. 

“You should know, Fordsy, that my contracts are different from his deals. He always manages to find loopholes through his deals and is generally the one at an advantage, while my contracts are stricter on myself and those who sign them.” he then gestures to the blank canvas “Whatever your demands are, I will match them to either an equal value or lesser. Through my contracts, I don’t need that portal to cross over to this dimension.” 

“If that’s the case, why would I—” Alvah raised his finger to stop him. 

“That’s where the contract comes into play. While I can access this dimension, my powers are much more limited than if it were the real me.” he holds the contract out to him once more “State whatever you want, Stanford. Whether it be keeping you safe from the dangers that linger outside this shack, or something minor like keeping an eye on your family while you stay here, I’ll be forced to do whatever it is. I don’t seek destruction, that’s not my thing.” Stanford stared at him in confusion. 

“But you’re also a being that influences the minds to do atrocious things. Why would you do something so unlike you for me?” he flinched when he was met with a vicious grin. 

“Because taking his toys is so much more enjoyable. When you two broke off, whatever your relationship was, he caused quite a ruckus in the Nightmare Realm that I found unbearable. I’m gonna enjoy the face he’s going to make when he realizes I took the one thing he thought was going to be his until the end of time.” Stanford clenched his hand into a fist as he stared at the blank contract waiting to be filled with his demands, what other options did he have? With the help of this demonic being, he can get Bill out of his mind so he can focus on more important matters, and even if he manages to get into his mind, Alvah is more than powerful enough to get him out “So, what do you say? Wanna sign a contract with me?” 

“… I can state whatever I want, and you’ll have to abide by it, no matter what?” the grin on his face grew wider. 

“Whatever you want, and I’ll do it for you.” Ford’s hand slowly lifted from his side and pressed against the mirror, in an instance, the demands he wanted were being written across the once blank page. A few other spots were filled in and he knew they were for Alvah, while they were allowed to travel between the Nightmare Realm and his dimension, they were to remain in Gravity Falls if he wasn’t there to keep it from being destroyed by the anomalies within this hick town, while in turn they were allowed access to their powers in order for that to happen. The contract turned towards Alvah, and their grin didn’t disappear, instead, he watched as they tore into their thumb to drip what he believed was blood and signed the end of it. Stanford took a step back when the contract came out of the mirror and a quill appeared beside it, Alvah pressed against the mirror and looked at him with anticipation “All you’ve got to do is sign it, and I’ll be at your discretion.” he swallowed thickly as he stared down at the part where he was supposed to sign it. Looking back at the quill he saw it swing side to side for him to take it, so with a deep breath he raised his thumb to his lips and tore into the flesh. He winced in pain but shook it off, hovering his thumb over the page and allowing a few drops of his blood to drip onto the page before taking the quill and signing his name. 

“Now… now what?” he was met with silence when the contract disappeared, leaving him and the shadow of his reflection within the darkness of the room. He stood nervously as those beading red eyes stared right back at him, slowly, he watched his reflection raise his hands and start banging against the mirror. He took a step back when each strike against the glass started getting more and more violent to the point the glass began to crack, when the glass did shatter a black liquid spilled out and poured onto the floor. He watched as the liquid bubbled and sizzled until a hand burst out and slammed against the floorboards, slowly, through the gurgling and groaning noises that emitted from this blob of goo, a figure pushed themself out of the puddle of tar. 

“What a pain…” he flinched at the sound of the voice as the figure stood to its full height, one that was looming over him, and threw their head back, which caused some of the black tar to splatter across the room and some even got on Ford. Their hands ran up their face then threaded through their hair and after wiping away the black tar from their face, he was met with a pale face a bright ruby red eyes with thin slitted irises. The figure before him appeared as a tall, long-limbed, broad-shouldered adult man of indeterminate but reasonably young age, with jet-black hair with his bangs falling slightly over his eyes and strands on the sides of his bangs framing his face though the length seemed to vary because his hair seemed to be part of his shadow while bearing this form. The outfit he wore comprised mainly in a classic Victorian fashion. It includes a white long-sleeved shirt with an intricately knotted red cravat under a black double-breasted suit with red buttons, matching black trousers, and a pair of dark brown leather riding boots, covered by a red, split, and full-length, long coat with ruffles exclusive to the shoulders “I must say, you have quite a sense of fashion, Fordsy~” the man cooed softly, twirling a strand of his black hair around his finger. 

“W-What?” he spread his arms open then gestured to his being. 

“This vessel was created to adorn the appearance my contractor so desires. As I said, I have no face, no sex, no appearance of my own. Whenever someone signs one of my contracts, I take up the appearance that my contractor feels most comfortable.” he then leaned down until his face was inches away from Stanford’s “This appearance was modeled just for you, Fordsy~” he was promptly shoved away, causing him to break out into a fit of laughter. 

“And the personality?” he shrugged. 

“Taken from someone you once cherished.” this caused him to look away, he dusted himself off and bowed his head once more “I am Alvah, the Harbinger of Chaos, and I am at your every beck and call until our contract is fulfilled. How may I be of assistance today?” Stanford stares down at the demonic being he summoned, his eyes full of so many thoughts, before taking the hand that was offered to him. 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do.” 

… 

… 

“So…” the children, Wendy and Soos, stared at the screen with mouths agape after the screen turned back to static, indicating that the memory had finished “McGucket erased the memory of when Alvah and Ford made their contract.” 

“That he did.” they all let out screams of surprise at the sudden voice, looking up, they were met with the female version of Alvah, who was chuckling softly that she managed to scare them “I believe he was going to shoot Fordsy with it, but since I came to his house that fateful day, he used it on me instead.” they all stare up at her in shock before calming themselves down, she then casually leans against the TV as Dipper approaches her. 

“But… if he erased that memory, wouldn’t that mean you should have forgotten what you were meant to do?” she shook her head. 

“Oh, no. You can’t erase a mind so vast. To me, it felt like the moment you walk into a room and forget what you were supposed to do but remember it an instance later when you’ve left that room. If he wanted to completely erase my deal with Ford, he would have had to shoot me with that gun a good hundred times.” she takes the memory tube and tosses it up and down a couple times “That day was one of Ford’s lowest moments, where he didn’t know what to do and had nobody to turn to. Yet, I had not abandoned him. I believe that since he was in such a dire situation, that was the reason he agreed to sign a contract with me. If he were any saner, I don’t believe he would have.” 

“So… how did you and Stanford meet anyways?” Wendy asked “From what we saw, you were confined to mirrors and shadows. What was your relationship with him?” this caused her to laugh. 

“For the second part, I was more like a caretaker or maybe a babysitter?” she shrugged her shoulders while giggling “That man could not look after himself, and after Fidds left him, it was up to me to keep him from doing something that would end up with him not waking up the next morning. It was almost sad.” 

“And the first part?” she raised a brow, Dipper twiddled his thumbs nervously “H-How did you two meet?” she looked up in thought, exhaling deeply through her nose. 

“Well, that’s a long story.” she glanced back over at them, chuckling a little when she saw them looking up at her with anticipation “Well, it all started about… thirty years ago, I believe.” 

Flashback… 

“What do we have here?” the Harbinger of Chaos approached Bill within the Nightmare Realm after his return from a dimension, to which he was peering into said dimension through their windows “You seem to be in a jolly mood, Cipher? May I inquire why?” they hummed softly when Bill let out a boisterous laugh, looking away from what he was looking at to look up at them. 

“Hahaha, I just found the most gullible human ever!” he gestured for them to peer into the window, and there their eyes laid upon a young-looking human man “Get this, I recognized his brilliant but cocky and insecure nature, and I used his near-friendlessness as ideal conditions for manipulation, so I introduced myself to him as a muse who chose one brilliant mind every century to inspire.” they let out a hum as they watched the human man write stuff down in a worn-out journal. 

“So, he’s the next pet to build your portal?” he nods his head. 

“Uh-huh. I showed him the blueprints for the portal, and he said he’d get started on it immediately. Psh, this has got to be one of the easiest suckers I’ve ever got to construct the portal in like, what, centuries?” 

“Possibly longer, but I must agree, this guy seems to be very naïve.” 

“I know, right? At least the other humans I tried to get to build my portal were more skeptical, but this guy is just dancing in the palm of my hand. It won’t be long before I can finally get out of this janky hellhole.” he heard a chuckle and let out an oh, looking back up at them “A very nice hellhole, since you can’t exactly leave.” they just gave a shrug in response. 

“Oh, it’s bearable. And besides, I can technically leave whenever I want, I just have to abandon this body in the process.” he lets out a hum “I’m somewhat curious about him, you wouldn’t mind if pop in and bother him from time to time, do you? He looks fun to make fun of.” Bill laughs. 

“Sure, go ahead. As long as you don’t distract him from completely the portal, I don’t care what you do.” 

And that’s where they found themselves watching Stanford Pines, hidden within the shadows that surrounded the man. They had to admit, he definitely had a brilliant mind from the mass amounts of research he managed to accumulate throughout the six years he resided in the hick town that was Gravity Falls, but he was just so damn stupid. Apparently, he found murals about Bill Cipher hidden within a cave and thought “oh yes, this doesn’t scream demonic entity at all” and managed to summon him, or rather, just caught his attention. As they continued to watch him, before his little assistant arrived, he was rather neglectful of his own well-being and would go days of staying hunched over his desk figuring out equations. 

“You’re quite dumb for a man who proclaims to be a genius.” they laughed to themself when they saw Stanford, who was currently brushing his teeth, spit out what was in his mouth and whip his head around in search of the voice “I’m right here, dumb, dumb. Look up.” he slowly raised his head to look at the mirror, squinting his eyes the longer he stared at his reflection before jerking backward when a grin spread across his lips. His reflection slowly started to laugh until a sort of darkness wrapped around his body and he was staring at a shadowed version of himself, a bead of sweat bled down his face when beading red eyes appeared all over his body and stared at him. 

“W-What…?” his reflection chuckled. 

“For a human who uses such big words to make himself much smarter than he actually is, I feel quite proud that I’ve rendered you speechless.” it felt unsettling to hear his voice even though he did not speak, his relfection’s finger draws circles in the glass “I’ve been watching you for some time, Stanford Pines.” he quickly grabbed his glasses that were sitting on the sink and put them on, staring at the figure in shock and awe. 

“You know my name?” they roll their multiple eyes. 

“Yes, I just said I’ve been watching you. I was bound to pick up your name.” they hum softly when his face flushed up in embarrassment “Anyways, I can’t help but say that I’m impressed that you managed to gain Bill’s favor.” the mention of Bill caused him to perk up, a little smile gracing his lips. 

“Really?” they huffed. 

“Sure. He’s gathered many brilliant minds over the years throughout the multiverse, but I’ve never seen him favor one specific human before. He’s given a lot of his time to you, and as I said, I’m impressed. Humans, in particular, are his least favorite. Still, he seems to put his distaste towards them to the side for you.” their gaze hardened a little when he saw the way his face flushed up, but this time, for a different “… anyways, I was just spying on you to see what all the hype was about. I don’t really see much.” they snickered when they saw how his face fell and looked back at them, his face scrunching up in confusion. 

“What do you mean by that?” they hummed softly, crossing their arms and turning away. 

“I thought you were smart, perhaps you can figure out why I don’t find you as interesting as your little muse does~” they laughed to themself when his face flared up, so they pointed at him as they continued to laugh “Haha, your face looks so funny when you do that! Do it again.” Stanford scoffed and turned around to leave, thinking that whoever this being was could only communicate through mirrors. 

“Hmph, I don’t know what you are, but I’m smarter than you think I am.” 

“Oh, really?” he gasped and saw the way the red eyes appeared on his shadow on the wall “I bet you were thinking I was confined to mirrors and your reflection, but no. I can appear within your shadow as well. Nowhere is safe for you!” throughout the day Stanford had to put up with them making fun of him and teasing him, even when he tried to cancel out the noise with music, they found a way to interfere with the soundwaves so he could hear their voice. They were now back in the Nightmare Realm laughing their head off with Bill Cipher, who was now dealing with the aftermath of what they did to Stanford “He is so fun to mess with!” Bill snorted. 

“I’ve got to thank you, though he’s just complaining, he seems to be leaning on me more. Telling me how this “shadow has been bullying him”, just a little bit of reassurance has him trusting me more and more. Keep it up, would you.” 

“Hah! Like I’d give up making fun of this human! I haven’t been this entertained in years.” 

Over a couple of months when the progress of the portal had just begun, both Bill and them would play their little game with Stanford Pines. Where they would poke fun at him and point out his little mistakes while Bill would reassure him and help him figure out the problem, this led to Stanford trusting Bill more and more and cementing them as the bad guy. Though their power didn’t revolve around the mindscape like Bill’s did, they were still very much able to enter it, and they made the poor mistake of entering Stanford’s mind and witnessing how deep his obsession with Bill ran. Hmm, though they also made fun of that Fiddlestick guy, they were now beginning to prefer him with how… weird, Stanford was. 

“So… Bill tells me you’re known as the, Harbinger of Chaos?” he asked questionably. 

“Ooo, finally curious about me?” they asked within Stanford’s shadow, he had the light cast behind him so they could be “sitting” across from him “I thought you’d never ask any questions about me. Bill tells me you’re not quite fond of me.” he huffed. 

“Of course, because unlike him, you make fun of me.” he saw the way they rolled his eyes, if only this poor sucker knew “But I can’t stop my curiosity. I asked Bill about you, but he told me if I wanted to know more about you it’d be best if I were to ask the source itself.” they leaned back in the seat they were in and shrugged their shoulders. 

“Well, shoot, dumb, dumb. Ask away.” they laughed again when he pouted, calling him dumb dumb always got that reaction out of him so they resorted to calling him that from time to time. 

“Mm, so what Bill has told me, you’re not exactly a… person, per say?” 

“Well, it is hard to put it into words, but let’s just simplify it and say I wasn’t exactly born like you, your friend, or Bill Cipher. I was not created either. I have been around since the beginning of all that was created. I am simply the manifestation of evil throughout countless dimensions; an amalgamation of all that is evil. I AM evil itself, that managed to conjure a consciousness and become the very being that I am today.” they raised their hand and Stanford managed to see their hand glow red “I am every bad choice you make, every selfish action, every terrible mistake. I am the influence that drives you to do bad things.” 

“So, you tell people to do bad things?” they shook their head. 

“No. I don’t tell people to do anything, it’s their fault that they ended up doing something bad, not mine.” he nods his head as he writes down what they said in his journal. 

“Does that mean you’re the very definition of evil?” 

“That it does, but that doesn’t particularly mean that I am evil.” he watches as the glow floats around their hand “My being doesn’t exactly have the concept of “feelings”, you know? I don’t feel like being the bad guy or being the good guy either. I don’t feel joy, anger, sadness, fear; I can replicate those feelings, but I myself can’t exactly feel anything.” 

“Do you feel pain?” 

“Hmm, well, there hasn’t been anything in existence that’s able to harm me. Bill is quite literally the only being that is of equal power to me, but there is a being more powerful than us. You could say that is when I do feel the fear.” Stanford perks up at that, raising his pen a little. 

“Oh! Bill has mentioned such a being before.” they nod. 

“So, he has. He doesn’t like to mention it, but they make him nervous as well. Don’t tell him I told you that, he’ll get fussy. Anyway, there hasn’t been a time where somebody has managed to hurt me, much less leave a mark. I’m more of a neutral being, I don’t care for world domination, and I don’t care enough to save worlds. It’s none of my business; not my circus, not my monkeys.” 

“I see. Bill tells me that his and your powers are somewhat similar.” it takes them a second to understand what he meant before perking up, snapping their fingers in remembrance. 

“Ah, yes! Bill has his “deals” to inhabit his host's minds and “cross over” to your world. Unlike him though, I can appear here whenever I want. I don’t need a gateway like he does. Anyways, while he has his deals, I have my contracts. The terms of the contract are set by both me and my contractor, only when we agree and sign the contract may I physically enter their world. They’re stricter as well, we must abide by the terms and conditions, or else the contract with be null and void. We must follow it to a T, or else the contract with destroy itself, and my physical body will cease to exist and I return back to the Nightmare Realm.” 

“And what about your real body?” 

“It becomes stationed. While I am still able to infect other universes with my chaotic influences, it’s not nearly as effective if I were to do it myself. If I want to control the physical body I created in this dimension, I would have to give up the consciousness in my main body to control that other one. My powers are also limited, so while I can easily erase a planet from existence, my powers would simply be reduced to where I can only decimate a city.” 

“That’s… still very threatening.” they shrug their shoulders. “You mentioned your real body? Each time I’ve seen you, you’ve only taken up my appearance. Are you faceless?” they hum. 

“I am. I am neither man nor woman, I am not a being that can be identified by something like sex or pronouns. I have no face and no physical appearance to call my own. However, if a being lesser than I were to witness my true form, their minds would slowly descend into madness from all the chaos stored into one being.” 

“Can you describe what you look like? 

“Hah, are you going to attempt to sketch me?” he nods. 

“Your chapter won’t be complete without it.” they stared at him for a couple seconds then laughed when he raised his head, waiting for them to say something, they just gently shook their head. 

“Alright, okay. I have a body made up of a chaotic tangle of writhing, red tendrils, and jagged lines adorned with numerous glowing red eyes that peer out from the dark depths of my flesh. That’s all you’re going to get.” this caused Stanford to look up at them, mildly frustrated at the brief description, but he took up the challenge and started sketching with what he was given. They both sat in silence and all that was heard was the repeated strokes of Stanford’s pen sketching across the page, they were quite impressed that he was drawing with a pen instead of a pencil. After what they believed was an hour of Stanford consistently stopping to think and continue to draw, he let out a sigh and dropped his pen to pick up his journal. 

“How does this look?” they lean forward and Stanford watches as their collective eyes shoot open and look at the page, he was startled when his journal was plucked out of his hands by an invisible force but when he looked down, he saw that the journal’s shadow was grabbed by them. Looking back up at them, he saw how they held the journal close so their eyes could take in his sketch “Is it… good?” a soft chuckle left them. 

“Hah… alright, I’m starting to see it.” they lowered the book, and he saw something genuine in their eyes “With the limited information, this is surprisingly the most accurate depiction of me. Well done, Fordsy, you’ve won my praise.” they hummed when he became flustered, of course, he would, he’s never been praised by them before, so it made him feel special. 

“Oh, well, it’s nothing much. I did struggle a bit.” 

“Don’t humble yourself, Fordsy.” they turned the book around so he could see his sketch “Not once, in the trillions of years I’ve been alive, has anyone made a sketch as accurate as you have. Nobody can look at the real me without their minds declining into madness, and lesser beings aren’t skilled enough to draw a sketch this good with the lack of details. This is most likely the first and last sketch of me. Be proud, Stanford.” they huffed softly at the soft hue of pink appearing on his cheeks as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. 

“Thanks.” he gasped softly when his journal was tossed back into his hands. 

“Don’t expect to hear more praise from me for a while, that’s Bill’s job.” Stanford chuckled, feeling more at ease with the being that was harbored within his shadow. 

“Sure…” their eyes stared curiously at him when his face scrunched up in thought “I hate to be rude, but is there anything else I can address you by? The Harbinger of Chaos is a bit of a mouthful, and I don’t exactly want to call you chaos or evil, so…” this got a laugh out of them. 

“I don’t have a name. Not even Bill calls me anything. I just… exist.” Ford blinked at them, his face softening a little. 

“Can I… give you a name?” 

“What am I? A pet?” they laughed when he raised his hands and shook them. 

“No, no! It just… it just makes it easier to address you? Yeah, that’s it!” they sat there staring at him as he tried to defend himself, but they just scoffed, leaning into their seat as they crossed their arms. 

“Alright, Einstein, give me a name.” this ceased his needless chattering, and they sat in silence once more as he tried thinking of a good name that would best suit them, he mumbled a couple under his breath but he noticed the way their eyes would crease in displeasure at a couple so he kept thinking “If I don’t like it, I’ll skin you alive.” this caused him to start thinking harder. 

“Um, how about—no, no, that doesn’t sound good. Uh, erm… oh!” he snaps his fingers, face as bright as a child on Christmas day “Alvah! How does that sound?” he started to shrink in on himself when they said nothing but stare at him “W-Well, Alvah is a gender-neutral name with Hebrew roots. Translating to “his highness” or “rising,”.” 

“… you do know the biblical meaning to the name “Alvah”, also means evil, right?” this caused him to pause, looking up in thought before crumbling due to the fact he forgot that small detail, he jumped a little when they started to laugh “I like it.” 

“W-Wha— really?” they nod their head. 

“Yes, Alvah. It has a nice ring to it; I like the name, and I like the fact that it correlates to my being. You’ve won my praise again, well done.” Alvah rolled their eyes when Stanford became flustered once more “Don’t let it go to your head, alright.” 

“Heh, I’ll try.” they both share a laugh. 

Alvah didn’t want to admit it, but Stanford was beginning to grow on them, not enough to stop him from completing the portal, but enough that they started to… care, bleh. They never once cared for him when he would wound up falling asleep at his desk how his sleep schedule became worse and worse, or how he would never eat or restock on food, or even have a shower once in a while. Never once they did care about how he neglected his well-being but ever since the day he gave them that name, their perspective on him changed. 

It was one of those days were Stanford decided to continue working on the portal and he fell asleep at his desk, his shadow loomed over him and Alvah’s form slowly took over and looked over his sleeping form. Humans don’t particularly feel great in the morning after sleeping in such an uncomfortable position, and because they can’t exactly touch his physical being, Alvah used different shadows to pick Stanford up using his shadow and carry him to his bed where he could get some hours of comfortable rest. Stanford would always wake up confused when he found himself in his bed, sometimes asking Fiddleford if it was him that moved him to his bed, but his assistant would deny any involvement in such a thing. He thought it was his muse that possessed his body to move him to his bed, so after asking him, he was met with laughter. 

“Oh, that? Alvah, or whatever you named them, is the one that moves you.” this stunned him, Alvah? “I’m surprised too. Sometimes I would catch them in the act, but they just say they’re doing it, so you won’t cause any hiccups when building the portal. Gotta say they’re always one to think ahead. So, stop falling asleep at your desk, alright?” Bill’s eye narrowed on Stanford when he rubbed the back of his neck. 

“R-Right, I’ll try and stop that.” back in the Nightmare Realm, Bill found Alvah peering into a universe with a human and talking dog. 

“I didn’t think you’d begin to care about our little pet human, Alvah.” this caused their hands to jerk back as they turned to look at Bill. 

“Whatever do you mean?” he hummed. 

“You don’t like humans. You find them one of the most repulsive living flesh bags there is, so I don’t understand why you’re beginning to care about this one.” this caused them to huff, snapping their fingers and the window of the universe they were just looking at disappeared and the one of dimension 46’\ appeared so they could watch Stanford and Fiddleford continue their work on the portal. 

“I thought I was doing a good thing for you, Bill. His progress has slowed a little because of him neglecting his body, would you rather his health to decline while he’s in the process of completing his project?” Bill narrowed his eye on them for that, he had noticed the way Stanford’s work had become a little sloppy because of his wanting to please his muse “I’ll stop if that’s what you want.” 

“Hmm, I guess you can continue your babysitting. I wouldn’t want him to mess up when he’s so close.” they laughed as they gently tipped his hat, causing him to reach for it when it fell off “Hey!” 

“If I didn’t know, you sound jealous.” their eyes creased when they saw his yellow body hue a slight red, whether it be of anger or embarrassment, they weren’t going to question him on it. 

“Jealous? Of what? You taking care of him? I can take him to bed as well!” 

“Mm, without hurting him?” Alvah laughed when he glared at him, the last time he possessed his body, he accidentally fell down a flight of stairs, but they were lucky he was only on the middle part of the staircase instead of the very top “Alright, alright. Now go, he looks like he misses you~” they cooed while pointing at Stanford, who was writing a new paragraph in his journal about his muse. 

“Well, duty calls.” they waved him goodbye and went back to doing their job as Bill returned to Stanford, however, even they began to question why they were looking out for the human. They jotted it down to just looking out for the human for Bill, he needed him alive and healthy for his portal to be complete so he could leave this awful place. If he leaves and takes over dimension 46’\, it’ll leave them in the Nightmare Realm all by themself, which they honestly would prefer. They would have their peace and quiet once more and not have to hear Bill’s consistent chatter about world domination, perhaps he’d let Stanford live, he did have a soft spot for that human. Whatever, it’s none of their concern. 

Until it was. 

“Hey, Alvah.” they let out a hum as Stanford sat across from them as they played a game of chess, letting him know that they were listening, they stared at the pieces on the board as they thought of where they should move their rook “You know a lot about, Bill, right?” he noticed the way their hand pause for a second before slowly moving their rook across the board. 

“I do. Why? Are you curious about something, Fordsy?” their eyes look at him curiously. 

“I believe he is… hiding something from me.” they hum again, watching Stanford move his pawn forward “I can trust you, right?” they shrug. 

“Whether you trust me or not, I don’t care.” 

“Let me rephrase it then; have you lied to me at all?” they rolled their fingers on the armrest of the chair before letting it rest there but their finger started drawing circles in the air. 

“I do not lie. I may keep secrets, but I am not prone to lying. I don’t see a point in lying to someone.” 

“Even if it were to hurt their feelings?” 

“I don’t care about people’s feelings. I’ll tell you a bit of the truth, but I won’t tell you the full truth. It isn’t considered lying if I don’t tell you the full story.” he narrowed his eyes at Alvah’s logic, to which they shrugged again as they moved their bishop to take the knight that was previously being protected by the pawn “Now, why do you believe Bill is hiding something from you? Don’t you trust him?” they raised a brow when they saw him hesitate, now this is new. 

“It’s just, well,” he let out a sigh as he moved his other knight to take their bishop “Fiddleford and I are so close to finishing the portal and he’s been acting… different.” they tilt their head to the side. 

“Different? How so?” he laces his fingers together, pursing his lips as he tries to think of the words. 

“Well, he started to question where the origin of the portal had come from. When I told him it was from a close source of mine, he didn’t fully believe me but didn’t stop to question it.” he looked up at Alvah and saw that they were still listening, going so far as to roll their wrist to get him to continue “When I brought it up with Bill, he told me that Fiddleford was merely jealous that I managed to create such a complex machine.” 

“And? Do you believe Bill?” his eyes hardened a little. 

“I want to believe him, but Fiddleford would never think like that. He’s been my intellectual equal since our days in Backupsmore. I don’t believe he’d ever be jealous of me, but I don’t understand why Bill would say such a thing.” 

“How can you be so sure? Things could change over time.” they watch as he moves his rook but in retaliation they move their other bishop across the board, forcing him to use another one of his pieces to shield his king from being claimed “You should always be careful who you place your trust in, Stanford. One might take advantage of your friendliness, and you would never know which one is doing it. They’ll say nice things to weaken your resolve, and the moment you open your arms out to them, they’re stabbing you in the back to get what they want. But what do they have to gain out of it.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, on one hand, Fiddleford dropped everything just to come and help you with this project. He left his wife and child and didn’t even stop to question what he was getting himself involved in, quite the dedication he has for his best friend. On the other hand, we have Bill Cipher. An interdimensional, dream demon who acknowledged your brilliance and chose you out of billions of other humans to be the one to complete his lifelong project. Taking time out of his routine to come visit you, whether it be in reality or within the sanctum of your mind. Both these individuals seem to hold a place in your heart, they are something special to you, and you are struggling to decide which one you should place your trust in.” they moved their rook forward and took out another one of his pieces, which forced him to move his king “So, who do you trust more? The one who was there when you were nothing, or the one who was there when you became something?” they moved their queen across the board and smirked to themself “Checkmate.” his eyes widened as he looked at the board and saw that their pieces cornered his king, he let out a sigh as he collapsed into the back of his seat. 

“I don’t know what to do.” 

“Well, sort your feelings out. Your mind is clouding your judgement, and one day, someone is going to get hurt because of your foolishness. Decide who to trust. But let me tell you one thing.” he swallowed thickly when their tone got dark “Be careful around Bill. He’s not all that he makes himself out to be. He is one too hold a grudge to those who have double crossed him, and though you might be his favorite, don’t expect him to go easy on you.” they started laughing before raising their hands to form a triangle over their left eye “Beware of the beast with just one eye.” Stanford shielded his face when darkness enveloped the room as their laughter rung out before it all disappeared, he swallowed thickly as he looked around in a daze. 

“Beware of the beast with just one eye?” Alvah watches Stanford in the shadows as he mulled over their words, they themself grinned rather mischievously. 

“The seed of doubt has been planted.” they snickered quietly before returning to the Nightmare Realm and waited for the chaos to ensue. 

And so, we’re getting closer to wrapping up this flashback, but also not quite there yet. Alvah already knew that Stanford and Fiddleford have almost completed the construction of the portal, but they hadn’t realized just how close, because whilst they were minding their own business in the Nightmare Realm, relaxing after fulfilling their daily chaotic routine, they were startled when a hole opened up and out of nowhere. Curiously, they did approach it and concluded that they had finally managed to successfully finish the portal, but what caught them by surprise was when a head poked through. Upon closer inspection, they recognized the human as Fiddleford, they tilted their head to the side as they stared at him while he looked up at them and their face slowly morphed into one of pure terror. 

"You... aren't supposed to be here." they spoke, voice disoriented through the chaos that was their body. They sighed softly when he screamed in fear so they did the only sane thing they could think of, they raised their hand and pushed him right back where he came from, and the hole disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. 

"What was that?" looking over they see Bill approach them, his singular eye tinged with curiosity. 

"I believe your toy has finally finished his project." this made the triangular figure glow with glee, clapping his hands joyfully as he floated circles around their head "Congratulations, Bill. You're finally getting your doomsday." he let out a laugh as he hovered in front of their face. 

"I know, right? I'm gonna go round up the others!" they wave him goodbye and can only imagine the look of devastation on Stanford’s face the moment he realizes that everything he had built was all for nothing, that Bill was taking advantage of him the whole time while they themself knew about it all and said nothing about it. It was probably a couple hours later where Alvah was laying in a body of clouds relaxing, they didn’t really feel fatigue or exhaustion like living beings, but it was very relaxing to just longue around and do nothing. Well, that was until they heard something in the distance. One by one their eyes would slowly open and dart around to try and locate the source of the sound but couldn’t find anything, so with a low groan, they pulled themself up to try and find it but jumped when something flew into their face. 

“What the—" suddenly their face started getting wet and when they moved their eyes to look at what it was, they saw that it was Bill “Bill? What happened? What are you—” they let out a grunt as they managed to rip him off their face like a sticker, they held him in front of them and there they saw that he was… crying? 

“Y-You’ll never believe it…” their eyes look at him in confusion. 

“What? What happened? Why are you crying?” he sniffled and moved so that he was sitting within the palm of their hand. 

“Sixer figured out what I was planning after that little mishap with specs, he swore “eternal vengeance” and shut down the portal.” this revelation caused a few of their eyes to widen a little, they didn’t expect that outcome “But it’s not like I was going to let him get hurt, when we were going to ravage his dimension, I was going to let him join our band of freaks. With that sixth finger of his, he would have fit right in!” they nodded their head and laid back down on the clouds. 

“So, what are you going to do now, Bill? That portal is practically finished, all you’ve got to do is switch it back on and you’ll have your apocalypse.” Bill knew he wasn’t able to do anything in the physical realm unless he possessed Stanford’s body, so he looked up at them with a hopeful look in his ey— “I’m not doing it for you.” he let out a huff at their words. 

“Why not?! You’re able to manipulate their dimension however you please! You’ve been watching him so you know how to turn the thing on, so you could just do it for me!” they just shrug. 

“Don’t wanna.” Alvah laughs when he got angry “It’s none of my business whether he abandons you or not. I never said I was on your side, nor was I on his side. I’ll do whatever is most entertaining to me.” they hear his growl under his breath before he floats off their hand. 

“Fine! Don’t help me. But I’m not letting Sixer get away with this.” they shrug and relax into the clouds. 

“Do what you want.” they laugh quietly to themself and watch Bill float away, probably heading to O’Sadley’s, a multidimensional pub in the Rock Bottom Asteroid Belt of the Vicious Spiral Nebula. They wait until they could no longer feel his presence within the Nightmare Realm before appearing within Stanford’s dimension, they’re in his house but they couldn’t find him, so they search outside and found him standing in front of a bonfire with all three of his journals in his hands “Whatcha doin’?” they laughed when he jumped, panicking when he nearly dropped his research into the fire but quickly caught them and held them close to his chest. 

“A-Alvah…?” he looked down and found them inside his shadow, they waved up at him but noticed how his face hardened “Did you know the purpose of the portal?” they titled their head to the side. 

“Yes.” he let out a groan, throwing his head back in frustration “I warned you from the very beginning, Fordsy? You’re quite dumb for a man who proclaims to be a genius. He was playing you from the beginning and I was giving you subtle hints about it, but you weren’t able to pick up on it. This is exactly why I called you dumb, dumb, dumb.” he never did like it when they called him that, but that’s exactly what he was, a complete and utter fool. He can recall the times where they hinted at the fact that Bill was lying to him, it was mostly during the times when he praised Bill, and they would call him a fool for saying such a thing and mock his intelligence.  

“Are you here to stop me?” 

“Stop you from doing what?” 

“From shutting down the portal! Isn’t that why you’re here?” they laughed again. 

“Hah! No. Bill did want me to switch it back on, but I don’t wanna do that. I could care less about what he wants. I wasn’t on his side to begin with, I was just here for the entertainment.” they blow a raspberry as they shrug “But remember what I told you, Stanford. He is not going to go easy on you, you better find a way to keep him out.” he swallowed thickly at their words. 

“Yes, you are right.” 

“I was right from the start. I told you; I don’t lie.” 

“No, no you do not.” 

Alvah watched from within his shadow as he tried figuring out a way to keep Bill out of his lab but allow him in, since he made that deal with Bill that allowed him into his mind, he was worried that when he fell asleep Bill would possess his body and attempt to reactivate the portal. Alvah clearly doesn’t care about the outcome, they stated they’re not on Bill’s side, but they didn’t say they were on his side either. He didn’t know if he could trust their word on it, Alvah wasn’t confined to his mind and could freely travel through shadows and any reflection, so he couldn’t think of a way to keep them at bay like he could with Bill. 

Alvah thought it was quite impressive that Stanford managed to input a retinal scan on the door to his lab, knowing that when Bill was in the possession of any sort of body, the pupils of their host tend to become thinner while their sclera turned a shade of yellow. So, when he did eventually fall asleep and Bill did come into possession of his body, they watched within the shadows how Bill punched the steel door until his knuckles started to tear and bleed, he then resorted to scratching at the door like a caged animal until he split his nails. Bill, when possessing a body, was restricted to the physical capabilities of his host, so they were a little surprised at the strength Stanford had to be able to leave marks on the door. When Bill eventually gave up and returned to the Nightmare Realm, they appeared on the wall where Stanford lay unconscious and stared at the state of the door. Covered in scratch marks and smeared with his blood, if they hadn’t witnessed what happened, they would never have guessed a human man caused that much damage, rather a blood thirsty beast clawing desperately to get inside.  

Stanford woke up in the morning and his hands were in agonizing pain, he thought he would have found himself in front of his lab door but instead he was in his bed once more. Lifting his hands out from under the covers he was surprised to see they were wrapped securely in bandages and on his desk was a bowl that had a hand towel drenched in a mixture of his blood and water, alongside it was a glass of water and what looked like his aspirin. He would have thought that it was Fiddleford that treated his hands, that he had returned after what he had put him through, but beside the glass of water was a tiny note. 

‘you’ve got a bit of cleaning up to do ~ a’ 

“Alvah…” he whispered softly, he looks back down at his hands and noticed that his nails were a little shorter than the last time he checked. He took a breath as he gently rubbed over the bandages; they were on his side. Back in the Nightmare Realm, Alvah ignored the distant crying and screaming and watched Stanford closely, their finger drawing circles through the window to his dimension. 

“Ah, I’ve got too much work cut out for me.” 

Alvah watched as Bill grew desperate while Stanford’s mind slowly descended into insanity, they didn’t know if his desperation was what kept their involvement with Stanford to a minimum, but he had yet to notice how it was them patching up Stanford with everything that geometrical freak was throwing at him. They themself didn’t understand why they got involved with Stanford, they didn’t understand why they were helping him, they kept telling themself that it was just to spite Bill. They didn’t like Bill all too much, that’s why they were on the human’s side. Well, it was quite funny seeing him throw tantrum after tantrum each time Stanford denied him access to his mind. The zombie incident was a mess, it was a little hilarious watching Stanford and Bill converse through sticky notes like the humans do in their educational prisons, the oddest one by far was Bill taping a snake into his journal and how he retaliated? Playing Bill’s favorite song “the world is small ever after for always” by Inkwell, unfortunately it was now replaying within the Nightmare Realm. 

They appear within Stanford’s room but noticed that he was nowhere to be found, they reappear inside his lab and don’t find him in there either. He couldn’t possibly be outside, the season changed to the colder one so there was no way he was outside unless he wanted to be frozen like a popsicle. Roaming the hallways of his barely lit shack, Alvah was struggling to find him, but when they searched upstairs, they noticed that one of his windows leading to the roof was open. It was the early morning, and the sun was up, but it was barely peaking through the thick clouds that blanketed the earth with layers of snow, but outside on the rooftop was Stanford. He was woken from his slumber when he felt a blast of freezing cold air blow through him, his eyes shot open, and it took him a couple seconds to realize that he was outside. His eyes slowly trailed downwards, and he realized that he was on the roof of his shack, his foot hanging off the edge as if he was about to step off. If his body wasn’t already shaking due to the cold, then his body started to tremble at the thought of Bill… he slowly pulled his foot back and inched away from the edge, hugging his body that was turning blue due to hyperthermia. How long had he been out here? He could barely feel his fingers and the snow was seeping into his clothes and melting, nothing feels worse than wet socks. Maybe it was due to him being lost in his thoughts or the sudden gust of wind, but his eyes widened when he lost his footing and started to fall. He clawed desperately at anything to catch himself but due to the layer of snow on his roof he found nothing to grab, a gasp left him he had practically fallen off the roof but was caught in midair by his wrist.  

“How’s it hanging?” looking up, he didn’t see anyone but when he looked forward, he had realized he had fallen in front of the open window where his shadow cast inside and there he saw Alvah had caught him by his shadow “Now what are you doing outside? It’s cold out, isn’t it?” they laugh as they pull him inside, placing him gently on the ground. Their head tilts to the side when they saw him shivering so they closed the window and drag him to where the fireplace was well lit and the song “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics was softly playing in the background, they disappear but reappear to drape a blanket over him to help. 

“T-Thank you…” they let out a hum, he looks down at his hands and saw they were wrapped in bandages and his body felt oddly sore, had the shock made him unaware of the pain he was experiencing? 

“Bill knows.” his eyes flicker towards Alvah. 

“He knows? H-He knows what?” 

“… he knows that I’ve been the one helping you.” he jumped to his feet but fell back down when a wave of exhaustion washed over his body, what did Bill do to him? “In the beginning I kind of let him do what he wanted with your body, but he almost took it too far and I had to intervene. Questioned what I was doing so I told him how I was just doing it because it was funny seeing him all angry at the loss of his favorite toy.” 

“What did he do?” they snapped their fingers, and he was suddenly in front of his TV and in their hands was a VHS tape. 

“You’re really not going to like this.” they put the VHS in the player and watched as the TV spurred to life, they watched Stanford’s face closely, and he was completely stunned. He almost didn’t recognize the wild-eyed hermit staring back on the TV; it was him. Or rather, Bill in his body, from the previous night.  

“Welcome back to the puppet hour with Bill! Say hi, kids! Today’s puppet is my old pal Sixer. Sixer’s had a rough day. But his night was rougher, wanna see?” as the TV displayed what exactly happened the night prior, they watched how his face contorted with a range of different emotions; disbelief, shock, anxiousness. On the floor, Bill had graciously littered the floor with polaroids of his adventures with little headings on them. He picked them up slowly but paused when Bill started speaking again, but this time, he heard another voice “What do you think you’re doing?” what he was watching was the moment when Bill was hammering nails into his hand, or, he was planning on hammering nails into his hand. He placed the first nail into the center of his hand but before he could swing the hammer down, his wrist was caught by Alvah grabbing him by Stanford’s shadow. 

“What does it look like I’m doing, Cipher? Interfering~” within the restrictions of Stanford’s physical capabilities, he struggled under Alvah’s hold “It was quite funny watching you mess with his body in the beginning, but come on now, doesn’t he need his hands? How are you going to get him to turn the portal on if you mess up his hands?” they’re laughing at the way Bill struggled to free himself from their grip. 

“So, you’re the reason sixer hasn’t given up yet!” 

“Am I though? Just watching the back-and-forth banter between you two is just so funny! If I didn’t know it, it seems like you need him more than he needs you! I didn’t think you’d be such a clingy, little ex.” Bill manages to throw their hand back, his twisted grin turned into a glare “Oh, but that’s right. You aren’t the one that’s meant to be thrown away, it’s supposed to be the other way around. I just didn’t expect the great and mighty Bill Cipher to be so… desperate.” 

“Clingy…? Desperate?!” they continue to laugh. 

“Am I wrong?” the video of their interaction ends there but he could tell that any time when Bill attempted to harm his body, Alvah interfered and made sure that not a lot of damage was inflicted on his body. Picking up a polaroid, he found one where a dart from a dart board was lodged into his temple, so he raised his hand and felt more bandages “I don’t think you want to watch this part.” this caused him to look back towards the TV, he watched in confusion as Bill limped towards a payphone and… he punched in Stanley’s phone number, h-he wouldn’t. 

“Hey, brother, it’s Sixer. I’m going to take a swim in the frozen lake tomorrow, so if you don’t hear from me, I just want you to know that it’s because I never loved you. Buh-byeeeee!” Stanford felt as if his heart was in his throat, but his eyes closed in relief when he heard the dial tone, the pay phone was out of order. The message hadn’t gotten through, he opened his eyes and saw how Bill turned back to address him “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look what you made me make you do! Tomorrow’s tape is gonna be much worse. Want the show to end? Go downstairs and work on the portal. Or I’m gonna have to show you what I’m really made of.” Alvah eyes Stanford as the TV screen turned static, his face seemed to be a mixture of emotions again. This time, however, he looked completely livid. He stood to his feet and ripped the VHS tape out and threw it into the fire, watching it turn to cinders before screaming. 

“You have no power here! You’re just in my mind! I can outlast anything you can—” Alvah watches as he halts in all his movements, they let out a sigh when they know that Bill’s power over Stanford must before taking over his mind. They grabbed him by his shadow when he started to sway and placed him back down on his coach, laying him down as his body twitched and trembled due to the chaos going on inside his mind. They loomed over and watched him, his face contorting in pain, his breath becoming heavier as sweat dripped down his face.  

I don’t care. 

This human means nothing to me. 

Their misery is entertainment, that’s all. 

But… 

They lean closer to his face before letting out a sigh, raising their hand over his face and pressing their index finger the center of his forehead, whispering a few words under their breath and his face visibly relaxes. 

"That should be enough... hopefully."  

Stanford felt as if his body was paralyzed.  

Where am I? 

It felt as if his bones were being pulled slowly, slowly out from their sockets. 

It was excruciating. 

I tried to scream, but nothing came out— 

“Think, Sixer. You let me. In. Your. Head. Do you realize what I can do in here if I want? I can flip a switch that makes every neuron burn with pain beyond imagination. I can rewire your optic nerve so that the sky is below you, play a tone that gets louder and louder until you bash your own skull just to make it stop. I can delete memories randomly, just for fun. Maybe I already have. What do you want to remember? Your mother’s face? Your own name? Who are you anyway?” 

“That’s ridiculous! I’m… I’m…” his tried to think of his name but his mind what completely blank, a snap echoed through his head, and it came to him “I’m Stanf—” and he lost his train of thought again when the snap echoed once more. He pressed his hands to his head when he felt his sockets start to strain. Any and all his tendons would pop, his bones would slinter. He fell to his knees, on the verge of emptying what was in his stomach. 

“You’re my property. Don’t forget it. The hillbilly abandoned you, your father won’t want you returning without millions, you have no friends, and if you died out here in the snow, who would even miss you? And let’s not forget about your Alvah. You think they actually care about you? You think just because they’re still around they’re doing it because they like you? Don’t make me laugh. They don’t care about anything, much less a human with little to no value to them. They are one of the most neutral beings throughout the universe who never picks a side, who would watch a universe burn to cinders than lend a hand, who wouldn’t shed a tear or bat an eye at the sound of screaming and anguished cries! They won’t help you; they won’t save you, and they won’t interfere so long as I—Ah!” Stanford let out a gasp when Bill was suddenly blasted away from him, he felt something embracing him and pulled him back as Bill collected himself and came back “Wha—you! What are you doing here?!” he tried to look up at the figure, but a shadowy hand covered his eyes, their arms wrapped protectively around him as a voice spoke. 

“I’ve come to steal your precious little toy, Bill~” they let out a laugh, Stanford shuddered out a breath at the sound of a voice that was made up of what seemed like thousands of screams and cries, possibly even more “You sound like you’re projecting, poor, sweet, little Billy. Are you still mad about what happened all those years ago? Talk about holding a grudge, huh? I was right about that one about you, Bill.” he managed to peek through their hands and saw the way Bill turned a bright shade of red as he got angry, his eye glaring at what he knew was to be Alvah. 

“You… why are you choosing to help him?! You don’t even have a contract with him, and yet you’re going to help him?! You’ve never done that for anyone! You’ve always just sat by and watched things happen! You’ve never interfered! You’ve never done anything!” 

“Who knows, but I do know that watching you like this is just the best thing I’ve seen in over trillions of years!” Stanford was pushed back, and he was met with the overwhelming sight of a dark black and red storm cloud where you could hear disoriented and agonizing screams “If taking Stanford Pines is what’s going to keep this game going on a little longer, than I’m willing to interfere just to see you become less of what you believe you are, Bill Cipher!” 

“I will never forget this!”  

Stanford awoke with a fright, shooting upwards and panting out in exhaustion. Looking down, he found himself sitting on his couch but after looking around he found his living room cleaned up with the polaroids pilled together and placed in a shoebox on his coffee table. He stands up and finds a little note sitting on top of the pile, picking it up, he felt his lip tremble as he read it. 

‘fine, I may care a little ~ a’ 

He didn’t care if Alvah was on his side because they found it amusing when Bill threw a tantrum, or because they found it entertaining to watch him lose his mind, but this goes to show that they were willing to keep Bill at bay for him. He holds the note close to him before turning on his heel, he knows what he has to do now.  

Meanwhile, the residents of the Nightmare Realm hid in the deepest corners of their dimension in order to keep away from the onslaught that was going on. Bill was screaming out in frustration while Alvah laughed their head off, the two of them in an ongoing battle where the Harbinger of Chaos wasn’t taking anything serious while Bill was trying everything in his power to erase them from existence. Two of the Nightmare Realm’s most powerful beings were fighting because one of going through a messy break up while the other was just bored, the Axolotl would be severely disappointed in them.  

… 

… 

“And that’s my past with Stanford.” she ended with a fond smile, thinking back to that day thirty years ago. While she was telling this story, she refrained from dropping Bill’s name or any involvement of him and merely referred to him as “his muse”, Ford would be angry if she told them about his deal with Bill instead of him, so she was going to wait “In the beginning I was just an insufferable guest, he came to like me over the course of the portal’s construction and when Fidds left him and went insane, I became a sort of caretaker to him. With how stubborn he is, I’m probably not going to get a thank you out of him.” she stood there and waited for a response, she looked at them and saw the way they were staring up at her with teary eyes. 

“You… you really cared for Grunkle Ford.” her face twisted into an incredulous one. 

“Care? That’s funny. I cared enough to keep him alive, but I didn’t care enough to keep him out of harms way.” she deadpanned when Mabel wrapped her arms around her legs. 

“You’re not denying that you care.” Alvah scoffed as she scooped up Mabel and placed her back down beside Dipper “Then what about Grunkle Stan? Do you care about him? What’s your past with him? When did you two first meet?” she chuckled softly. 

“Hmm, that’s something you’ve got to ask him about. Ever since my contract with Stanford, I had kept an eye on anyone relating to him. Albeit friends or family, but I kept my eye on Stanley for a long time.” she places a finger to her chin, looking up in thought “My first genuine meeting with Stanley is something I can’t particularly remember, I was always lingering around in the shadows helping every now and then. But I don’t think he’ll want to discuss such a memory, he’s been distant from me since the reveal, which is understandable.” she raised a brow when she saw the determination on Mabel’s face. 

“I will get that backstory, no matter what it takes!” with that the girl rushed off to find Stan, she just shrugged her shoulders with a shake of her head. 

“Did you, though?” she hummed at Soos’ question, he shrunk a little as he twiddled his thumbs “Did you actually care about Mr. Pines? O-Or even us? Was everything you did just an obligation?” they didn’t notice the way her face twitched a little, she let out a breath as she looked towards nothing in particular. 

“Who knows? But whether I care or not does not change the fact that I am here to protect you. You are under my protection, and I will make it so that Bill does not bring you any more harm.” Dipper flinched at the mention of Bill and rubbed his arms, he looked up and jumped slightly where he sat when he saw Alvah kneel down in front of him “And I am so sorry that I stood by and let you make a deal with him, Dipper. I saw you when he took your body, but I wasn’t allowed to do anything.” she could remember that day as if it were yesterday, when she, Wendy and Soos approached Bipper and when Dipper tried to stop them, he flew through her body. She remembered turning around and seeing the distraught look on his face, but she was forced to look away and pretend she didn’t see him, it really did make her feel remorseful. 

“W-Why couldn’t you?” 

“You should know about time anomalies, Dipper. That stupid time baby or whatever would be furious if I were to mess with this timeline even more so than I already have, if I were to have prevented such a thing I would get into even more trouble. My contracts can bend a lot of rules, but messing with the flow of time is a definite no.” she took his hat and ruffled his head “Why do you think I was lot more attentive back then?” he thought back to that day and did remember the pained expression on her face when she and Stan brought him to the hospital. 

“So, you couldn’t directly interfere with what happened over the summer, but you could intervene as long as you didn’t stop us directly?” she nods “Then, could you tell us what’s going to happen next?” she pressed a finger to her lips as she placed his hat back down on his head. 

“I can’t share any spoilers, now, can I?”  

“Alvah!” she let out an oh at the sound of her name being called, they all looked up and saw Ford at the door “I need you down in the lab, could you come and assist me?” she saluted him with a smile. 

“Coming~” he waits for her behind as she looks back down at Dipper, she winks at him and boops his nose “Duty calls. See you later, sweetpea.” they watch as she turned on her heel and walked out with Ford, her appearance changing back into her male version, the one that Ford prefers. He follows closely behind Ford, chatting with him as he speaks about a rift, and as they pass the living room his eyes catch Mabel and Stanley. He lifted his head up and noticed his brother and Alvah walk into the gift shop, the latter laughing softly as Ford spoke, he flinched when Alvah turned and met his gaze. He twiddled his fingers to greet Stan before turning away and going down into the lab with Ford behind him, he let out a sigh as he fell back into his chair. 

“Do you miss her, Grunkle Stan?” he looked down at Mabel before letting out a scoff, crossing his arms and looking away. 

“Miss her? After everything? Pah, I say good riddance! Am I a little upset that she’s hanging around my brother now? Maybe. Am I sad that I no longer talk to her anymore? Kind of… but that doesn’t mean anything! Clearly what we had meant nothing to her!” Mabel looked up at him, a brow quirked upwards as he rambled about everything that happened between them would be forgotten sooner or later. 

“I didn’t want to bring this up with you, Grunkle Stan, but I saw the night you two dance together.” she had to hold back a squeal when he flinched, his face turning bright red at the thought of that night “I saw the way you looked at her, but I also saw the way she looked at you. She told us how she isn’t able to properly feel emotions, but what I saw that night, I can guarantee you that wasn’t fake. She said it herself; she isn’t a liar.” he let out a groan. 

“But she hasn’t be truthful either!” Mabel’s gaze hardened on him. 

“Neither have you.” his shoulders slump, she let out a huff “I understand that you’re upset, but from what I can tell, everything she’s done leading up to this point has been on her own accord. Her helping us and everything, and with whatever you two had going on, I’m sure she did it all for a reason.” he rubbed the back of his neck “But she said she couldn’t quite remember when you two first met? She said she was always lingering around and watching, but her first interaction with you, she can’t really recall it.” he let out a breath as he leaned against the table, looking up in thought. 

“First interaction, first interaction…” her fingers were crossed, repeatedly thinking in her head “please remember, please remember”, he then shoots up and snaps his fingers “Oh, yeah! I totally remember!” she’s quick to take a seat beside him, looking up at him excitedly. 

“Really? What happened?”  

“Well, it was when the Mystery Shack was finally getting some traction.” it was just like any other day at the Mystery Shack, people come in, he lies through his teeth about the attractions in his house while sprinkling jokes in every now and then before scamming those poor suckers out of their money. It was at the end of the day when the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes upon approached him at the counter, he was at a loss for words as she looked at him. She had blonde hair that was the softest tone of blonde that he’d compared to sand on a beautiful sunny day, eyes as green as freshly cut grass that shun like an emerald if the sun hit them just right. Compared to these hicks, she was wearing elegant and formal clothing, so she stood out compared to the rest of the crowd.  

She was like a gem amongst a pile of rocks. 

“Good evening, Mr. Mystery.” she giggled softly as he gawked at her, his eyes blinking rapidly as she spoke to him in a soft voice, she laughed when he pointed at himself with a confused look “Well, yes. Is there anyone else that goes by the title of Mr. Mystery?” he cleared his throat and quickly collected himself, pulling on his collar but unable to cover the flush that spread across his cheeks. 

“I guess not. I am the one and only, Mr. Mystery.” he holds his hand out to her “The name’s Stan Pines, pleasure to meet you.” she takes his hand and shakes it. 

“I am Alvah, it’s lovely to meet you too.” she took her hand back and continued to smile up at Stan, he let out a nervous laugh. 

“Are you new around here? I don’t think I’ve seen you.” 

“I’ve been around here and there, but normally keep to myself. I heard the attraction going around these parts and decided to pay a visit to the “Mystery Shack” everybody was raving about.” she hummed softly as she gently flicked a jar of eyeballs “And I have to say, I see what all the hype is about. You have a very fascinating collection on your hands. Did you hunt them down yourself?” she slowly raised her brow when he pulled on his tie. 

“Ah haha, well. You could say I did, I mean, they’re here now, aren’t they?” 

“I suppose so.” they both noticed how the tourist was beginning to leave so Alvah took that as her cue to leave as well, she twiddled her fingers at him to bid him goodbye and proceeded to walk away but stopped when he called out to her. 

“Hey!” she stopped in her tracks and turned back to him, curious at what he had to say “Will you come again?” she tilts her head to the side. 

“Are you personally asking me to come again? I’m honored.” she giggled when he scoffed, messing with his tie again “I’ll come back every now and then. I’ll go broke if I come back every day with how much you charge.” 

“Y-You can come back any time! Hehe, free of charge…” she hummed softly, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. 

“Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow, Stan.” she winks at him before walking out the door, unbeknownst to her, he had the derpiest grin on his face as he waved her goodbye. 

“Hehe, you’ve still got it, Stanley.” now he couldn’t help but scowl at the memory “I believe she only did that out of pity. Oh wait, she can’t feel pity, now, can she? She must have saw how pathetic I looked and decided then and there would be when she asserted herself with that appearance, knowing it would ruin me.” Mabel placed a hand on his arm and gave it a light squeeze “I knew… I knew that smile was just too good to be true. She outconned me.” 

“Well… what if she meant it? Didn’t she say that everything she’s done leading up to now, she’s never lied to you.” his resolve softened a little before shaking his head upon realizing what she said. 

“How do you know that? We were alone when she said that.” Mabel let out a nervous laugh. 

“Ah hahaha, were you? I totally wasn’t listening in on your conversation. Nope, not at all.” Stan shook his head and gently ruffled her head. 

“Our first meeting wasn’t anything special. She was just a tourist who claimed to be fascinated by what the Mystery Shack had to offer, but she’s probably seen even grander things than this junk house.” with that his face saddened once more, seemingly missing the bond both he and Alvah had before the cat got out of the bag, he had almost wished she wasn’t who she claimed to be. 

“Do you hate her?” there it was again, this time spoken by his niece.  

“… I don’t know.” Mabel just couldn’t stand for this. She may just be twelve years old, but that’s old enough for her to see what Stan and Alvah had. She saw the way they looked at each other, the way they spoke to each other and how could she forget that tender and intimate moment they shared on that night. This mishap couldn’t be the undoing of their relationship, and she’ll make sure of it “H-Hey, kiddo, where are you going?” he asked when she jumped off the stool and started running towards the vending machine. 

“Just to ask Alvah a couple questions!” he stood to his feet, reaching his hand out to stop her but was too late when she punched in the code to the vending machine and walked down the hallway to Ford’s lab. Back with Alvah, he was currently leaning over Ford’s shoulder as they were discussing their plan to seal a leakage caused by Stanley reactivating the portal once more. 

“So… are you really not going to thank Stanley?” he let out a scoff. 

“Thank him? For what?” 

“Well, for returning you back to your dimension. Surely you must feel some sort of gratitude.” he leans back when Ford turned around, giving Alvah an irritated expression. 

“He was the reason I fell in in the first place. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have had to be in there.” he hums softly. 

“That is true, then how about impressed?” this got a short chuckle out of him. 

“Impressed by what?” 

“Well, how about him teaching himself about quantum physics? Reconstructing the portal with only having a third of the portal’s instructions, completely unaware there were more instructions due to the invisible ink? Building it all by himself while also maintaining a business that was so successful and also looking after his great niece and nephew? He had no help either. Not from McGucket, Bill or even me.” he raised his finger, wagging it side to side in front of Ford’s face “If anything, your brother is goddamn genius. He has my praise.” he laughed when Ford smacked his hand away. 

“You’re giving him too much credit if you’re calling him a genius.” he shrugged and allowed his body to float, leaning backwards and resting his head in his hands. 

“What can I say? For a high school dropout who had no further education for himself, I am very impressed that he managed to reconstruct the portal the way he did. He had almost completed it by the time he got his hands on journal two and three, and it didn’t take him too long to complete it.” he smirked down at Ford, giving him a toothy grin “If that doesn’t make him a genius, then pardon me.” 

“You seem to like Stanley a lot. When we first met, you did nothing but ridicule me.”  

“Hah! Of course, I told you it was because you were stupid enough to fall for Bill’s flattery. The self-proclaimed genius who didn’t even realize he was being played. Unlike you, Stanley is emotionally intellectual. Though he didn’t admit it, he knew there was something wrong with me, always questioned why someone like me would hang around him. Sure, it was the same between you and Bill, but he had you in the palm of his hand in a couple hours. Stanley was a harder nut to crack. He liked the fact that he was getting attention from a beautiful woman, but he was so guarded it took a couple years for him to fully allow me in. Hmm, but I believe we’re back in square one now.” he shrugged his shoulders “He also makes me laugh.” this earned an eyeroll.  

“Yes, yes, because all you care about is whether or not you are entertained.” he snapped his fingers, now leaning forward. 

“Yes, exactly.” 

“Alvah!” both men jump at the loud call, turning around, they see Mabel abruptly enter the room with a determined look on her face. Ford briefly looks up at Alvah and saw him change back into their female appearance, he noticed that they tend to do that around the children and Stan’s employees. 

“What is it, sweetheart?” she answered, continuing to float in the air but this time positioning herself as if she was in a chair with her legs crossed “How may I assist you now?” she let out a yelp when Mabel grabbed her by the ankle and yanked her down. She now sat on her knees as Mabel held her by her collar, staring her in the eyes with a serious look, a bead of sweat bled down the side of her face. 

“How do you feel about Grunkle Stan?” she let out a sigh as she slumped in her hold. 

“This again? Are you ever going to let this go, Mabel?” she allowed the young girl to thrash her around and hang by her grip. 

“How can I?! His feelings are all over the place ever since learning that you were lying who you were all this time.” she muttered under her breath that she didn’t exactly lie if she didn’t tell the full truth, she was kicked by Ford, who promptly looked away when she looked back up at him “It’s up to me to clear up this entire misunderstanding. To help you fully understand your feelings for Grunkle Stan.” she only deadpanned. 

“Good luck with that, kid. This body isn’t exactly designed to comprehend emotions, I don’t even have a personality to call my own.”  

“That’s really sad.” Mabel let her go and she allowed herself to fall to the ground, the young brunette stepped over her and rushed towards Ford, who awkwardly stared down at her in mild curiosity “Grunkle Ford, do you have anything that can project people’s thoughts?” this caused Alvah to look up at Ford, who he himself looked up in thought while rubbing his chin. 

“Do I have something that can project people’s thoughts? Why, that’s very specific. If only I—hah! Of course I do.” he continued to rub his chin as he debated whether it would be a good idea “As much as I’d like to decline the usage of this machinery, I am also more curious as to what you have been up to with my brother the past three decades.” Alvah let out a huff as she pushed herself off the ground and began to float again. 

“And why should I allow you to use this on me? It’s quite dangerous to peer into the mind of the embodiment of chaos. Aren’t you afraid you’ll end up like McGucket?” Mabel let out a laugh. 

“Psh, like you’d let that happen. You like me too much, and besides, I’m adorable! Would you deny this cute face?” Mabel doesn’t wait to answer as she turned back to look up at Ford to ask, or rather plead, to use the device he mentioned. This left him to look up at Alvah and see the way she pouted with a tinge of pink flushing her cheeks, she was trying so hard to deny Mabel’s claims but was ultimately failing. That’s where she found herself sitting on the chair in front of five monitors, sitting particularly in front of a large screen while two smaller ones were to her right and left. If she remembered correctly, Ford dubbed this device as Project Mentem as a defense against Bill, which main functionality was that it could scan one’s mind and bioelectrically encrypt one’s thoughts “So we just put this thingamajig on her head and we can see her thoughts?” Mabel asked as she held the helmet in her hands, Ford nodded as he took it from her and approached Alvah. 

“It’s much more complicated than that, but yes, that’s basically what it does.” she looked up at him and saw he had a cheeky grin on his face, she sneered at him while shaking her head. 

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he chuckles softly. 

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. To see the thoughts of an actual deity is something I wouldn’t have imagined. I thank you greatly for this, Mabel. You children have quite the rein on Alvah.” she just shook her head; he placed the helmet on her head then pushed a couple buttons on the control console to which it on. All five screens spurred to life and the room illuminated with a green light, the two wait patiently for something to appear on the screen but were left confused when it remained blank.  

“Is it working?” Mabel asked, his face furrowed in confusion as he pushed a couple buttons. 

“It should be.” she snickered softly. 

“You’re going to have to try and little harder than that. If you want me to think about something specifically, you have to ask~ I can blank out my mind all willy nilly. Either that or I overload your machine. My mind has a vast amount of information.” Ford huffed at her, it was never going to be that easy “Of course not.” she stuck her tongue out at him when he glared at her, she turned her attention to Mabel when she approached her, grabbing her by the legs and looking up at her with a serious expression. 

“Think about your first real encounter with Grunkle Stan.” this sparked something within her mind and the screens behind her displayed her first real encounter with Stanley. Mabel was expecting the same thing Stan told her but was greatly surprised to see something entirely different, both herself and Ford took a step towards the monitors to try and figure out what they were looking at but couldn’t quite place it. 

“The first time I met Stanley was when you wanted me to give him that postcard, Ford.” his eyes widened when he saw Alvah’s male appearance appear on the monitor walking across an empty street to approach a rundown motel, he glared at a pedestrian that bumped into him but ignored them in favor to accomplish the task at hand. He looked at the postcard once more and shook his head at the lack of information on it, in handwriting unbecoming of Stanford that read “PLEASE COME”. He just shrugged his shoulders and walked through the parking lot and towards the various rooms, Mabel let out a soft gasp when she saw Alvah walk past the Stanmobile, so this really was her first meeting with Stan. His hand glides across the many doors until stopping at one in particular, he looks at the mailing address once more before raising his fist and knocking on the door “I have a postcard for Stanley Pines~” he called out as he repeatedly knocked on the door, Alvah had all the time in the world, so he continuously knocked on the door until it swung open. Stanford already knew that this was thirty years into the past but seeing the disgruntled version of his brother was something that caught him off guard, it almost felt like it was yesterday he saw this worn-out version of Stanley. 

“Alright, alright! Don’t you see the mail slot?” Alvah just chuckled as he held the postcard between his two fingers. 

“Sorry, but the sender wanted me to make sure you got your hands on this. Didn’t want this getting lost in the mail.” he holds it out for him to take and as Stanley reaches to take it, he cheekily pulled it back “Make sure not to lose this.” he laughed when it was snatched out of his hands while the shorter man glared at him, he just backed away slightly while raising his hands up. 

“Whatever man.” the door is then slammed shut, Alvah rolled his eyes as he dusted his hands off. 

“Welp, did what I was supposed to do.” with his task done he snapped his fingers and returned to Gravity Falls, the memory ends and they look towards Alvah “My very first impression of Stanley Pines was that of a pathetic human who had hit rock bottom. I was honestly surprised that this was the brother that caused you so much discontent, Ford. This was the so-called man who “ruined your life”, talk about living up to what little his name had other than disappointment.” Alvah was smacked in the leg by Mabel, who glared up at her after hearing what she had to share about Stanley. 

“That isn’t very nice, Alvah.” she shrugged her shoulders. 

“Well, that was me in the beginning, when I was still just Fordsy’s little shadow. After you disappeared into the portal and I was stuck in this hick town, I remained within Stanley’s shadow.” the monitors flicker on once more and they watched as she watched over him, while he worked days and nights to repair the portal and would fall asleep at his desk trying to solve Stanford’s notes. She would appear behind him and instead of returning him upstairs, she would retrieve a pillow and blanket and drape it over him so he would be more comfortable. When the Mystery Shack was slowly building up fame, she would be out influencing people to go pay a visit to the man displaying a world of mystery, and it was on that very day Alvah finally became the woman she was to the Pines Family “My opinion of Stanley changed over time. You could say his devotion to bring you back and to fix his mistake, dedicating his life to save you swayed my feelings about him. There was nothing more to it.”  

“Can you think of the instance you felt something for Grunkle Stan? Something that wasn’t displeasure or just an obligation to look after him? Something that had caught you off guard.” they watched as she furrowed her brows as multiple instances went by, but nothing stood out until she slowly perked up. 

“It was… the year before you two were supposed to have arrived. It was your birthday.” this startled Ford a little “Stanley never celebrated your guy’s birthday, I knew the reason, but he told me it was because he didn’t really have anybody to celebrate it with. I wasn’t around in the beginning because I was doing other stuff, but apparently, he planned a whole party. He spent hours writing up comedy roasts about his employees, but in the end… nobody came.” they look back towards the monitors and are met with Alvah walking down a street where she accidentally bumped into Soos. 

“Miss Alvah!” she smiled at him, waving her hand to greet him. 

“How are you, Soos? Today’s a lovely day for a stroll, is it not?” she raised a brow at the glum look on his face “What’s the matter, big guy?” he let out a sigh as he took his hat off and rubbed the back of his head. 

“Mr. Pines is celebrating his birthday this afternoon, but I won’t be able to make it. My Abuelita needs my help all afternoon and I won’t be able to make it.” that and the fact that he himself didn’t exactly like celebrating his birthday caused her to nod her head “I was hoping you would tell him I said happy birthday. There’s no way you would miss it!” she didn’t even realize it was their birthday that day, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. 

“Of course I will. I’m sure he’ll be saddened without you in attendance, Soos. Give your Abuelita my regards, sweetheart.” she let out an oof when he pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tightly while lifting her off the ground. 

“Thank you so much, Alvah!” he puts her down and rushes off, waving his hand goodbye as he ran off “I’ll make sure to make it up to you!” she kept up her happy face and the moment he disappeared her face relaxed as she looked away. 

“I spent the rest of that afternoon looking for a gift for Stanley. He is quite easy to please, so I found a vintage and expensive wine, but the hard part was finding a cake.” she laughed softly at the memory, the monitors display her at multiple bakeries and pastry stores in search of a cake but for some reason they were all sold out “In the end I had to make the cake myself. It didn’t end… quite well.” the monitors flickered to her attempting to make a cake but instead setting a kitchen on fire with a panicked look on her face, by the time the sun was beginning to fall she had finally made a decent looking and tasting cake after many trials and errors. She found herself in front of his front door and proceeded to knock on it continuously until it was thrown open, she pulled her hand back when he looked ready to shout at whoever was knocking before pausing when he realized who exactly was in front of him. 

“… Alvah?” she let out a soft laugh as she leaned forward to take in his appearance. 

“Haha, what happened to your eyebrow? Did you burn it off?” she questioned as she reached forward and brushed a few of his locks out of his face to get a look at the singed hair, she giggled when he smacked her hand away and turned away to hide it. 

“No! Anyways, what are you doing here?” he sputtered backwards when she lifted something up with a bright smile on her face. 

“It’s your birthday! I came to celebrate with you.” he stares at the rather pretty looking cake as she pulled something out and saw it was a bottle of wine “I would have come earlier but would you believe it? The whole town was out of cake, so I had to make one out of scratch. Let’s just say I’m not particularly good at baking.” she titled her head to the side when she noticed he was just staring at the cake. 

“You made this… for me?” 

“Who else would I make this for?” she pushes him inside and closes the door behind her, he follows her like a lost puppy as she walks into the kitchen and places the cake on the table. He takes a seat as she grabs two glasses out of the cabinet and places one in front of Stan and another where she was going to sit, she uncorks the bottle and pours them both a glass before pulling out a candle and placing it in the center of the cake “Soos wanted to be here as well, but you know how he is around birthdays. And besides, having a simpler birthday is much better than going all out. Saves you a lot of money, doesn’t it?” she finally took a seat at the table and stared at him with a fond look in her eye, leaning against the table with the side of her head resting on her knuckles. 

“You…” she hummed softly. 

“Happy birthday, Stan.” Alvah’s face turned confused when Stan abruptly stood up and walked over to her, she was startled when he pulled her out of the chair and wrapped his broad arms around her, embracing her in a rather bone crushing hug. Her eyes widened as he buried his face within her shoulder, her arms were pinned to her side while her head was over his shoulder, she managed to twist it a little to try and look at him but noticed the way he nuzzled into her shoulder to hide the fact that he was tearing up “S-Stan? Are you—” 

“Thank you, Alvah. I really, really needed this.” Mabel and Ford noticed the way her eyes twitch when Stan tightened his grip on her, she managed to slowly lift her arms up the best she could and gently pat his back. 

“O-Oh, it’s no problem. You know there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, Stan.” she purposefully didn’t address him as Ford because that would have saddened him and taken his special moment away from him. They stayed like that for a couple seconds until Stan finally let her go but continued to hold her by the arms, she tilted her head to the side to get a look at his face but saw him turn away to hide his tear-stricken eyes “Hah, are you crying?” he frees one of his hands to cover his eyes, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. 

“No! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he flinches when she pulled him forward by the hand that was holding her so she could cup his cheek, he blinks at her and felt her wipe away a few of his tears while smiling softly at him. 

“Come on, tough guy. You don’t have to hide your vulnerability from me, I’m not going to make fun of you.” he huffed at her as she takes her hand back, he sniffles a little and wipes away the remaining tears and gives her a toothy grin. 

“I appreciate this a lot, toots! I’m gonna go find a lighter so I can light this candle! I’ll be back in a sec!” she waves him off and stands in the kitchen alone, Mabel and Ford soon notice the way her smile dropped from her face as she looked down at the wooden floor with a conflicted expression. On the smaller monitors they saw a flurry of words come across the screen, words that had her questioning herself. 

WHAT IS THIS? 

WHY DID I DO THAT? 

WHY DID I DO THIS? 

I DON’T CARE FOR HIM. 

I’M DOING THIS FOR STANFORD. 

THIS MEANS NOTHING TO ME. 

I DON’T ACTUALLY FEEL... 

“In the beginning, I didn’t feel anything.” Alvah spoke as she stared at the monitor when Stan walked back into the kitchen with a lighter in hand and in a chipper mood, she smiled at him and the two sat at the table where he lit the candle and blew it out with a face that reminded her of a child on their birthday “I knew he was going to drink himself into a stupor had I not arrived, but I didn’t expect to feel...” Mabel looked up at her, a curious look in her eyes. 

“What?” her eyes flicker towards the monitor and saw only one word. 

“Pity.” coming from her, it could be condescending, but by the remorseful look on her face as she stared at Stan’s face, they knew that she meant it in a genuine way “He just looked so sad, like a kicked puppy out in the rain. I had watched him at even worser times than that, but for some reason, actually being there made it different.” soon the summer played out for them and Mabel watched every interaction she had with Stan, and she watched intently as the way Alvah’s eyes started to look genuine. 

“Alvah, you...” 

“It was nothing. The personality I adapted was merely to match his own, but...” since the children were always off doing their own thing, they never knew the type of relationship she and Stan actually had. Ford witnessed firsthand the closeness she had with his brother and Mabel concealed her excitement of the hidden lore her great uncle had with this interdimensional being “My mind had been inside a human body for so long that it started acting like it, started feeling like it.” Mabel looked away to look up at Alvah after watching the memory where Alvah and Stan danced at the party where she first met Candy and Grenda. 

“Feeling?” her face scrunched up and instead of just Stan, it showed the children, Soos, Wendy and a few others as she thought of each emotion. 

“Anger. Sadness. Joy. Remorse. Guilt.” the memory of when the children were forced to be sent back home when Gideon had won and they couldn’t do anything about it, how when they did win, she felt an immeasurable amount of guilt inside her because she knew this was going to happen but it was at the cost of the possibly of the children losing that had her mind racing. The next scene had Ford’s eyes widened to the point his eyes were bulging out of his eye sockets while Mabel let out a squeal, that was because it was when Stan had kissed her “L-Love...” 

“You kissed my brother?!” he was shocked to see her face a bright shade of pink, she suddenly sprung to her feet as she placed a hand on her chest. 

“No! He kissed me! And it’s not like I continued to think about that moment! It was just a spur of the moment and Stan probably would have done it to anyone that was next to him! It didn’t mean anything at that moment!” 

"... I didn't, NOT, like it." she looked like a dear caught in headlights when her thoughts were exposing herself "You just... caught me off guard, is all. I wasn't expecting it." 

"Oh? So, are you saying if I were to kiss you again, you wouldn't protest?"  

"Don't push your luck, Stan. Just because I said I liked it; doesn't mean you'll get a taste anytime you want." Alvah refused to look up at Ford from where she was sitting because she knew that man was going to strangle her, however, Mabel was in front of her and started shaking her arm. 

“So you two were in love! That’s so cute!” she let out a scoff, face still flushed with embarrassment from being caught while throwing her hair over her shoulder. 

“Psh, in love? That was the only time--”  

"Stan... Stan, s-stop it!" Mabel was busy staring at Alvah so she didn’t see what memory was playing but Ford was, and to think he’d wish for the day he wasn’t wearing his glasses. Before Mabel could see what was playing Alvah hurriedly lifted the helmet off her head and the monitors switched off, they both look up at her and saw the look of shame on her face. She pushes the helmet into Ford’s hands before slowly kneeling on the floor and curling up into a ball, her hands clutching her head “I wasn’t supposed to get attached... I wasn’t supposed to gain human feelings.” Mabel knelt down and placed her hand on her back, gently rubbing circles into her back to comfort her. 

“But you did, and it looks like it’ll really upset you if Stan started to hate you.” her face scrunches up in confusion. 

“I am hated by millions of people just for simply existing. I am the devil on people’s shoulders who they blame for why their lives have fallen apart. I am so used to being the source of their hatred that I never once cared for the opinions of beings lesser than I am. But... I—I can’t stand the thought of Stan not liking me anymore.” she looked up at Mabel with a sort of desperation in her eyes “I wasn’t supposed to care, but I hate that I do now.” 

“And I’m happy that you care.” Alvah huffed “Now just repeat what you just said now and go say it to Grunkle Stan.” this snapped her out of whatever melt down she was having; she stood to her feet and shook her head. 

“No way! He doesn’t need this now!” Mabel shook her head and took Alvah by her hands. 

“But he does! He looks so lost without you. You two were always together throughout the summer, and not having you by his side is making him upset.” this caused her to start overthinking everything, should I actually tell him how I feel? Should I say sorry? Should I-- 

“Wait a minute, why I am taking the advice of a twelve-year-old?” she suddenly glares at her “I don’t got to listen to you! I am going to deny the fact that I have feelings for this old man and suffer in silence. Yes, that sounds much better.” Mabel face fell. 

“What? No! Are you seriously not going to tell Stan that it was him that caused you to develop human feelings? That it was him that got you to care?” 

“The last thing I need to hear is him gloating that he got an agent of chaos to fall in love with him. And besides, I highly doubt he wants me dating his brother.” at the mention of that, they both look at Ford and saw the way he was shaking his head at the thought “So, we are going to leave what we have just discovered in this very room. I don’t want to hear any of this outside this room. I don’t want to have to talk about the fact that I’ve grown soft. This conversation stays and dies here. Got it?” 

“But--” Alvah gives her a sharp look, Mabel let out a sigh and kicked at the floor “Got it.” she nods. Mabel leaves dejected that Alvah wasn’t going to do anything about this but she was determined to help her confess her feelings to Stan, yes, with a newfound determination, she was going to play cupid once more. Alvah stood in the room with Ford staring at her with an incredulous expression, she turns her attention to him with narrowed eyes. 

“You don’t get to speak. You had a relationship with a triangle.” she holds her hand up to keep him away when his face turned red from embarrassment “Oh, my muse~ I would do anything for you, even if it means the collapse of my mind, body and soul! Ooo, woe is me!” 

“Stop talking!” 

“So poetic, Fordsy!” 

season 2, episode 13. dungeons, dungeons and more dungeons 

after the fiasco that was the reveal of alvah’s true feelings, she had now taken it to the point of avoiding everyone and keeping herself in the basement unless she’s needed.  

that being said, mabel would come bursting into the lab and attempt to drag her upstairs so she could interact with them all, especially with stan. 

she swore never to talk about what happened, but she never said she wouldn’t do anything about it.  

dipper was really confused as to why mabel was more love crazy than usual. 

he felt sorry for the poor sucker his sister had her sights on this time. 

ford found it amusing seeing her act like a deer caught in headlights whenever she spotted stan before he saw her. 

it went so far as to her jumping out a window. 

she fixed it immediately. 

anyways- 

“Alvah... Alvah...!” Dipper shook the empty body that was Alvah until it stirred to life, her eyes blinked to life and looked around before settling on him in confusion. Ford explained to them that her body in this dimension was merely a vessel for her to take control of so whenever she was “sleeping”, it was actually her signing off and returning to her main body. Dipper calling for Alvah warranted her attention and caused her to come back to see what the young boy wanted, she didn’t expect to see him staring at her with a pleading but enthusiastic expression as he held a book in front of her “Alvah? Yes! Um, hey! Do you want to play Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons with me and great uncle Ford? He’s already agreed to play with me and two players is enough but three players would be even better! But you don’t have to play with us, I’m sure you’ve got even more important matters to attend to that I probably pulled you out of. You can totally say no! It’s fine. It’s totally fine. Ah haha, heee...” she stared at him with a rather scrutinizing gaze as she looked between him, the book and Ford standing behind him. 

... 

... 

She now found herself laying on her side with a thirty-eight-sided die in her hand, shaking it within the palm of her hand before tossing it onto the play mat where the other two nerds leaned down close to see what she rolled, she chuckled softly when Dipper cheered that she rolled a high roll while Ford sighed bitterly. Whether it be the fact that within this flesh bag she had grown soft or it was just the children having a way with her, she couldn’t deny Dipper’s plea to play his favorite role-playing game with him and Ford. She was well aware of the concept of Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons after watching Ford and Fiddleford play it during their time building the portal and how it was similar to a different game, but she allowed him to explain it to her in great detail while giving her an already made character for her to play with. 

“Are you sure you’re not cheating, Alvah?” she scoffed, twisting her body so that she was laying on her back with her legs crossed, bouncing her knee every now and then. 

“Maybe you just suck at this game, Ford.” she smirked when she got a snicker out of Dipper, Ford hmphed at her while she stuck her tongue out at him. Dipper was having even more fun because instead of having figurines representing their characters, Alvah was using her powers to bring them to life while also creating a real layout of the story Ford created for their characters to move around. Both Alvah and Ford were magic casters, though Alvah was a sorcerer and he was wizard, while Dipper was a little ranger. Quite the odd party, but Alvah refused to be anything else “What are we up to now?” he hummed softly as he rolled a die between his fingers. 

“Alright, you enter the chamber. Princess Unattainabelle beckons you. But wait, it’s a trap!” she rolled her eyes as Dipper gasps “An illusion cast by Probabilitor the Annoying.” Dipper hands Alvah a couple die for her to roll as he and Ford shake their fists to scramble their own die within their closed fists. 

“You know his weakness, right?” Ford grins at Dipper. 

“Prime statistical anomalies over thirty-seven but not exceeding fifty-one.” the two throw their rolls down first, Dipper taps her shoulder and she throws down her die and allows them to tally up the amount “Yes! Ungh! In your face, cardboard wizard!” the older man hummed softly as he picked up the little cardboard screen meant for the DM to look at the main antagonist. 

“Hmm, the old boy looks a bit different than he did back in my day.” Dipper nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah, they change the art every few years. Thankfully, you missed the period when the creators of the game tried to make it cooler.” this got a chuckle out of Alvah, he shuddered at the memory “Must’ve been dark times, those 90’s.” he spoke as he picked up a red card, even Ford grimaced. 

“Yeesh. Sounds like a good time to be stuck between dimensions.” 

“Great uncle Ford, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Where were you before you came out of that machine, and what have you and Alvah been doing down here? Are you two working on something behind that curtain?” this question caused the two of them to look at each other, she shrugged her shoulders and gestured for him to speak. 

“Dipper, it’s best if you and the family stay away from that subject. Honestly, I’m not sure any of you could handle the real answer.” 

“But-- But I can handle it.” Ford raised his finger to cut him off. 

“Ah-ah. But I can show you a little something I brought back with me.” they watch as he pulled out a little red bag from his pocket and empty the contents out beside him, a few more die spilled out from it but a peculiar black box caught their attention, her eyes widened when he opened it. 

“Is that... an infinity sided die?” she asked, Dipper looked at it in awe as Ford nodded his head as the young boy watched the symbols continuously change. 

“That’s so cool... and impossible.” Ford opened his mouth to explain but let out a soft gasp when the die flew out of the case and into the hands of Alvah, who held it close to her eye while turning it over. 

“I haven’t seen one of these suckers since the last galaxy was formed. I’m pretty sure these things are outlawed in over nine thousand dimensions.” Dipper gasped at that. 

“Why?” 

“Well, take a look at the symbols. Infinite sides mean infinite outcomes. If you rolled it, anything could happen. Your faces could melt into jelly. The world could turn into an egg... or you could just roll an eight. Who knows?” she huffed when Ford snatched it out of her hand and placed it back into the case, closing it before she could take it again. 

“And that's why I have to keep it in this protective cheap plastic case.” she scoffed with a laugh. 

“How safe.” he ignored her. 

“Now, back to the game!” Dipper had a splendid time playing DDMD with Ford and Alvah, she may not have been engaged like they were but at least she put in the effort to play with them and with her powers making it all come to life just felt magical to him. 

“I had so much fun! Thank you so much great uncle Ford, Alvah!” she twiddled her fingers from behind Ford. 

“Perhaps you could make the next one, sweetheart. I just know you’re full of ideas, Dipper.” he lights up. 

“Does that mean you’ll play again?” she gave shrug but nodded her head. 

“Yeah, sure.” she huffed softly when he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her close, she leaned down to hug him back while patting his back “Perhaps you should go back upstairs. You’ve been down here all day, and surely it takes a lot of time to create a new adventure.” he pulls away from her, snapping his fingers at her. 

“You’re right! I’ve got a lot of thinking to do! Thanks again!” they both wave him goodbye as he ran to the elevator to head back to the shack, the both of them drop their friendly facades and turn back to where the curtain Dipper previously mentioned was. 

“So, you’re really going to keep this between us?” he spoke, his body naturally turning back into his male form “He’s going to figure it out, whether he stumbles down here accidentally again or you tell him yourself.” Ford let out a sigh as he looked over the console, tapping his fingers across the metal surface. 

“Stanley told me to stay away from the children, but so far, it’s been proven difficult because they keep approaching me. Or rather, they keep approaching me since you’re around.” he shrugged.  

“I’ve been looking after those kids the entire summer. I’m surprised they still even want to hang around me.” he said as he laced his fingers and cracked his knuckles above his head ”Anyways, where were we before Dipper interrupted us?” he approached the side of him with a sort of glass case in his hands. 

“Cleaning up my brother’s mess.” 

“Ah, right.” he entered the portal room and it took Ford a second to register what he said. 

“Hey, wait! What do you mean we? You were in the Nightmare Realm, dammit!”  

that entire week mabel and stan were preparing for the duck-tective finale and the day had finally arrived. 

mabel invited grenda to come over and watch it with them, she was more than happy to attend. 

stan, mabel and grenda enter the living room and were shocked to see ford and dipper had taken over the room, it being littered with papers of various equations from their ddmd campaign. 

they were even surprised to see alvah laying behind ford covered in papers herself. 

she was "asleep" after failing a saving throw and her character was killed off so she returned to the nightmare realm to take care of some business as she waited for them to finish but continued to use her powers to bring their game to life.  

they pleaded with them to move their game to a different room so they could watch their show but they were very adamant that they couldn't, saying they were going for a world record. 

stan takes it upon himself to remove a few of the graph papers but ford caught him by the wrist, halting him in his tracks. 

"Move that and pay the price." Ford threatened, his grip on his brother tight to prevent him from reaching any further. 

"Oh, what, fifty magical dwarf dollars?" 

"Don't mock our fantastical monetary system!" 

"I'll mock all I want. It's my TV room." 

"It's my house! You..." Ford takes a breath, sighing to himself as he squeezes the bridge of his nose "Listen, Stanley, did it ever occur to you that if you joined us, you might actually have fun? I mean, Alvah didn't need to but joined for Dipper's sake. I'm sure they'd love it if you played with us as well." Stan's gaze hardened at the mention of her. 

"What? Now you listen to me. As long as I live, I will never--" he snatches the bag of Ford's dice out of his hands, ignoring Dipper shouting at him to wait "Ever. Play your smarty-pants nerd game!" he declares before throwing it to the ground, spilling all the dice out onto the floor including the case that secured the infinity-sided die. Ford and Dipper watch in a panic as the case opens and the die bounces out and lands on a wizard symbol, the dice sparked onto the cover of the DDMD box and they all watch as the characters from the game come to life. 

"Mortals of Dimension 46'\, kneel before me and..." he rolls a couple die and throws them onto the board, leaning down to get a look at what he rolled before grinning menacingly at them "snivel! I am Probabilitor, the greatest wizard in all mathology, give or take an error of 0.4." 

"Uh, is this normal?" Stan questions as they all back away, Mabel and Grenda grabbing Alvah to pull her unconscious body away. 

"Have you come to send us on the quest of a lifetime, because we're the smartest players you've ever met?" 

"You are the smartest players I've ever met. That's why I'm going to eat your brains to gain your intelligence. Especially that one lying there. It's what I do." 

"It's his thing." 

"What?!" Dipper turns and grabs Alvah by her collar, shaking her body back and forth "Alvah! Come back! Come back right now! The game came to life and they're going to eat our brains!" Ford throws his coat back to reveal the gun strapped to his waist, he pulls it out and spins it around his finger before aiming it towards Probabilator. 

"Your math is no match for my gun, you idiot!" 

“Math ray!” Ford grits his teeth when he feels a blast of wind blows past him after shielding his eyes from the bright light that came from the man before him, he thought he was going to be thrown out of the room but was surprised to see a sort of red force field shield them all from the attack. A groan came from behind him so he looked back and saw it was Alvah slowly pulling herself up from the floor while her hand was shining a soft hue of red, Dipper let out a sigh of relief that he managed to get through to her and her body instinctively put up a shield to keep them out of harm's way. 

“I wasn’t even gone for that long, and you guys managed to get yourselves into trouble?” she’s on her feet now ripping off the graph papers they so rudely stuck on her when her body was unoccupied, it was when she took off the one stuck to her face was when she paused and stared at Probabilator when she turned around and started to leave “Good luck, you guys.” they stare at her in shock. As she passes Stan, he caught her by the arm to stop her in her tracks, and though the situation is dire, Mabel doesn’t miss the way Alvah flinches when he turns her around. 

“What do you mean good luck? Didn’t you say you’d keep us out of danger?!” she gave a shrug, face turning a soft pink under his gaze. 

“I did, but didn’t I also tell you I can’t directly interfere with events in time? This so happens to be one of them.” she then points behind her with her thumb “I’ll just be in the background. I’ll make sure you guys don’t die under my watch; I promise.” 

“What?!” 

“You guys are going to have so much fun! Family bonding, yaddy yaddy yah! The whole shebang. I can’t just obliterate him out of existence, that’d be cheating.” she takes her arm back and goes to walk off again but this time Probabilator causes her to freeze. 

“Obliterate? Hah! With that mediocre display of magic? I have a hard time believing that!” Stan watched how her face twitched and how she fought down what he believes was anger and irritation. 

“Mediocre...? Me? My magic is mediocre? Me!” she startled them when she suddenly grabbed Stan and shook him while glaring at him, and while it wasn’t directed at him it still scared him to see the angry side of Alvah “If you think you can get away with calling me mediocre, you’ve got another thing com—no, no.” she let Stan go and approached Probabilator with the intentions of strangling him but managed to rein herself in before she could lay hands on him “No, no, no. You can’t do anything, Alvah. Calm yourself. Be the bigger person and let it go. Yes, that is what you’re supposed to do.” she nods her head and starts walking away. 

“Is she oka--” Dipper cut himself off when she came rushing back in. 

“No, I’m not.” they were taken aback when she punched him square in the face that she probably broke his nose, he fell to the ground with a cry but he also threw his staff in the air, and she caught it and stared at the die at the end of it before turning her gaze down at Probabilator “Here’s a lesson on magic. Though it varies depending on which dimension you’re in, they all circulate around the same thing. Magic is recognized as the use of mana to create phenomena, outside the limits of normal science. The usage of magic has varying degrees, with only the skill, personal power-level, imagination/knowledge, and/or morality to define the borders of the magician's limits.” as she explained, they watched as she started drawing a magic circle in the air that glowed an ominous red “Magic is all about bringing something that didn’t exist into reality, and that is the beauty of magic.” after completing the magic circle she tapped on it and they watched as it glowed so bright before blasting a pillar of fire at their foes, burning them to a cinder. 

“Well...” Dipper spoke, she then started to laugh as she kicked at the box art of Probabilator. 

“Hah! How was that for mediocre, huh? Try using your mathology in the afterlife!” she leans to the side when she notices that she accidentally overdid it with the magic and destroyed the kitchen and left burn marks everywhere “... I’ll fix that.” now they’re outside the shack while Alvah was floating around and fixing it up after what happened during the portal's reactivation, she didn’t have time to fix it earlier but after the mess, she made she finally made time to do it. 

“Mabel, is Miss Alvah a witch?” Grenda asked as she watched Alvah float off the ground after taking a tree that had lodged itself into the roof and replanted it back into the ground, they all kind of forgot that Alvah being a supernatural, interdimensional demonic being was a secret. 

“Well, Grenda, actually--” 

“That’s so awesome! Do you think if I asked, she would teach me how to use magic as well? I wanna be a witch!” they hear a laugh and see that it is Alvah slowly descending from above but continuing to float as she holds the staff over her shoulder. 

“That would be quite difficult, little Grenda. In this dimension, you humans don’t particularly have mana or any other sort of energy that allows you to wield magic. But you do have science, which happens to be the more limited but modernized version of magic.” she chuckled softly when Grenda huffed, kicking at the grass while crossing her arms. 

“That’s not fair!” she pats her head. 

“Life’s not fair, kiddo. Perhaps you should go punch someone, it always brings a smile to my face.” 

“You’re right!” with that Grenda runs off to go punch the nearest person, she chuckled at the young girl before throwing her arms towards the newly fixed Mystery Shack. 

“And there you have it! Good as new!” they all hear a creek so they look up and see the iconic S from the Shack slowly slip off and fall to the ground, she let out a breath as she dropped her arms “I’m not even going to bother.” she looks down when she saw Dipper approach so she lowered herself to the ground and sat herself down on her knees. 

“Thanks for helping us, Alvah.” she smiled softly and gently patted his head “You’re not going to get in trouble, are you? You said that was an event that you weren’t supposed to interfere with.” this caused her to let out a huff. 

“I really wasn’t supposed to do what I just did. I was technically supposed to allow him to kidnap you and Ford, and take you guys into the forest while Mabel and Stan came to your rescue. It was to help your guy’s development and relationship; you guys are trapped within the game and they were going to play it to save you.” this caught them by surprise “Since I’ve already interfered, I don’t think I’ll get in trouble for telling you what was supposed to happen. It was my first offense; I’ll probably be let go with just a warning. So, if you guys see the time police, tell them you never saw me. I don’t want to deal with that stupid Time Baby.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you mean to tell me that we actually played that nerd game? For real?” she nods. 

“Yes, you played that “nerd game” to save your brothers, and you actually had fun doing so, and won against his smarts with your dumb luck. If you remove the mathematical and hard-thinking concepts out of DDMD, you will greatly enjoy the game. You put aside your distaste for the game to save both Ford and Dipper, which helped with your guy's relationship, and you guys realize that your bit— I mean, bickering isn’t going to do you any good, blah, blah, blah.” she thanked Dipper when he helped her up while she tossed the staff behind her “So, I’m sorry that I let my ego get the best of me and ruined your adventure. This is why I don’t really get in the way of these things, because it takes the fun and development you guys were supposed to have, out of it.” she hummed softly when Mabel approached her, taking her hand and tugging her forward. 

“And we greatly appreciate your help, Alvah. Is what why you’ve been staying out of things as of lately?” she nodded her head. 

“Uh-huh. You should spend as much time with each other as you possibly can because you don’t know when it’s going to be your last.” Mabel pouted at that, Alvah didn’t realize where the little girl was leading her until it was too late, because the next thing she knew was Mabel grabbing Stan and pulling the two of them together and they fell into each other. 

“Then will you watch the season finale of Duck-tective with us? It wouldn’t be the same without you, and since you played with Dipper and Grunkle Ford, then you’ve just gotta watch it with us!” she swallowed thickly as she slowly looked up at Stan, her face slowly losing its composure with how close they were as she started sputtering out any sort of excuse to decline “Come on, pretty please~ won’t you do it for me?” looking back down at her she saw her infamous puppy dog eyes with her trembling lips, she let out a sigh. 

“Alright, fine.” both she and Stan take a knee when they were yanked down so Mabel could hug them both, they plant a hand onto the ground to stabilize themselves while wrapping another arm around the young girl. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she hugged them a little longer before letting them go and jogging over to Dipper to urge him to join them, Ford was planning on declining the invitation but looked over towards his brother and demon and saw the way the two of them acted like awkward teenagers. It was honestly quite amusing, two people who are known for being outspoken and confident were reduced to nothing but silence, and from what he learned through her memories the two of them were known for flirting with each other and couldn’t keep their hands off each other. She wrapped an arm around herself while her free hand rubbed her face, Stan himself hand one of his hands caressing the back of his neck while the other planted itself on his hip. 

“So...” they startle each other when they spoke at the same time while turning to look at each other, they immediately turn away when their faces were inches apart, she starts playing with her hair as she took a breath while Stan took his hat off “How have you been?” she perked up when he spoke to her, looking up at him, he was dusting his hat off before placing it back on top of his head. 

“Well. Could I assume the same for yourself?” he gave a shrug. 

“Eh, I’ve been better.” she nodded softly, and her mind went back to the conversation she, Ford, and Mabel had in the lab and that feeling of guilt started pooling up in her stomach again, she’s grabbed a fistful of the skirt of her dress and was playing with the bundle rather nervously. 

“Stanley, I... I’m--” he looks down at her, curious as to what she had to say, she looks up at him and he saw this look in her eyes when they locked eyes, she looked like she was going to say something before her body slumped and she instead reached up to fix his fez that was slipping from his head “I’m happy you are faring well.” her hand slips down to his face where it briefly rests upon his cheek before she pulls it away, she holds her hand close to her chest as she walks towards the shack to follow Ford inside where she misses Stan reaching up to place his own hand on the cheek she last touched. 

“Alvah.” upon joining them in watching Duck-tective, she sat on the ground beside Grenda while Stan, Dipper, and Mabel all squeezed onto the small sofa. She found the plot to be a little amusing, that the season finale revealed how the duck protagonist had a secret twin brother, which almost reminded her of someone. She felt a little nudge so she looked up and saw Mabel wiggling her eyebrows at her, she rolled her own eyes and shook her head before looking back at the TV. 

season 2, episode 14. the stanchurian candidate 

alvah is, of course, with stanford when dipper comes down to complain about stan stubbornly refusing to listen to him and mabel about running for mayor. 

while he ranted on and on about the fact, ford looks at alvah to see whether or not his brother actually wins the election. 

she gave a shrug while making a “sort of” gesture. 

she watched in amusement when ford pulled out a necktie that had the capabilities to control the wearer. 

“use it responsibly” he said, like hell they would. 

when it was the day of the election, ford couldn’t seem to find alvah until he looked upstairs and found her watching the election. 

he saw the way she was giggling softly to herself as she watched stan, a soft hue dusted across her cheeks. 

not in love, she says. 

ford ridicules her but he was swiftly punched in the face. 

season 2, episode 15. the last mabelcorn 

Alvah wasn't allowed to join Mabel on her quest for the unicorns because Ford said that "a being as rotten as her would scare them off", or whatever that means. She thinks he's just a sucker that believed that whole pure of heart sham all those years ago, she already knew that was a farce from long ago but thought it was too funny to reveal. She could easily get past those stupid unicorns and either a. take their hair by force or b. compliment their hair and ask for tips, that usually works. Ford told her that he wanted to spend some time alone with Dipper, having already revealed what they were doing in his lab all those nights ago, and Dipper practically pleaded with her to allow him to spend time with his idol. 

So here she was, sitting outside the shack with nothing to do. She watched aimlessly as the little critters that roamed the forest would peek out and approach her curiously before wandering back into the forest where she would reward their curiosity with little peanuts left out by Soos, she had a walnut in her hand so she swiftly crushed it within her palm before outstretching her hand to a squirrel that padded up to her. She watched as it sniffed her hand curiously before eating right out of her palm, it would be so easy to close her hand around its neck and tighten her hold around it. She could do it slowly and watch it struggle within her grasp, clawing at her hand to escape despite knowing its attempts would be futile. Or perhaps she could just crush it like she did with that walnut, how she would feel its neck snap in an instant; quick and painless. She let out an oh when it suddenly scampered away, she flicked the reminisce of the walnut onto the grass and relaxed back on the steps. 

"... I know you're there, Stanley." she hummed softly when she heard a crash from behind her, she waited a couple seconds before the door opened, and out came Stan dusting himself off while clearing his throat "Come to have a chat with me, Stan?" she pats the free space beside her and waits to see whether or not he'd take her up on the offer, he grumbles to himself but plops himself beside her. 

"Why aren't you with brainiac one and two or Mabel? You're usually hanging off his shoulder or keeping Mabel out of trouble." she merely shrugged her shoulders as she plucked another peanut from the bowl and tossed it toward another squirrel. 

"Fordsy wanted to spend some time with Dipper alone to devise a plan against Bill, and Mabel will be just fine. And you didn't hear this from me, but she's gonna punch a unicorn in the nose. It's rather glorious." she giggles softly to herself at what the future has for Mabel, sure her love for unicorns vanishes because they're nothing but a sham, but it sure was a spectacle to witness. 

"What? She punches a unicorn?" this got a laugh out of Stan "Almost tempted to follow them just to watch."  

"She might need comfort when she returns. Because of their little "purest of heart" scheme, they make her a little insecure about how good of a person she is. She might need some reassurance when she gets back, but those other girls keep her from falling too deep." they sit in silence and Stan watches her closely, he stares at her face specifically. Ever since it was revealed that she wasn't all that she seemed to be, whether she was a man or not, she wore a rather cocky grin on her face and carried a haughty attitude, she was just unrecognizable to him. But right now, under the grace of the sun and a calming summer breeze, he was blessed with the Alvah he had grown rather attached to... like he'd ever admit that part out loud, god he hoped she couldn't read minds (she can, in fact, read minds). 

"You're staring." he jumped at her voice, fidgeting from where he sat when her eyes trailed away from the wilderness that surrounded them and onto him, he swallowed thickly and stared deep into those soft, rich green eyes of hers. He was the most socially aware between himself and Stanford and took pride in himself with how well he could read people, he thought he read Alvah well, but there was just something lacking within her eyes "What's on your mind?" 

"Pointdexter refers to you as a devil, so are you like Bill?" 

"By that, are you asking if he and I are the same species?" he gave a kind of gesture. 

"Do you have a shape form like he does?" this question causes her to burst out into a fit of laughter. 

"I'm not a Euclydian, Stan. Their species have been long wiped out like their dimension, no thanks to Bill." she paused when she saw the confused look on his face "They are, er, were a two dimensional species that were only shapes like squares and circles." 

"And triangles?" she nods. 

"Uh-huh. They were incapable of seeing the third dimension, but Bill, he was different. But due to that, he accidentally destroyed Euclydia. He'd say otherwise, but we beings know what happened that day." 

"So you're saying that you were there?" she shrugs. 

"More or less. You're technically not supposed to know this, not even Ford knows this, but I could care less. Bill tells an entirely different story, saying he did it for power, but he only says that because he doesn't want to confront the fact that he erased his species off the face of this universe. He refuses to see that it was his fault." 

"Whoa." she nods, he looks at the ground as he thinks of another question to ask "But you do have many forms, right? This and the one you use for Ford aren't the only ones, are they?" she shakes her head. 

"No, they aren't." Stan then watches as she changes shape into a variety of different people, or rather, species "I have contracts with many people for trillions of years and taken the form of different species. I don't really have a proper identity to call me own." she spoke in different voices and even languages as she changed from a monster with tentacles for a face and even a tall newt with a purple skin tone before finally changing back to Alvah. 

"That sounds sad." 

"It really isn't. The contracts were easy to fulfill and I didn't have to stay in a body for too long. This one, however, is the longest it has existed." she said as she raised her arms to look at her hands "Without me even realizing, it started developing..." he raised a brow as he looked at her hands then back up at her. 

"A consciousness?" she chuckled softly. 

"Feelings." he blinked at her words "Every body I made moved like a machine with simple instruction. Listen to the contractor, fulfill the contractor's wishes, and complete the contract. Simple." 

"But?" she finally looked away from her hands and stared at him, long and hard. 

"I would leave these bodies and return to my own so I wouldn't get... attached. But, I was stuck in this one for so long it-- or I, started to feel. That is impossible, I'm not supposed to feel anything." the longer he stared into her eyes the more he started to see something that once wasn't there "And yet here I am beginning to enjoy the company of a small human family to the point I would do anything to secure their safety; to the point that I don't want you... to hate me." his eyes widened at her words. 

"Alvah." she turns away and wraps her arms tightly around her torso 

"Stanley, I am... sorry, for how I've treated you these past couple of weeks. I'm sorry I've been distant, I'm sorry I've avoided you. It’s just... so hard for me to come to terms with these feelings that are so foreign to me. These feelings are something I can’t control, and no matter how hard I’ve been denying them... they just keep coming back.” he sees how her arms tightened as she spoke “I don’t know if it’s this body or my feelings. I’m supposed to know everything, I’ve seen countless possibilities, millions upon trillions of endings but not one... not one where I--” he blinks when she abruptly cuts herself off. 

“Where you what?” the suspense was killing him, he tilts his head to try and get a look at her face but instead he saw a faint hue on the tips of her ears when she spoke so softly it would’ve been lost to the wind. 

“Where I...” he couldn't quite catch what she said but he saw the way her body suddenly froze, as if the sudden realization of her feelings finally caught up with her. He was startled when she quickly shot up to her feet and turned around, speedwalking to get inside the shack and possibly hide from him “I-I—I need to go! It was swell talking with you again, Stanley! Talk to you later!” she tries to get away but Stan was fast enough to stand to his feet and catch her wrist before she could get too far. 

“No, no! You can’t just stop there! You can’t just leave me hanging there, Alvah!” each time he felt her try to get away he would tug her back, he knew that she was much stronger than him, he knew that she could throw him off but this was a rare moment of Alvah being vulnerable with him so he wasn’t going to lose her when he was so close “You don’t get to spill that all on me and expect me to just sit there! I still... I still care about you! I still think about what we had, about what we did and said to each other and I hoped it wasn’t something you did out of obligation. That what we had meant something to you, the real you! That you actually... care for me. That finally someone chose me, and that since you knew it was me from the very beginning, you actually wanted me.” she stopped fighting him but she didn’t turn to look at him, his grip on her tightened as his face hardened “Won’t you say something, Alvah?!” he tugs at her and forced her to turn around and there... there he saw a sight that will forever be engraved in the back of his mind. The color red had practically covered her entire face as she tried her best to shield it with her forearm but failed, she was looking everywhere but at him and she looked so flustered; so, embarrassed that she looked so adorable in his eyes that it made him forget that the person in front of him was the embodiment of chaos and evil.  

“I... I do care about you, Stanley. I care when I-I shouldn’t be able too.” she moves her arm so her hand could cover the lower half of her face as she looked away “I’ve seen those kids die—I've seen you die so many times. To the monsters that roamed the forest... or by your own hands, and it scares me so much. Is this how you humans feel when you care about something so much that you feel like you’re dying? I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I were to lose you...” his hand slowly reaches for her other wrist and pulls it down so he could look at her clearly, the one that caught her slid up her arm and rested on her cheek where she finally looked at him and he saw so many different emotions swirling in those beautiful eyes of hers. 

Fear, anguish, regret, confusion. 

“Humans are more... complex than machines. We feel things that can spiral out of control if left alone.” his thumb started stroking her cheek in a form of comfort and she melted at the affection, her eyes fluttering close as she leaned into his touch “If what you say is true, then running from it will make you hurt more.” her eyes opened again and he couldn’t tell if the glisten in her eyes were tears or something else. 

“You make my nonexistent heart beat. I... I...” he saw the way that word was stuck in her throat, how she struggled to say it as she hid her face in the palm of his hand. Instead, she blinked when she felt his other hand cup her cheek and slowly turn her towards him once more, the two of them stare at each other until he started leaning in. A weak gasp left her when he pressed his lips against her, unlike the other kisses they’ve shared, this one was so short and faint she’d compare it to a peck. He pulled away and she saw his cheeks were tinted the faintest shade of pink but her face turned even more red, however, it didn’t stop her from wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a much needed kiss. He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her waist to pull her close and reciprocate the kiss, they’d pull away briefly to allow him to breath but they’d pull each other right back in for more. Her hands removed themselves from his neck to cradle his face within her hands while his own roamed her body, he manages to catch them when they fall back into the door behind her with his hand slamming against the door frame, when they break away, they rest their foreheads against each other with his hands caressing his face affectionately “Stanford’s gonna kill me.” Stan snorted softly at what she said. 

“Why do you say that?” they move from the door to take a seat on the yellow sofa, all the tension from earlier gone as she cuddled up to Stan’s side, his arm wrapped around her side to keep her close. 

“He has come to realize my infatuation with you and threatens me about getting close. Says he doesn’t want a repeat in history, but I’m insulted that he compares me to Bill and you to him. If I’m being honest, you are much smarter than your brother.” 

“Hah! You’re just saying that because you like me.” she shakes her head, lacing her fingers with his and giving his hand a squeeze. 

“No, I am being very honest. You are much smarter than people give you credit for, Stan. I have watched you ever since you stepped for in Gravity Falls and your actions leading up to your brother’s return have been remarkable. If anything, your brother has much to learn from you. Be proud of your actions.” she quirked a brow when she felt his grip on her hand tighten a little as his body trembled, looking up, she giggled quietly to herself when she saw him covering his eyes with his hand “Stan, are you crying?” he looked away from her. 

“No! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she hummed and reached to grab at his wrist and pull it away from his face, she gave him a soft expression as she cupped his cheek and wiped away his tears. 

“I told you this before, Stan, you don’t have to hide your vulnerability from me, I’m not going to make fun of you.” with that she kissed his tears away and nuzzled her cheek against his, he laughed softly and returned the gesture to know that it was appreciated “I still don’t fully understand what these feelings are or how I should confront them, but I do know you are something dear to me, as well as those children, and Wendy, and Soos and even Stanford. I’ll do anything to keep you safe, but there are just some things I just can’t prevent from happening in order to do so.” he hummed softly at that. 

“So, there is more to come?” 

“More than you could think.” he let out a grunt when she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face within the crook of his neck, hugging him tightly “So when that day comes, please know that I am so sorry that I had to let it happen.” he opens his mouth to reassure her that he’d forgive her, that it couldn’t possibly be as bad as she’s making it out to be, but seeing how she tightened her grip on him made him think otherwise. 

“Whatever you say, toots.” they decide to go back into the shack in fear that Mabel and her friends would reappear and catch them doing something they definitely didn’t want them to see. Alvah hadn’t realized just how much she missed spending her time with Stan, whether it doing something productive or just simply lazing around doing absolutely nothing but basking in each other’s company. She found herself craving more of Stan then she ever realized, she wanted him to smile at her more, she wanted to be the reason of his laughter, she wanted to be the center of his universe, but she knew deep down that she could never replace the love he had for his family. So, even if she had to be fed breadcrumbs in order to stay in his mind, she wouldn’t mind. 

“Did somebody say unicorn hair?!” both herself and Stan jump at the sound of Mabel’s voice, has it been that long already? She hadn’t even realized how long she and Stan spent together to the point that Mabel had returned from retrieving the unicorn hair, she guessed Dipper now knows that the muse she was talking about long ago was now in fact Bill Cipher and that she and that triangular freak have got ongoing beef. They both leave the room they occupied and make their way to where everyone was huddled in, however, the moment Stan’s eyes caught the glistening shine of gold he was quick to leave her side. 

“MONEY!!” she sweat dropped when he grabbed an armful before breaking down the backdoor as he fled, she sighed but clapped her hands when she entered the room. 

“Well done, Mabel, I knew you could do it.” taking in their disheveled attire, she snickered softly when she saw the unicorn tears and blood that covered the girls followed by scratches and bruises “You did a good job, kiddo. I’m real proud of you.” she praised as she knelt down and gently ruffled her head, she pulled her hand away and saw the way her eyes glistened with tears. 

“Thanks, Alvah, I really needed that.” she winked. 

“Don’t worry about it. Those unicorns don’t know a thing about you, but I know for sure that you’re the greatest little girl there could ever be.” she soft gasp left her when Mabel threw herself into Alvah’s arms, her eyes widened a little at the action as she slowly lifted her arms to wrap around Mabel and embrace her. Her mind went back to what she said to Stan and she immediately felt the guilt pool in her stomach, but she ignored it to nuzzle her cheek against the side of Mabel’s head. 

when stan came back, he and alvah spent a few more quiet hours to catch up on lost time. 

she made sure that mabel was busy with her friends so the young girl wouldn’t catch them doing anything. 

it was when things were getting more intimate when she was suddenly ripped from his grasp and a crash followed close behind.

opening his eyes, he was met with a hole in the wall as well as a loud thud. 

that was due to the fact when dipper and ford put up the protective barrier to bill-proof the shack, ford made a few miscalculations and demon-proofed the house. 

so when the barrier went up she was repealed out of the shack, to which she was on the top floor and fell from a great height.  

dipper was immediately apologetic and ford chuckled when she glared at him to fix it, well, that was until stan popped his head out from where she was thrown out. 

the next hour is spent with her running away from blasts from his gun while stan, dipper and mabel try and stop him. 

season 2, episode 16. roadside attraction  

“You really don’t want me anywhere near your brother, huh?” Alvah, who was in his male form, cooed from where he was floating over Ford, who was currently trying to figure out a way to fix the rift after it was damaged by Dipper when he learned the truth about Ford and Bill and shot him with the memory gun, only for the blast to ricochet off his head. After learning that Alvah and Stan settled the awkward tension they had and were acting flirtatious again, seeing them acting all lovey dovey and not getting enough of each other. He would try to ignore it but knowing what they were doing in just a room across from him had him storming in, no matter what they could be doing, and ripping her away from Stan to confine her in the lab “So overprotective, Fordsy~” he giggles to himself and twirls and strand of his long black hair around his index finger. 

“I do not want to know what kind of tomfoolery you and my brother get up to.” he huffed, crossing his arms. 

“Like you and Bill?” he snickered when he saw Ford stiffen, dropping the pen he had in his hand as he slowly turned red. Whether it be from embarrassment or anger, or perhaps both, he’ll never know. He scoffed when Ford whipped his head over to where he was floating and glared at him with such vigor, if looks could kill, he’d be dead where he stood—er, well, floated “Hit a nerve, did I?” he hummed softly when Ford grabbed him by the ankle to yank him down, making sure they were face to face as when he spoke. 

“How dare you bring that up, Alvah. You know exactly what Bill did to me.”  

“Then you should know better than to compare me to Bill, Stanford.” he opens his mouth to protest but was shushed when Alvah shook him off “I can hear your thoughts without needing to read them, and to say I’m insulted would be an understatement. My adoration for Stanley is completely different from the obsession Bill had for you.” 

“I-It wasn’t an obsession!” 

“I stalked you two for over a year, and he would not shut up about it either. I will go through those journals just to find those receipts; I will do it. I will give you the time and date for each instance, don’t tempt me.” they stare at each other for an intense few minutes until Ford breaks away with a disgruntled sigh, he watches as he returned to where he was before in silence before speaking “... I’m not going to hurt him, if that’s what you’re thinking. I already know what he’s been through. From his upbringing, the ten years he spent alone on the road to the thirty years of bringing you back. I don’t plan on damaging him even further, intentionally, that is.” 

“Intentionally?” Ford waited for an answer but was met with silence, he turned back to look at Alvah to question him but paused when he saw the distraught look on his face “Al--” 

“Let's just say, there’s just something I can’t prevent from happening.” Ford wants to question him on what that means but knows that if it has something to do with the timeline then Alvah will not tell him, despite being an all knowing and powerful being, there seems to be some rules that even he cannot and will not break. He goes to return to work but saw the way Alvah perked up like an internal alarm went off in his head, he raised a brow curiously. 

“Now what?” Alvah lifted his hand up and the shadows beneath him rose out of the ground. 

“Your brother seems to be in need of assistance.” Ford furrowed his brows in concern and got off his seat, standing beside Alvah as the shadows acted as a way to see what was happening. Ford always wondered what Alvah saw whenever she was, as he called it, the Shadow Realm, when they conversed. The image was distorted and hazy but clear enough for them to see what was going on on the other side, and there they saw Stan encased in webbing in some sort of cave. 

“Wasn’t he going on a road trip with the kids?” he nods. 

“He is, but it seems he ran into an arachnimorph. Quite nasty, if I say. If he’s lucky, he didn’t run into a female one.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“They’re more aggressive than the male arachnimorphs. You know, like normal spiders.” the image then shows a tan skinned woman with tan marks over her eyes in the shape of her sunglasses and on her shoulders where straps were present. She had sandy-blonde hair and a brown birth mark on her left shoulder, and though her torso was that of a normal human woman, her lower half was that of a spider “Him and his dumb luck.” 

“Are you going to help him?” he shakes his head. 

“As much as I want to, it’s one of those moments where I can’t.” he nods his head. 

“I see.” he goes to make the image disappear until that woman started getting closer to Stan. 

“You tricked me!” he shouted at her “I’m eighty-percent certain you don’t really love me at all!” this comment caused Alvah to furrow his brows, though he already knew the plot of this adventure, he still was a little jealous that Stan and this spider-woman went out on a date. 

“Ha! Men will fall for anything. You’re so funny. Great story. I love a man with shoulder hair.” 

“You... you didn’t mean it about my shoulder hair?” Ford and Alvah to roll their eyes. 

“Tell me, Stan, before I transformed, who’d you think was in charge? You, with your cheesy lines and fake confidence? I’m the master pick-up artist here. Sorry, toots. This time, you’re getting used for your body, which, to my species, is food. Allow me to slip into something more horrifying.” with that, the arachnimorph pulled its mouth open like that of a body suit and revealed its true form “I wonder what beverage pairs well with a vintage seventy-something-year-old man."  he grits his teeth as he glared at her from where he was hanging. 

“Why I oughta, when my partner gets here, you’ll be sorry!” this caused the arachnimorph to let out a laugh as she got close to him once more. 

“If you already had a partner, why’d you flirt with little ol’ me? Wouldn’t that break their heart if they learned of your infidelity?” he just let out a laugh. 

“Not really. I used my better lines on her and I’ve practically got her wrapped around me finger.” Ford looked up at Alvah and saw the irritated look on his face followed by the soft blush tinting his cheeks, he rolled his eyes knowing that what Stan had said wasn’t too far off from the truth “Besides, unlike her, I didn’t really like you all that much. Just trying to show off to my nephew how professionals work.” she let out a laugh at what he said. 

“Hah! Thanks to you, that boy will probably do more harm than good with your advice. It’d probably be better if he didn’t listen to you, because in the end, look where you ended up.” 

“Sure, but my partner surely won’t leave me hanging and come to my rescue!” the way he emphasized on the surely was meant for him to appear right that moment to save him, Darlene looked around for the appearance of such a partner but no one came “Come on, Alvah! I know you’re watching!” Darlene laughs once more as she got close to his face, he winced and leaned as far away as he possibly could while being confined to the webbing. 

“Sorry, sweetheart, but it looks like you’re all alo—ah!” Stan was startled when a fist appeared from beside his head and punched Darlene in the face, knocking her a few feet away from him, though he gradually calmed down when said fist uncurled and a hand glided across his jaw and caressed his cheek. 

“Hello, beloved. Can’t go a day without causing trouble, huh?” Stan smiled at the sight of Alvah appearing from out of his shadow, her arm around wrapped around his shoulder as she pulled herself close to him so she could rub her cheek against his “I, for one, like your shoulder hair.” he giggled bashfully to himself as he nuzzled his cheek into hers. 

“Aw~ I knew you would.” before she could say anything else she let out a grunt when she was shoved away from him by another figure, Stan was surprised to see Ford appear as well by grabbing Alvah by her face and pushing her away while pointing his gun towards the arachnimorph. 

“That’s enough of that.” she glared at him but scoffed as they both step out of the shadow “This isn’t a good idea, Alvah.” she shrugged as she stood in front of the twins to ensure she was the first target that Darlene woman would go for. 

“As long as I’m not the one to take her down, we should be fine. Now hurry up and free your brother, I’ll keep her back until the kids get here.” 

“Mister Pines!” she chuckled at the sound of Grenda’s voice echoing through the cave. 

“Speak of the devil.” the children came rushing in to save Stan but were greatly surprised at the sight of Alvah and Ford already in the process of saving him “Children, take your uncles and get out of here. I’ll hold her back while you get away.” 

“Miss Alvah! How are you here?” 

“Magic~” she quickly turned her attention back towards Darlene when she came charging at her, she caught the six-legged creature by her hands and dug the soles of her feet into the ground to keep her from pushing her back. She grimaced when the pincers on her face chittered as she leaned close, Alvah winced when she heard the sound of subtle cracking so she glanced over at her arms and saw tiny cracks forming around her elbows “Yeesh, have you ever thought of eating a couple breath mints? You smell as bad as that guy back there.” she said while motioning to Ford with her head. 

“Hey!” Stan snickered. 

“She’s got a point, Sixer.” she leans away again when Darlene let out a chuckle. 

“So, you must be the partner, huh? Did you know that your Stan over there whispered sweet nothings into my ear? He thinks he’s such a smooth talker with his cheap flattery and cheesy one liners.” Alvah rolled her eyes. 

“Well, they worked on me.” she looked away when Darlene gave her an incredulous look. 

“Wait, seriously?” she shrugged her shoulders. 

“What? I’m a sucker for flattery.” she let out a yelp of sorts when she was lifted off the ground then slammed back down into the ground, it didn’t hurt, but she grimaced when she heard more parts of her body start to crack “Hey, hey, now. Let’s be gentle, I’m a fragile little thing.” 

“You also look like a sweet little thing, I wonder what you taste like.” 

“Well, you’ve got to ask Stan if you want to answer to that question.” she winked but let out another grunt when she felt this overweight arachnid push her deeper into the dirty cave floor, she was getting dirt and cobwebs in her clothes and hair, what a pain “I beg, please get your ugly face away from mine. I don’t appreciate it.” Darlene laughs again as leans in close, her pincers wiggling inches away from Alvah’s face. 

“I won’t let any of you get away. You’ll make a perfect addition to my collection.” Alvah scoffed. 

“And I won’t let that happen.” the moment she heard them finally free Stan she hiked her legs up and kicked the overgrown spider off of her, she springs back up to her feet then held up her hand when she noticed them start to approach to help her “No, get out of here! I can’t handle her.” 

“But--” 

“I said go!” though reluctant, the group turn tail and ran out of the cave, leaving Alvah and Darlene alone together “If this were any other situation, I would finish you in an instance, but this ain’t. I’m just gonna give you a hard time.” she winks at the arachnimorph and uses two fingers to gesture for her to come. 

“I'll make you regret not running with the rest of them.” with the others, they were all high tailing it down the moment and towards the skyline, Candy looked back towards the cave entrance that got smaller and smaller as they ran further down the moment. 

“Was it right for us to leave Miss Alvah the way we did? I can’t help but worry for her.” Ford shook his head as he ushered the children to run ahead of him and his brother, occasionally looking back towards the cave in case the arachnimorph did manage to get past Alvah. 

“Oh, no. I believe she would be very cross with us if we didn’t leave. She can handle her own, I promise you that.” 

“Yeah, but you should have seen here when we had to fight against zombies. She looked hot as hell.” Dipper covers his ears at the words that were used, and though Mabel couldn’t help but agree, she did awe a little. 

“Ew.” 

“I don’t need to know that, Stanley.” 

“Zombies?” Candy and Grenda question, though neither got an answer when the sound of shouting came from behind them followed by loud crashes, they didn’t have time to turn around when flying over them was Darlene and Alvah tumbling down the mountain. Alvah was shouting as she punched Darlene in the face each time they were in the air and Darlene would retaliate when she was on top of her, Alvah would sometimes be able to catch her fist and punch her right back across the face but other times she would have to take the hit. Alvah couldn’t really feel pain each time a strike connected but she could feel her body crack more and more against the super strength the arachnimorph species possessed. They both crashed into a tree with Alvah landing on top of her, she continues to land blows on her but Darlene used her legs to kick her off her. She manages to catch herself and rushes towards Darlene and when her fist connects to her face, this time, her left hand all the way up to her forearm completely shatters. 

“Well.” 

“Alvah!” she looks back at the group and saw them stop when they notice her missing limb, she looks back down at her shattered hand then quickly looks back at them and waves them off. 

“I’m fine! Just hurry onto the sky tram! I’ll catch up!” Ford was quick to heed her demand and ushers them all into the tram, having to force Stan on before he could rush off to help her.  

“Hah! So, you’re not a human! Should have figured that one out, Stan seems to have a type.” Alvah shrugged then twirled a strand of her blonde hair. 

“Yeah, seems to me he’s into blondes. At least I was right on that mark, hmm?” Darlene laughs. 

“Well, since you’re down a limb, you won’t be that much of a threat!” with that she was quick to run off and chase after the fleeing group, Alvah scoffed and looks back down at the hole her shattered arm left. 

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Ford looks back and saw Darlene was leaping from tram to tram and gaining on them fast, no thanks to the stupid tram going at the speed of 0.1 miles per hour, however he perked up at the sight of Alvah not too far behind and instead of fixing her arm like she did when he blasted a hole in her face, the same black tar oozed out from the hole the damage did and became her new arm that grew larger with claws instead of hands. He also noticed that she ripped off her other arm so she could have two, so he saw her running along the cable while also using her new arms to swing herself towards them. When Darlene finally caught up to them and started encasing them in her webbing, Alvah swung herself up and kicked Darlene off and onto a different tram that was ahead of them “Is that all you got, freak?!” 

“Are you alright, Alvah?” she leaned back to see Ford peaking his head out of a window “You took quite the damage fighting that arachnimorph.” 

“That’s because this body isn’t meant for fighting, it’s only meant to look good. Besides, this vessel doesn’t seem to be able to contain the updated version of our contract.” she should have known when Ford allowed her more access to her power her body would become more brittle with how old it is “But I'm fine, nonetheless.” a soft gasp left her when a couple pieces of her face chipped off and fell, more black ooze leaking out of her face.  

“What was that, Alvah?”  

“I-It’s nothing!” Darlene lunges for Alvah once more but she swung herself around the cable holding up their tram and kicked Darlene back once more before lowering herself down to get a look at the group through the glass window “Candy!” the little girl jumped at the sound of Alvah’s voice, looking at the older woman, she gasped at the sight of her disheveled state. 

“M-Miss Alvah? Are you alright?” she waves her free hand, her claws digging into the roof of the tram to keep her from falling. 

“Don't worry about me, sweetheart. You’ve got this though, right?” Candy blinked at Alvah’s words, taken aback that she knew that Candy had a plan to deal with Darlene if she hadn’t showed up, so she smiles and nods her head while giving her a thumbs up. 

“Affirmative.” Alvah returns the gesture before hoisting herself back up, one of her arms wraps around the attachment that connects the carriage to the cables above them while the other is pressed against the roof just as Darlene jumps back. 

“Don’t think you can get rid of me that easily.” this earned her a chuckle “What’s so funny?” 

“Well, you don’t seem to realize you’ve walked into my web.” this caused Darlene to look down and noticed how the hand that was pressed against the roof allowed the black ooze to cover the surface and the moment her legs touched it they covered her legs completely to restrict her from moving “Hope you ain’t afraid of water!” she lets out a maniacal laugh when Candy pulled the emergency lever and the latch that connected the carriage to the cable above them released and they fell, they fell directly into the geyser “old reliable” that went off and shot them right back up into the air. They were sent flying down the mountain with Darlene taking the brunt force of crashing into everything while Alvah was running on top of the carriage as it continued to move, she made sure to release Darlene when they made it down and broke through the kiosk at the bottom of the mountain, right underneath the boot of the old statue that came down and crushed her. 

“My only weakness, a giant boot!” she cried out as she struggled to get out from underneath said boot “A giant newspaper or a giant cup would also have been pretty bad.” Stan and Ford managed to break down the carriage door where all occupants came tumbling out after rolling down the mountain. 

“Kid, that was ingenious! How’d you know it would work?” Stan raised as he pulled Candy into a side hug. 

“Useless travel pamphlets.” 

“Stanley.” they all flinch and look back towards Darlene, who transformed back into her human form “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. You’ll let me out, right?” she spoke while twirling a strand of her hair, batting her eyes to lure him in. 

“What? After all that? Seriously, do I look like an amnesiac?” he shouts as he approached her weakened form. 

“Haha, you’re so funny. Have you ever considered becoming a comedian?” before Stan could answer her, he was pulled back by Ford just as Alvah stood over her with the carriage held above her head. 

“Stan’s already got a supernatural being in his life and that isn’t you, sweetheart.” Alvah ignored her cries and dropped it on top of her, she makes sure her legs stopped twitching and goes to turn around until she caught her reflection in the glass “Well, that was irritating, she broke my face.” she murmured as she brought her hand up to caress her cheek that was missing a couple pieces. 

“Are you alright, Alvah?” she moved her eyes and saw Ford approaching her, she huffed and turned around. 

“I already said I was fine. And again, this body was not meant for fighting, only to look good.” she let out a grunt when he grabbed her by the face, pulling her close so he could examine the damage “And you say I’ve got issues with invading personal space.” she squeaked when he tightened his grip on her face, squeezing her cheeks and yanking her closer to glare into her eyes. 

“At least I don’t do it in every waking moment.” she just shrugged her shoulders, he threw her head back before grabbing at what was left of her arms to look at the ooze that replaced what was missing “Is this your blood?”  

“Close, it’s my “flesh”, more or less.” 

“Not that smoke?” 

“The smokey version of me you see is the power I simply use to invade your head, you know, like that sand man? This goop would be the more accurate term to what my body is made up of, dead flesh.” she pulled a face when he pulled out a vial and scooped some of it up, he dangles it in front of his face and shakes the glass bottle “Really?”  

“The more I learn about you, the better.” she rolled her eyes then paused when she heard someone clear their throat, peering past Ford, she saw that it was Stan sheepishly kicking his feet while rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Oh Stanley, are you okay?” she cooed softly while reaching for him only to recoil back when she remembered the state she was in, but she was taken aback when he reached forward and grabbed her clawed hand “I thought you wouldn’t want to touch these rather grotesque hands of mine.” he laughed. 

“I got acid spit in my face, your arms are the least of my worries.” she giggled softly and used her other hand to covered her face. 

“You sap.” Stan opens his mouth to add something else but felt something rest on his shoulder, he turned his head to see what exactly it was only to let out a startled shout at the sight of a severed hand laying on his shoulder. The others watch in shock when Stan let out a scream and threw the arm in the air but stopped when Alvah burst out into a fit of laughter, she raised her hand and caught the arm then waved it cheekily at them “Thanks for the “hand”. Haha, get it?” she continued to laugh as she let the ooze slither back into the hole it came out of then connected the severed arm in its place, she rolled her arm a couple times then grinned when the cracks fused together smoothly. 

“Fascinating, but wasn’t that the arm that shattered?” 

“It was, but as long as I can find the pieces, I can put myself back together. Like so.” Dipper shrieked when he saw another arm drag itself over to where Alvah was, she picks the arm up abd repeated the same process she did with the first arm “Ta dah, good as new.” she let out an oh when Mabel tugged on the end of her skirt, she kneels down and tilts her head in mild curiosity then blinked when Mabel placed a rainbow band aid over crack and hole on her face. 

“There, now you’re as good as new.” she caressed her cheek and smiled softly. 

“Thank you, Mabel.” she let out a yelp when she was pulled back by Ford, she huffed at the action. 

“Let us return, Alvah.” she rolled her eyes and stood to her feet, snapping her fingers to rid of all the cobwebs and grime that got on her after that distasteful squabble. He raised a brow as he watched her approach him and reach for his hand, she laces her fingers with his as best as she could and pulls him close until they were practically cheek to cheek “What are you--” she ignored him to look back at the group. 

“See you back at the Mystery Shack.” with that she fell backwards and pulled Ford with her, he wasn’t prepared for the sensation that was them falling into their shadows and it felt like they were submerged briefly in a body of water before falling upright back in his lab. She chuckled softly when she felt his grip on her hand tighten significantly but when he came to realize they had returned he immediately let go, he looks back at her and saw Alvah changed back into his male appearance and rubbed his cheek that was bandaged. 

“How long will it take you to repair your face?”  

“It shouldn’t take too long since it’s small.” he hummed softly when he realized Ford was staring at him rather intently “What? Something else on my face?”  

“... you really have changed, Alvah.” his face twitched at Ford’s statement “You never stepped in whenever someone was in trouble, you always watched as if it were the most boring thing you ever had to do. You’ve stated you are a neutral being that’s job was only to spectate and observe, nothing more than that.” his fingers picks at the small band aid on his check while averting his gaze from Ford’s. 

“Why? You prefer if I abandon your family’s safety instead?” 

“No, I’m more curious as to why you would risk yourself getting into trouble to step in when you know you could face dire consequences.” Alvah continues to pick at the band aid as he thought back to his time spending every waking moment with the Pines Family and he couldn’t help but smile rather bitterly. 

“I, too, am very curious.” he then chuckles “I’ve got your brother to blame for half of it, though.” Ford scoffed. 

“I’ll say.” he rolled his eyes. 

Support pt. 2

word count: 13,184

Fandom: FNAF Security Breach  Pairing: N/A x Female!Reader Pronouns: She/Her  Relationship: N/A Occupation: Mechanic Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name  [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color

Warnings:

due to the fact that I started playing security breach/ruin while also watching theory videos about fnaf my obsession with this game has resurfaced and I thought of a part two regarding this story.

this has become more than what it was intended for.

there will be a part three because this was supposed to include the gameplay but it spiraled into something else.

that is all.

"Support" pt. 1

"Congratulations! You're being promoted!" [F/N], who was currently hunched over her workbench working on the latest upgrades for the main four, looked up at her boss with exhausted eyes. She blinked once, then twice, then a third before letting a sarcastic yay before flipping her helmet back down and continued working "Didn't you hear what I just said? You're being promoted!" she let out a sigh as she put down her tools and turned back to her boss, pushing the helmet back up with her thumb and wiping the sweat with the back of her forearm.

"I heard, I'm just not excited what I'm being promoted to." as well as the more you're going to dump on me, she didn't say that out loud but her face said it all. She cocked a brow when a mask was presented to her, she recognized it as one of the masks that technicians would wea-- "No, no way." he nods.

"Yes way." he places the mask into her hands and gave a cheery smile "You're being promoted to a technical engineer!" she looked down at the mask then back up at him.

"... but I'm a mechanical engineer, not a technical one." he waved his hand to dismiss her words.

"Pish posh, how hard can it be?" he looked away when her gaze turned scrutinizing, as if four years of studying to obtain her Degree of Mechanical Engineering was easy "If that doesn't color your fancy, not only do you get new tools, you get a pay increase." he smirked when he saw the way she cocked a brow, it was always the money.

"Well, I guess it's fine." she murmured as she flipped the mask over and saw the circuitry on the inside of the mask "Do I really have to wear this though? I'm gonna look ridiculous." he chuckled softly.

"The mask looks like that so when you have to work around the guests, you look family friendly to the kids." she flipped the mask back around to look at the unsettling face, she looked up at him with a really look on her face "Just put the damn mask on." she stared at him for a second longer shrugging and taking her helmet off and finally putting the mask on, nothing happened until it turned on and everything looked... different.

"Whoa, this is crazy." she awed as she looked around.

"Pretty cool, right?"

"Heh, I guess." she was then startled when dialogue appeared in front of her.

[Welcome to V.A.N.N.I., the Virtual Augmented Neural Network Integration Unit. Do not be surprised by your surroundings. You are still in the real world, but Fazbear Entertainment has made it better. With this security mask, you can locate and repair all the pesky security nodes that are locking down the mesh network here in the Mega Pizzaplex! Call me Helpi. You can always count on me because it's my job to help you succeed in your new job!]

"Don't tell me this thing is going to be around 24/-- ow!" she rips the mask off and rubs her head after feeling a stinging pain in her skull.

[Lucky for you, the transponder implant allows me to communicate wirelessly even when your mask is removed. Just another Faz-mazing benefit of being a class b technician. Of course, you will have to put your mask back on to get any real work done.]

"Argh, great. Now I've got a voice in my head, thanks." he grins.

"You're welcome." she rolled her eyes and placed the mask on her bench, he then handed her an odd looking tool "Now this is a Faz-Wrench, it's what the technicians use to charge conduits to grant them access into certain rooms, while in the AR world, it is used to breach security nodes and also reboot animatronics."

"Reboot them, huh? Have they ever needed to be rebooted?"

"Not recently, no. They've only needed to be rebooted when there's been a breach in their programming, but even then that's never happened. But, the best part about the mask is that the animatronics are unable to see you."

"What?" he nods.

"Uh huh. While wearing the mask, you can walk by the animatronics completely undetected. Additionally, the mask can allow you to pass through certain solid objects in the real world or cross AR only bridges, which allows you to access locations that were otherwise inaccessible in the real world." her eyes widened at the information as she looked between him and the mask.

"How the hell is that possible?" he shrugged.

"Fazbear technology." she closed her eyes "Anyways, your additional duties are as I stated. I expect you to be able to adapt to your new tasks with ease."

"How... fazerrific." he pats her shoulder.

"There's the enthusiasm!" he then finally backs away "Well, have a great rest of your day!" she slumped in her chair as she watched him leave then looked back at the creepy mask, why did it have to be so creepy looking? She tossed the Faz-Wrench on her bench while grabbing a cloth and chucking it over the mask, she didn't want it looking at her.

"At least I'm getting paid more..." she sat there for a moment before putting her helmet back on and going back to work, the Glam Gang needed these upgrades for their upcoming show.

[a few weeks later]

"Mum! A lady just walked through a wall!"

"That's nice, sweety. Now, go play with your friends so mummy can talk to her friend."

"But mum, I really saw it!"

"Uh huh, you have such a wild imagination." the child pouts and opens his mouth to insist that what he saw wasn't his imagination until he saw the same woman poke her head out of the wall, he gasped when he saw her bring her finger to the lips of the creepy rabbit mask she was wearing before disappearing back through the wall "Mum!" [F/N] snickered softly when she heard the boy cry out about what he saw before shaking her head and going back to fixing a circuit board, having this mask was so fun. Not only did she get to play pranks and mess around with the animatronics, but it was fun to mess with the children. She doesn't do it very often but she was prone to walking through walls in front of the children just to freak them out a bit, it was hilarious to hear children chatter about the ghost rabbit lady.

"Never gets old." she snickered as she pushed the mask to the side of her head and started working on a arcade machine that started playing up, complaints about how the ticket dispenser was jammed. When she finally got it fixed she put the control panel back in place and smiled when she saw the tickets run out smoothly, she grabbed the handful and gave them to a kid that just so happened to be walking by. She laughed when they took it with great enthusiasm and ran off to tell his friends, she puts the V.A.N.N.I. back on and turned to leave but something caught her eye, she noticed a very prominent purple cable leading to the back of the Fazcade, specifically to where the security office was. She picked up her clipboard and saw there wasn't much on her list so she followed the cable to see where it would lead, surprisingly, it didn't lead into the security office but to the far back where the abandoned arcade games were. When she was finally at the end of the cable she lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at what she found "Princess Quest? I've never heard of this game before." she murmured as she looked at the machine closely, seeing how it pulsated while being surrounded by black glitches. She took the mask off and looked at the machine once more, she tried turning it on but no matter what she did it wouldn't switch on. She then noticed that it said "Princess Quest 2", so there was another one? But where could it be?

"[F/N]? Come in, [F/N]." she glanced down at the walkie talkie strapped to her thigh, she unbuckled the holster and took the walkie talkie out of it just as Vanessa spoke again "[F/N], do you copy?"

"I hear you loud and clear, Ness." she heard the woman chuckle at the nickname.

"I hate to bother you, but one of the security bots that monitors Roxy's Raceway got damaged. Apparently it drove over a couple wires and they got tangled it its wheels. I'm gonna need you to fix it." she salutes her, not that she could see it.

"I'll get right to it."

"Thanks, hope I didn't interrupt anything." she looks at the arcade machine one more time before shaking her head and leaving the room.

"Nah, I wasn't doing anything important. I'm in the Fazcade right now, shouldn't take me that long to get there."

"Thanks, the last thing we need is to replace another security bot. We haven't been needing to do that thanks to you."

"It's what I was hired for." Vanessa laughs once more "I'll radio you once I'm done."

"Good. I'll be by if you need assistance, though I highly doubt you'll need it. See you later." with a new task added to the list, she puts her walkie talkie back in her holster and leaves the Fazcade. She made sure to say goodbye to DJMM before entering the elevator, questioning the odd "true facts" that plays in the elevator, then stepping out into the atrium. She smiled from where she was at the sight of the main four performing on the stage, the songs were repetitive but it was fun watching them rock out. And who do they have to thank for such a wonderful outcome? She mentally pats herself on the shoulder before finally making her way to Roxy Raceway, she ducks under the automatic shutter doors and hears the erratic sounds from the security bot.

"Alright, dingus, time to get you fixed." slipping the V.A.N.N.I. mask on, she deactivates the machine before pushing it over but setting it down gently to get the wires untangled from its wheels. She grimaced when she saw just how tangled they were in its gears so she had to be as careful as she could as to not damage to wires and the bot itself, it took a bit of time but she finally managed to untangle them. She set the bot upright then checked its system to see if anything else was damaged, she didn't see anything but rebooted the machine so that it would instead head to Parts and Service so she could do a maintenance check on it "Head to my workshop, I'll be there to do thorough examination on you." it salutes her.

"Aye, aye." she shook her head as it rolled out and made its way to Parts and Services, she began to follow after it until she noticed the same prominent purple cable she saw back in the Fazcade. She followed it and saw that it was leading into the Glamrock Beauty Salon, she looked back towards the exit before shrugging her shoulders and following it, maybe she'll find another one of those "Princess Quest" games. As she followed it, she would occasionally take off the V.A.N.N.I. mask to see any changes to the environment, the closer she got to more reality seemed to glitch out. She enters the salon and weaved past the security bots monitoring the building before finally finding the arcade machine hidden in one of the backrooms, and just like the last one, it pulsated while being surrounded by black glitches.

"Princess Quest 1, huh? So there was another one, but what's an arcade machine doing here? Maybe this one will work, unlike the other." she takes the mask off and looks the machine over once again, it was unlike any other arcade machine. It was predominantly black with red trim outlining the frame, giving it a bold but slightly ominous vibe. On the side there's a glowing yellow-orange silhouette of a princess, probably representing the character you play as, on the side, holding what looks like a small lantern or magical object "I wonder if it'll sta--"

"[F/N]!!" she let out a scream when the door to the room was suddenly kicked open by Roxy, before she could question why she did it she was picked up by the canine and dragged out of the room. She let out an oof when Roxy placed her on a swivel seat and spun around a couple times before finally stopping in front of the girl, she perked a brow before letting out a sigh when she saw the state Roxy was in "You've got to fix me! A kid got pizza sauce in my hair!" she leaned over and saw streaks of red in her frizzled hair, I guess she tried getting it out herself but only made it worse.

"You didn't make a scene, did you?" she sniffled, her usually perfect eyeliner and mascara now running down her face.

"I-I tried to keep it together, but once I was out of sight I came here as quickly as I could." [F/N] nods as she grabbed a box of tissues and handed them to the animatronic wolf.

"Good job, management doesn't like when you guys cause a scene in front of the guests. Well done, I expected nothing less of you, Roxy." she shook her head when Roxy beamed a little.

"O-Of course, it was me, after all." she nods.

"Anyways, how'd you know I was here?"

"I passed that security bot and asked if it knew where you were."

"Ah, I see." Roxy's ears flickered up when she saw [F/N] stand up and start walking away.

"W-Where are you going? Aren't you going to fix me?" she waved her hand to dismiss Roxy's anxiousness as she approached a jukebox, she saw that it was plugged in so she smack it a couple times before it sprung to life.

"Well, if I'm gonna give you a makeover, we might as well listen to some classics." she said as she cycled through the many vinyl's, she settled for Duran Duran's "Girls on Film" and turned back to Roxy "So, what are we feeling today?" she asked as she pulled out the many makeup sets provided by Fazbear Entertainment "I may not be as good as a professional makeup artist, but I am pretty good at bringing out a woman's beauty." Roxy couldn't help but gleam at that. It's almost been an hour since [F/N] had started when the salon doors were kicked open by none other than Chica, who was in search for Roxy, and she found [F/N] holding Roxy by the underside of her snout and apply a glittery green lipstick to her lips.

...

...

"Are you gals having a makeover... without me?" [F/N] let out a sigh when Chica started crying, she brought the chicken over to the empty seat beside Roxy, who was currently cooing over her newly applied makeup "Do me next..." she whispered softly with a pout, [F/N] deadpans at the puppy eyes Chica was giving her before pulling out a makeup pallet that matched her color scheme.

"What do you want first?" she clapped her hands in glee. She was going between both female animatronics, from doing Roxy's manicure to applying an eyeshadow that was a soft pastel shade of glittery pink to Chica's eyelids. She was fixing up the streaks on Chica's cheeks when the doors to the salon were kicked open once more, this time it was Monty who entered and was staring at the three of them in mild confusion.

"... what's going on here?"

"... don't question it." Chica giggled softly.

"Wanna join?" he took a deep breath.

"... sure." by the time Freddy arrived at the salon he found [F/N] on a stool as she styled Monty's hair into a pompadour with a comb in between her teeth and a can of hairspray in her hand as she shaped his hair, she tossed the hairspray away as she combed his hair the way she wanted before throwing it away as well then getting in front of his face. His glasses were resting on her head so they wouldn't get in the way and he could just briefly see his reflection through the lenses, she then pulled out just a strand of his hair and curled it around her finger.

"There, I always thought you'd look good with a pompadour." she murmured as she jumped off the stool and grabbed the mirror from Roxy's hands and showed him his reflection, he whistled when he saw what she did.

"Wow, I'm looking good! I should come to you more often, cher."

"Hah, I hope this doesn't becoming a reoccurring thing."

"So this is where you lot have been." they all look over at the sound of Freddy's voice, he raised a brow when he saw the three animatronics all look towards [F/N]. She looked at the three of them then nodded her head, he flinched when three eyes gleam in his direction and then he was suddenly grabbed and sat down in Monty's seat.

"It's your turn, teddy bear." Monty grinned.

"You're going to look so beautiful~" Chica cooed.

"[F/N]'s hands are blessed." Roxy praised, he looked past them towards [F/N] and shrieked when he saw her raise her closed fists and in between her fingers were different makeup cosmetics.

"How did I get here?" they couldn't help but laugh at that. When Vanessa finally found them it was Roxy and Chica doing Freddy's nails by filing and painting them, Monty was holding [F/N] by her waist as she wore Freddy's hat so she could do a different design regarding the face paint he usually wore. Freddy was giggling softly at how focused [F/N] was to not mess up the linework, it was only when she finished did Vanessa make her presence known.

"Ah hem." they all look towards the entrance and saw Vanessa, not looking to impressed to find them all hiding in the salon "Care to explain yourselves." they all look back to [F/N], who looked at them all before shrugging.

"What's a makeover before the big show, Ness? Don't tell me you want one too?" they all laugh when she raised her hands and backed away.

"No way." Monty put her down and she all but collapsed into an empty chair, breathing tiredly, while the animatronics gathered around, marveling at their new looks. Roxy couldn’t keep her eyes off her reflection — her face sparkled under the salon lights, glitter catching every flicker and gleam. She traced a claw along her jawline, utterly mesmerized. Chica was squealing with delight, spinning around in front of the mirror, her voice bouncing off the walls.

"Look at me! The pink really makes my eyes pop!" she gushed, fluttering her eyelids dramatically. Monty was admiring himself too, running a hand through his newly styled pompadour, the hairspray and sheen making him look even sleeker and wilder than before.

"Now this is rockstar material," he said, flashing a sharp grin at his reflection. Even Freddy, who didn't have the flashy changeable features like the others, looked pleased. His new face paint, swirled in soft blues and silvers, gave him a warm, friendly glow — like a true superstar.

"Sometimes," Freddy said with a chuckle, "a little paint can go a long way." [F/N] watched them, slumped in the chair, a tired but genuine smile tugging at her lips.

"I'm glad you like it," [F/N] said, her voice weary but firm, "but don't expect this to be a reoccurring thing." She flinched when they all turned to her in unison, a desperate gleam sparking in their robotic eyes.

"Oh, please? You made us look so good!" Freddy pleaded, hands clasped in front of him with surprising earnestness. "I'm sure the kiddos will love our new looks!" Chica chimes in next, nodding so fast her earrings jingled.

"Yeah!" Chica said again, practically bouncing. "I'm sure even management would love for us to have different looks from time to time — so we don't get boring!" Roxy leaned forward, her glittering makeup making her eyes look even sharper.

"W-We could do this maybe, like, once every two weeks? O-Or once a month? Yeah?" she bargained, voice hopeful, ears twitching. Monty threw an arm around Roxy’s shoulders with a loud clank of metal.

"We promise we won't cause a hassle," he said, flashing another cocky grin, "and we'll even make sure our monthly maintenance is up to date!" The others chimed in with enthusiastic nods and hopeful, mechanical smiles. She stared at them — these huge, glittering animatronics who were begging her for makeovers like overgrown kids. She sighed, rubbing her face.

"Fine," she muttered. "Once a month. Maybe. And only if you behave." she holds her hands out to stop them from grabbing her but that doesn't stop them, Vanessa couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of [F/N]'s arms strung over Freddy's shoulders as she was pulled into a forced group hug. Despite her tired and disgruntled attitude, she couldn't help but smile weakly as she returned the hug.

So—

Management did indeed like the makeovers [F/N] gave to the animatronics — so much so that they made it mandatory she continue to do so. At first, [F/N] was reluctant, already stretched thin between her usual duties and trying to survive the Pizzaplex’s chaos. But when they mentioned another pay raise, she quickly changed her tune. Instead of squeezing it into their regular monthly maintenance checks, it became its own event: Every month, like clockwork, the animatronics would parade back into the Glamrock Beauty Salon — excited, chattering, almost childlike in their eagerness. From new hairstyles between Roxy and Monty, to simple touchups to their makeup for Chica and Freddy, it was a peaceful bliss for all five of them. [F/N] liked it because all she had to do for that day was glamorize them then relax the rest of the day, maybe she had to thank that kid for getting sauce in Roxy's hair.

"Skeet, skeet," she snickered to herself as she rolled into Bonnie Bowl on her newly acquired Heelys. Why was she wearing them? Because Monty had bet she couldn’t use them without wiping out — and now, out of pure spite (and style), she was rolling around the Pizzaplex, mocking him each time she zipped past. Why was she at Bonnie Bowl? Well, apparently the pinsetter mechanisms for a few of the lanes were acting up, and it was her job to fix them before morning. She had a rope tied around a few Caution Bots, letting them lead her toward Bonnie Bowl. She cheered when she let go and coasted through the entrance — only to slam directly into the ball rack with a loud thud.

"Alright, let's see if I can get a strike," she muttered, grabbing a ball. Rolling up to the first lane, she swung her arm back and let the ball fly. It barreled down the lane, knocking all the pins clean off their feet. She pumped a fist in the air as she watched the strike and waited to see if the mechanism would fail. When it didn’t, she ticked a mark on her clipboard and moved to the next lane, repeating the process twenty-one more times. She didn’t get a perfect strike every time, but out of the twenty-two lanes, only six had issues with the pin elevators. Not bad. Rolling along the sidewalk behind the lanes, she located the numbered mechanisms and got to work fixing them. She was lucky they were numbered — otherwise she’d be rolling back and forth all night trying to find the broken ones. As she worked, she noticed an awful lot of Caution Bots lingering around in the back. Were they supposed to do that? Sure, they were designed to warn customers about wet floors and other hazards, but these ones were practically nudging her while she tried to work.

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped that, mmkay?" she said, shoving them back gently to give herself some space. They didn’t let up, though — in fact, more kept gathering. By the time she tightened the last bolt, she was surrounded by nearly a dozen bots. Dropping her torque wrench into her belt, she gave them a tired look. "Okay, fine. You've got my attention. What do you want?"

Instead of answering — not that they could — the Caution Bots began pushing her deeper into the maintenance area, further from the lanes. She started to feel a little uneasy. Were they about to kill her? But no — they stopped in front of a boarded-up section of wall. Confused, she looked down at them — just as one of the bots squeezed through a small opening. She knelt down and peeked through the gap, squinting into the dark room beyond. She could make out a cluster of bots surrounding...something she couldn’t quite see. The first bot beeped at her, urging her to follow.

With a sigh, she stood, pulled the small crowbar from her belt, and started prying off the boards. When she finally cleared most of them away, she put the crowbar back and grabbed her flashlight. Shining it into the dark, she still couldn’t quite make anything out — until she stepped a little closer. And then she saw it.

"What the hell is that?" she whispered. There, crumpled on the far floor, was a broken, battered animatronic. She took a step closer and let the light shine on it just to inspect the damage and try to see just which animatronic it was. It collapsed on the ground, limbs twisted and splayed out awkwardly. Its endoskeleton and inner wiring are partially exposed, and what’s left of his outer shell is filthy, cracked, and faded. Its once-bright paint — mainly blue and red — is grimy and chipped away almost entirely in places. Its face looked severely damaged: the jaw is hanging open unnaturally, one eye is popped out of its socket while both were glowing a sickly yellow "There was only one blue animatronic, Bonnie?" her finger gently brushed against his face and it suddenly sprung to life.

"S-S-Strike! Nice go-- going there, k-kiddo! You j-just got a-a-a str-- strike!" she jumped back in surprise when he spoke, but it wasn't really him speaking but a dialogue from his programming. When his body stopped spasming she finally let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, she approached him once more and kicked his head just to make sure he didn't suddenly wake up again.

"What is he doing here? The reports said he went missing in Monty Golf," she muttered, furrowing her brows. Her eyes dropped to his chest plate — or what was left of it — and noticed the deep, jagged claw marks tearing through the metal, exposing his inner endoskeleton.

Was he attacked?

She never personally met Glamrock Bonnie, but she knew he had been the bassist before... Monty. Her gaze flickered back down to the vicious claw marks. She shook her head. No — Monty couldn't have done this. It was impossible, right? He didn’t even have those claw upgrades until after Bonnie disappeared.

"... he’s still functioning," she mumbled, watching the faint flicker of life in the broken animatronic. She paused, thinking it over — then shrugged. It's not like she had anything better to do.

The next half hour was spent dragging Bonnie’s broken body — and whatever spare pieces she could find — into a nearby maintenance cart. It wasn’t easy; she was lucky his head didn’t fall off when she hoisted his torso up. Each piece was heavier and more fragile than it looked, and it took several frustrating attempts to get him situated without completely falling apart. By the end of it, she was sweaty, scuffed up, and exhausted — but she managed.

"I am not going to have fun lugging his ass back to Parts and Services," she grumbled under her breath. Before leaving, she grabbed a dirty sheet from a nearby pile and draped it over his broken form. He had been abandoned here for a reason — and she definitely didn’t want anyone spotting him.

Luck seemed to be on her side: none of the security guards, and thankfully not Vanessa, were patrolling the atrium when she rolled out of Bonnie Bowl. As long as no one wandered into Parts and Services, no one would know what she had found. Once inside, she carefully laid out each piece on the worktable, lining them up one by one like she was assembling a jigsaw puzzle. His limbs, his shattered chest plate, even the loose wires — everything had a place, and somehow, she’d figure out how to put him back together. Some pieces from his endoskeleton was missing, which was the worst part of all of this because she was going to have to get pieces from... them.

"Okay... I think I jotted everything down. What's missing and what he needs to power him back online." for a better look she was wearing the V.A.N.N.I mask to see which pieces she needed and wrote those down as well, that was when Helpi appeared.

[Proceed with caution about what you power up, [F/N]. Powering up dismantled machinery often leads to dangerous consequences.]

"Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know." she murmured as she waved her hand to dismiss the text, but she started thinking. Why was she doing this? She didn't need to fix Bonnie, he was practically decommissioned and everything about him has already been replaced by Monty, just like Roxy did with Foxy. But looking down at his broken down body, clinging to what little life he still had... she was a mechanic, and it was her job to fix what was broken "Alright, bunny boy. Let's get started."

And so—

[F/N] had started picking up more nightshifts, dedicating nearly all her free time to getting Bonnie back up and running. She spent her days fixing what she could under the radar, and stayed overnight to get in extra hours without raising suspicion.

Bonnie’s outer shell was severely damaged — cracked, and dented — but it wasn’t beyond saving. Fortunately, Fazbear Entertainment still had most of his original parts gathering dust in the basement, tossed aside like forgotten junk. Navigating the basement wasn’t easy though; the place was crawling with old, half-functional endoskeletons. The only way she could get around them safely was by using the V.A.N.N.I. mask — a trick she wasn’t exactly proud of, but desperate times, desperate measures. She set up a separate, hidden room to work on him, far from the main Parts and Services bay. That way, if someone happened to walk in, they wouldn’t see what she was up to. Bonnie stayed hidden most of the time, tucked away safely — she only pulled him out when she needed to use the Cylinder to properly align his parts and test his systems.

"Okay... I think I’ve fixed most of your programming. Most of it got fried by something," [F/N] said as she typed away at the terminal outside the Protective Cylinder, eyes flicking between lines of code.

[Whatever caused Glamrock Bonnie to malfunction has been completely overridden. Good job, superstar!]

"It wasn’t easy. Whatever was inside it was bad." she said as she huffed a laugh while she flexed her sore fingers. "What can't this Faz-Wrench do?" It had taken multiple attempts just to flush out the corrupted data before she could replace it with something fresh. Whatever had latched onto Bonnie's systems was stubborn — outdated, malicious, and deeply rooted. "It was completely outdated. Fitting him with something new should bring his systems back online."

[Very much so. That chip is what all active animatronics are fitted with — though his differs slightly. Since he hasn't undergone the same maintenance cycles as the others, his endoskeleton remains heavily outdated. He will not be able to access the shared network.]

"I see..." she muttered, frowning thoughtfully. "But what can we even do with so few resources for his model?" She pushed the final command. The Cylinder doors hissed open, revealing Bonnie’s partially repaired frame inside. Pulling her V.A.N.N.I. mask up and out of the way, she stepped inside with the small chip in hand. Carefully, she slotted it into the back of Bonnie’s head, following the intercom's calm, mechanical instructions. One by one, she began plugging his limbs back together — reconnecting joints, wiring, hydraulic lines — rebuilding him piece by piece like a forgotten relic being stitched back to life.

[Now, all that's left is for the final touch.]

"Yup." she holds out the Faz-Wrench and watched as it buzzed to life.

[Reactivation: 0 of 1]

...

...

[Animatronic Reactivated]

SAFE MODE...

REBOOT...

SYSTEM INITIALIZATION... CHECKING COMPONENTS... OK INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS... OK INITIALIZING AI ENGINE... OK MEMORY STATUS...

ALL SYSTEMS... OK

Bonnie’s body twitched once — a sharp, sudden jolt — then fell still. A few tense seconds passed before another shudder ran through him. His fingers twitched. His head gave a slow, mechanical tilt. Then, with a sharp hiss of vented air, his eyes slowly flickered open — soft, unfocused glows against the dim room.

"Hmm... optical receptors seem to be operational," [F/N] said, her voice casual but focused. The sudden sound startled Bonnie. His head snapped toward her voice, mechanical joints creaking in protest. He found [F/N] looming over him, studying him closely as she tapped a knuckle lightly against his faceplate. "Only one of his eyes was damaged but I had to replace both with some spares from Monty’s stockpile."

"H-Hello..." Bonnie’s voice crackled weakly to life. [F/N] perked up immediately, grabbing the clipboard she had left nearby and scribbling down notes in a quick, messy hand.

"Voice module’s operational too," she said, grinning a little. "Good — real good. Glad I managed to patch that one up." Bonnie watched her silently, blinking slowly, still trying to make sense of what was happening — and of the stranger who was putting him back together piece by piece.

"Wh-where…?" His voice was weak "W-who are…?"

"Oh, that's right. I'm new to you, but I've been around for nearly a year now. My name is [F/N], and I'm the new mechanic for Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex." Bonnie blinked slowly, the flickering light behind his eye struggling to stay steady. His whole body trembled slightly, like it was taking real effort just to sit up. Without thinking, [F/N] took a step forward and grabbed his arm to steady him. "Whoa, easy there, champ. You’ve been offline for a long time. Gotta let the systems catch up." she spoke, her voice now steady.

"What... what happened?" she shrugged as she helped him settle back down.

"Why don't you tell me? I found you abandoned behind Bonnie Bowl, and might I add, in pieces. It took me forever to put you back together. Your systems were fried, your frame was a mess... I’m no professional technician, but," she tapped her chest with mock pride, "I think I did a stupendous job reprogramming you." Bonnie’s lights flickered faintly as he processed her words. His hands, clunky and trembling, flexed weakly at his sides. He didn’t understand how or why — but somehow, he was here. And somehow, she had brought him back.

"Thank you..." she chuckled softly.

"Don't worry about it," [F/N] said lightly, flipping through her clipboard. "It's my job to fix those who are broken. But you're still not completely patched up yet. You’re missing a couple components that I need to replace before you're one hundred percent operational." She tapped the side of the clipboard with her pen, scanning the list of parts she had ordered — all disguised in the paperwork as "upgrades for the other animatronics." Bonnie shifted slightly, servos whining as he tested the movement in his repaired limbs. He looked up at her, the faintest trace of awe in his voice.

"This is... surreal. The last mechanic I remember was a man." [F/N] chuckled under her breath.

"Yeah, well... that was a really long time ago. Fazbear Entertainment’s been without a real professional mechanic for a while now."

"Really?" Bonnie tilted his head, confused. "How strange." She narrowed her eyes slightly, stepping closer.

"Hmm. I'm sure I fixed your memory bank. Maybe you just need some time. Systems like yours don’t exactly reboot overnight." ," she said thoughtfully, reaching up to lightly tap the side of his head. Her fingers drifted lower, brushing across the newly repaired surface of his chest plate — the metal cool and smooth under her touch. "Whatever damaged you and left you back there... they didn’t want you being found." Bonnie remained still, his glowing eyes dimming slightly as if he was trying — and failing — to reach for memories that weren’t there anymore.

"I apologize." she shook her head.

"There isn't a need, we still have plenty of time to get you back in shape. I'm sure Freddy, the gang and the children will be thrilled to see their favorite and loveable bunny up and running again!" she cheered and that seemed to lift his spirits.

"Yes, yes! I have missed them very much! M-May I see them now?" she gave him a guilty look.

"Unfortunately... not yet," [F/N] said, frowning sadly at the defeated noise that came out of him.

"Oh..." Bonnie visibly deflated at her words, his shoulders slumping with a faint mechanical creak. Seeing it tugged at something in her chest. She sighed, setting the clipboard down and crouching a little to meet his gaze.

"Listen, Bonnie," she began, choosing her words carefully. "I... wasn’t supposed to fix you. I wasn’t even supposed to find you." He blinked slowly, confusion and sadness flickering behind his damaged optics.

"What?" she nods.

"It was a miracle I even managed to, and that’s only because the Caution Bots wouldn’t stop bothering me." She huffed a dry laugh under her breath, but it didn’t reach her eyes. "If management finds out I wasted resources on a 'decommissioned animatronic'..." she hesitated, grimacing. "The worst case? I get fired."

"So... what, then?"

"So... if you want to stay — really stay — I have to bring you back to perfect condition," she said, her voice firming up again. "Good enough that management can’t just write you off. Good enough that they have to let you stay."

"O... Okay," he said, voice crackling faintly but sincere. [F/N]'s face lit up instantly. She reached out without thinking and gently took his hand, giving it a small, apologetic squeeze.

"Good, good!" she beamed. "And I'm really sorry you can't see the others yet — but I promise I'll get you up and running as fast as I can." Her enthusiasm was infectious. Even in his weakened state, Bonnie felt a flicker of something warm inside his worn-out systems. It wasn’t much, but for the first time since reactivation, he managed a small, genuine smile. Weak — but real.

And that’s how [F/N] spent the following weeks — carefully, patiently — getting Bonnie back up and running. Like the other animatronics during her first week at the Pizzaplex, he was wary of her at first, flinching slightly whenever she got too close or adjusted his wiring. It was understandable. From what she had been told before becoming the go-to mechanic, their last technician had been cruel, treating them like nothing more than broken machines to kick back into shape.

But [F/N] was different. Sure, she knew what they were — robots, circuits, programming — but there was something about them that felt alive. Something that made her treat them like more than just animatronics. And little by little, Bonnie began to realize it too. It was a little embarrassing, but when she was checking his motor skills and teaching him to walk again after laying dormant for a long time, she treated him as a toddler who was walking for the first time.

"Come on, big guy! I'll be right here to catch you." she reassured as she stood a couple feet from where he was sitting, she chuckled softly when he pressed his pawed hand over his eyes to shield himself from the embarrassing image.

"I-I can do this by myself..."

"Sure, bunny boy. But what's a little help, hmm?" peeking out from between his fingers, he saw her standing there, hands still outstretched, patient and encouraging. "I promise to catch you." Bonnie hesitated a moment longer... then slowly dropped his hand and pushed himself up with a mechanical whir, joints clicking softly as he found his balance. "There you go," [F/N] teased, hands still out. "C'mon, don’t leave me hangin’, superstar." Bonnie grumbled under his breath, ears twitching in clear embarrassment as he took a shaky step forward. His servos whined from disuse, and his heavy frame wobbled precariously.

"You're doing great," she said, grinning wide enough for him to see it. "Like a big ol’ baby deer."

"I am not a baby," Bonnie muttered, taking another uneven step — and immediately tipping sideways. [F/N] laughed and lunged forward just in time to catch him, staggering slightly under his weight but managing to steady them both.

"Whoa, easy there, big guy!" she said brightly, patting his arm like he was made of paper instead of reinforced alloy. "What’d I tell you? I'd catch you." Bonnie stayed frozen for a second longer than necessary, blinking down at her with wide, embarrassed eyes before slowly straightening up, careful this time.

"Th-Thank you," he mumbled.

"Hey, no problem," she said with a wink, stepping back. "Besides, I'm not letting you face-plant after all this work fixing you. That would seriously ruin my repair record." Bonnie huffed out something that almost sounded like a laugh — shy, but real. By the end of the day he was walking all on his own, under her supervision, and though he wasn't yet able to move as well as he did in the past, at least he wasn't fal-- oh, spoke to soon.

"Hey, no problem," she said with a wink, stepping back. "Besides, I'm not letting you face-plant after all this work fixing you. That would seriously ruin my repair record." Bonnie huffed out something that almost sounded like a laugh — shy, but real. By the end of the day, he was walking on his own, moving carefully under [F/N]'s watchful eye. His steps were still stiff and unsteady, but he was upright — and he hadn't needed her to catch him for a while now. Progress. She leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, watching him pace the small room.

"Look at you go, practically a track star." Bonnie huffed again, a little louder this time — almost a laugh — as he focused on taking another solid step forward. At least, until his foot caught on a loose wire. He stumbled, arms flailing in a desperate attempt to catch himself — but it was too late. "Oh, spoke too soon," [F/N] muttered just as he crashed face-first into the floor with a loud metallic thud.

...

...

"You okay down there, champ?" [F/N] snorted, trying and failing to hold back a laugh. Bonnie groaned miserably into the floor, one hand giving a feeble thumbs-up.

Bonnie was now resting inside a charging station, his systems whirring quietly as he powered down after a long, exhausting day of rehab. Meanwhile, [F/N] sat hunched over a cluttered worktable, sketches and blueprints spread out in a messy fan around her. She twirled her pencil between her fingers as she stared at the latest design she was working on: a new, custom upgrade for Bonnie’s hands.

She was basing it off both his original schematics and Monty's claw design — trying to create something better. Stronger, yes, but more refined. The claws Monty had weren’t exactly her favorite piece of tech. They hadn’t been designed by her, and they had clear flaws. Sure, they let him play the bass better with the strength boost, but Monty’s lack of regulation often meant snapped strings, shattered basses, and more than a few frustrated tantrums.

[F/N] tapped her pencil against the table thoughtfully. Bonnie deserved better than that. He needed precision and strength — not brute force. She glanced over at the charging station, where the faint blue glow around Bonnie’s frame pulsed with each slow breath of the charger. A small smile tugged at her lips.

"I'll get you something even better, big guy," she murmured under her breath, scribbling a few more adjustments onto the blueprint. "Something that won’t just make you strong... but make you you again."

Hours passed. The Pizzaplex had long since fallen into its eerie nighttime silence, save for the occasional mechanical whir or distant buzz of a maintenance bot roaming the halls. But in the tucked-away workshop, the only sound was the scratch of [F/N]’s pencil and the occasional tired sigh.

She was determined to get it right. Every line on the blueprint, every measurement, had to be perfect. Bonnie wasn’t just another project — not to her. But eventually, exhaustion crept in. Her pencil slipped from her fingers, clattering softly against the table, and her head dipped forward until she slumped against her arms, fast asleep. The soft, even rise and fall of her breathing was the only movement in the room.

Across the way, the charging station gave a low hum as it completed its cycle. The doors hissed open, releasing Bonnie in a mist of cool air. His systems rebooted sluggishly, optics adjusting to the dim light. For a moment he simply stood there, trying to get his bearings — until he noticed her. [F/N], curled up awkwardly at her workbench, fast asleep amidst scattered blueprints, loose wiring, and tools.

Bonnie’s ears drooped slightly, a strange, unfamiliar feeling stirring somewhere deep in his still-recovering systems. Carefully, quietly, he stepped forward, mindful of the newly calibrated servos in his legs. He moved with surprising grace for someone who could barely walk earlier that day. He stopped just beside her, tilting his head as he studied her sleeping form. There was smudged pencil lead on her fingers, a wrench tucked under one arm like she was guarding it in her sleep, and a soft little frown of concentration still lingering on her face even in rest.

She’d worked herself to exhaustion — for him.

Bonnie’s gaze shifted to the blueprint in front of her. Even without fully understanding all the technical details, he recognized the shape of the new hands she was designing: built for precision, for control, with a strength that could be guided rather than forced.

Built for him.

Slowly, Bonnie reached out, his newly repaired fingers hovering uncertainly for a moment before gently pulling a nearby spare cloth over her shoulders like a blanket. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

"...Thank you," he whispered, his voice barely audible, before sitting down against the wall nearby, content to keep quiet watch until she woke. It wasn’t until a couple hours later that [F/N] stirred. She blinked blearily, sitting up with a groggy groan and rubbing her eyes. Her fingers brushed the cloth draped over her shoulders, and she froze for a second, confused. She didn’t remember grabbing a cloth... her sleepy gaze drifted across the room — and there, sitting quietly with his back against the wall, was Bonnie. He stiffened the moment he realized she was awake, his optics darting away quickly like a kid caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to. [F/N] blinked again, then smiled sleepily.

"Were you... watching over me?" Bonnie shifted awkwardly, fidgeting with the edge of his paw plates.

"N-No... I was just... resting," he said, very unconvincingly. She let out a soft laugh, sitting up straighter and letting the cloth fall into her lap.

"Right. You were ‘resting’... conveniently right next to me." Bonnie's ears twitched, and if he could blush, he probably would have. [F/N] stood up, stretching her arms over her head with a loud yawn. "Well, I appreciate the concern, Bunny Boy. Guess you’re sweeter than you look." Bonnie ducked his head shyly, but a faint, pleased whirr came from his chest. She moved to her worktable, tapping the designs she’d fallen asleep over. "I’ll have your new hands ready soon. Then we can finally get you back to playing bass — without snapping it in half like a certain someone." Bonnie chuckled softly under his breath.

"Thank you," he said again, this time a little stronger, a little more sure. [F/N] grinned at him over her shoulder.

"Anytime, big guy. That’s what friends are for, right?" The word friends made Bonnie's chest give a tiny, unfamiliar flutter — a warm, strange feeling he couldn’t quite explain.

But he decided he liked it.

Very much.

Bit by bit, Bonnie was slowly becoming himself again.

As she worked with him day after day, [F/N] couldn't help but wonder about the animatronic sitting before her. She never personally met Glamrock Bonnie before — at least, not when he was fully active. When she was little, she remembered visiting a Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria once or twice, but her memories of him were hazy at best. In her mind, he was always just the bunny with the bass... or was it a guitar? She couldn’t even remember which.

But Freddy and Chica remembered him.

And when [F/N] had mentioned Bonnie’s name in passing conversation, both had lit up with a fondness that was hard to ignore. They missed him terribly — and from the way they spoke, Bonnie had been quite the lively character. Freddy described him as "boisterous, but dependable," while Chica had simply called him "a big, goofy show-off with a heart of gold." [F/N] smiled a little at the memory as she adjusted the fit of the prototype hand she'd built. Bonnie watched her closely, his newly repaired optics focused on her with a cautious but growing trust.

"You know," she said as she tightened a few screws, "from everything Freddy and Chica have told me... you were a real handful back in the day." Bonnie's ears perked slightly.

"Handful...?"

"Yeah," she said, glancing up at him. "Loud. Energetic. Always goofing off between shows. You sound like you were the life of the party." Bonnie stared at her for a moment, as if trying to reach back into half-broken memories. His expression softened, and then, faintly — a chuckle.

"I... I think I remember," he said, almost shyly. "I liked making them laugh." [F/N] grinned, giving his newly installed hand a little test squeeze.

"Sounds about right. They miss you, you know." Bonnie blinked slowly, his voice dropping a little.

"...I miss them too." She sighed softly, reaching out and gently taking his hand into hers, her other hand giving the top of his paw a reassuring pat.

"I know you do," she said quietly. "But at the rate we’re going, I’m sure to have you up and running in no time." Bonnie's optics softened, and a small, genuine smile crossed his face. Her confidence, her steady presence — it was comforting in a way he hadn’t realized he needed.

"Okay," he said, his voice steadier. "I trust you." [F/N] beamed at him, giving his hand a small squeeze before stepping back.

"Good! Now, flex your hands," she ordered, her voice flipping from compassionate to all-business in a blink. Bonnie couldn’t help but chuckle — a deep, low sound — at how fast her demeanor changed. Still, he did exactly as she asked without complaint. Slowly, he opened and closed his fingers, testing the new joints. There was a slight stiffness at first, but already he could feel how much more natural the movement was compared to his old ones.

"Not bad," she said, watching closely, a pencil tucked behind her ear. "How's it feel?"

"Different... but better," Bonnie admitted, flexing his fingers again and rotating his wrists carefully. "Stronger. Smoother."

"That's what I like to hear," she said with a proud little grin, jotting a few quick notes onto her clipboard.

Now came her biggest problem yet — she needed a bass guitar. She couldn't just take Monty's. He would definitely notice if it was tampered with, and if it went missing for any length of time, he'd throw a tantrum the size of the entire Pizzaplex. The last thing [F/N] wanted was to deal with that kind of fallout. Ordering a new bass was off the table too. Management would absolutely question why she needed one when Monty’s was still perfectly functional. She couldn't afford to draw attention — not with Bonnie still a secret project hidden away in her workshop.

That left her with only one real option: make one herself.

She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as she stared at her notes. It wouldn't be easy. She'd have to dig through the piles of discarded parts, broken props, and scrap metal collecting dust down in the basement — the same place she'd scavenged for Bonnie’s replacement parts. It was risky. Time-consuming. Honestly, a little crazy. But when she glanced over at Bonnie, quietly recharging in his station with that peaceful look on his face, she decided it was worth it.

"Guess it's time to play junkyard hero," she muttered, grabbing her flashlight and tightening her toolbelt. If she could rebuild an entire animatronic out of scraps and stubbornness, she could definitely build a bass guitar.

Right?

Well—

She was sprawled over her workbench, the mask slipping off her face, her duffle bag of parts spilled across the table in disarray. Why was she so exhausted? Because she'd been darting around the basement, collecting parts while carefully avoiding the endoskeletons. They were usually dormant, but tonight—something had changed. They were more active, more aggressive. It would have been impossible to gather anything if not for the V.A.N.N.I. mask. Still, they'd gotten too close, closer than she was comfortable with.

“What the hell is up with them?” She shook her head, dumping the contents of the bag onto the table. She grabbed a couple of busted guitars, each showing signs of years of damage. Most had broken necks, some were missing tuning pegs and string trees, but the one in the best shape just needed a few parts replaced on the body. She wasn’t a luthier, but she could build a bass from scratch. This project had to be a secret from Bonnie. She wanted to surprise him with his own personal bass after he'd lost his to Monty. Each time they went through his maintenance, she’d make sure to hide everything related to the bass, keeping it out of sight so he wouldn't find it. Even when she had to leave Parts and Services to do her work as the mechanic and technician for the Pizzaplex, she made sure it stayed hidden—no one could know.

But, all the projects were slowly taking a toll on her body.

“If Moony catches you, he’ll be very upset,” Chica warned, watching [F/N] dismiss the concern with a casual wave of her hand.

“Eh, I’m doing great. I’m not causing any incidents—so all’s well that ends well,” [F/N] replied, trying to brush it off. Chica pouted softly and gently reached forward, cupping [F/N]'s cheek.

“I can’t help but worry we’re overworking you,” Chica said, her voice softening. “You’re one of the few mechanics we'd actually miss if you suddenly left,” she added with a chuckle.

“Aw, don’t worry about me,” [F/N] grinned, though it didn’t quite reach her tired eyes. “Besides, I highly doubt management will find anyone to replace me. I’m one of the few people who actually puts up with their bullshit.” Chica raised her hand as she saw [F/N] start to sway slightly, her exhaustion obvious.

“Okay, sweetheart,” she said, her tone shifting to one of gentle concern. “Just make sure to visit the Daycare, or I’ll send Moony after you myself.”

"Are you threatening me?" [F/N] laughed, her own smile returning despite the heavy weariness tugging at her. "I never took you for that kind of person." They shared another easy laugh, the moment light and natural, before [F/N] turned back to her work. She knelt down to check over Chica’s frame again — but paused when something caught her eye inside the animatronic's open chest cavity. Leaning in closer, [F/N]'s brow furrowed. Reaching in carefully she paused when she pulled out an empty chip packet.

"...Ah hah," Chica started, averting her gaze from the mechanic "How'd that get in there?" [F/N] shook her head in exasperation, tossing the crumpled wrapper into the trashcan behind her with a practiced flick.

"What did I say about eating the garbage, Chica?" Chica gave a sheepish little laugh, her servo claws fidgeting.

"I know, I know," she said, voice lilting with guilt. "I just... I get really hungry." [F/N] couldn't help but laugh, a tired but fond sound, as she wiped her hands on her pants.

"You're lucky you're cute," she teased, tapping Chica’s beak lightly. "Otherwise I'd have to report you to the janitorial team."

"Heh, thanks."

"Don't make me catch more trash inside you," [F/N] warned, crossing her arms. "You know what it does to your systems. It screws with your wiring and it's a pain to get it all out."

"I'm sorry, truly," Chica said, hanging her head in shame. Satisfied, [F/N] nodded and took a step back, pressing the correct colored buttons to reseal Chica’s chest plate. With a soft hiss, the panel clicked back into place. "Thanks again, sugar. My voice box had been acting up lately," Chica said brightly, giving a playful salute.

"Don't worry about it," [F/N] said with a tired chuckle. "Just be careful with what you consume, okay?"

"I will!" Chica chirped before twiddling her fingers in a cutesy farewell and skipping off toward her elevator. Once the bird was gone, [F/N] all but collapsed into her seat, burying her face in her hands. The exhaustion she'd been fighting — from the endless repairs, Bonnie’s reconstruction, and the slow, painstaking restoration of his bass — was finally catching up with her. She groaned softly, rubbing her face in an effort to ward off the overwhelming urge to just pass out right then and there.

"I'm so close," she told herself stubbornly. "What's a few more hours?"

Just as she reached for her clipboard again, a thought struck her.

"Wait a minute... what time is it—?" Before she could even glance at the clock, the power abruptly cut out, plunging the room into darkness. A low, sinister chuckle echoed through the air, and the faint jingling of bells quickly followed. [F/N] sighed, shoulders sagging in resignation. "Go ahead, do your thing," she muttered into the darkness. From the shadows, long, spindly limbs wrapped around her gently but firmly, and a familiar, unsettling face — all bells and toothy grin — appeared at her side.

"It's past your bedtime," Moondrop whispered, voice dripping with faux-sweetness as he cradled her against him like a wayward child.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Let's just get this over with," [F/N] grumbled, waving a lazy hand at him. Moondrop only giggled — that eerie, childish sound — before whisking her off the chair like she weighed nothing at all. She didn’t even bother to struggle; her body was practically deadweight by the time they reached the Daycare.

True to his word, Moondrop had already prepared a little tent in a quiet corner, complete with a pile of soft cushions and a blanket. Without much ceremony, he tucked her inside, setting the blanket over her as if she were one of the Daycare kids. No disturbances. No alarms. Just the quiet hum of the Daycare’s systems. When the lights inevitably switched back to day mode and Sundrop sprang to life, he immediately noticed her sleeping form and smiled warmly. Grabbing a facemask from the first-aid kit, he carefully slipped it over her eyes to shield her from the sudden brightness, patting her head once before quietly bustling around to clean the area. Every now and then, he’d tiptoe past her on exaggeratedly quiet feet, making absolutely sure not to wake her.

Throughout the night, a few of the animatronics stopped by one by one — Freddy, Chica, Roxy, and Monty — peeking in through the entrance of the tent. They each lingered for a moment, quietly ensuring she was okay before slipping away again without a word. None of them dared wake her; they just shared small glances among themselves, respectful and oddly protective. The Daycare — usually so chaotic and full of noise — was, for once, calm. And [F/N] slept on, wrapped up in a rare, peaceful stillness she hadn't felt in weeks.

Hours later...

"Mm..." [F/N] laced her fingers together as she stretched her arms over her head, hearing her knuckles crack with the movement. She blinked herself awake and tugged off the mask shielding her eyes. It took a second to register where she was — the cozy little tent Moondrop had set up for her. She smiled, tired but genuinely grateful. "I definitely needed that," she muttered, brushing hair from her face. Her attention shifted when Sundrop appeared at the opening of the tent, arms crossed, his usually cheery face pulled into a dramatic frown of disapproval. "Thanks for caring so much," [F/N] said softly, her voice free of sarcasm, her gratitude genuine. Sundrop beamed.

"Well, of course! There's isn't anything we wouldn't do for you, friend!" She smiled warmly, her heart squeezing a little at the sincerity of it.

"I appreciate that. Then stop eating glitter glue, dammit." At that, Sundrop immediately averted his gaze, whistling innocently.

"I'll do almost anything for you," he mumbled under his breath. [F/N] rolled her eyes but laughed, the sound light and infectious. The others chuckled along, unknown to them, Vanessa had been making her rounds when she noticed that Rockstar Row was suspiciously quiet. Curious, she followed the trail to the Daycare—and froze, blinking at the sight before her. Peeking through the door, she caught a glimpse of the impromptu "sleepover": all the animatronics were piled together in a loose circle, with [F/N] fast asleep in the middle, completely content and safe among them. Sundrop fussed with a blanket over her while the others lounged nearby, watching over her like protective siblings. Vanessa smiled to herself, letting out a quiet, relieved chuckle.

"And here I was getting worried she'd drop dead in the middle of one of her shifts." Shaking her head fondly, she stepped back and let them have their peace.

[weeks later]

"Haha! I did it! It's done!" [F/N] cheered, her arms thrown up in triumph.

Spread out on the workbench before her was Bonnie’s new bass, gleaming under the workshop lights. It wasn't perfect — not by Fazbear Entertainment's shiny, corporate standards — but it was theirs. Every part had been carefully scavenged, restored, and repainted with steady, meticulous hands. She ran her fingers gently along the neck of the bass, admiring the deep, rich blue accents she added to match Bonnie's original colors. It was sturdy, well-balanced, and most importantly, made for him.

“All that’s left is to tune it,” she said with a grin, grabbing a nearby tuner and sitting down with the bass cradled in her lap. The familiar feeling of strings under her fingers, the subtle vibrations humming through the wood—it almost made her giddy. She wasn't a professional by any means, but after tuning Chica’s guitar and Monty’s bass more times than she could count, it had become almost as easy as breathing for [F/N]. Her hands moved automatically, adjusting the tension of each string, plucking lightly to hear the notes ring out. It sounded terrible, of course, but it wasn't going to take long for her to get it sounding like new.

The low, steady hum of the bass strings filled the otherwise silent room as [F/N] carefully plucked and adjusted each one, her brow furrowed in focus. She sat cross-legged on the floor, the newly restored bass resting against her legs, the fresh paint gleaming under the workshop lights. She didn’t notice the soft sound of footsteps behind her — or the tall figure that lingered just beyond the doorway.

Bonnie stood there, one paw braced lightly against the doorframe, his ears tilted forward in curiosity. His eyes, brighter now thanks to her repairs, softened at the sight before him. He didn’t move, didn’t make a sound. He simply watched. The way she worked, with such care, such deliberate attention to every small detail — it stirred something in him. She wasn't just fixing something broken. She was giving something back to him. Something he thought he had lost forever. He caught the small smile that tugged at her lips when she strummed a note and heard it ring true. She tilted her head, tuning by ear, completely immersed in what she was doing. There was a quiet joy about her — a kind of pride and excitement that made Bonnie’s nonexistent heart ache a little.

And still, he didn’t disturb her.

Instead, he leaned silently against the frame, arms loosely crossed over his broad chest, content just to stay in that moment. Watching. Grateful.

He could wait a little longer to say thank you.

Bonnie's ears twitched slightly when he heard her voice — so soft, so full of affection for something she built just for him. He watched as she cradled the bass like it was something precious, her cheek pressed against the cool metal of the neck, her excitement lighting her face from within.

"He's going to love you," she whispered, tying a bright ribbon into a neat, proud bow around the bass’s neck. Bonnie felt something in his chest that he didn’t have words for. A warmth that buzzed through his frame, low and steady. He stayed silent, letting her have this moment without knowing she had an audience. She stepped back to admire her handiwork, hands on her hips, beaming with satisfaction. Something about it made Bonnie's own smile tug wider. Not because of the gift itself — though it was beautiful — but because of her. The care she put into it. The way she thought of him even when he wasn’t looking. She turned around and the presence that was watching her disappeared back down the hall he came from, she looked around once more before picking up the finished bass and putting it away before Bonnie could appear and see it. "I can't wait for him to see this."

And that’s where we find [F/N], hunched over Bonnie’s frame, polishing the metal and preparing his paint job. The body was smooth—free of dents or cracks—but still devoid of the signature colors that made him who he was. A photo of Bonnie, from before he was trashed, lay next to her on the workbench, the only reference to guide her as she worked. She glanced between the photo and the blank canvas before her, carefully adjusting Bonnie’s chin with one hand, holding him steady as she worked.

Her fingers, skilled from years of doing Roxy and Chica’s eyeliner, moved with ease, applying the delicate touch around his eyes. The eyeliner was subtle but precise, creating the sharp outline that defined his expression. She was meticulous, ensuring the curve was just right, just like she had done a hundred times before on the others. As she finished, she took a step back, making sure everything aligned perfectly, her tired eyes scanning his face for any imperfections that didn’t exist.

Next, she moved on to the paint. The airbrush in her hand hummed softly as she began to layer color over his frame, each stroke smooth and deliberate. There was no damage to cover, no wear and tear to fix—just an empty surface awaiting the familiar hues that once adorned him. She worked quickly but with purpose, spraying layers of color—deep blues and purples, with accents of gold—building him back up, piece by piece.

“Nearly done…” [F/N] murmured to herself, finishing the purple lining along Bonnie’s jumpsuit. She admired the smooth, flawless strokes with a small smile before reaching for a purple earring. Standing on a nearby stool to get a better angle, she carefully clipped it to Bonnie’s right ear. She chuckled softly, flicking the earring gently with her finger. Once satisfied, she stepped down from the stool and grabbed a brush to tidy up Bonnie’s hair. With gentle, precise strokes, she smoothed the strands into place, making sure every lock was styled just right.

The air was quiet except for the soft sounds of her movements, but as she finished and stepped back to take in her work, Bonnie looked as vibrant as ever. The purple hues, the gleam of the earring—it was as if he’d never been damaged at all. She took a moment to admire the work, the small but significant transformation that brought him back to life in her own way.

“Perfect,” [F/N] said with a satisfied smile, stepping back to admire her work. She grabbed a small mirror from the table and held it up in front of Bonnie. “Don’t you just look beautiful?”

Bonnie took the mirror from her slowly, almost hesitantly, his fingers brushing against the glass as if uncertain it was real. He lifted it to his face, eyes widening as he took in his reflection. The vibrant purple tones of his jumpsuit gleamed under the light, the freshly applied eyeliner sharp and precise, and the small earring catching the light just right. His face softened, and for a moment, there was a trace of disbelief in his eyes, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. He turned his head slightly, inspecting every detail, the smooth metal surface that had once been dull now shining with life.

“I… I don’t even recognize myself,” he murmured, his voice filled with awe. He lifted the mirror a little higher, his gaze lingering on the work [F/N] had done. “You… you really fixed me. All this time, I didn’t think I’d ever look like this again.” she chuckled, crossing her arms.

"Doubted me, hmm?" There was a pause, and he turned to her, his expression softening.

“Thank you, [F/N]. I don’t know what to say… I’m… I’m grateful.”

[F/N]'s eyes widened softly at the look in Bonnie’s gaze—the deep gratitude, the way it shimmered in his eyes, as if he could hardly believe someone had actually found him and restored him when he’d been left abandoned behind his bowling alley. He hadn’t asked her to fix him. Hell, nobody had. It had been a choice she’d made on her own, just because she could. But as Bonnie sat there, looking at her with such appreciation, she realized it wasn’t about what she’d gotten in return—what she had was a simple thank you. And that, in itself, was more than enough. She cleared her throat, breaking the quiet moment, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

"W-Well, don’t thank me yet," [F/N] said, her voice softening as she stepped back slightly. "There’s still one more thing to complete the look." She briefly left his side, disappearing behind a nearby shelf. Bonnie’s eyes followed her, a curious expression crossing his face. When she returned, though, he already knew what was coming. She pulled something out from behind her back—a bass guitar, the same one he had seen her tuning just hours before. [F/N] held it up with a hesitant smile. “It took me a bit of time, with all the pieces I had to scrounge for, and the fact that I’ve never made a bass guitar before... But whatever. I made it for you.”

However, [F/N] watched Bonnie stand up and carefully place the bass down, she was taken by surprise when he began approaching her. She instinctively took a step back, confusion flickering across her face. But before she could say anything, he reached her, and in one smooth motion, he wrapped his metallic arms around her, pulling her into a warm, careful embrace. She squeaked in surprise, her hands instinctively pressing against his chest, but she could feel the careful restraint in his hold. His arms were strong, yet he regulated his strength to make sure he didn’t crush her or bring her any harm. For a moment, the only sound was the soft hum of his body, the warmth of his touch unexpected and comforting.

"I’ve already said it a thousand times over, but thank you," Bonnie's voice was low, almost reverent. “T-Thank you for not giving up on me. This means so much to me.”

He gently pulled away, and [F/N] found herself staring into his eyes, wide and soft with a look that took her breath away. He wasn’t the same worn, broken animatronic she had found behind the bowling alley. He was whole again, and in that moment, his gratitude was unmistakable. He looked at her as if she had done something far beyond what she ever expected of herself.

"I wish I could give you something back," Bonnie said quietly, his voice sincere, his tone gentle. "You’ve done so much for me... I just... I wish I could show you how much this means."

[F/N] hung frozen for a moment, taking in his words. She wasn’t used to this kind of gratitude, not like this. Freddy and Chica were affectionate in their own ways, always warm and supportive, and even Sunny had his playful moments of kindness. But none of them had ever done something like this—not in the way Bonnie had just shown her. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized the depth of his words, the weight of his sincerity. His hands, though metallic, were careful and tender as he held her. It was something she hadn’t expected, and the softness in his gaze made her feel a wave of warmth, something she hadn’t realized she needed until this very moment. She cleared her throat, trying to shake off the feeling that was rising in her chest.

“You don’t have to give me anything, Bonnie,” [F/N] said softly, her voice a little shaky. “Seeing you back on your feet... that’s more than enough for me.” At her words, Bonnie’s body seemed to deflate slightly, a soft, almost helpless expression crossing his face. He stood there for a moment, the hum of his internal mechanisms filling the space, before he spoke again, his voice quieter this time.

"I’ve been on the receiving end ever since I reactivated,” he said, a faint sadness in his voice. “I want to be able to give you something, even if it’s small…” For a moment, it felt like she was dealing with a child, unsure and desperate to give something back, and it was clear he wasn’t going to let go of the idea anytime soon. She could see it in his eyes—the same persistence she’d seen in him when he was first reactivated. Her hand gently patted his arm, a comforting gesture, and she looked around for something to ease the tension. Her gaze fell upon the bass he had so carefully set aside, just to hug her. She smiled softly at the instrument, an idea forming in her mind.

“Well, um, how about...” she began, trailing off as a soft hue dusted her cheeks. Her heart fluttered embarrassingly slightly at the thought of what she was about to suggest. She cleared her throat. “How about you play me a song?” Bonnie’s ears perked up immediately, his eyes lighting up as he leaned forward.

“Oh, I can do that! I’ll play you the best song, just for you!” Before [F/N] could even process his excitement, he plopped her down onto a nearby stool with a gentle but hurried motion, his hands moving as he rushed around Parts and Services. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of him scrambling, grabbing a nearby bass amplifier and setting it up with a purpose. As he took the ribbon off the bass, he paused for a moment, studying it with an almost mischievous glint in his eyes. Instead of discarding it, as one might expect, he carefully tied it around his neck and fashioned it into a makeshift bowtie. The sight of him wearing it so proudly made her smile. How adorable. She couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh at the sight of him, so proud of his little touch.

"You look great, bunny," [F/N] said with a teasing smile, her eyes sparkling as she took in Bonnie’s new look, complete with the bowtie. His ears drooped over his face, flustered by the nickname that, somehow, now sounded different coming from her. A soft, surprised hum escaped him as he straightened up again, his metallic body now feeling a bit warmer from the unexpected affection.

“W-Well, you ready for the greatest song ever?” he said, trying to regain his usual confidence, though his fingers betrayed his excitement as they twitched in anticipation to finally play after so long. [F/N] grinned and nodded, leaning back slightly against the stool, her arms crossing in playful challenge.

“Yeah, big guy. Give me your best shot.” Bonnie’s eyes gleamed with determination. With one last glance at her, he took a deep breath and strummed the bass, sending a deep, resonant note through the air. The sound was rich and soothing, the music vibrating through the room as he settled into the rhythm, his hands dancing over the strings with a skill that made it clear he hadn’t lost his touch, no matter how long it had been since he’d last played. [F/N] watched Bonnie intently as he played, her eyes focused on his every movement. She leaned her face into her closed fist, a small smile tugging at her lips as she rested against the workbench. For once, she felt a sense of peace settle over her. The chaos of the past months, the countless hours spent repairing Bonnie, finding parts for his bass, and ensuring every detail was perfect—it all led to this moment.

It wasn’t just the music she was hearing—it was the culmination of everything she had worked for. Bonnie, whole again, playing the instrument he had lost, reclaiming what had been taken from him. And she had played a part in that. A small, quiet part, but one that mattered more than anything. She closed her eyes for just a moment, letting herself soak in the warmth of the moment. The satisfaction of knowing she had helped him find something lost, of knowing she had given him back a piece of himself, was a feeling unlike any other.

It was perfect.

Support

word count: 6453

Fandom: FNAF Security Breach  Pairing: N/A x Female!Reader Pronouns: She/Her  Relationship: N/A Occupation: Mechanic Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name  [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: spoilers to those who haven’t seen fnaf sb.

"You hired me, a person who majored in Mechanical Engineering, to repair damages around the Pizza Plex and the occasional animatronics when they’re damaged?” [F/N] questioned, hands tucked into the pockets of her overalls as she looked at the people who hired her “I better be getting paid good money for this, because this is not what I signed up for.” one of her few employers laughed, throwing their head back before placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll be getting paid your share, you’ll even get bonus’ for everything you fix around the Pizza Plex.” she raised a brow at that, they smirked when they piqued her interest “Everything involving the job should be in the contract that you signed, but we are also not responsible for any harm that comes your way as you work here, mmkay?” she gave them a look.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she questions, only to be ignored when they walked over to their desk to grab something, she lets out a sigh, head hanging low before looking up and crossing her arms “So all I need is to keep the machines in tip top condition and fix anything that needs a little fixing? That’s it?” they nod their head.

“Oh, and if we need you to do anything else, we’ll call for you.” they let out a small cheer when they managed to find what they were looking for and so they handed it to her “That’s a high leveled security badge, don’t lose it now, because that’s the only thing that gives you access to the entire property.” they explain, she nods her head before proceeding to put it into one of the many pockets within her utility belt.

“Am I mainly going to be stationed within Parts and Service?” they nod their head, grabbing a clipboard and reading through it.

“Uh huh. You’re free to roam around the Pizza Plex, but when you’re needed somewhere or you need to return to Parts and Service, we’ll send you a notification on your Faz Watch.” at the mention of that, [F/N] glanced down at the watch and looked at the many things it had to offer.

“Hmm, cool.” she muttered to herself as she clicked on a few things. 

“What you need to know about each bots and how to fix them should be in Parts and Service, give them a read when you have to the time, okay?” she nods her head “Alright, for now, go introduce yourself to a few of the animatronics and Officer Vanessa.” she looked back at them.

“Officer Vanessa?” they nod.

“Mm, one of the few human security guards.”

“Ah.” she was then promptly pushed out of the office, she rolled her shoulders before glancing down at her Faz Watch once more and walked off in the direction of where the elevators were, she pushes the button to stop at a floor before going on a small venture to find the Green Rooms of the Glamrock Band. She now looks around in confusion when she somehow found herself in the main lobby instead, she lets out a long sigh “Fucking dammit, this map is hard to read.”

“Need a hand?” raising her head, she was met with a woman who looked just as equally tired as she was, she wore a simple uniform of a white dress shirt with black buttons, shoulder pads and a badge on the left side of her shirt, a pair of black jeans and a cap that said SECURITY on it that sat upon her blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail, even her green eyes looked tired “You must be the new mechanic?” she jokingly salutes.

“And you’re Officer Vanessa.” she shrugs her shoulders.

“That’s me.” she offers her a hand and they shake hands “The name’s Vanessa A, you can call me Vanessa, or whatever you want. I work as a Security Guard for the Pizza Plex.” [F/N] does the OK gesture with her hand before placing a hand on her chest.

“[F/N] [L/N], and I work as a mechanic.” Vanessa nods her head before waving her hand to gesture for the other to follow her.

“I can only assume you’re looking for the animatronics, so I’ll help introduce you.” [F/N] grins as she follows her new workmate.

“Thanks a lot, Ness!” she cheers, Vanessa rolls her eyes but secretly smiled at the nickname. [F/N] followed closely behind Vanessa as she led her to where the Glamrock Gang were being held, asking questions here and there about each animatronic and what their functions were “Oh! I heard that bear and chicken were the original ones during the early stages of the franchise, right? Freddy and Chica, right? The other two were... Bonnie and Foxy?” she nods.

“Wow, you still remember that stuff?” she chuckles to herself, rubbing the back of her head.

“Heh, you could say I was a bit of a fan when I was younger, but it’s been so long since I’ve last been here that I’m surprise I still remember.” 

“Then you must be living in a dream that you’re finally working within your favorite franchise.” [F/N] hums at that, a soft smile appearing on her face.

“Right.” Vanessa nods her head and left it at that.

“Welp, here we are.” Vanessa starts, entering the lobby that led to each of the Glamrock’s Green Rooms “Welcome to Rockstar Row. It starts with Freddy Fazbear, Roxanne Wolf, Montgomery Gator then lastly Glamrock Chica.” [F/N] nods her head, looking around in awe at everything within Rockstar Row.

“Radical.” Vanessa narrows her eyes at the woman, did she just-- she shook her head before raising her wrist up so she could press a button on her own Faz Watch, calling the animatronics in the area to come to them.

“If you ever need to find the animatronics or need them to come to you, just push this button on the Faz Watch and they’ll come straight to you.” she was going to question that but paused when she heard loud thumping, things even started to shake, turning her towards the room, she let out a startled shriek when the four animatronics came barreling towards them.

“Holy shit!” she shouts, Vanessa waves her hands.

“You get used to it.” a bead of sweat bled down the side of her face at that.

“Huh?”

“Officer Vanessa.” raising her head, the person who spoke was the iconic Glamrock Freddy, the face of Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex, despite being a machine, he gave the two of them a warm smile “What seems to be the issue if you called us all here?” Vanessa waved her hand before gesturing to [F/N], who stood rather awkwardly beside Vanessa.

“I just need you to meet the new mechanic, introduce yourself newbie.” said woman pouted at that before giving the four animatronics a wave.

“Hey, [F/N] [L/N], at your service. Ready to fix you or upgrade you when the time comes, I’m there when you need me or I’m just hanging around in Parts and Service.” Freddy smiles once more before taking his hat off to her and nodding his head.

“Hello, [F/N]. I am Glamrock Freddy, but you probably already knew that, didn’t you?” Freddy says, voice sounding playful, he then lets out a whoa when he was pushed to the side by Chica, who beamed down at [F/N] with a bright smile.

“I’m Glamrock Chica, so lovely to meet you!” she straightens her posture as she continued to wave her hand towards the newest employee, Roxanne was next, crossing her arms while throwing her hair over her shoulder.

“Roxanne Wolf, and don’t you forget it.” she growls when Monty pulls her back, [F/N] leaning backwards when the alligator leaned in close, a big grin along his face while baring his teeth.

“The name’s Montgomery Gator, and you’ll probably be seeing me a lot.” [F/N] glances over at Vanessa as Freddy grabs Monty by his shoulders and pulls him away from her.

“What does he mean by that?” Roxy answers that question before Vanessa could even open her mouth.

“Because Monty is the most destructive out of us all, especially when he has his temper tantrums.” Monty growls at Roxy, who snickers to herself from behind Chica, who got in between the two of them before Monty could get his hands on her, Freddy was behind Monty and holding him back from doing anything brash, Vanessa just exhales loudly.

“I’d say he’s just overly emotional, but they all are, he’s just more physically violent.” she explains “But he’s actually a really chill guy, just try not to agitate him, okay?” [F/N] gives her a thumbs up.

“Got it.” she bids the four animatronics goodbye, following Vanessa out of Rockstar Row to Parts and Service “Aren’t there a few other animatronics?” the blonde nods her head.

“Mm hmm, the Daycare Attendant that resides in the Daycare, if you couldn’t already guess, and DJ Music Man, or DJMM for short, who’s booth is within the Fazcade. He’s the biggest animatronic within the Pizza Plex, but he’s actually a really nice guy, so don’t mind his size.” she nods her head.

“Mmkay, I’ll take your word for it.” the journey to Parts and Service was a short one, but it was calm as the two walked in silence “I guess this is my stop.” [F/N] murmured to herself as she stopped right in front of the door that was labeled PARTS AND Service, Vanessa looks at her and nods her head.

“I guess so.” she rubs the back of her head before pointing at her Faz Watch “If you ever need anything, you can contact me on the Faz Watch or your walkie talkie, either works.” she salutes her once more.

“Righto, Officer Ness.” Vanessa couldn’t help but chuckle at that, she salutes her back.

“Then I’ll see you around, Mechanic [N/N].” both women laugh before Vanessa finally left to do her duties, [F/N] lets out a deep sigh before entering her new “office” that she’ll probably be forced to confide in majority of her time working there. She pulls a face at the dark room that looked all gloomy and boring, she lets out a groan as he body slumped while she threw her head back.

“What a dumpster fire.”

[a few weeks later]

“The lights have been going off in the Daycare at random times then from their set times?” a few weeks into her new job and she’s already wishing she was in a coma because at least she would get some decent sleep, her sleep schedule had gone and fucked off within the first week of working as the Mega Pizza Plex’s new mechanic, having worked hours without a clear schedule and having to come in whenever they gave her a call. Parts and Service had practically become her second home at this rate, she cleaned the place up and added a few things here and there to make it more lively, at least it didn’t look like she was in an abandoned laboratory.

True to their words, Monty was the animatronic that came into Parts and Service more often compared to the others. Majority of the time his claws or arms would be busted from the time he would lose his temper, sometimes he would overheat and he would short circuit and she would need to cool him down while repairing his claws from the damages done by the constant beating they got whenever he lost his temper. It got to the point that she had to upgrade them herself and add a few extra details to stop Monty from damaging them to the point they wouldn’t be recognizable. But his constant visits meant they had plenty of time to get along and talk about whatever comes to either of their minds, sometimes the gator would bring his guitar just so he could play a couple songs to her and ask for her opinion. In return, [F/N] would bring her record player and old records and have different songs play as she worked on Monty and later ask which song he liked most from each album.

Freddy would come and visit [F/N] just to simply talk and keep her company, [F/N] would take that opportunity to do some weekly check ups and to see if his system was in order, having been told by her higher ups that since he was the face of the entire Pizzeria and one of the most popular animatronics, he needed to be handled with extra care and that she couldn’t fuck up no matter what. Freddy was always in great condition and the most she would do with him was update his system while also giving his shell a good clean, other than that, they two of them would often have nice chats.

Roxy was something, alright. The first time she came into Parts and Service was when an accident happened on her raceway and she had to come and get herself fixed; cleaned up, per say, because she was a total wreck. [F/N] sweat dropped when the wolf was crying oil from her eyes, wailing how she looked like a disaster and that if she didn’t look the best nobody was going to like. This leads to [F/N] giving her eyes an upgrade and practically giving the wolf a complete makeover, she wiped the oil off her forehead with a rag and watched the way Roxy marveled at her look within a mirror. From then on, Roxy wolf visit [F/N] for a preen up and talk about anything that annoyed her that day or just to watch her as [F/N] worked on other things.

Her and Chica was a little funny. Chica reminded [F/N] of one of those fitness instructors from those old T.V shows, and it showed by the way Chica spoke like one of the motivational speakers whenever [F/N] worked, The chicken was also a sweetheart because she would bring [F/N] food and water to keep her steady and hydrated, she scolded the woman when she saw her bring a bottle of alcohol and energy drinks into Parts and Service just to down the bottles, saying that it was to keep her from falling asleep. Chica’s maintenance would be just deep cleaning, she was told that Chica would sometimes glitch out and each from the trash or food in general, cleaning her stomach cavity was a nightmare because it was absolute filthy. She never told the girl, because she thought that it would make her cry, so she keeps that to herself as she works.

Now her relationship with Vanessa, it was a good one. Vanessa leaned towards a quiet and stern personality, while [F/N] was a bit more relaxed and carefree, but they got along quite nicely. [F/N] was already friendly with the woman and knowing how she preferred being in her own personal space, she respected that and would visit her after informing the security guard through their Faz Watch’s. The two of them would have simple and subtle conversations whenever they were together and only when Vanessa has had her wake up call would be when she’s more expressive and less dead inside, it’s quite funny, honestly. Other than that, the rare moments Vanessa would visit [F/N] in Parts and Service would be the blonde woman reveling in the workshop as [F/N] worked on repairs and whatnots in absolute silence just to simple calm herself and leave herself to her thoughts.

Anyways-

“Yeah, apparently the lights have been going off then when they’re scheduled to go off.” Vanessa informed her “Moon has also been leaving the Daycare whenever it happens and has been causing a bit of a ruckus.” this causes [F/N] to raise her head from what she was doing and look over at her.

“Is that the reason why so many of the S.T.A.F.F Bots have been coming to Parts and Service in pieces? I guess it wasn’t Monty after all.” 

“See, I told you it wasn’t me!” she presses her lips to a thin line, glancing down at Monty, who was on the chair within the Protective Cylinder with his chest open and her hands fixing up his wires after they came loose after a performance “Damn, I’d really appreciate it if you’d stop thinking of me as the type to just destroy things on a whim.” he lets out a yelp when [F/N] yanked on his wires.

“Well, maybe if you did stop destroying things and giving me more pointless things to fix, than maybe I would stop thinking that.” he whimpers at that and went back to laying on the chair, she huffs “I got it, I’ll see what’d going on with the power in the Daycare.” Vanessa nods her head to that.

“Good, I’ll inform the higher ups and leave you to it.”

“Thanks, have a good one, Ness.” she nods her head once more before leaving Parts and Service, [F/N] waves her goodbye before glancing down at Monty, who pushed himself up and was resting his weight on his elbows “Thanks to that, you’re off the hook.” he silently cheers.

“Wonderful.” he winces when a dark look shadows over her face, he immediately turned away, shivering on the spot as she leans in close.

“But if I ever find out that one of the Map Bots, Security Bots or S.T.A.F.F Bots were mangled up and it was your fault, I’ll throw your dismembered head into one of the ponds in your golf course.” he whimpers, giving her a shaky thumbs up.

“Got it boss.” she rolls her eyes before chuckling softly, she finished her work and Monty leaves Parts and Service to return to his Green Room within Rockstar Row, she slaps her hands onto her face before grabbing her clipboard and adding something else at the bottom of the already long list.

“Lights within Superstar Daycare.” she adds a full stop at the end of it with a sharp jab before tucking it under her arm and leaving for the Daycare, it was also a perfect time to meet the Daycare Attendant; Sundrop, though maybe she might not be able to meet him because she was needing to be above the ceiling panels of the daycare to check out the wiring and whatnot for the lightning. When she arrived, she attached herself to a harness for safety before crawling into the space and checking out the lights above the daycare, she learned there were other lights within the daycare that were powered by five generators “I guess I’ll check that out after I’m done up here.”

This brings us to Sundrop, it was after hours and he was in the middle of cleaning up the daycare after all the children left the daycare, he was stacking the blocks on top of each other when his sensors managed to catch a sound and slight movement. He raised his head and looked side to side in confusion, trying to detect what his sensors did but he saw nothing, he blinked when something trickled from above him and landed on his nose. With that in mind, he raised his head and noticed that ceiling panels were moving, was someone up there? Unlike Roxy, he didn’t have eyes that allowed him to detect what was through the ceilings panels, but he could tell that it wasn’t simply a rat nor Mini Music Man, maybe he should report this to securi—

“WAH!!” his eyes widened at the sight of the panels giving way and someone falling through the ceiling, his immediate response was opening his arms out to catch them but the harness they strapped themselves to caught them before they could hit the ground so now they were dangling in front of Sundrop.

…

…

“Hey there, and sorry, I’m just hanging around.” he pulls a face before bursting out into laughter.

“Oh, I see what you did there! Be— Because you’re hanging from the ceiling.” she giggled softly at the laughter she earned from the animatronic sun, he pats his chest and looked at her once more to notice her open her arms out.

“Think you can give me a hand?” she hums softly when she noticed the sun rays around his head perk up at that, his body did the same thing as he raised his arms up.

“Oh, of course!” she lets out a soft exhale as she dusts herself off, she looks up at the ceiling before letting out a groan. “Fuck.” Sundrop lets out a gasp as he points at her.

“Language!” she rolls her eyes then glanced down at the floor, perking up when she noticed that her clipboard fell with her so she picked it up and clicked her pin, jotting down other stuff onto the list.

“Fix the ceiling in the daycare.” she underlines it then unclicks her pin and put it behind her ear, she then turned her attention to the animatronic and gave him a polite yet tired smile “Hello there, quite the first impression, but my name is [F/N], a mechanic hired by the Pizza Plex.” he stared down at her before the already permanent smile on his face grew.

“Why, hello there new friend! I am Sundrop, the Daycare Attendant!” she nods her head, he bounces around as he watched her look around “May I ask as to what you were doing?”

“Oh, I was informed that the lights in the daycare have been going out then when they’re usually scheduled too. I’ve been tasked to figure out why and possibly fix the problem.” she raised a brow when Sundrop grew nervous, she shrugged her shoulders as she started wandering around the daycare in search for the five generators.

“A-Are we going to get in trouble?” she raised her hand and waved it to dismiss his concern, eyes not leaving her clipboard.

“Unless you’re the one that’s causing it, then I highly doubt it. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, I’ll fix what’s wrong and be out of your way.” she answered truthfully, this didn’t ease his concern as he started following closely behind her, she pressed her lips together at the feeling that if he could breathe she could feel his breath against her neck. She glanced back at him and watched him lurch backwards, hands raised up before he pressed his fingers together, nervously pressing them together “Look, you’re not in trouble. Nothing bad is going to happen to you if that’s what you’re thinking.”  “Mm, it’s not just that…” he muttered, she raised a brow.

“Then what is it?” he takes a breath then presses his finger to his temple.

“I’m worried about Moon… and what he’ll do to you.” she stared up at him before letting out a laugh, she brought her hand to her mouth as she reached forward and grabbed his wrist, she pulled it down and rubbed her thumb into his metal wrist.

“You don’t need to worry about little ‘ol me, I’m fully aware of what Moon is capable of and I know I’m capable of handling him and looking after myself, but thank you for your concern nonetheless.” she nods her head to him then glanced behind him when she noticed the security desk, so she pats his hand before walking past him and towards the desk. Her back was towards him so she didn’t notice the way Sundrop stared at his hand as she reached for one of the flashlights in the flashlight recharge station, she then looks at the messy desk and pushes away anything unnecessary so she can grab the schedule for when the lights at supposed to turn off.

She turns around once more so she could lean against the desk as she reads through the documents, she sniffles and yawns to herself as she reads through the contents of the documents, mentally noting down when the lights were supposed to turn off and when they’ve been going off when they’re not supposed too. She glances down at the time before looking up with her eyes when the lights turned off, dang, it was at the hourly mark when all the power converts to the charging stations so all the animatronics are supposed to recharge at the recharge stations. She flicks the flashlight on and luminaries her path in search for Sundrop, but there wasn’t any sign of the animatron—

“What’s this? An unexpected guest?” a shiver ran down her spine when she felt something loom over her from behind “The daycare is closed for the day, you are intruding. It is my job to dispose of unwanted intruders.” before he could even get his hands on her, she wiped her body around and slammed the end of the flashlight into his faceplate hard enough that he stumbled to the ground and screwed with his AI, causing it to glitch.

“I know about you, Moon. You’re practically another security guard but more violent.” she knelt down, grabbing him by his long neck and pulling him forward “I am not to be underestimated, alright? Fuck around and find out.” she throws him back and stood to her feet, dusting her shoulder off before looking for the generators scattered across the daycare, meanwhile with Moon, he was still trying to register what just happened.

“She really kicked your butt.” Sun retorted in their shared mind, Moon scowls as he rubs his face.

“Silence, Sun.” he just giggles in the back of their shared head, she was going to reprimand Moondrop once more when she felt him behind her but let him be when he quietly watched her work around the daycare. Moondrop raised a brow when he noticed her sway a little, her body tittering back and forth while her eyes were drooping, only then did he notice the bags under her eyes and how exhausted she looked “When was the last time you had a proper night’s rest?” at that question, she sniffles a little and looked up in thought.

“… mm, when did I start working here?” he gives her a shocked look.

“That’s not healthy.” she shrugs.

“I don’t get paid to sleep, I get paid to work and that’s that.” before she could continue her work, she was turned around by Moon, him kneeling down and raising his finger while tutting it side to side.

“I understand you’re doing your job, but while you’re here in the Daycare and I am here instead of Sun, you will sleep until the lights are turned on. It’s not that long, but getting some sleep is better than getting none.” she stared up at him, glancing to the side as she thought about the offer, then shrugged her shoulders.

“You better wake me up if something bad happens then.” before he could say anything, she drops everything that was in her hands before proceeding to face plant into the ground. Both himself and Sundrop panic and quickly kneel down to pick her up off the ground, he then settles himself into a quiet corner, cradling her in his arms as she fell into a deep sleep that she most definitely needed.

[a week later]

Maintenance in the Daycare was something [F/N] looked forward to now because not only did she get to hang with Sundrop and Moondrop, but because she got to sleep and wake up not wanting to fucking die. Moondrop was a fucking riot to hang with when he didn’t have homicidal thoughts, mostly because the two of them would do shit that would drive Sundrop through the roof. Speaking of which, the sun animatronic scares her in ways that doesn’t frighten her, but the fact that she caught him chugging down a bottle of glitter glue… she had to sprint out of there when the machine chased after her and shouted that it wasn't what it looked like.  “Why are these vents so fucking big?” she muttered to herself, crawling through the space in search for the thing that was making so much rattling whenever the Pizzeria closed. She was told to find it, it was just that the rattling happened around the vents around Parts and Service and it greatly annoyed her so she wanted to investigate it so that the noise would cease, and yet she had no luck in finding it so far.

“Hey, [F/N].” she glances down at her Faz Watch and saw that she was getting a message from Vanessa, so she turns so she was laying on her back and raised the watch closer to her “Where are you right now?”

“Vibing in a vent.”

“Why are you— never mind, DJ Music Man is in need of a check up. Some teens threw food in his mouth and we can’t seem to get it out.” [F/N] closes her eyes, inhaling deeply through her nose as her head drops and hits the vent.

“Is he in his booth?”  “Uh huh.”

“I’ll be there in a couple minutes.”

“Got it.” Vanessa disconnects from the line and so [F/N] lets out a long groan this time, she exhales and pushes herself onto her elbows, and then did she see what was making all that racket in the vents. There she saw a miniature version of DJMM and this version of him was holding a pair of cymbals in his hands,

“Now that’s fucking cute.” she muttered, his teeth made a chittering sound as he patted on his feet, he then waddles over to her and she sets up a bit so he could situate himself in her lap “Hey there, little guy. Mind showing me the way to the bigger version of you through the vents? You seem to know your way around these vents better than I.” he claps his cymbals happily before leaping out of her lap and leading the way, she follows behind closely and when she reaches the end of the vent, he moves to the side to let her remove the screws to the vent. Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t realized where the vent was placed so when she crawled out, she fell and landed awkwardly on her face.

…

…

“Not a word.” even though he did not have a voice box like the other animatronics, she could tell that he was laughing. When she collected herself, she extends her arms out towards the vent and this allows him to lean from the opening and into her arms, and with him secure, she makes her way out of the room and towards the area where DJMM resides in “Hey, big man, you awake?!” she shouts, cupping her mouth with her hand to amplify her voice, she hums to herself when the large spider like animatronic peeked his head out of his booth.

“You called?” the sound of various radio channels was heard and DJMM rose up from where he was, she grinned as Mini DJMM sat on her shoulder “What can I do for you?” she playfully rolls her eyes, hands on her hips as she continued to look up at him.

“I believe we both know why I’m here.” he lets out a sigh, leaning down and resting his big body onto the back of his hands.

“Children these days just don’t know discipline, especially the teens.” she nods her head.

“Uh huh, some of them are very vicious.”

“You don’t say.” she huffs, shaking her head.

“Well, let’s not delay this any longer, aight?” he lets out a reluctant sigh but nodded his head, he extends a hand out to her and she didn’t hesitate to hop into the palm of his hand and with that he made his way to a bigger part of the Pizza Plex that was reserved specifically for him when he needed to be cleaned “Oh, while we’re in the topic, I’ve been informed that you have a new upgrade.” he glances down at her.

“Upgrade? Of what sorts?” she hums, removing the clipboard from her hip and so she and Mini Music Man look at the documents, she narrows her eyes at it as she pulls it closer to her face.

“Apparently it’s called… Bouncer Mode?” she hums at that, pursing her lips as Mini Music Man claps his cymbals gently in curiosity “You’re just another form of security basically, escorting guests that aren’t found in the Pizza Plex’s files out or guests that are threatening.” he nods his head.

“So I’m basically extra muscle?” she snaps her fingers.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” she gently knocks on the palm of his hand and gave him a grin “I can only imagine how frightening seeing you chase after them can be, talk about nightmare fuel.” they each share a laugh, upon reaching the warehouse, music was playing in the background as [F/N] spent the next couple of hours cleaning DJMM up to the point he was squeaky clean, by the end of it, she was laying on the ground, soaking wet and exhausted while DJMM was bouncing up and down that he finally got a wash up after weeks of negligence from management.

“Many thanks, [F/N].” he chuckled softly when she raised a thumbs up towards him, she then peeled herself off the ground, taking her cap off and shaky her head to rid the water infested in her hair.

“Now that that’s over, let’s get you that new upgrade. It shouldn’t take too long, so you should be back in your booth in no time!” he nods his head to her words so here she was, sitting on his shoulder with a laptop on her lap and Mini Music Man in her head, watching her tap away at the keyboard while the information for DJMM flew across the screen.

“It won’t do anything to hinder my current software, right?” she nods her head, eyes not leaving the screen.

“Yeah, don’t worry about that. It won’t activate unless a threat is detected, and since we haven’t been really getting threats in the Pizza Plex lately, it’ll probably be sitting in the back of your head.” he nods his head, upon finishing the final touch up of the upgrade, she pushed the enter button and it was uploaded into DJMM’s software. Both she and Mini Music Man leaned forward and watched as the data was processed and when he came to be, he stood up straight “How do you feel?”

“… the same.” she deadpans, she sighs.

“Well, we’ll never know until someone trespasses onto the property.” she says offhandedly, thanking him as he lowered her towards the ground “I mean, who’s foolish enough to break into a pizzeria?” he shrugged.

“Desperate fans.” she snorts.

“True.” she walks with him back to his booth, dropping Mini Music Man off in the process then left the two with a goodbye, the two doing the same and waving her goodbye. She was now back in Parts and Service, collapsing onto her wheelie chair with a groan, she leans back while running a hand through her hair after removing her cap and starts fanning herself.

‘Management have been stepping up the security around the Pizza Plex lately, going so far as to giving DJMM, who’s usually so gentle and laid back, such a bizarre upgrade. I noticed it immediately and had to tone it down in fear that he might actually hurt someone.’ she exhaled deeply, glancing over at her desk and noticed the few photos of her and the animatronics, Vanessa and even a few children scattered across it and even on the computer ‘I’m getting worried as for what’s to come.’

Headcanon:

it’s an unspoken rule amongst the animatronics that no harm must come to [f/n].

why?

simple.

because she is one of the nicest mechanics, technicians, helper, whatever, that’s worked at the pizza plex in the longest time.

the other employees that has worked in parts and service were so mean in the past and never considered the animatronics feelings and opinions, always brushing it off their shoulders just to finish their work.

not [f/n], oh no.

despite always being tired and a little standoffish, she was always rather welcoming and very friendly, even for the short tempered monty and lethal moon.

moon learned not to mess with her when he realized just how strong she was.

he and sun were coming in for their check up when they witnessed her lifting monty up with pure strength and the alligator was struggling to remove himself from her grip.

what freaked him out was the way monty screamed for help.

anyways-

whenever the animatronics had to come in for their monthly maintenance and other upgrades, [f/n] would always just and make the process as comfortable and atmosphere as welcome as she could.

she knew they were always frightened being in that dark gloomy room, so she always tried to brighten it up and make it as quick as she could.

and for that they were grateful.

her and vanessa get along quite swimmingly as well.

vanessa liked her company because she wasn’t so chatty, but when they did decide to converse, they spoke of topics vanessa knew and was fond of and the blonde enjoyed it.

conversations with the mechanic made her feel sane and whole.

the oddest thing about [f/n] after she started working at the pizza plex and her sleep schedule got pretty shit, she would fall asleep in the oddest of places.

the daycare’s ball pit? yup.

monty golf? uh huh.

roxy’s raceway? totally.

the worst spot? somewhere in the ceiling.

mini music man was the one to discover her, strapped in her harness and practically at the verge of falling of the beam she was laying on.

she was firmly scolded by freddy, chica, djmm, sundrop and vanessa.

moon, monty and roxy were laughing while mini music man was shaky his head.

the map bots startled her when she was still new and didn’t know her way around.

she decked one across the face when it suddenly appeared in front of her, promptly had to fix it before anyone discovered what she did.

she likes the caution bots. they remind her of puppies/dogs.

other than that, she’s the friendly and overworked mechanic that wishes she could get at least a raise for the amount of work management is throwing at her.

… motherfu— 

Tyrant

word count: 11,246

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Eddie Munson x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name  [L/N]: Last Name  [N/N]: Nickname  [H/C]: Hair Color  [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: vulgar language, violence, alcohol consumption

might make a part two, you never know, you never know.

that is all.

“Look, there he goes again.”

“You’d think the teachers would expel him by now.”

“Did you hear? Apparently he jumped Thompson on his way to school and robbed him of all his shit.”

“What an asshole.”

“Oh shit, here he comes.”

The once bustling cafeteria came to silence when Hawkins Highschool delinquent stepped foot inside, those intimidating [E/C] eyes glared at anyone within a five foot radius. Grabbing his own tray of food, he sat down at a random table that was still full of people, but the moment he looked at them they quickly departed from the table in hopes of not being his new punching bag. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality about [M/N] the people of Hawkins could think of, he was rude, dangerous and ruthless, regardless of gender. People remembered a time when some prissy girl tried getting in his business, the type of girl that had a the mindset of “I can change him” or what not, she ended up missing several weeks of school because he beat her black and blue, tearing out some of her hair and knocking some of her teeth out.

Unlike Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove, both being dubbed as the King of Hawkins, he was called the Tyrant of Hawkins. Billy was scary and intimidating in his own way but he had charisma and a charm to him that made people like him. Steve was just a pretty face with just the charm and no intimidation, all [M/N] had was the intimidation and demanding aura around him that people couldn’t help but obey his every word in hopes on not getting on his bad side. Whether they were the losers, the jocks or the popular people, there wasn’t anyone within Hawkins High that didn’t know the full extend [M/N] will go to keep what he calls peace.

And then there’s Eddie Munson, the freak of Hawkins. Lover of metal and D&D, a man who failed his last year of high school and was repeating the year in hopes of graduating that year. Eddie Munson, the man who wasn’t afraid to express who he was, regardless of who was in attendance. Most people find him downright annoying, some find him surprisingly endearing, but most people just think he’s a lost cause. People just thought he was bound for failure, there was nothing good about interacting with Eddie. Dustin, who was busy eating his food, glanced up from his meal to spare Eddie a look and soon noticed he was staring across the cafeteria.

“Eddie?” at the call of his name, the others sitting at the table, stop what they were doing and look at Eddie “What are you looking at?” he asks and soon they’re all following his gaze, a few of them turning pale when they saw that he was staring at the back of [M/N]’s head.

“Dude, why are you staring at [L/N] for? If he catches you staring, you’re dead meat.” Gareth whispered to him “And I am not up to watching you get beaten to a bloody pulp.” Eddie just lets out a laugh, brushing some of his hair back while waving them off.

“You guys worry too much, I’m not gonna do anything.” they all sweat a little, it totally looked like he was gonna do something, but despite knowing how reckless he was, he wasn’t someone who would poke a sleeping lion. Eddie would describe [M/N] as a person with a button you shouldn’t push instead of having a short fuse, he had a short temper as is and chose to speak with his fists instead of his words, they seem to get the point across better than an explanation “… do you think he listens to Iron Maiden?” Jeff gave him a look.

“Eddie, don’t even think about it. You’ll be met with a fist before he even agrees that he likes listening to them.”

“So you’re saying there’s a possibility.” they all let out a groan, a few of them slapping a hand to their foreheads or squeezing the bridge of their nose. The sound of shouting and gasps caught their attention so they all look over and in horror saw one of the jocks from the basketball team dump their food on top of [M/N]’s head, he looked like a freshmen because he was laughing aloud while the rest of the basketball team watch in disbelief at what the new guy just did.

“AH HAHAHA!! Come on guys, that was funny!” he continued to laugh, missing the way everyone backed away as [M/N] slowly stood to his feet “I don’t see why you guys are so scared of just one gu—” he couldn’t finish his sentence when a fist connected with his jaw, causing him to tumble to the floor as blood sprayed out of his mouth. Each time the punk tried getting up his face was met with [M/N]’s fist, he laid no waste to him as he continued punching his face until he collapsed onto his back by Eddie’s table. The brunette watched as the [H/C] male grabbed him by the collar to lift him up and continue beating his face in with no remorse, by the time he was satisfied, he let out an exhausted sigh, sweat and chunks of food bleeding down his face as his fist was drenched in blood, regardless if it was his or not.

“Carver.” Jason flinched at the call of his name, [M/N] didn’t raise his voice to call him, his voice was scary enough that he could bend anyone to his will “What have I told you about controlling your dogs?” he swallowed thickly from where he stood, shrinking down when [M/N] stood up.

“T-That if they get out of line… you’ll put them down.”

“That’s right.” he starts, looking at the table beside him and grabbing Mike’s tray of food then proceeded to dump all its contents on top of the unconscious jock “I hope you remember this the next time you decide to act like a bitch.” He growled as he threw the tray down, his eyes then wandered over to Eddie, who was staring at him with wide eyes and jaw dropped “The fuck you looking at, freak?” he snarled at the brunette, who in turn swallowed thickly, raising his hands up defensively.

“N-Nothing! Nothing, I swear.” he got a scoff in response as [M/N] turned away, kicking the jock one last time then stormed out of the cafeteria, kicking the doors open and disappeared to probably clean the food off of him. The cafeteria sat in silence and watched as the basketball team hurriedly dragged the unconscious player to the sickbay, when they were out of sight, the students all bustled into chatter at the turn of events that just occurred.

“God, that no good [L/N] is so terrifying.”

“He’s even got the jocks listening to him.”

“I can’t believe that dumbass did that.”

“Nobody warned him?” Dustin and Lucas pat Mike on his shoulder, watching as he took deep breaths to calm his beating heart. He wasn’t going to lie, watching him beat his ass was so satisfying but once he turned those anger filled eyes in his direction, he couldn’t help but pray that he wasn’t next, that didn’t mean he wasn’t sad that his food was now on the floor.

“You good Mike? You look like you’re at the verge of fainting,” he raised a thumb whilst trembling slightly.

“And there he goes.” Dustin says, watching as he revved his engine and drove out of the schools parking lot “You’d think the teachers would have dealt with him at this point, but to think he’s even got them to listen to him.” Lucas lets out a sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I-I’m good.” now with Eddie, his heart was beating just as fast as Mike’s, but for a different reason. The way he watched [M/N]’s face scrunch up in rage, the way he watched his bicep bulge with each swing, the way he watched the sweat run down his neck as he beat his face in. He couldn’t deny the fact that he felt something when those [E/C] eyes glared in his direction as he sneered at him, called him a freak. It was just that tone in his voice and the way he presented himself that made his heart race. 

“That was so hot…” he whispered under his breath. At the end of the day, all Eddie could think of was [M/N] and no matter how hard he tried to think of anything else, his thoughts of the tyrant would just come rushing back. The moment he and his friends stepped out of school they heard the roar of an engine, and there was the man in all his glory starting up his motorcycle, a Kawasaki Vulcan 750. He treated that thing as if it were his child, people said that his bike was the only thing that ever made him smile, and the one time someone made the foolish mistake to mess with his baby, he paid them back by totally their car to the point of recognition.

“Yeah, unfortunately, he does not discriminate.” they each shake their head.

[family’s video store]

“Yes sir, yes I understand… have you ever tried checking to see if the VHS player is plugged in?” Robin Buckley, who was currently on the phone with a customer that recently purchased a movie from the store, had called up complaining that it wouldn’t play “So it wasn’t plugged in? Then that’s probably the reason why it wasn’t working, sir.” Steve walked behind the counter after putting the returned movies back on shelf and saw the look of mild frustration on her face.

“Old man again?” he mouthed to her, to which she nodded while making the finger gun gesture and pressing it against her temple, he snickers softly when she pulled the trigger but continued to speak in way that she’s sympathising with said man. Steve’s head perked up at the sound of a motorbike, leaning back on the counter to take a peak outside and there he saw the infamous [M/N] [L/N], the Tyrant of Hawkins, pulling up into their parking lot. He couldn’t help the bead of sweat that rolled down the side of his cheek as he reminisced the past when they attended high school together, he was the one person Steve knew not to mess with or look at the wrong way. He had a reputation that preceded him, they both did, so they had a neutral relationship between each other. He takes a deep breath when he saw [M/N] get off his bike and start approaching the store, jumping slightly when the doors opened and he came right up to the counter.

“Harrington.” he says, voice uncaring for the man in front of him as he stared at him with that same neutral and unbothered expression he always wore when he wasn’t angry.

“[L-L/N].” he cursed under his breath for stuttering, embarrassed that he was still afraid of the man in front of him “What brings you here? I don’t suppose you’re here to rent a movie?” he swallows his saliva when [M/N]’s gaze hardened on him before ignoring him and looking at Robin.

“Buckley, I need to talk to you.” finally looking at them, she acknowledge [M/N]’s presence but held up her finger, telling him to give her a second.

“I’m in the middle of something.”

“Can’t it wait?” she gives him a look then goes right back into what she was doing before she was interrupted, Steve took a glance at [M/N]’s face and saw he was slowly but surely losing his patience, the way his eyebrows scrunched up as he hand formed into a tight fist. Steve all but recognised this was what [M/N] would do before he completely lost all rationality and started throwing hands, he took a step forward when he saw [M/N] raised his hand but was surprised to see he only pressed the hook set to hang up the phone.

“Wha— hey! You can’t just hang up the phone when I’m talking to customers, [M/N]!” she shouts at him, he just shrugs.

“Yeah, well, that’s not as important as to what I have to tell you.” she raised a brow, they stare at each other in silence until she let out a groan, his face lighting up slightly when she caved.

“Alright, fine,” she gestured for him to follow her into the back room and he nods, jumping over the counter and going in before her “Steve, you can handle things alone up front, right?”

“Y-Yeah, but—” he was ignored, he lets out a sigh as his hands slapped against his hips when he dropped them “Alright, I’ll be here.” Robin Buckley, lover of women, would never call herself anything special. Still in high school, she was just like every other average joe that walked those halls, though she was in band, that was probably the only thing cool she’d say about herself. So, never in a millions years would she have found herself in a sort of friendship with the cold and ruthless [M/N], however, right now he was anything but what his reputation says about him.

“I actually managed to talk to him this time!” he squealed out, hands cupping his cheeks as a bright red blush flushed across his cheeks. There was no trace of the Tyrant of Hawkins, all she could find was your typical high school teenage boy thinking about the love of his life, and his so happened to be Eddie Munson, the freak of Hawkins. Ah, now she can remember why the two of them got along, they both had that sense that neither liked the opposite gender and they became friends from then on. Most of the time it was Robin ranting on and on about a girl that’s caught her eye, but never actually having the courage to speak about her feelings, all [M/N] ever had to talk about how his feelings for Eddie continued to grow since he first saw Eddie.

“Oh yeah, and what did you say to him?” he then slumps forward, a dejected look on his face.

“I asked what the fuck he was staring at, then called him a freak.” she let out a defeated sigh, slapping a hand onto her forehead “I couldn’t help it, I was still angry that that fucking prick dumped his food on me.” his face turned sour at the memory, hand clenching into a fist but softened when she placed her hand on top of his.

“You really need to work on your anger management issues, dude.”

“I’m trying, I swear I am.” he lets his head hang a little, hand clenching and unclenching, showing that he was trying to calm himself “But my therapist is a pain in my ass, telling me shit that I already know is the problem and ain’t really helping me. I’m ready to throw hands!” he shouts as he stands to his feet, to which she quickly grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him back down.

“You can’t hit your therapist, you could get into serious trouble for something like that.” he grumbles at that, soon that lovesick expression found its way onto his face again, he was probably thinking about Eddie again.

“I really want to be about to talk to him, Buckley, but I’m scared that if I approach him, he’ll take it the wrong way. He might think that I’m trying to beat him up, but I don’t want him to be scared.” she rolled her eyes, planting her hand on her hip.

“Well then, I don’t know, give him love letters.” he looked up at her.

“Love letters?” she nods.

“Yeah, if you can’t find the right words to talk to him to his face, write that shit down and put it in his locker.” she then smacks his arm with the back of her hand “Isn’t English your best trait? I’ve read some of the stuff you’ve written, and let me tell you, that shit hits harder than you think.” he looks a little flustered at that, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re just saying that because you’re my friend.” she shrugs.

“Whatever floats your boat.” he seats there for a couple minutes before nodding his head.

“Okay, I’ll give your idea a try.” she nods when he stood up “I'll tell you how it goes.” she grins and gives him a thumbs up.

“Go get ‘em tiger.” they then fist bump and he walks out of the room, he glanced at Steve and mentally rolled his eyes when he saw him almost fall over. He was totally eavesdropping on their conversation, but he could give less of a shit, he was busy thinking of what to write down to give to Eddie. Robin walks in after he drives off on his motorbike, leaning down to rest on the counter as Steve gives her a look of disbelief.

“Since when were you friends with [L/N], Robin?” she shrugs.

“Since high school man, learn to keep up.”

“Wha— but he had no friends!”

[next day: hawkins high school]

In the early morning, [M/N] was at school with a letter in his hand. Taking Robin’s advice, he poured his heart and soul into what he wrote down that he wished he could say to Eddie. He had a faint blush on his face as he pressed the letter to his chest before finding Eddie’s locker and slipping it in, not before checking that there was no one there to catch him in the act. With his mission accomplished, he laid in waiting for Eddie to arrive, just to catch his reaction. He really hoped that he didn’t take it the wrong way, he didn’t think the letter was a joke and that someone was playing with his feelings.

“Hey, Eddie!” [M/N] quickly fell back behind the wall he was leaning on to hide, peeking out ever so slightly to see that it was Dustin calling Eddie’s name, who had just arrived with that cute little smile spread across his face.

“Hey Henderson! You ready for tonight’s campaign? It’s gonna be a real spectacle!” he cheered, to which Dustin’s face lit up immensely and nodded his head.

“Totally! Mike, Lucas and I can’t wait!” he chuckles softly.

“Well, it’ll be worth the wait, I promise.” Eddie soon opens his locker to get a few things but blinked when something fell and landed on his feet, kneeling down, he raised a brow in confusion to see a letter “Hmm? What’s this?” Dustin peeks over his shoulder then backs away as Eddie stands up straight, flipping the letter to get a look at the front and back.

“There’s no name.” [M/N] scoffed at that, of course he wasn’t going to write his name on it, it’d be even more unbelievable and he’d probably take it as a threat and not read the letter at all “Think it’s a love letter?” both himself and Dustin laugh at the possibility.

“Yeah, I highly doubt it. Don’t get my hopes high like that.” he jokes, he then tears the envelope open and pulls out the letter. Dustin tried to read it as well but couldn’t when Eddie would pull it closer to his face, [M/N] wished to see his face just to see if what he wrote was good or not. His wish was answered when Eddie lowered the letter and there he saw Eddie’s face turn bright red, all the way to the tips of his ears.

“Eddie…?” Dustin softly called out, reaching forward to grab his bicep and shake him “You good?” he stuttered out words, raising his hand to cover his mouth.

“I-It was a love letter…” 

“What?! Let me see.” he exclaimed and snatched the letter from his hands to read it himself, [M/N] wanted to punch the shit out of that little bastard for taking the letter that was meant for Eddie alone, but couldn’t help but feel a little grateful, because there he got to see his flustered and bashful reaction to reading the contents of his letter “Whoa! Whoever wrote this, they’re batshit in love with you.” Eddie bites his bottom lip, shaking his head in denial.

“No, whoever wrote it is probably fucking with me.” he replied, this answer was exactly what [M/N] feared.

“No, no Eddie, I don’t think so.” he then waves it around a bit and hands it back to him “If this was really a joke, I highly doubt it would be written with this much care. Whoever wrote it, they definitely had something they’ve been wanting to say to you for a long time. If this was a joke, I believe it wouldn’t have been written like it was a goddamn novel.” Eddie takes a breath, lifting the letter to read through it once more before pressing it against his lips.

“A-Alright.” he pulls it away and smiles softly at it, making sure to fold it up then tuck it nicely in his front pocket. [M/N] turned so his back was pressed against the wall and the look of joy quickly spread across his face. He internally squealed to himself, hands pressed into his face to hide the huge grin on his face that he couldn’t suppress. Robin’s advice worked and it wouldn’t have worked as greatly as it did if it weren’t for Dustin, he must thank him in some way for clearing up the misunderstanding. He nods to himself, taking one last glance at Eddie before leaving for his first class of the day.

“A mixtape?” he slowed his pace.

From that day on, [M/N] would continue to write letters and leave them in his locker, finding new things about Eddie that had him falling in love with him, it was his favourite thing to do, especially when he got to see the little reactions Eddie would have upon reading the letters. He would always turn a shade of read, sometimes he would twirl a few strands of his hair around his finger as he read through the letters, maybe fidget with a few of his rings, but just seeing him smile was all that made his day. At the end of his day he would always rush to Robin to tell her that it was working, telling her that her advice worked wonderfully and that it was slowly building his confidence to talk to Eddie face to face. Yeah, about that. There were a few times [M/N] managed to build up some of that confidence and was planning on talking to Eddie a few times but at the last minute chicken out a end of sulking about his failures. 

[M/N] was sitting in the cafeteria now, some bit of food hanging loosely on his lips as he stared at his notebook. He twirled his pencil around his fingers then tapped it against his forehead, rubbing the end of it into his temple as he tried to think of other things to put into his next love letter but his mind went blank. He groaned and fell forward with his head hitting the cafeteria table, he was running out of things to say, he needed to think of something quick. He sighs to himself and lifts himself up, closing the notebook and tucking it away then decided he was done in the cafeteria. He swings his legs out and starts walking out that he just so happens to overhear something from Eddie’s table.

“Yeah! I’d appreciate something like that, means they actually took the time of day to make something sentimental, you know?” Gareth scoffed.

“Just as long as they put in songs that actually mean something, if it’s just random songs, it won’t really matter.” Mike raises his hand.

“I second that.” Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. I’ll remember what you guys said when I get a mixtape.” [M/N]’s face lit up, now that’s something he could do. With a new goal set in mind, he was going to ditch his last class in favor of making this mixtape when somebody slammed into his chest.

“What the?!” he exclaims, growling when whoever bumped into him spilt their food onto him “Fucking— again?! Watch it punk!” he shouts, grabbing the next victim by the collar of their shirt and pulling them forward, raising his fist to punch them across the face but stopped when he saw that it was Dustin.

“W-Wait, man…! I’m sorry, I d-didn— didn’t see you.” his friend group immediately stood to their feet to defend him, but what could they do against the tyrant, he could easily beat them all after tearing Dustin a new one. [M/N] took a glance towards Eddie, something Dustin didn’t miss, and saw the way he glared at him if he were to even leave a mark on him “I’m sorry, I-I’m sorry…!” he apologises once more, [M/N] looks back at him then closed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he let Dustin go.

“Accidents happen.” he says, grimacing when he looked down at the spilt milk all over his jacket “Just watch where you’re going next time, Henderson.” the cafeteria was brought to silence, absolute silence when [M/N] walked out. Did the tyrant just spare someone? Everyone was sent into an uproar just as Dustin collapsed, Lucas and Mike were immediately by his side.

“Dustin!”

“Dustin! Are you alright?” he was shaking, trying to calm his breathing but he nodded nonetheless.

“Y-Yeah… god! I thought I saw my life flash before more eyes just now.” he runs a hand through his hair as his friends helped him to his feet, what he couldn’t get out of his mind was the way [M/N]’s face showed annoyance but the moment he took one glance over at Eddie his face softened. He seemed to have been the only one to notice because they were all asking if he was alright and how lucky he was to have survived against [M/N], his eyes narrowed at the possibility.

‘He couldn’t possibly be…’

[with [m/n]]

“Mum! Where’s the cassette recorder?!”

“In the garage!”

“Thank you!” he dumps an array of different cassettes onto his desk, sorting them out by genre and splitting them up then grabbed the cassette recorder and player, plugging them with headphones so the residents of the [L/N] household didn’t have to suffer through the array of different songs throughout the night. A cigarette hung loosely in between his fingers, flicking the ashes into an ashtray as he listened to each song, bobbing his head while swaying softly “I hope he likes these.” he muttered softly, by the time he was finished it was two in the morning, but it was totally worth it. He laid on his bed, headphones in and listened to his final product, smiling ever so lightly. The next day felt like any other day, arrive to school early with barely anyone around and slip in a letter for Eddie but this time a mixtape, everything was fi—

“So it is you!” he let out a gasp, throwing himself against the lockers at the unexpected voice. Looking behind him, his face paled when he saw that it was Dustin “I can’t believe you’re the secret admirer!” he quickly slapped his hand over Dustin’s mouth, bringing his other hand up to press a finger to his lips.

“Would you keep your voice down?!” he snarled at him, he takes a quick look around to see if anybody heard, when he saw nobody he dragged Dustin into a supply closet and slammed him against the wall “Henderson! Don’t you know when to mind your own business? I thought you’d think twice about bothering me after yesterday, but I see you’re just as stupid as the rest of this fucking scho—”

“You’re in love with Eddie, aren’t you?” [M/N] sputters over his words, his tough guy façade slowly beginning to crumble when his previous threats went to deaf ears as Dustin smirked up at him “I saw the way you looked at Eddie yesterday, and after all those love letters I thought of the possibility that it could be you. I was really taking a huge gamble on that small little detail, but I guess I was right. You, [M/N] “the Tyrant” [L/N], is in love with Eddie “the Freak” Munson. Just admit it, it’s written all over your face.” [M/N]’s face was twitching as he fought to keep that glare on his face, but in the end let out a defeated sigh as he crumbled to his knees, hands holding a fistful of Dustin’s vest.

“I-Is it that obvious…?” Dustin’s jaw dropped immediately as soon as [M/N]’s true feelings revealed itself, he pushed himself back and saw his bright red face as he pressed his hands to his face “Yeah, I’m really in love with him it’s crazy.” even his voice sounded soft and meek, not a trace of that psycho from the day prior.

“Since when?” he was taken aback when a lovesick grin spread across his face, a look of complete adoration in his eyes as he tried to recounter the first time he saw Eddie Munson.

“Where do I even begin? It was probably during my freshmen year! He’s a year older than me but the moment I set my eyes on him, watching him be himself… ah, I was over the moon.” he then cups his cheeks, leaning into the palm of his hand “I fell in love when I saw him performing one night at a shitty gig that were  willing to let him and his band, Corroded Coffins, play. It was so mesmerising watching him play, I loved every second of it.” Dustin pursed his lips, raising a brow when he heard [M/N] let out a sigh as he leaned his back against the wall.

“Well, if you like him so much, why don’t you just tell him? You’ve shown him just how much you like him, so I don’t see the harm in just saying it to his face,” this caused the older one to let out a groan, throwing his head back then hiding his face in his knees.

“That’s the thing. I’m afraid I might say the wrong thing, I’m scared that I might scare him off. Don’t you remember who I am, Henderson? I’m the tyrant, the school delinquent that isn’t afraid to throw hands with a fucking teacher.” he runs his hands through his hair “I’m afraid when he finds out that I’m his secret admirer… he’ll think I was playing with his feelings as a new way to torture people.” Dustin placed his hands on his hips.

“Eddie always looks forward to seeing those letters.” this caused [M/N]’s head to perk up and look up at him “It’s his favourite part of the day, seeing what new things you love about him.” this caused him to grin sheepishly, closing his hands together and kicking his legs a little.

“Really?” he giggles softly. If Dustin where to mention [M/N]’s true personality to his friends, they would probably laugh in his face and tell him he’s ridiculous. That there wasn’t a single person in this world that the tyrant had a soft spot for, but that was where they were wrong. He’s seen the way Eddie’s face lights up upon reading the letters and now that he knows that they are really truthful— he lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’d like to consider myself a good friend of Eddie’s, like, really close.” [M/N] lets out a hum at that, acknowledging that fact by the fact he’s always seeing the two of them together acting like idiots “So… how’s about I give you a hand?” he gave him a wary expression.

“… what do you mean by that?”

“I think Eddie’s starting to like you, erm, the secret admirer.” [M/N]’s face lit up immensely at that “Eddie also has an interest in you, the tyrant, but it slowly turned sour after yesterday. He probably would have hated your guts if you actually hit me.” he groans.

“I know, that’s why I didn’t.”

“And I still thank you for that, [L/N].” this earned him an eye roll “If I were to have Eddie see you in a better light, and potentially boost up your confidence in talking to him, maybe I can help you two hook up.”

“Really? You’d do that?” he stands up but then stops, looking down at Dustin cautiously “What’s the catch?” Dustin smirks a little.

“Just your protection.” this caused [M/N] to quirk a brow “My friends and I are still losers, meaning we’re still targets in the jocks eyes. We by no means can protect ourselves from those assholes, so, I was hoping you’d keep an eye out for us in return for my services.” he let out a groan at that, why did he have to play babysitter. He genuinely wanted to refuse, but having Dustin as his inside man to help him get with Eddie… dammit, it was an offer he just couldn’t refuse.

“Alright, Henderson, you’ve got yourself a deal.” this caused him to grin, reaching forward to grab [M/N]’s hand and shake it enthusiastically.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” he rolled his eyes. Now, outside the supply closet was Eddie. He arrived a little early to school in hopes that he could potentially catch his secret admirer but upon opening his locker and finding the letter and a mixtape, all was for naught and he woke up early for no— wait, a mixtape? He felt giddy, taking the tape into his hands and opening the case and there he saw a little note written in it.

’I happened to overhear that you’d love to receive a mixtape. Thought I’d give you one as a gift. I hope you enjoy it, Eddie.’

~ secret admirer.

“Oh, what a sap.” the sound of a door opening caught his attention, he leaned back from out of his locker and narrowed his eyes when he saw [M/N] and Dustin walk out of the supply closet. He thought maybe [M/N] was threatening the younger one but was surprised to see Dustin laughing when the other grabbed the end of his cap and shook it a bit before pushing his head back and walking away “What was all that about...?” Dustin raised his head upon feeling he was being stared at, he jumped upon seeing that it was Eddie.

“Hey, Eddie! W-When did you get here?” he asked while approaching him.

“A couple minutes ago.” he then eyed the back of [M/N]’s back before he disappeared “Why were you in the supply closet with [L/N]? Was he threatening you again?” Dustin’s eyes widened before he raised his hands while shaking his head.

“Oh, no, no, no! I just needed advice for... intimidation?” he mentally slapped his forehead, even Eddie looked at him as if he were an idiot.

“Seriously? I’m surprised he didn’t give you a black eye.” Dustin waved his hand to dismiss him.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. We just let bygones be bygones, alright? He’s actually a pretty chill dude.” Eddie rolled his eyes, tucking the mixtape and letter into his front pocket, intending to listen and read through them later.

“Sure, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

And see Dustin kept his end of the deal, Eddie would ramble about anything that came into mind and he would later report it to [M/N], because of this, it gave him more material for his letters. Sometimes he would think of new gifts to give to Eddie, a few times they got a little too big so [M/N] had to break into his locker just to get it in there. But also keeping his end of the deal, whenever [M/N] would catch Dustin and his group of losers getting ganged by anyone with ill intentions, he just stands behind them and give them that infamous death glare. Mike and Lucas have been starting to notice the lack of black eyes they’ve been receiving, and Dustin has been weirdly confident for some reason.

“Dustin, what did you do?” Lucas asked, eyeing him weirdly as he walked beside him.

“Lucas is right, you did something.” Mike agreed, Dustin just gave them a cheeky grin. 

“I’ve gained us, boys, immunity.” they both stare at him weirdly “At first I thought he wasn’t doing his job right, but in the end, it worked out just fine.” Mike and Lucas share a look with each other.

“Oh yeah, how?” they enter the cafeteria, Mike and Lucas intending to sit down with Eddie and the rest, but were confused when they saw that he was walking somewhere else “Dustin? Dustin! Where are you going?” their jaws literally dropped when he confidently walked over to where [M/N] was sitting, dropping his tray of food in front of him then taking a seat across from him, practically startling the poor soul who was reading.

“What the-- Henderson?” [M/N] questioned, looking over at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes when the brunette grinned at him “What the fuck are you doing over here?” he merely shrugged his shoulders, taking his bag off his shoulders and putting it under the table.

“Eating lunch with you.” he scoffed, making sure to bookmark his page before closing his book.

“Shouldn’t you be eating with your friends?” he asked while gesturing with his heads over to them, to which Dustin shrugged “I still have a reputation to up hold here, Henderson. I can’t just let these dorks see me going soft, all because of you--” he stuttered back his words when Dustin raised his finger, he was greatly offended that he was shushed.

“And they won’t, but I think it’ll help Eddie see that you’re not such a bad guy.” this caused him to calm slightly “Like I said before, Eddie was interested in you before and I think you’ll gain his interest again if he see’s you’re not that hard to talk to. And by doing that, you have me.” [M/N] rolled his fingers along the table as he eyed Dustin before letting out a sigh.

“Fucking, fine.” with that Dustin happily ate his food, [M/N] picked at his food “... does he like the mixtape?” the younger one let out a hum at that, he quickly swallows his food and nods.

“Mm hmm, he listens to it all the time.” this caused a rare smile to raise to his cheeks,

“I’m glad.” those who were staring that managed to see that smile were in complete shock, the only face he ever wore was a scowl or sneer, but this was the first time anyone has ever seen him smile like that at something that wasn’t his bike. Eddie, who was watching the entire interaction, felt his eyes widen at how charming that smile was. He couldn’t help but snort softly when he saw Dustin say something and in return [M/N] threw some of his food at him, but there was a smile nonetheless.

“Since when was Henderson friends with [L/N]?!” Gareth exclaimed, Eddie chuckled softly.

“Actually... I remember seeing the two of them together one morning, I thought it was nothing, but I guess not.” at the end of lunch he was hounded for answers by his friends, though they backed off a little when [M/N] walked by them but not without ruffling Dustin’s head.

“Later Henderson.” he happily waved his hand.

“Bye, [L/N]!” he then smirks at Lucas’ and Mike’s dumbfounded face.

“Since when did you gain [M/N]’s favor? I thought that was impossible to do!” Mike exclaimed, hands in his hair and ready to be torn off “Was this during the time you bumped into him?” Dustin just grinned cheekily at them, shrugging his shoulders.

“Maybe, maybe not. Hey, Eddie!” said man looked at him “He does like Iron Maiden.” Eddie’s face lit up.

“Well, if he likes Iron Maiden, then he can’t be all that bad.”

“No, Eddie, just no.”

[time skip: a few weeks later]

Dustin continued to sit at [M/N]’s table, must to the other’s displeasure, and just straight up harassed him because he had the power to do so. Dustin’s time with him actually got him a few ups rather than downs, mostly because he started to learn more and more about him. He learnt that [M/N] was actually really smart and the reason he never put in any of the effort to the schoolwork was because the teacher’s thought he’d end up as a lost cause, so he just gave up trying so hard. But the one thing he did put a lot of effort into was English, Dustin would often ask for his help for his English work and though he thought it was a hassle, the younger of the two could tell that [M/N] was having some fun with it. 

Sure Dustin promised [M/N] he would help him with telling him everything about Eddie, but Eddie wanted to know more about [M/N] as well. Eddie learnt that though the delinquent enjoyed listening to a variety of different heavy metal songs, he quite enjoyed listening to classical music as well via vinyl's. It was a shocker, but it did help calm him down when he was having trouble with his anger issues. The school also noticed the way [M/N] was starting to soften up and act less impulsive, they all had Dustin to thank for that, making the tyrant less tyrannical.

“Whatever you’re doing, Henderson, keep at it.” Eddie said, patting his shoulder and looking up in thought “You think he knows how to play D&D? I’d love to ask him to join Hellfire personally, but I’m afraid he’ll think it’s boring.” Dustin rolled his eyes, recalling the time [M/N] told him that he self taught himself how to play D&D so he could play alongside Eddie one day during one of his campaigns.

“I’ll ask him.” Eddie grinned.

“You’re the best.” he shrugs.

“So I’ve been told.” with [M/N], he was sitting just outside the parking lot reading the Lord of the Rings Book: The Return of the King. He was always a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, it was one of the many reasons he ended up loving English a lot, but he took up reading the books again when Dustin told him Eddie tended to make references from the books a lot. He closed the book and chuckled to himself at the amount of page tabs he had on them from the time he marked down the best parts of the book, he believed he believed he read enough and was planning on going home but stopped when he heard shouting.

“Hmm?” he glanced over and saw what he believed was Eddie’s Hellfire Club huddled around, he thought it was nothing until he saw a couple of jocks “Well shit, and here I thought I was going to have a quiet Friday evening.” he puts his book in his bag and leaves it by his bike before marching over to see what ruckus was all about, the students immediately parted upon seeing him and when he saw what was going on his blood ran cold. 

[a few minutes before [m/n] arrived]

“You think you and your lot of freaks are untouchable, huh, Munson?” Eddie laid on the ground, blood running down nose and black eye slowly forming on his left eye as he stared up at the bastard who punched him “You think just because Henderson is in good graces with the tyrant we can’t hurt you? Well guess again, bitch, there’s nothing he will do.” Dustin glared at them from where he stood.

“You’re wrong, you asshole!” he flinched back when another jock took a step forward.

“Oh, yeah? That asshole doesn’t care about anyone but himself! You’ve gotten arrogant because of the fact that you can talk to him, Henderson. But remember this, the moment he sees no more use in you, you’ll be the next punching bag on his list.” Eddie spits out the blood in his mouth and stands to his feet.

“What makes you think we need [L/N]’s protection, huh? I can handle myself pretty well!” he lets out a laugh when he was grabbed by his vest, yanked forward and standing eye to eye with the jock “You guys are just as scared of him as we are, you just hate that he’s close to him.” he winces when the jock reeled his arm back but paused when it didn’t come, he opened his eyes and noticed that the jock was looking down so he followed his gaze and his eyes widened when one of the newest love letters fell out of his pocket.

“What’s this?” Eddie sputtered out his words but let out a gasp when he was thrown back, Gareth and Jeff caught him before he could fall just as the jock bent down to pick up the letter.

“H-Hey man, give that back!” he shouts out desperately, heart dropping when the letter opened and the jock looked at the writing inside it, he soon laughed at what it said.

“Well would you look at that? The freak seems to have an admirer!” he shouts, reading through more of it then looked at Eddie with an amused expression “Do you really think anyone has any feelings for you, Munson? It’s probably nothing more than a joke. Nobody loves you, there’s nothing to love.” Eddie’s hands closed into a tight fist, those words really damaging his heart.

“Y-You’re wrong!” this response made him laugh.

“Wow! You really believe these feelings this person wrote for you are actually true!” he then drops the letter, raised his foot and stomped on it, making sure to twist his foot on top of it “You don’t deserve to be loved.” those tears that were threatening to fall finally fell, though Dustin couldn’t help but feel fear run through his veins. [M/N] always treated those letters with care, and seeing someone stomp on them means that they have a death wish. 

“You’re dead...” he whispered to himself, though the jocks seemed to have picked up on what he said and turned their attention on him.

“The fuck did you say, nerd...” they trailed off when someone stepped out from behind Dustin, he glanced up and there he saw that enraged look in [M/N]’s face that he hasn’t seen in a long time. Eddie also looked up when someone pushed passed him and saw that same expression that charmed him, [M/N] couldn’t see anything but red. He grabbed the piece of shit that had the balls to insult him; to insult his Eddie and stomp on his letter, and pulled them forward “H-Hey, now wait a minu-- minute!” [M/N] pulls his arm back, glaring at the poor unfortunate soul.

“Clench your teeth.” was all the the warning he got that was laced with venom, and for the next couple of minutes, [M/N] was laying waste into him. There was nothing that could stop him now, not the countless of students that were yelling at him to stop, not the people who were trying to pull him off as he beat his voice to the point he laid there unconscious and unable to defend himself. He ignored the way the jock clawed at his face and arms for him to stop but couldn’t, he made his Eddie cry... and he was going to make him pay with his blood.

“[M/N], stop!” Dustin shouted, grabbing at the arm that he was swinging with all he could and pulled it back “You’ve done enough... please, you’ve done enough.” [M/N] glanced back at Dustin and saw the sheer fear in his eyes, he then looked down at the poor unconscious sap and the blooded mess he was in. When Dustin saw his fist loosen up he finally let go of his arm, [M/N] took a deep breath then stood to his feet and looked over at Eddie. The two of them just stared at each other until [M/N] looked down at the dirty and crinkled letter, bending down to pick it up.

“H-Hey, wait--” Eddie was cut off when [M/N] slapped it against his chest as he walked past him.

“Next time, take good care of your valuables, Eddie.” nobody said a word as [M/N] walked away, hopped onto his bike and drove away. Eddie’s hands held onto that note like it was his lifeline as his friends surrounded him, asking him if he was okay, but he couldn’t help but shiver at the way his name rolled off of [M/N]’s tongue. 

’He said my name...’

[time skip: a few days later]

“... wanna talk about it?”

“Shut up, Buckley.” Robin snickered from beside [M/N], the two of them laying outside on the grass at school, though [M/N]  was drinking alcohol out of a flask. [M/N] told Dustin to stay away from him for a couple days because he was afraid he was going to have another outburst and take it out on him if he couldn’t control himself. He really went too far this time, that was on him, but he just couldn’t control himself when he saw Eddie crying; when he saw that motherfucker step on his fucking lett--

“You’re balling your fists again, [M/N].” he lets out a defeated sigh, hands relaxing.

“I think I’ve gone and done it this time, Robin. I think I officially scared him off.” Robin watched him sit up, face in his hands as he shook his head “I just couldn’t stop myself, Buckley. Just-- jesus, I lost all rationality and let out the anger I hadn’t realized I was bottling up all out on him.” Robin rolled her eyes and sat up.

“You’re overreacting, dude.”

“I don’t think I am.” he whispered to himself, she shakes her head and places a hand on his shoulder.

“If you’re so worried, just go talk to Dustin. He’s your inside man, remember?” he spares her a glance and saw she was giving him a look of reassurance “I can even talk to Dustin, that little twerp and I became friends sometime last year.” he makes a face.

“... nah, I think it’d be better if I talked to him.” she grins, punching his arm.

“There you go.” he scoffed with a laugh “Now hurry up, and sick and tired hearing that kid miss talking to you.” he scowls at her.

“Right, I was quite enjoying my peace and quiet.”

“No you weren’t.” he pouts. He was now at his locker, getting a few things out of it, ignoring the people moving around him and whispering bullshit about him again. He stopped caring about what others said about him, some rumors were true while others weren’t, they just put the blame on him because it was easier that wa--

“Hey.” he slammed his locker shut at the sudden voice, turning his head, he started screaming internally at who it was “You think we could talk for a bit?”

’Oh my god, Eddie! You’re talking to me! I can’t believe you’re talking to me! Is this a dream? If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up! What a dream come true! Eddie, the love of my life!’ he had a straight and neutral expression but his thoughts said otherwise.

“Sure.” he cried on the inside at his short answer, fuck sake.

“W-Well, um-- I’ve been meaning to say thank you.” this caused [M/N] to raise a brow.

“Huh, for what? I don’t remember doing anything for you.” this is where Eddie nervously twirled a strand of his hair then moving it so that it was hiding the lower half of his face, something that [M/N] found adorable whenever Eddie felt nervous.

“No. When those assholes took that letter from me...” he trailed off, a pained look on his face “I couldn’t do anything, and their words really stuck with me. But you, you stood up to them. You could have just looked the other way, but you didn’t, and for that I’m really grateful.” [M/N] swallowed thickly.

“Yeah, well-- don’t expect me...” [M/N] stopped himself before he could finish his sentence, shaking his head when he realized he was going to come off as an asshole “No, I-- fuck! I mean, it’s no big deal, Munson. You’re Dustin’s friend, so I couldn’t just turn a blind eye.” he internally fist bumped, nailed it.

“Well, thanks, tyrant.” [M/N] chuckled.

“No problem, freak.” they both laugh. Robin had confronted Dustin and told the young boy to talk to [M/N], he was already way ahead of her and was making his way to his locker but stopped in the middle of his tracks when he saw him talking to Eddie. Wow, what a turn of events. He froze up when [M/N] saw him and before he could say anything, Dustin backed away but gestured for him to keep talking.

“So, [L/N],” Eddie cleared his throat, his little DM persona surfacing up as he gave the taller male a confident grin “you know the Hellfire Club, right?” he nods his head.

“Yes?” Eddie then tugs on his battle vest, a smirk raising to his face.

“So then you know how we play D&D, right?” he was given another nod in response to that “Cool! I-I mean-- ahem. As the Dungeon Master, as a thank you for your services for protecting my friends and I, I would like to formally invite you to Hellfire. Now I hope you understand how valuable this invitation is, [L/N], because not just anyone can be invited into Hellfire. You should feel really grateful.” looking up at him, he was expecting to see an unimpressed expression and was going to be brushed off, but what he got was a look of excitement as [M/N]’s cold eyes sparkled while a red hue flushed to his cheeks.

“Really?” his voice reminded him of that of a child, he wished he could stare at that face a little longer but it quickly disappeared as it came when [M/N] shook his head to knock some sense into himself “I-I mean, uh, sure. I’ll take up your invitation, Munson. No take backs.” Eddie couldn’t help but laugh at that childish sentence.

“Haha, alright.” he then takes a step back, waving his hand goodbye “Tomorrow, at Hellfire after school. Be there early, okay? I need to show the ropes and recap on our last campaign.” [M/N] nods his head, giving Eddie a thumbs up as the metal head walked away.

“R-Right, totally!” Eddie flashes him a bright smile before finally disappearing, [M/N] stood in the hallway for what felt like hours at what just happened. Eddie came up to him. Eddie was the one that talked to him. Eddie thanked him. Eddie smiled at him. Eddie invited him to Hellfire. He couldn’t fight back that huge smile and when he saw there was no one around, he let out a biggest squeal, jumping in the air while pumping his fists then punching his locker “Fuck yeah! I did it! I did it!” he then crouches down, pressing his hands together as he continued to smile.

I did it.

[time skip: the next day]

Eddie wasn’t in the greatest of moods that day. Sure, he was happy when he woke up that morning. Why? Maybe it was because he was finally going to be able to interact with [M/N] [L/N] for the very first time instead of watching him from afar and hearing new things about him from Dustin, he could finally talk to him and look at him from up close. Maybe he was also excited to get a new letter from his secret admirer, things were looking great for his end of the week. He arrived at school with a big smile on his face, he approached his locker and opened it but... there was no letter. He looked through every nook and cranny for it but there was nothing, his heart dropped and he couldn’t help but feel heart broken. The words of those bullies coming back to haunt him. 

“Nobody loves you.”

“There’s nothing to love.” 

“You don’t deserve to be loved.” 

What made things worse was that he didn’t see [M/N] throughout that entire day, he tried asking Dustin but the kid didn’t give him any concrete answers to go off of. When everything was finally looking good for him, it all just went away as fast as it came. Was [M/N] even going to come to Hellfire? God, what was he even thinking? Of course he wasn’t. That guy probably has better things to do than come to some stupid roleplaying game with Eddie “the Freak” fucking Munson! He collapsed onto his chair within Hellfire, the end of the day came faster than he would he have wanted and now he was going to have to do this campaign in a shitty mood.

“Eddie?” a soft voice called out, his head shot up and there he saw the man he hadn’t realized he was aching to see. [M/N] looked nervous where he was standing, he stepped into the room and rubbed the back of his neck, there Eddie noticed [M/N] was holding something behind his back but didn’t question it and stood up in a slightly better mood.

“You actually came, [L/N]! I kind of thought you were going to pull a no show.” [M/N]’s eyes immediately widened, a look of shock evident.

“W-What? Why would I do that?” he then winced when he remember that he hadn’t shown his face to Eddie that entire day, going so far as to not tell Dustin what he was doing, what he was doing had to do with what he had behind his back “I-I was busy this entire day, there’s something I need to tell you.” Eddie fixed his posture at that.

“Yeah?” [M/N] could feel how fast his heart was beating, an eruption of butterflies bursting in his stomach as he thought of countless scenarios in his head. Eddie continued to look up at [M/N], seeing a new expression on his face, one of anxiousness. Before Eddie could say anything [M/N] finally pulled his arm out from behind his back and handed Eddie an envelope, an envelope with his name written on the front of it with a very familiar penmanship “W-Why do you... why do you have that?” he questioned as he snatched the letter out of his hand, did [M/N] steal this out from his locker? Was that the reason why this fucker didn’t show his face the entire da--

“I thought it would be better to give it to you now.” this caused Eddie to pause, what? “I know you might have been confused as to why you didn’t get one this morning, but I've been needing to tell you something face to face. I've always been better at writing down my feelings rather than verbally saying it, so...” he then gestured for him to read it, so Eddie did just that, tearing the envelope open and pulling the letter out.

‘to eddie,

this will probably be my last letter to you. I’ve constantly told you how much I’ve adored you, from the way your eyes sparkle whenever you’re happy, to the way you always have this passion in your voice every time you speak. there isn’t a thing about you that I don’t love. 

the moment you spoke to me, it felt like I was on cloud fucking nine. I nearly blew it and told you to fuck off, but I’m glad I was able to pull my head out of my ass. you have no idea what you do to me, you have no idea what I would do for you.

I love you, eddie munson, and there’s nothing in this god forsaken world that could ever change my mind about that. I just hope that you can feel the same about me now that you know who your secret admirer is. I was always so scared that you wouldn’t like me.

I promise you, I will give you all the love that you want and need. I will give you everything so long as I live, and I promise you that I will always be by your side loving you.

~ [m/n] [l/n].

Eddie looked up from the letter and there he saw [M/N] looking so small, averting his eyes from Eddie’s as he laced his fingers together, twiddling his thumbs while trembling. [M/N] thought Eddie wasn’t going to buy it, he thought Eddie was going to accuse him of stealing that letter from out of his locker and saying that it was from him. He was expecting Eddie to reject him, there wasn’t a single positive outcome to come out of this situation, and when he was going to accept that reality he suddenly felt a pair of arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a hug.

“Thank god it was you, [M/N].” his eyes widened slightly, taking in a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in “I’m so glad that it’s you, [M/N].” he whispered, the latter swallowed thickly at that as he looked down at Eddie.

“W-What?” Eddie pulled away and [M/N] saw he had an expression that mirrored his “D-Do you mean you— you feel the same way?!” he exclaimed, Eddie laughed and nodded his head.

“I always felt a slight attraction towards you, [M/N], and I was quite torn whether or not I should fall in love with my secret admirer or the hot tyrant. I’m so glad you two are one in the same.” he then gently jabbed [M/N]’s side with his elbow “But who’d a thought you’re nothing more than a giant teddy bear. I’ve seen the way you act with Dustin when you think no one’s looking, you’re not very discrete.” this caused the taller of the two to let out a whine of sort, an embarrassed blush rising to his cheeks as he hid his face behind his hands.

“Stop it…” he mumbled.

“You’re really adorable.” Eddie sets the letter down on the table then reaches forward and grabs both of [M/N]’s hands, he rubs his thumbs along his knuckles. [M/N]’s was beating abnormally fast to the point he was surprised he hadn’t fainted from how happy he was, still not believing that Eddie felt the same way about him.

“C-Can I…” Eddie lets out a hum, smirking softly at the flustered man in front of him “… can I kiss you?”

“Hmm, can you, big boy?” he laughed when [M/N] pouted, wearing a face that resembled that of a kicked puppy “Alright, okay! I was kidding, you big dope.” Eddie watched [M/N] slip his hands free from his grip and raise his hands to his face, they gently cupped his cheeks and his thumbs caressed them. He probably would have purred at the affection but instead let out a hum when [M/N] finally pressed his lips against his own, it was a short and sweet kiss but it had Eddie craving for me. So when [M/N] was pulling away he let out a muffled gasp when Eddie wrapped his arms around his neck to pull him back into another kiss, next thing they knew [M/N] was laying on his back with Eddie on top of him pulling him into deeper kisses.

“Eddie… Eddie, please…!” each time [M/N] got a word out he would be silenced by another kiss, he later gave up and just pulled Eddie into a kiss that he poured his heart and soul into “I love you, Eddie…!” he smiled at that, briefly pulling away to rest his forehead on his.

“And I love you just as much.”

Headcanons:

the other members of hellfire came in to find [m/n] and eddie making out on the floor.

eddie sat on [m/n]’s lap with a triumphant smirk on his face while the other continued to lay on the ground, hands covering his face as he wallowed up in embarrassment.

dustin came up to them and held out his hand, [m/n] side eyed him but gave him a high five.

mission accomplished.

[m/n] immensely softened up after finally getting together with eddie, he didn’t mindlessly get into fights with people anymore and just eddie or even dustin’s mere presence is enough to get him to calm down.

robin was happy for [m/n], he literally came running up to her with the biggest smile on his face and hugged her; twirling her around and everything.

this scared the ever living shit out of steve.

[m/n] started sitting with eddie and his lot during lunch, this was enough to get the bullies to back off.

sometimes [m/n] would help eddie with any of his homework, that being eddie openly complaining how hard it was and that he needed help from his hunky and gorgeous boyfriend to assist him.

whenever eddie got an answer right he would be rewarded with a kiss.

most of the time they would get distracted and not even be able to finish the homework.

bike rides are a must.

eddie loved the feeling of the wind breezing through his curly brown locks, often cheering as [m/n] drove down the streets of hawkins.

the first time eddie tried getting on his bike without a helmet [m/n] would just give him a blank expression with his arms crossed and just gave him the most disapproving glare he could muster.

safety first.

when playing d&d, eddie would incorporate [m/n]’s tyrant persona into the campaign.

the others loved it. [m/n] was a barbarian goliah who was a tyrannical king in their latest campaign and they had to strategise how to overthrow him.

they lost epically before he swooned the dungeon master.

they called him a cheater.

he called them sore losers.

dustin believes he’s the greatest wingman because of the fact that eddie and [m/n] are together, the two of them definitely favor him a lot. this sometimes causes the others to get jealous, but all he does in return for their retaliation is hide behind [m/n].

they all though have access to [m/n]’s scary dog privilege.

however, they all know that [m/n] would absolutely do anything for his eddie.

they remember a time they absentmindedly told [m/n] when eddie was being harassed by a few of the jocks in the past. they didn’t see him for the rest of the day until they saw the same guy that harassed eddie run away blooded and crying.

[m/n] turned the corner with blood on his knuckles.

he didn’t see anything wrong with it.

eddie is always flattered, but his heart is always over the moon because [m/n] continued to write him love letters and make him more mixtapes.

they would end up in eddie’s van laying together, listening to the music through his stereo as [m/n] read a loud all the new things he loved about eddie.

he loved eddie.

eddie loved him.

the tyrant and the freak.

Helper

word count: 2147

Fandom: FNAF Security Breach Pairing: Sundrop/Moondrop x Female!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Daycare Helper Ability: Animatronic Moon Jellyfish

The character was modeled after a moon jellyfish, so they are an oceanic type animatronic that mostly resided in the daycare to provide assistance when needed within the pizza plex. The appearance they adorn is that of a tall woman and the animalistic part of her design would be, other than a human like face, they would have a large bell (the blob of a jellyfish is called a bell or hood) on top of their head that would act as a large hat, and attached to the underside of the bell are the tentacles and stingers. They are not actually stingers, they help the character locate children and feel for their surroundings. The bell on top of their head also glow in the dark.

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name [B/C]: Base Color [S/C]: Secondary Color [F/C]: Favorite Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: spoilers to those who haven’t seen fnaf sb

I have absolutely no clue how tall the animatronics are, so bear with me.

that is all.

“Helper” pt. 2, pt. 3

“Sundrop, allow me to introduce you to the new helper to the daycare.” Sundrop, the Daycare Attendant, stops in his movements and his beaming face turns to look over at where Officer Vanessa was when she entered the daycare. He happily skips over to her at the entrance and there he finally noticed the tall animatronic woman standing behind her, this woman loomed over Vanessa and had a soft smile present on her face “If you haven’t already noticed, this is [F/N] the Jellyfish. She’s going to be your aid here in the daycare, mostly because we’ve been getting complaints from the parents. Introduce yourself.” Vanessa said, stepping to the side to allow [F/N] to step forward, the animatronic woman does so and she directed her soft and kind smile towards Sundrop.

“Hello there, I am the animatronic [F/N] the Jellyfish. I hope I can be of some help for you, Daycare Attendant.” he had to raise his head because whoever built her made her quite tall, Freddy and Monty were taller than her since they stood at nine feet tall, but she was at least 8″3ft tall and much taller than he was. She wore a gorgeous [F/C] pencil skirt that was decorated with stars of all sizes that ended at her ankles with ruffles at the end and around her waist, a simple [S/C] blouse that had ruffles at the collar and wrists. She had a cravat around their neck with a [F/C] ringed speaker in the middle of it and simple white gloves, their skin was [B/C] and he couldn’t see her eyes since they were closed. What stood out about her appearance was the transparent bell that was a lighter shade of [B/C] that sat atop her head with the stingers and tentacles that hung by her side from the underside of the bell and a lighter shade of [S/C] hair that dropped down to below her waist “I wish for us to get along, Sundrop.” 

“...” she raised a brow when she didn’t get an immediate answer, that was because Sundrop could not stop staring at [F/N] for the life of him, he was able to snap out of his day dreaming when Vanessa cleared her throat and gave him a warning glare “O-Oh, jeepers! My name is Sundrop, and I wish for us to get along too!” [F/N]’s smile widened and she lowered her head into a bow.

“Oh, how wonderful.” she lets out a whoa when he grabbed her hand and started shaking it up and down, she giggled softly at the gesture while Vanessa rolled her eyes.

“Good, now that you’ve introduce yourselves, get ready because the pizza plex opens in less than an hour.” [F/N] stood behind Sundrop, who gave Vanessa a droopy grin as he saluted.

“Yes, ma’am! Right away, ma’am!” she rolled her eyes once more before looking up at [F/N] this time.

“You know what you were programmed to do.” she nods her head.

“Of course.” Vanessa nods her head to her before walking out of the daycare, when they could no longer hear her footsteps, the two animatronics look at each other, each with their own smile on their face, one softer while the other was more energetic.

“Oh, we’re going to have so much fun together, new friend!” Sundrop cheers happily, grabbing her hand and bouncing on his feet “We can finger paint! Tell stories! Do macaroni art! Make balloon animals! This is going to be a blast! But, I do have one rule: keep the lights on.” she hums at the way his tone progressively grew darker as he finished his sentence, though she already knew the reason.

“But of course, Sundrop. Rules are simply put out to keep others safe, no?” he beams up at her, now holding her hands with both of his, vigorously nodding his head.

“Yes, yes! I am so glad you agree with me.” introducing her to the children and parents wasn’t so hard either, the parents seemed to like her because she was more level headed and calm in comparison to Sundrop’s upbeat and cheerful personality, and she was quite adored by the children. Sundrop took care of the more boisterous children while [F/N] was left to handle the children who leaned over to the shyer and introverted side and children that overall needed to rest more than to play around. 

“We cannot thank you enough, [F/N]. Our child has been a little overexerted after the performance that Glamgang put on and all the junk food they splurged on.” [F/N] offered the mother of the child she was currently caring for her kind smile.

“Of course, but I do advise that you monitor what your child consumes next time. Overeating food provided by Freddy Fazebear’s Mega Pizza Plex is not healthy for a young child.” the mother nodded her head.

“I’ll take your advice.” [F/N] bids the young child and her parents goodbye with a simple wave before she turns on her heels and makes her way over to the Security Desk, though she was not a security bot nor a security officer like the few human employees, she was programmed to keep on eye on the schedule and the few cameras within the daycare when needed. She picks up the clipboard and her eyes, that were closed, briefly open to see what was next “Naptime, hmm? Then I guess it’s time to meet Moondrop.” she places the clipboard down and proceeds to turn around but was stopped when a young boy grabbed her hand.

“Miss [F/N], Sundrop’s reading us a story and we all want you to participate!” he cheered, she nods softly and lets the young child lead her. 

“How wonderful.” she sat amongst the few children attending the story telling, sitting in a side sit position with a few children laying against her. Sundrop returned after grabbing a book when he saw [F/N] waiting with the children, he was now even more excited to tell the story with [F/N] in attendance. Most of the children and the new animatronic would laugh at the silly voices Sundrop would use for the characters in the story, [F/N] would sometimes joy in by words of encouragement from the children when a female character was introduced. By the time the story had come to the end, the timer for the lights to turn off came and it was now naptime, and evidently, the time for Moondrop to make his appearance. 

Sundrop’s AI shut down and Moondrop’s powered on, he blinked his eyes continuously until his vision came to him. He glanced around and noticed that the majority of the children were already dozing off, he tilted his head to the side in confusion because it usually took some time for the energetic children to fall asleep, and yet here he is and seeing that most of them were already asleep. The sound of humming soon came to his ears and he turned to see the newest animatronic, a child laying peacefully in her lap as a tune played out from the speaker in her cravat while she hummed along to the song, helping the children around her sleep.

“Naughty, naughty~” Moondrop mused, hoping from side to side as he approached the woman, who raised her head slightly at the sound of the voice “It is my job to care for the sleeping children. Who are you to replace me?” he reaches towards her, intent to harm this individual, but let out a choked noise when one of the hands that rest on her lap beside the child’s head shot over and grabbed him by the neck.

“Oh, and here I thought we could get along.” he let out a grunt when the bell on top of her head started to glow, she turned to look at him and her eyes that were closed opened and he got to see her beautiful eyes. Her scelra was like the galaxy while her iris’ were shaped like a diamond star that shun a bright shade of white, she then offers him her smile but hidden behind it was a smirk “I am [F/N] the Moon Jellyfish, let us hope we can work together.”

“You little--” she brought her free hand to her lips and shushed him softly, she points to the child sleeping on her lap as she tightened her grip on his neck.

“Shush now, we wouldn’t want to wake the children, now would we?” her eyes narrowed softly “Now, let us do our job together, why don’t we?” her grip tightened once more and he was forced to agree with her.

“... alright.” her kind smile returned to her lips as she gently put Moondrop down, who immediately raised his hands to his neck and caressed it, frowning slightly when he felt slight dents in the metal “You’re lucky Sun likes you.” she giggles softly.

“The feelings are mutual.” he huffs and turns around on his heel and starts caring for the other children that weren’t around [F/N], she merely shook her head and continued to play with the hair of the child sleeping in her lap, missing the way Moondrop started growing red in the face.

Headcanons:

[f/n] was essentially programmed to babysit sundrop lights on and manage moondrop lights off. 

meaning; her model was designed to be strong enough to take care of moondrop if he ever got a little too aggressive, so when it came down to strength, she would be the third strongest out of all the animatronics.

first being monty, second being freddy, and third being herself. 

vanessa would sometimes come to her whenever monty would get out of hand and have her calm the alligator down when he would have on of his temper tantrums and they got out of hand.

sometimes he would like to have arms wrestles with her.

he would never admit the fact that he struggles pushing her arm down. 

anyways-

sundrop absolutely adores being by her side whenever they have to look after children together, whenever he has the chance to be around her, he does not hesitate to cling to her back and she would let him hang there as she monitors other children.

moondrop doesn’t like to admit that seeing her more snarky side is hot, cool. it’s a complete personality flip.

the first few lights out together was rocky. sometimes he would want to fight her to prove who was better, she’d have him in a lock under her arm in under a couple seconds.

he gave up pretty quickly. 

she acts as a nightlight for the children that sings.

so he joins her when it’s naptime and leans against her big body and falls asleep to her songs, she didn’t let him live it down the first time he did it and would follow him around just to ask how it felt. 

she gets along with glamrock freddy the best out of the glamrock gang, mostly because they both embody that parental figure. him being fatherly and her being motherly, they both enjoy each other’s company a lot and speak whenever she’s free from the daycare.

her and chica get along because [f/n] was also programmed to know how to cook, so she likes making certain dishes and have chica try them out. when she see’s chica eating garbage she scolds her.

her and roxy are a little complicated. more like neutral. roxy sometimes tries to one up [f/n] on multiple occasions, but most of the time [f/n] lets her wins during these competitions. though when [f/n] knows when roxy is having a tough time with her self esteem she helps the poor girl and together they style each other’s hair.

her and monty is funny. she acts quite motherly to him and often takes him to parts and services when he has one of his days just to check if he damaged himself in any way. monty doesn’t want to admit that he likes the doting attention he gets form her.

now for the game plot, when the lights turn off when gregory was in the daycare, [f/n] would awaken from where she was and protect gregory from moondrop.

she would act as a distraction to turn moondrop’s attention towards her while gregory turned on the generators, her eyes also allow her to see in the dark so she directs him to where some of the generators are.

and when sundrop bans gregory from the daycare she would bid the boy goodbye from behind sundrop.

and when the lights turn off at each hour mark, she would leave the daycare in order to protect gregory from moondrop and the occasional other animatronics.

other than that, she is the kind moon jellyfish animatronic that teaches children how to be humble and polite within the daycare.

basically, she’s a nanny for children and sundrop.

Rose

word count: 12,698

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Robin Buckley x Female!Harrington!Reader   Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic Occupation: University Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: n/a

this was requested by my friend @unparalleled-slothy​ and her friend @puresass​, so you can go thank them for giving me enough inspiration to write something.

this is going to be if billy and [f/n] didn’t die or get possessed by the mind flayer, so an overall happy ending for those poor unfortunate souls.

I know this is way past valentine’s day but I don’t give a shit, I was just lazy.

that is all.

Ah, valentines the day.

The day where you celebrate love, whether it may be with your significant other or rather suffering in utter loneliness because you have no significant other. A holiday where the price of stuffed toys, a bundle of flowers and chocolate have doubled in price because they can do that. This was the first year [F/N] was going to spend Valentine’s Day with her actual lover, her beautiful girlfriend Robin Buckley, that wasn’t just some on and off fling but a girl she genuinely had a relationship with. Someone she almost loved just as much as her brother— almost, but she still had a place deep within her heart. Sure, [F/N] still had university to worry about but what’s a few missed days? Besides, she’s paid a few of her friends/classmates to take notes for her so when she returns she doesn’t flunk so hard.

Steve himself was just as excited for Valentine’s Day as [F/N] was, this time he was going to spend it with Billy. This was something new for the both of them, not so much Steve, but spending the holiday with another boy, yes. Steve’s heart was filled with so much love, he was ready to shower it all onto Billy, but he knew better than to overwhelm the blonde. Learning from him, he knew that Billy was starved of affection and was slowly getting used to Steve’s lingering touches, so he knew he had to hold back. Steve and [F/N] both had a plan for their lovers, they had all day to play and get their surprise ready for them, especially since neither one of them had school to attend and Steve was taking a day off from Family Video just to prepare.

“So what do you have in store for Hargrove, Stevie?” [F/N] asks, both herself and Steve lounging about outside by the pool despite the weather, a cold beer in her hand as they stared up at the dark sky above them “He’s told me he’s excited for what you have planned out, basically pleading with me to spare some details.” she hums to herself when she saw an excited grin stretch across his cheeks.

“Do you remember how lover’s lake has the best view after dark?” she nods her head, tilting her head back to take a swig of her drink “That’s exactly where I’m going to take him where the two of us are going to enjoy a night dinner under the stars.” her face lights up, snapping her fingers in his direction.

“Oh, I see. Are you planning it so that the stars reflect against the water?” he nods his head, snapping his fingers in her direction.

“Exactly that, sister dearest.” [F/N] applauds him for his creative idea, he sniffles softly and tilts his drink in her direction to gesture for her to speak her idea then took a drink “What about you? Robin has been begging me to spill what you’re gonna do with her.” [F/N] grinned, her couldn’t help but roll his eyes when he recognised that mischievous grin.

“You’re just gonna have to wait and see, my dear little brother.” Steve rolled his eyes.

“Whatever you’re planning, I bet it’s got something that could potentially get you in jail.” she laughs whilst throwing her head back.

“Please, I’ve been to jail too many times to count that it doesn’t even matter to me anymore!” he couldn’t help but stare at her, whether it be with disappointment or disbelief, it wouldn’t matter to her so he tilts his head back and takes a longer gulp of his alcoholic beverage.

And that’s where [F/N] found herself outside of Robin’s house on Valentine’s Day morning, she drove slowly down her street as to not alert the entire street that she was there, especially not Robin. Pulling up just a couple houses down to her house she eyes it closely then nods to herself, no one seemed to be awake in the Buckley Residence so now was her time. She drums her hands against the stirring wheel before leaning over to the passenger side to grab a rose from the bouquet, along with a small box of chocolates. Her plan was to deliver her a rose from the bouquet along with a treat to Robin throughout the entire day until Robin collects all the roses and completes the bouquet, then at the very end of school she would pull up and take her on a sweet date, then to finish it off they were going to watch one of Robin’s favorite movies then cuddle their way to sleep.

She nods to herself. Yes, such a splendid plan. Lacing her fingers together and cracking them, she hastily makes her way over to Robin’s window that she would always climb to secretly get into her room. What a Harrington trait, huh? Her window was a little high, but she always kept the window open no matter the weather. Well, snow days were an exception but they were their favorite cause they could get away with spending the entire day in bed snuggling. Tucking the box of chocolates into her pocket and putting the rose into her mouth, she takes a step back, then leapt up to grab onto the edge of her windowsill then proceeded to push herself up until she was able to reach into Robin’s room. With that, she spat the rose into her hand and gently placed it down on the windowsill followed by the box of chocolates. Glancing up, she smiled softly yet brightly at the sight of her sweet little birdie sleeping peacefully. She wished she could stay longer; she wished she had a bit of time to give her girlfriend and kiss on the forehead but the sound of her door handle jiggling caused [F/N] to panic and lose her balance, evidently falling backwards and onto the ground.

*THUD*

“Ah, hmm…?” Robin let out a tired groan when her door was open. Taking a peek from out of her pillow, she saw her mother standing over her with a kind smile on her face “Argh, mum…. let me sleep.” she giggles softly at Robin, watching her daughter turn her head back into her pillow to bury her face further into the plush cotton.

“Now, now, Robin. You can’t just sleep in today.” she laughs this time when Robin groaned louder “Today’s a special day.”

“Friday?”

“No, sweetheart, it’s valentine’s day. And this year, you don’t have to spend it alone.” this was enough to get Robin to push herself up, her mother was laughing cheerfully now at the state of her daughter. Her short hair was a mess and sticking out in all sorts of places with some drool dribbling out of the corner of her mouth “If you finish your school day quicker, you might get to spend some time with that girl you love so much.” Robin’s face quickly turned a shade of red.

“Mum!” she groans out “You know it isn’t like that.” this caused her to roll her eyes.

“Right, like I don’t see the way you look at her each time she comes to pick you up and drop you off.” she leans down and gently pats her head “No matter how hard you try to hide it, my sweet daughter, your father and I will love you, regardless. Just remember that, Robin.” she then presses a kiss to her forehead, proceeded to ruffle her hair with a soft chuckle, and finally left Robin to wake up and get ready for school. She tosses her head back to shake the loose strands out of her face and in the corner of her eyes she notices the deep shade of red sitting on her desk. Standing to her feet, she gasped softly at the sight of a rose next to a box of chocolates, she giggles lovingly at the sight and picks them up, only then to notice a small note attached to the chocolates.

’good morning birdie,

I hope you had a good sleep, thought you might like a little gift to start your morning. There is plenty to come throughout the day, so forgive me that I do not come to take you to school for I have much to prepare for the evening. But I want you to know that it will be worth the wait, so enjoy your day and wait, you shall be greatly rewarded for your patience.

from yours truly, [f/n] harrington~❤️’

Robin could feel her cheeks already starting to hurt from hood big of a smile she wore on her face, she quickly peeks out of the window to try to at least catch her while she was leaving but frowned softly when she couldn’t see her mustang nor did she hear it when it left. Well, this was enough to know that [F/N] didn’t forget, so she nods her head and gets ready for the day, very excited to learn what her girlfriend had in store for them. Little did she know, [F/N] was beneath her outside the whole time. She laid completely still when she saw Robin stick her head out in search for her, then relaxed when she disappeared.

“How long are you going to be lying there, Harrington?” not even looking up to the owner of the voice, she raised her hand in greeting.

“Good morning to you too, Mr Buckley.” he nods to himself when he looked up from where she potentially fell from then back down at her. He kneels down and gently knocks on her forehead.

“Don’t do anything too frivolous, young lady. She’s still in high school while you’re a university student.” [F/N] nods her head and salutes him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, sir.” he hums at her, nodding his head.

“Glad you understand.” she was a little startled when he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, pulling her up slightly but enough so that they were face to face “But if I hear that you did something to her, to my daughter, you’ll have to answer to me. I don’t give a damn if you’re a woman or not, I’m still that girl’s father and I’m going to treat anyone she brings home the same way until they understand that my daughter is not to be messed with, got it?” [F/N] rapidly nods her head.

“Yes sir, I understands sir.”

“I’m happy we could have this conversation. Now run along. I don’t want her getting the wrong idea.” she nods her head and hurries off the moment he let her go, he stood outside the driveway sand watched her flee to her car, hand on his hip with a cup of coffee in his other hand “… that girl’s dead the moment she breaks my girls heart.” [F/N] now found herself trying to hide her car as she pulled up to Hawkins High School and how she was able to pull it off, she didn’t know, she was just that skilled. Sneaking into Hawkins High wasn’t too hard, trying not to get recognised as one of the most notorious student from a few of her old teachers was almost a little tricky, but blending in with a few students made it easier for her to slither past them. The hallways of Hawkins High were littered with hearts, banners saying “happy valentines day” and other shit like that, barf, this school was always quite the try hard when celebrating all sorts of holidays. Her next mission was to find Robin’s locker, and with the help of Billy and even Wheeler senior, she somewhat knows where it is.

“They said it should be around… here!” [F/N] made sure that no one was looking when she proceeded to break into her locker, cracking open a lock wasn’t hard for her, she’s opened up a bunch of lockers when she was still attending this shithole for a school. She grinned when the lock sprung open so with a smug grin and whistle she opened the locker and was greeted with the sight of Robin’s stuff, she did double check to see it was hers and pulled out of her duffel bag the next rose, a box of treats with a note and a trinket from Robin’s favorite book series. Hmm, she wonders what sort of face Robin will make when she sees thi—

“[F/N]?” she lets out a shriek at the sound of her name, slamming the locker door shut and whipping her head over in the direction of the voice, though, she was greatly surprised to see who it was “What are you doing here?”

“Eddie? What are you STILL doing here?” Eddie Munson, [F/N]’s longtime best friend since her last year of middle school and throughout high school up till her last year where she graduated and left Hawkins to study out of state. She was greatly surprised to see Eddie, who was her age, at Hawkins himself. Shouldn’t he be out and about making a name for himself outside of Hawkins, away from this shitty town that thought he was nothing more than a freak? She stared at him closer before making a face of disappointment, Eddie’s face scrunched up when he recognised it “You dumb bitch, were you held back again?” Eddie pulls a face before raising a hand.

“Don’t avoid the question.” she scoffs at him, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms “I don’t see a reason for you to be here, on Valentine’s Day of all days. I thought you’d be out and about getting into any girl’s pants to satisfy your loneliness.”

“Ah hahaha, very funny. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make jokes on my loneliness. Thank you very much.” she sighed when he made a gesture for her to continue, for her to explain what the hell she was doing there when she had absolutely no business being there in the first place, she sighed as she scratched her cheek “Well… I’m visiting someone.” he raised a brow.

“Visiting someone? Who?” before she could answer, Eddie let out a yelp when she grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him away and out of sight while also kicking her bag away. She held him close as she pressed herself into the wall behind her while he pressed his hands on either side of her head, their legs in between each other while they were face to face. Eddie was going to ask for her drastic reaction but paused when he saw her lean forward to peek past the lockers that were hiding them from the owner of the locker she broke in to. He leaned back and his eyes widened softly at who he saw. Robin Buckley? That band weirdo? No, it couldn’t be. He goes to make a joke when he turned back to look at [F/N] but paused when he saw that genuine look of love on her face that was only ever reserved for Steve and sometimes him and his group of friends, but this look? This look was new, she sighed lovingly as she draped her arms over his shoulders and rested her head on the side of his as she stared at Robin with a lovesick gaze. Her face brightened when she saw the rose she gave Robin that morning tucked into the breast pocket of her jacket, heh, the jacket she stole the year prior.

Robin was in a good mood that morning, seeing [F/N] definitely would have made it better, but she would have to settle for the surprise she had for her that afternoon. Steve was the one to pick her up that morning, but she sat in the backseat, leaving the front seat reserved for his boyfriend Billy. She drowned out their chatter for their afternoon date out and focussed solely on getting through the day as quickly as she could so she could see [F/N], oh, how she was graving to see her girlfriend right then and there. Pulling up to the school, she quickly gave her goodbye to Steve and Billy and rushed into the school, gagging out the few students who didn’t have enough decency to tongue fuck each other behind closed doors. She practically had to shove some random girl talking to her boyfriend because they were in front of her locker, she scoffed as she puts in the code to her lock then opens her locker, face brightening up to find another rose, chocolate and a gift inside.

’hi songbird,

Did you see the gift I left you? It’s a little trinket from one of your favorite book series you love talking about. I saw it in a shop and managed to buy it. It was the last in stock so I was quite lucky to snag it. Have a good day at school, Robin. Don’t slack off just because we’re doing something this afternoon. Love you~

From yours truly, your girlfriend~❤️’

Aw~ look at the face she was making. Her face was turning redder by the second! Ah hah, she’s hugging the note! Look, she’s grabbing the little trinket and putting it in her pocket. She likes it. She fully melts into the embrace she pulled Eddie into, her arms now wrapping around him as her head slouched into the crook of his neck, sighing dreamily as she watched Robin pick up the rose and add it to the first one inside her pocket. The moment Robin was out of sight [F/N] finally managed to collect herself and acknowledge Eddie, only to freeze up when he was staring at her with a suggestive expression.

“So… Buckley~” she scoffed at him, he laughed when he saw her face turn pink from embarrassment “I didn’t know you were into band nerds.” he burst out into laughter when she peeled herself off of him and pushed him away.

“Coming from a band nerd himself, loser.” they stare at each other this time before grinning at each other and grabbing each other by the hand, a loud clap echoing through the hallway the moment they grasped each other’s hands “So, you finally found the one that captured your heart. Do you love her just as much as you love your brother?” [F/N] pulls a face, tilting her head side to side before shrugging.

“She’s a close second place.” he scoffs.

“Dude, no.” she laughs with a shrug.

“She understood what she was getting herself into the moment she accepted to be my girlfriend, but I do tend to treat her with extra love.” with that she winked and blew him a kiss, he jokingly caught it then threw it in a nearby trashcan, she let out a gasp at his audacity “Anyways, think you know what class she has first? I wanna leave another rose.” Eddie lets out a breath as he looks down at his wrist to check the time.

“I don’t think you have enough time to do that, the bells about to—” the bell rung before he could finish, she let out a sigh at that “Welp, you better leave before you get in trouble. I, myself, have math class to attend.” [F/N] throws her head back with a laugh.

“Damn, math was never your strongest suit. Be well, soldier!” she salutes him and planned to leave but was stopped when a teacher appeared, it would’ve been bad if the teacher recognised her, it was awful because this teacher didn’t recognize her and thought she was a student.

“Oh, trying to ditch school, are you? With Mister Munson, no less.” [F/N] paused in her tracks, glancing back at Eddie then back at the teacher while pointing at herself, the teacher let out a sigh “Yes, you. Goodness, students these days. You think you can just avoid class to fool around because it’s Valentine’s Day, don’t you? Well, I’ve got news for you kiddos, you gotta suck it up and wait for the end of school so get to it!” [F/N] was then grabbed roughly by her arm, along with Eddie, and the two of them were dragged to math class. Eddie was giggling softly to himself as he and [F/N] sat at the back of the classroom, she herself had an incredulous look on her face that screamed she wanted to die. She glanced at him and gave him a glare, telling him to shut the fuck up, but he knew well and just ignored the way she was staring daggers into his eyes. A few other students attending that class were staring at the two in confusion, especially at [F/N] because they didn’t recognize who the fuck she was, the few juniors that were around when she reigned supreme in Hawkins as the fallen queen, were extra confused as to why she was there.

“Now students, I’d like for you to take out your textbooks and flip to the page that we were working on last week.” [F/N] scratched her eyebrow as she watched the lot of students do as they were told, she wanted to slap Eddie when she could feel him smirking at her as he pulled out his textbook that he would usually leave dormant in the bottom of his bag.

“Why am I here? I’m a goddamn university student, for crying out loud.” she let out a groan when her plans to leave gifts for Robin were stopped by this stupid teacher, dumb bitch. Whilst writing down a few problems on the blackboard, the teacher turned to observe the class but huffed when she saw that student she saw outside in the hallway, not paying attention. What irked her even more was that she had nothing on her desk and she looked quite bored, for heaven’s sake, even Eddie Munson has his book out and was at least writing something down “Is there a problem, young lady?” [F/N] glanced up when she spoke, looking around in confusion once more before pointing at herself.

“Me?” [F/N] asked, this caused the teacher to sigh.

“Yes, you. You have nothing out while the rest of the class is taking down notes. Is this class boring to you?” the young student had the audacity to yawn, she sniffled to herself as she proceeded to get comfortable.

“Boring? Oh no, it’s just calculus is quite easy.” she spares Eddie a glance “And I’m not sure why you’re attending this class when it’s quite difficult for the way your brain thinks.” Eddie shrugs.

“Have to pass it if I want to graduate.” he winces when she slapped his knee.

“Then fucking pay attention instead of sketching your D&D characters, numb nuts.” the two of them then proceeded to slap each other. The teacher has enough and slams her book shut.

“Well then, young lady. If this class is SO easy for you, you wouldn’t mind answering the few questions on the board, now would you?” [F/N] briefly looks away from Eddie to see the question. True or False, the graph of f(x) and that of f(x + 2) are the same, she rolled her eyes.

“False. The graph of f(x + 2) is that of f(x) shifted 2 units to the left.” the teacher was a little taken aback at the quick response, she quickly looks through the answers and exhales sharply when she was indeed, correct.

“Alright, what about the second one?” another true or false, the equation x = | y | , with x >= 0, represents y as a function of x.

“False again. Solve for y to find that y = | x | or y = -| x |; for one value of the independent variable x we have two values of the dependent variable y.” [F/N] chuckled with a smirk, now ignoring Eddie in favor of the teacher, leaning back in her seat and resting her face a top of her knuckles, her legs crossed over each other with her free hand tapping against the desk “Is that all you’ve got, ma’am?”

“Alright, fine.” pulling out a book of parametric equations, the teacher was quick to jot down the first question she saw. Eddie spared his friend a glance and saw she was eyeing down the question as the teacher went, in the parametric equation, x = 8 cos At, y = 8 sin At, 0 ⩽ t ⩽ 2π,​ how does A affect the circle as A changes? The teacher turns to face [F/N] the moment she finished, she didn’t spare her a look as she continued to look at the question, continuously muttering under her breath as she drew little equations in the air “Do you have an answer?” she didn’t like the smirk she wore on her face.

“I do.” lacing her fingers together she pushed them out and heard them crack under the soft pressure, she then rolled her fingers then opened her hand out “Eliminating t, x² + y² = cos², At + sin² At = 1, which is still a circle with radius 11 and center at the origin.” the teacher quickly looks through the book for the answer, in disbelief that she was able to solve that question without even needing to write it down, she was taken aback when she was correct.

“And your working out?”

“If we have A = 1/2 A = 2/1​, (x,y) = (cos⁡1/2 t, sin⁡1/2t), i.e. as t ranges from 0 to 2π, 2π, the equation starts at (1,0) (1,0) and stops at (−1,0) (−1,0). This means that it goes halfway through the circle. So A governs the rate at which the equation traces out a circle. Similarly, if A = 2, A = 2, the equation moves twice around the circle.” she winks upon finishing, holding her hand out towards Eddie, who promptly slapped his hand down for a loud high five. She wasn’t valedictorian for nothing, always at the top of her classes without properly needing to pay attention to anything, she really only graduated out of spite “Like I said, ma’am, calculus is quite easy.” [F/N] smirks when the teacher turned red, rather it be from anger or embarrassment, both outcomes were hilarious as she stormed out of the room. 

“Dang, you really made her angry.” Eddie murmured, she just shrugged as she dug her hand into her pocket, pulling out a flask.

“It’s her own fault for picking on me.” she unscrews the cap and takes a long swig, letting out a shudder as the sting of alcohol went down her throat, whining softly when he took the flask from her and chugged some alcohol down as well.

“You still haven’t lost your touch, have you?” she shakes her head.

“Nope.” [F/N] takes her flask back from Eddie to take another swig but paused when she saw a teacher she did recognise and they definitely recognised her, Eddie notices her gaze when she abruptly stands to her feet “I’ve got to go.” she grabs her duffle back and makes a break for it, she throws her bag through an open window before proceeding to throw herself out, letting out an oof when she landed on the ground with a thud. Everyone in the classroom watched as she sprung up, snickering amongst each other when they saw a bunch of leaves and twigs in her hair.

“You good, Harrington?” [F/N] blinked at him, then gave him a thumbs up.

“Spectacular.” she ducks down when the teacher she knew made an appearance, she briefly peeked through the window to mouth out “drama room” to him, he understood and gave her a thumbs up. She grinned softly and ducked away once more, scurrying out of view, then ran full speed to where the drama room was. She runs past a classroom but came to a stop when she saw someone, she briefly walks backwards, then ducks out of sight when she managed to find Robin’s class. A big grin appeared on her face when she saw her, peeking out from the bottom edge of the window to look at Robin. She hummed softly, giggling when she saw the look of absolute boredom on her face. She spares at glance at her duffle bag and smirks softly. Robin was at the verge of yawning during her time in history. The teacher was going on about something that was going through one ear and straight out the other. She was fiddling with the small trinket [F/N] got for her when she felt something hit her on the side of the head, she turned in the direction it came from but the sight of a deep shade of red caught her attention. She raised a brow in confusion when she saw that it was a rose, but where on earth did it come from? Sure Robin had no clue where it came from but [F/N] couldn’t help but smile blissfully, she nod to herself and ducked down once more than scrambled away to the drama room.

And that brings us to…

“Eddie said he wanted to discuss an upcoming campaign, said it was important.” Jeff murmurs softly as he, Gareth and Nathan walked to the drama room with the lingering first years following closely behind them. Glancing back at them over his shoulder, he couldn’t help but think back to the time where he and the other three used to follow behind Eddie and [F/N] during their first year, the two of them were full of so much confidence it was almost envious, though Eddie was the bark and [F/N] was the bite, a very dangerous duo “Don’t understand why he couldn’t talk about it during lunch in the cafeteria.” Gareth sighed.

“And where is he now?” Nathan crossed his arms with a scoffed.

“He got held back in English, he flunked on an assessment Mrs. O’Donnell assigned and she wanted to talk to him.” this caused all three of them to shake their head “At this rate he isn’t graduating, again.” Gareth raised his hand.

“Emphasis on the again.” now they’re all laughing, he then looked back at the first years again and waved his hand to get their attention “You guys are smart, right? Think you can give Eddie some pointers so he can pass SOME of his tests.” Dustin hums, looking up in thought.

“That’s a little tough. We’re all smart in different subjects, Gareth.” Lucas raises a finger.

“And Eddie has a different way of thinking, we all do.” Mike nods his head.

“And to adapt a way to teach Eddie where he can understand what we’re trying to explain to him is a challenge in itself.” he purses his lips “No offences to Eddie.” they all shake their head.

“None taken.” Nathan sighs as they approach the drama room.

“There really was only one person that was able to think down to Eddie’s level, even more so, get Eddie to study.” they think back to the time where on multiple occasions [F/N] was able to explain whatever she was doing and/or studying and explain it in such a detailed way that Eddie was able to follow what she was saying. Her proudest moment was when she managed to tutor him in physics and he got his very first C-, it wasn’t much, but he was better than a lousy F “Where have the days gone.” Nathan adds, a comical tear shedding from his eye.

“Really?” Mike questions, astonished that someone made Eddie STUDY “Who was it?”

“Not anyone you would know, but she’s a graduate and Eddie’s best friend.” Gareth pushes the door to the drama room open as he finishes his sentence, looking up from where he was he was shocked to see who was sitting in Eddie’s prized throne. Upon hearing the door open, [F/N], who was sitting on Eddie’s throne with her legs propped on the table whilst she read a D&D guidebook, looked up to see who it was and was immediately met with shocked looks. The shock quickly morphs into excitement and happiness as the boys cheer upon seeing her, the three first years stare in confusion at what was unfolding. What on earth was Steve’s older sister doing here at school, and why were their three seniors cheering at the sight of her? [F/N] quickly shuts the book and tosses it onto the table, standing onto her feet and throwing her arms into the air.

“Boys!” she cheers happily, she laughs when they copy her.

“[F/N]!” she rushes over to them and doesn’t hesitate to launch herself into Nathan’s arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and laughed aloud when he started spinning her around. When he put her down she cuddled into him as he squeezed her tight, she then moved on to Jeff and gave him the same bone-crushing hug then left Gareth for last. Since he was shorter compared to Jeff and Nathan, she wrapped her arms around his head while his were around her waist, she laughed as she pulled him close “Gare-bear!” she cooed softly, the two boys behind her laughed at the nickname that she and Eddie used exclusively for Gareth.

“Gare-bear?” Dustin whispered to Lucas, who shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch the exchange. Gareth lets out a grunt when she let go of him and instead held him in a headlock, digging her knuckles into his head.

“Dude, [F/N]! Stop that!” Gareth manages to push her off after a couple seconds of torture, she chuckles softly to herself and holds her hand up in front of her “My head hurts, thanks!” she winks at him.

“No problem, Gare-bear.” she hums softly when Nathan places a hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing here [F/N]? You’re not exactly a high school student anymore.” she gasped, giving them a wounded look as she placed a hand on her chest.

“Am I not allowed to come visit my bestest friends in the whole wide world?” she deadpans when they stare blankly at her, she clicks her tongue and looks away while placing a hand on her hip “Alright, fine. I broke into the school to do some shit, you happy?” Jeff shakes his head.

“Of all the things you could do, especially on valentine’s day, you broke into the school. And here I thought you’d take this opportunity to ask out any unfortunate soul just so you can have your fun with them.” she scoffs at him, now glaring at him and pointing a finger in his face.

“Well unlike you three, y’all are hoeless! From my years of being your friend, I don’t ever remember seeing a girl in your arms!” now it was their turn to look offended, crossing her arms and looking away as they tried giving her every excuse in the book, her brow perked up when she saw Dustin raise his hand to get her attention “Yeah? What’s up little dude?” she questions, raising her own hand to keep Gareth out of her face.

“[F/N]? What are you doing here? And how do you know those three?” she laughs, throwing her head back.

“You seriously don’t know? Wow.” she doesn’t get to answer before Jeff appears from over her shoulder.

“She’s our best friend from back when she attended Hawkins.”

“That’s right! She’s an honorary member of Hellfire and Corroded Coffin.” she nods her head, grin so wide her cheeks started to hurt as she flexed her arm.

“That’s right, I’m one of the original members of Hellfire before I left!” she then let out a sigh, leaning back into Jeff’s chest “Oh, how I miss the good old days.” the four of them then start to talk about anything that came to mind, leaving Dustin, Lucas and Mike to look at each other in disbelief. [F/N], Steve’s older sister, was friends with the members of Hellfire? Does that mean she’s friends with Eddie? If they remembered correctly, [F/N] was at least a year older than Steve, that would make her and Eddie the same age.

“I understand you guys, but what is Eddie still doing in school? How could he flunk school for two years?” Gareth sighs.

“Without you to keep him from getting off track, that moron was pushing his assessments and exams to the side. He focused more on campaigns and his music, you were really the only person that could get Eddie to listen.” she lets out a long groan at the information.

“That damn idiot, I’m not his babysitter. I swear, he’s a dead man.” they all perk up at the sound of the door, [F/N] is cheering again when she saw Eddie enter the room “Eddie!”

“[F/N]!” the two are quick to approach each other, continuously slapping their hands together before grasping their hands together in a tight grip, they both then lean backwards before slamming their foreheads together. They let out dazed snickers, holding their heads after the harsh blow to the head.

“You two are so dumb.” Nathan comments, this caused them to giggle to themselves “Is this what you wanted to talk about, Eddie?” he nod his head, both himself and [F/N] holding each other by the shoulder.

“Yeah, I saw her this morning breaking into a locker and thought I’d keep her a secret for you guys. Did you like the surprise?” the three smile, yeah, they totally liked it.

“But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here in the first place, [F/N].” now [F/N]’s face drops when she felt Eddie smirk at her, before she could do anything to silence him, Eddie covers her mouth with his hand and keeps her locked under his arm as he leaned in close to the three so the three juniors couldn’t hear the private information.

“[F/N]’s got a girlfriend, so she broke into the school to leave her gifts.” Gareth, Jeff and Nathan’s face lit up, both in surprise and joy that [F/N] genuinely found somebody to love. [F/N] was bright pink when she ripped herself out of Eddie’s grip as she stared at them, she was now covering her face when they quickly surrounded her and spoke in hushed tones about who it could be.

“You’ve got a girlfriend? Wow, congratulations, [F/N]!”

“Who is it? Someone we know?”

“When did you meet her?” yeah, the boys knew that she was a lesbian, of course they did. They were the first to know when she realised that she didn’t really feel that sort of attraction towards the male population, she cried in joy when they fully supported her, but it did annoy her when they came to her about advice when it came to picking up ladies because she was still ridiculously good at it. They laugh softly when they saw her look away, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

“I met her last year, at the starcourt mall when I came down to see Stevie.” this caused the four of them to look at each other.

“You were here last year? How come you didn’t come see us first?” she and the three children behind her froze up, but she managed to keep her composure as her mind wandered back to ‘84. They look at her in confusion when she just closed her eyes and smiled at them, not knowing the horrors she faced and how she practically died. She let out a shuddered breath but continued to smile at them, her hand subconsciously lifting up from her side to press against her chest, feeling the rough scar beneath the layers of her clothes.

“Oh, I was just really busy I didn’t have the time to pop in.” she knew they wouldn’t buy the lie but if she wasn’t telling them on purpose, they knew better than to pry, so they left it at that. She lets out a grunt when Jeff wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close and giving her a grin.

“Well, we’re happy that we get to see you now. We’ve got to hang out again, just like old times.” they look at her in anticipation, she sighs at the puppy dog eyes staring at her.

“Alright, alright! I’ll make sure i’ve got time so we can hang out.” she laughs when they were all pulled into a group huddle, Eddie and Gareth shouting loudly.

“Woohoo!”

Team Hellfire were now in on the plan.

Gareth, Jeff and Nathan were just as surprised as Eddie to learn that she had fallen head over heels for Robin Buckley. They thought she would have gone for someone like Chrissy Cunningham, and though she was a catch herself, Robin was more of her type. She punched Gareth in the face when he started to tease [F/N] for liking someone like Robin, this caused the other three to hold their tongues if they wanted to keep them. Anyways- they acted like a barrier to hide her from others that could potentially recognise her, she was almost caught when she wasn’t paying attention and Robin appeared from around the corner, the four boys quickly got in front of her and she hid behind Nathan. Robin looked at them, a bead of sweat forming on her cheek when she saw they were acting weird; weirder than usual. She just shook her head and quickly walked by them, tucking her hands into her pockets, she flinched when she felt something. A big smile worked its way onto her face when she saw it was another gift and note, opening the small box, she gasped softly when she saw that it was chain ring. 

’hi robbie,

What do you think of this gift? I saw that you already had one, but what’s more to add to your collection? Besides, you’ll look good in just about anything I give, even more so, I think you’ll look good with not—

Robin quickly closed the note and pressed it to her chest, her face turning different shades of red. She looks around to see if anyone could have potentially have read the provocative note and let out a sigh of relief when no one was particularly close to see the contents, she takes another peek but decides to read it when she’s out of sight. Gareth raised a brow at the reaction Robin gave upon reading the note and looked back at his older friend, sighing softly when he saw that she was hanging off of Nathan’s back, a dopey little grin on her face as she stared dreamily at Robin’s retreating figure. Yup, they can definitely conclude that she had fallen deeply in love with Robin, she didn’t look at anyone like that for just about anybody, this girl was special.

Robin now found herself in band practice, her last hour before school was over and she got to spend her valentine’s day afternoon with [F/N]. Time and time again she got gift after gift, sometimes it was small things like a shiny rock, maybe even a pretty feather, then it ranged to things like rings and necklaces. So far her favourite was a spiked leather jacket, how she managed to sneak that onto her desk without her noticing, she’ll never know. Standing beside her was Vicki, the last person she had a crush on, after Tammy Thompson, and the ginger haired girl was rambling about her boyfriend and how he has plans for a date. She was listening but her words went through one ear and out the other, cause she just couldn’t contain her excitement about finally being in the arms of her gorgeous girlfriend.

“Hey, Robin.” she hummed, not really giving her attention to Vicki “Do you have a valentines?”

“Huh?” she giggled softly.

“I saw the roses and gifts you’ve gotten this entire day. You’ve either got a secret admirer, or you’ve got a boyfriend.” Robin couldn’t help but gag at the thought of being with a boy, people already thought that she was dating Steve while [F/N] was dating Billy. It was for the better that people thought that way, but she really wanted to flaunt about and declaring that [F/N] Harrington was her girlfriend.

“Boyfriend? Yuck. I’ll take the secret admirer, hoping they don’t reveal themselves so they can continue to give me chocolates.” Vicki laughs when she saw Robin pull out one of the many box of chocolates she got, taking out one and throwing it into her mouth “Better than being in such a troublesome relationship.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know how being in a relationship feels until you’ve got one. It feels so nice, when you’ve found the right one, that is.” Robin had to agree with Vicki on that one, it felt very nice to be in a relationship with [F/N]. Even though [F/N] made it clear that Steve was still her number one priority, she still made sure that Robin didn’t feel left out or that she didn’t feel loved. She always made sure that she was going to be with Robin through thick and thin, that they were going to be together until death has them. Robin was called away so she and the other brass players can discuss what parts they’re playing for Hawkins high basketball team, not knowing someone sneaking in through a window that was miraculously left open. By the time Robin returned back to her abandoned instrument she was surprised to see an assortment of flowers inside her trumpet, she looked at Vicki and saw her shrug.

“You didn’t see who put those there?” she shook her head, but there was a knowing look in her eyes.

“Not at all.” Vicki laughed when Robin playfully shoved her, Robin took the flowers out of her trumpet and inhaled the aroma the roses were giving, smiling softly down them “This secret admirer of yours seems to like you a lot.” Robin’s face turned a soft shade of pink, nodding her head blissfully. The tuba player blows softly into their mouthpiece as their eyes drift to the side, raising a brow at the sight of [F/N] hiding behind the large instrument as she watched Robin.

“Thanks again.” she murmured softly, they rolled their eyes as they raised their hand, a smirk grew on their face when she slapped down a fifty dollar bill “We never speak a word of this.”

“Never speak a word of what?” she clicks her tongue and snaps her finger at them, nodding her head.

“Exactly.” how Robin didn’t witness her shuffle out of the room, they’ll never know.

[time skip: end of the school day]

“Whoa! Is that a mustang?!”

“Who’s got money for a car like that?”

“Didn’t Hargrove own a camaro?”

“Yeah, that was until it got totalled.”

Eddie scoffed as he and his lot exited the school and saw the students huddled around [F/N]’s prized mustang, even when she was no longer a student she was still the centre of attention. He furrowed his brows when he saw that there was a bit of a dent on her front bumper and her lights were replaced, what the hell did she do to that caused her to damage her precious car? The other three behind him seemed to have noticed the difference but their thoughts came to a pause when the already loud chatter got louder, they looked up and scoffed when they saw that it was just [F/N] exiting her car. There was no denying it, the Harrington charm was very effective, because both the girls and boys couldn’t help but gush at the sight of [F/N] Harrington. Even though she fell from her grace long ago, they were no denying that she wasn’t the girl people would kill to be.

[F/N] scoffed at the people that started to surrounding, opting to put her sunglasses on and sit on the hood of her car as she waited for Robin. She had this excuse in her head that she was going to pick Robin up and bring her to Steve, confirming the rumour that she in fact was going out with her brother and that she won the approval of his overprotective older sister. Yes, that sounded like a full proof place indeed, now all she had to do was wait for her sweet little birdie and hopefully not lose her temper with the approaching high school boys horny on valentine’s day and wishing to get in her pants. She had a blank expression on her face when some jock slid in beside her, she didn’t pay him any mind and continued to wait patiently…. as patiently as her mind would allow it.

“So, what’s a pretty thing—”

“No.” he sputtered back at her abrupt answer.

“Well, I was thinking that—”

“No.” he felt irritated that she kept interrupting him, Eddie and his lot paled when they saw that jock continue to push [F/N]’s limits but their jaws dropped when he suddenly grabbed her wrist and pull her so that she would look at him.

“Listen, I’m trying to be nice here.” a few people whisper amongst themselves at the ordeal, watching closely as he leaned in closely to her face “How’s about you ditch your lousy date for me? I promise I can treat you… nicely?” he let out a surprised yelp when she grabbed him by his jaw with her free hand and slammed him down onto the hood, this time she leaned down towards his face but pulled down her sunglasses so he could get a good look at the disgust and anger in her eyes.

“What the fuck does no sound like to you? I am not here for a child like you who doesn’t understand basic english, maybe that’s why you’re still in school.” he let out a grunt, grabbing her by the wrist when he felt her tighten her grip on his jaw that was more than likely going to cause a bruise to form, a bead of sweat formed on his cheek when her glare hardened on him “Learn to treat a woman like a human before deciding to treat her like she’s a trophy to be won.” he shouts out in surprise when she lifted him up before proceeding to throw him onto the ground, the people watching all let out a roar of laughter at his shameless display “Don’t waste my time and get out of my sight.” she scoffed when he scurried off, probably off to the other jocks that put him up his poor attempt of getting laid. She shook her head and returned to her spot, flicking down her sunglasses until they perched themselves back onto the bridge of her nose and now waited in peace… despite the unneeded audience.

“What’s going on?” Eddie let out a startled yelp when he was shoved aside, looking to see who it was, he scoffed when he saw that it was merely Hargrove. Ever since 84′, that blonde has been causing nothing but trouble ever since he got here. Not only did he kick Harrington Jr. off his high horse and dethroned him, he apparently beat the guy black and blue at the Byers household. Why [F/N] hasn’t murdered that blue eyed bell yet, he’ll never kn— “[F/N]?” Eddie sputtered, Billy knows [F/N]? If he did, does that mean he survived an encountered with [F/N]?! She seemed to have sensed his presence because her head perked up and her face subconsciously brightened up at the sight of the blonde, going so far as to raising her hand to greet him.

“Billy!” she exclaimed, but then she realised her mistake. The rumour that she and Billy were a couple was still floating around and the fact that she was waiting at Hawkins High for someone, and now that she greeted him, can only confirm the rumour that these fuckers made up. Billy to realised what she had done because now everyone was looking between the two, a few of the female students were looking at [F/N] enviously that she managed to bag Billy Hargrove while the boys whispered their admirations and congratulations to Billy for hitching a date with the most gorgeous person within Hawkins.

“[F/N]…” he said again, muttering it this time. The two of them look at each other and they seemed to have been having a silent conversation between the two of them.

”Forgive me. I did it out of pure habit.”

“Yeah, and now people think you’re here for me.” she shrugged her shoulders, now looking away from him. Billy let out a grunt when he was grabbed by the shoulder and turned around, he raised a brow when he saw that it was Eddie Munson. If he remembered correctly, [F/N] mentioned in a passing conversation that Eddie was her greatest friend and she valued him very much, so he found it interesting that he was now face to face with the brunette.

“Hargrove, you know [F/N]?” Jeff looked him up and down.

“I for sure would have thought she would have beaten him up after what happened with her brother.” Billy flinched softly at the mention of that, thinking back to both events. 

“No, no, she did. We’re just on good terms now, she considers me one of her good friends now.” he raised a brow when a smug aura radiated out of the four of them, a bead of sweat forming on his cheek as they smirked at him.

“Oh, yeah? Well, we’re her best friends!” Billy rolled his eyes.

“Right.” [F/N] slaps a hand onto her forehead as she watched them interact, she drags it down her face and glanced anywhere that wasn’t Hellfire doing their usual tomfoolery and involving poor Billy.

“Hey, weren’t [F/N] and Munson a thing back when she attended?” her face paled at those words, looking over towards the person who said and she recognised it as a junior that attended while she was still around. That’s right, people thought that [F/N] turned baddie because she got together with Eddie, what made it worse was that both of them were always hanging off the other and Eddie was a naturally affectionate person and since she was deprived of any and all physical affection, she couldn’t help but lean into it every once in awhile.

‘No, please god no.’ she thought in her head.

“You don’t think…”

’Please, you stupid high school students!’

”Oh, my, god! Munson is picking a fight with Hargrove!”

“He must still have feelings for [F/N] after the two of them broke up when she went out of states! Ooo, what a juicy thing to see on valentine’s day.” she deadpans when everyone who heard started whispering their own conspiracies, Billy and Eddie were amused at the accusations.

“Really? You with [F/N]? Now that sounds like a fantasy.” Eddie scoffs, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

“Says you. You oughta be dead for what you did to her brother.” Billy nods to himself, the two of them then stare at each other “… you wanna mess with her?” Billy couldn’t help but grin mischievously.

“With pleasure.” [F/N] was ready to call it quits and just go and find Robin herself but paused when Eddie and Billy came over and approached her, she stared at them in confusion when they took either side of her but neither broke eye contact with each other. 

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Munson, but [F/N] is my girlfriend.” she deadpans once more, what? Eddie laughed, taking [F/N] by her wrist and pulling her towards him.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Hargrove, I’ve known her much longer than you have, and we hadn’t officially broken up, so she’s technically still my girlfriend.” Billy shook his head as he grabbed her other wrist and pulled her towards him.

“Well, I wonder why she came to me when she came back to Hawkins instead of you, huh?” Eddie know couldn’t help but get a little irritated at that, because he too wondered why his friend didn’t come to see him when she was in town.

“You know, I tend to wonder as well.” the two of them then began to bicker about who was better, feeding into the lies that [F/N] was in fact dating one or the either and people were placing their bets on who it was. Did the former queen share her throne with her jester or perhaps with the new king who dethroned her brother? Billy and Eddie were abruptly interrupted when she ripped herself free from their hold then grabbed them both by their faces and pulled them down towards her face.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two? Is it fun that you’re taking great pleasure in my misfortune?” the two glance at each other then grin cheekily at her, she sighs at the silent response and squeezed harder on their faces. Her face then immediately brightens up when she saw the person she was waiting for, both boys let out a grunt when she threw them backwards and opened her arms “Robin~ there’s my favourite person.” she coos, Robin giggles to herself and reaches her hands out towards her girlfriend, to which she lowered her arms and took Robin’s hands into her own.

“You seriously waited for me?” she nods.

“Yeah, Steve asked me to come get you.” Robin’s shoulders slumped slightly, realisation dawning on her that she and [F/N] couldn’t even be open about their relationship, that [F/N] was hers “Lets get going, i don’t want to be here any longer than I need to.” she let out a grunt when she felt Eddie wrap an arm around her shoulder.

“Hows about you give me a lift as well? I missed being in your mustang?” she scoffed at him, smacking his arm off her shoulder.

“What happened to your van?” he waves his hand.

“It’s in the shop? Had to get a few things replaced.” she raised a brow.

“And you can afford that?” he places a hand on his chest.

“You wound me.” she was simply going to abandon him and only take Billy and Robin, which was the plan from the start, but a shout caught her attention. Turning to the source, her eyes widened at the sight of the same teacher that dragged her into her math lesson and she looked downright pissed. Eddie seemed to have noticed her distraction and turned to see what it was but was caught off guard when she started pushing him towards her car, she throws the door open and kicks him into the backseat. Robin and Billy seemed to have gotten the hint when they heard that math teacher screaming out for someone to stop the trespasser, that being [F/N], but no one did anything and just watched [F/N] jump into the drivers seat and quickly drive out of the parking lot.

“Well that was unnecessarily stressful.” she grumbled under her breath “Welp, it’s official, i ain’t ever going back as long as that teacher is still there. I think she’s gonna try and have me arrested.” Billy started to laugh, leaning forward from where he was seated in the backseat.

“I can’t believe you actually broke into the school.” she shrugged her shoulders.

“What can I say? I was aching to see my sweet birdie.” she cooed softly, reaching towards Robin’s face to twirl a strand of her hair around her finger before tucking it behind her hair. Robin immediately looked away to twirl a strand of her hair around her own finger, she then stopped when she realised what [F/N] had done and looked at Eddie in distress. He noticed Robin’s change in expression and raised his hands, giving her a look of reassurance.

“Don’t worry about it, Buckley. I already know [F/N] swings that way, I’m just more surprised she ended up with someone to begin with.” Robin looks at [F/N] and she nods her head.

“Yeah, he was one of the first people I came out to. I trust him with my life.” she then abruptly stops the car and turns back towards them, a look of irritation shining in her eyes “But fuck the both of you for what you did! Now people are going to spread rumours how I’m getting fucked by the both of y’all, and that thought alone is disgusting.” she sneers at them in disgust when they give her suggestive smirks “If you say anything I don’t like I’m gonna have you guys walk.” none of them could really risk going through with the risk so they just kept their mouths shut, she was kind enough to drop Eddie off first because Billy now lived in the trailer park after his father turned tail and bailed after the events that occurred during the 85′ and has been back since. Max’s mum, Susan, was kind enough to keep a roof over his head until he graduated but most of the time Billy was with Steve at their home. [F/N] greeted Wayne and he was more than welcoming when he saw her, opening his arms up and bringing her into a bone crushing hug, Robin laughed upon seeing her winded self nearly collapse to the ground when he let her go. She gifted the Munson’s a rose each and some chocolates, sparing them a kiss before leaving when Billy left the trailer and back into her car. [F/N] was instructed to pick Billy up and bring him around the house after the school while Steve himself hurried to pick the children up and drop them off home then race back to the house before her. He also told her to have Billy’s eyes closed before she made it home so when they was turning the corner to the Harrington residence she told Billy to do exactly that.

“Are we almost there?” she giggles softly. 

“Yeah, we’re nearly there.” she has to silence Robin when she nearly gasped at what was in the driveway, [F/N] instructs Billy to keep his eyes closed when she parks her car and gets out of the drivers seat.

“Oh goodie, you’re here!” Billy’s head perks up at the sound of Steve’s voice, Robin then scoffs softly from where she was.

“You didn’t just say “oh goodie” at the sight of your boyfriend.” Steve playfully glared at Robin.

“Oh, hahaha, very funny.”

“Steve, whatever this is, it better not be stupid.”

“I promise you, blue, that you’re gonna love this surprise. Both [F/N], Robin and I put this together. Just for you.” [F/N] smiled softly at her brother, she waited for him to give her the go to and when she did she gently tapped Billy on his arm.

“You can open your eyes now.” and so he does and his eyes immediately start tearing up at the sight of his new and repaired camaro sitting in the driveway, both girls gently caress his arms before stepping back to let Steve comfort his boyfriend. Yeah, it was Steve’s idea to tow Billy’s car out from the dump and get it repaired. [F/N] found him working on it in their garage and immediately asked if she could help in any way she could, this later led to Robin wanting in to help as well. They had only recently gotten everything repaired or replaced just before valentine’s day and Steve believed it would be the perfect gift for his sweet Billy “And I’ll leave you two here.” she blows Billy a kiss and bids them both goodbye then the two of them were off to enjoy the rest of their afternoon together.

“i can’t believe you actually broke into the school, [F/N]. I thought you put Billy up to it.” she shrugged her shoulders, letting out a laugh.

“It wouldn’t have meant as much as it did if he did it, sweetheart. He only helped me to find which locker was yours, other than that, it was Eddie who helped me get close enough to you to leave little gifts.” 

“Well, I really appreciated all those thoughtful little gifts.” Robin glances at her face and it brightens when she saw a big smile stretch across her lips followed by a soft flush of pink, seeing [F/N] react like this always made Robin feel giddy. She soon bites her lip, her hand slipping into her pocket and feeling for the small little gift box that had been sitting in there the whole day. Of course she had a gift for [F/N], she would have felt awful if she didn’t get anything for her, but it was nothing in comparison to everything [F/N] has given her so far and she wasn’t even finished with her surprise “[F/N].” she gently called, she got a hum in response followed by her turning the music down.

“Yes?”

“I love you.” the flush on [F/N]’s face turned brighter, this caused Robin to giggle once more.

“And I… love you too.” she brought Robin home first so she could freshen up and wear something more comfortable, she had yet another lecture from Robin’s father while her mother told him to lay off, telling [F/N] that she’ll be more than welcome to come by the Buckley residence whenever she was around. Robin now found herself in Billy’s situation, however, she had a blindfold over her eyes as she [F/N] drove her to an unknown location.

“Are you sure you’re not taking me out of town to kill me?” [F/N] laughs.

“Oh, please. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it without the need to leave town.” Robin shudders at the thought “Don’t even think about bringing up last years events.” Robin clears her throat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” [F/N] takes a deep breath to calm herself down “Are we nearly there yet? I want to look at you.” she chuckles at the impatience coming from her, tapping against the stirring wheel when they were stopped at the red light.

“Don’t worry Robin, you’ll get plenty of me and more when we get there, so be patient.” that comment was more than enough to get Robin to quiet down for the rest of the car ride, when they finally arrived at their destination Robin was led out of the car and taken on a bit of a walk. She held onto [F/N]’s arm as she trusted her not to let go, she let out a soft gasp when [F/N] did let her go but she held onto her hands and kissed the back of her knuckles “Just stand here for a bit and I’ll tell you when to take the blindfold off, mmkay?”

“O-Okay, just don’t take too long.” this earned Robin a soft kiss to the cheek, [F/N] quickly jogs away and sets up when she needs to get done, only a couple minutes pass when she hears [F/N] shout for her.

“You can take the blindfold off!” she was still a bit of a distance away from where she left her, Robin sighs softly and takes the blindfold off and the moment she did the sound of music hit her ears. She gasped softly at the sight of where [F/N] brought her, she had brought her to a beautiful lush rose garden and at the very centre of it all was a beautifully let gazebo and of course her beautiful girlfriend “Happy valentine’s day, Robin.” the wind picked up and blew some of the rose petals into the air, making the scene in front of her more romantic as she began to approach [F/N].

“When did you…?” she began to question, [F/N] chuckled softly as she took a step forward.

“One of the few fortunate things of being a Harrington’s child, you know a few good places for dates.” she sighed softly as she looked up at the gazebo “My mother told me how my father brought her here for valentine’s day, and though I’m not particularly fond of following in his footsteps, this place was too good to pass up on. So, hows about a nicely lit dinner between lovers on this sweet valentine’s day settle for a date?” [F/N] then reaches forward, extending her hand out to Robin for her to take.

“Heh, how romantic.” Robin finally settles her hand down in [F/N]’s hand, letting out a laugh when [F/N] pulled her into her arms and spun the two of them around, the both of them laughing to their hearts content “Did you book this place out?” she asked, [F/N] hummed as the two of them now swayed to the music.

“Mm hmm, I booked it weeks in advance and paid a lot of money so someone else couldn’t buy the spot out of me. You deserve the perfect view as we dine and dance on this very romantic day.” she muses, pressing her cheek into Robin’s “Do you like it?” she briefly pulls away to get a look at Robin’s face but hers dropped a little when Robin looked a little conflicted, she soon holds her hands and rubs her thumbs over her knuckles “What’s wrong? Is it too much?” Robin lets out a sigh, pulling back a little as she looked anywhere that wasn’t [F/N]’s pretty doe eyes.

“No, it’s just… I feel guilty that I won’t be able to treat you to something as grand as this. My gift can’t even match up to everything you put together.” [F/N] gasps softly.

“You got me a gift?” Robin meekly nodded her head “Can I see it? If it makes you feel better, you’ll be the first person— girlfriend, really, that’s gotten me a gift?” Robin whipped her head to look back towards [F/N], who chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck bashfully.

“Really?” she nods.

“Yeah, I played the male role in the relationship and was the one that usually gave my dates gifts. Most of the times I could tell that each relationship I had was one sided, that my love and attention would never get reciprocated.” Robin pouts softly, reaching forward to cup [F/N]’s face.

“Well, they’re stupid to not think of spoiling you either.” this caused a laugh out of her, Robin pulls away to dig into her pocket. She nervously held the small box in her hand, rubbing her thumb into the wrapping before handing it to her. She waits nervously as [F/N] pulls at the ribbon to unravel it then she removes the lid to look at what was inside, Robin watches her grab it and pull it out, revealing the small little locket that she bought from an antique store. She opens it and her heart melts at the sight of the picture inside, it was taken by Steve when she was in the hospital after she and Billy miraculously survived the onslaught they suffered through, it was of her and Robin cuddled together look happier than ever as they shared a kissed. On the other part of that locket had words engraved on it, ”you’ll forever have my heart, as I’ll have yours. through thick and thin, I will always love you; never forget that”. [F/N] couldn’t help but grit her teeth as her hand enclosed on the locket, her eyes began to water as the tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. Robin quickly cups her cheeks when the tears finally did manage to fall, she understood why [F/N] was reacting this way.

When she and Billy did recover after the Starcourt burnt down, [F/N] wanted nothing to do with Robin and Steve. She wanted to leave the state and stay out, not because she didn’t love them anymore, no, it was because she thought it was safer for the both of them if she wasn’t around anymore. It broke her heart that she was alive after everything she had done, she would have felt better if she died after that because at least she wouldn’t have to feel the guilt of practically cheating on her girlfriend while emotionally abusing her then physically beating the shit out of her and her precious little brother. Robin made it clear that there wasn’t anything that [F/N] said that was going to drive her away, [F/N] needed her more than ever and she was going to stay by her side and give her the help that she needs to recover; both physically and mentally. It took a lot of time before [F/N] was able to look at her again or even touch her without recoiling away, Robin was in tears when [F/N] managed to actually hug her without immediately pulling away, her heart swelled up when they were able to cuddle in bed like they did before. Robin thought of that little gift when she saw that locket in that antique shop she passed while in Indy with Steve, she was grateful for her brother when he still had that photo saved on film and quickly got it developed, shaped and placed perfectly in the locket. She thought that [F/N] would appreciate a gift that marked a pretty intense part of there life along with words that helped ease her mind that Robin was going nowhere.

“W-What did I do to deserve someone like you?” she sobbed into her shoulder, her arms wrapped around her torso as she pulled her close and held her tight so she wouldn’t disappear “Why did you stick around when I’ve become this damaged?” she inhaled deeply, rubbing her hands up and down her back.

“Because I loved you, and I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I agreed to be yours.” she gasped softly at that as another sob left her lips, Robin gently pulls back but doesn’t resist when [F/N] moved her arms from her torso to around her waist. She lifts her face up to gently wipe away the tears before pulling her into a much needed kiss, [F/N] couldn’t help but cry softly into the kiss “You deserve to be loved, and you deserve to be taken care of. You deserve love.” this earned a soft hum, the older woman leaning into the palm that cupped her cheeks as her body relaxed.

“I deserve… to be loved.” Robin nods.

“You do, and I am more than willing to give you my love.” she then takes the locket from out of [F/N]’s hands, quickly clipping it on around her neck then gently patting her on the chest “Happy valentine’s day, [F/N].” she smiled tearfully, sniffling softly as she held the locket in her hand.

“Happy valentine’s day, Robin.” she then kneels down to wrap her arms around Robin’s waist to lift her up and spin the both of them around, laughing to her hearts contents when Robin let out a squeal of joy, her hands planted on her shoulders to keep herself balanced. When [F/N] finally brought her down she continued to hold her in her arms but this time Robin wrapped her arms around her neck, the two of them stared into each other’s eyes then finally shared a kiss that they poured so much love into.

They were in love, and that was their moment.

…

…

“Are you alright?” a voice asked, the person they asked slowly opened their eyes and they had a pained expression on their face as a single tear ran down their cheek. They stared up at the sky above them and their face turned bitter as they raised their hand, swiping the tear away in one swoop.

“Yeah, I just had a nice dream.”

Obvious

word count: 7501

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Will Byers x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: bullying, vulgar language, blood

“Get him out! Get him out!”

“Strike him!”

“Shoot for a home run!”

“Get the win!”

Being the last batter for a really important baseball game puts a lot on your shoulders, especially when you’re the up and rising star of your team while representing your school. He takes a deep breath, tensing his muscles while tightening his grip on his baseball bat. Himself and the pitcher never broke eye contact, that pitcher was out for blood and he was going to make sure he didn’t give it to him. He licked his lips, taking a deep breath when he saw the pitcher finally get ready to throw the ball. He blocked out all the cheering as he focused on the ball hurdling towards him, when it was finally inches away from him he slammed his foot on the ground and let out a grunt, swinging the bat and upon contact with the ball, he managed to send it flying out of the field. He didn’t fight down the huge grin that stretched across his face when he sent that ball flying, letting out his own cheer as he threw down his bat and ran to each base.

“And there you have it folks, Lenora Hills High have won against their rivalling team for the first time in nearly a decade! And all thanks to their new rising star, [M/N] [L/N] who granted them their winning home run!” by the time he returned back to home base, he was greeted by his team and school huddling around him, grabbing a hold of him and lifting him up.

“That’s our [M/N]!”

“Way to go!”

“You did it, [M/N]!” he just laughed as they threw him up and down before finally letting him down, grabbing their jug of water and pouring it on him. He usually would have yelled at them for doing that but it felt refreshing on his hot and sweaty body, he took his helmet off and threw his head back, running a hand through his sweaty hair but grinned nonetheless and threw his fist into the air. After the game he was met with bustling students and parents congratulating him for getting the winning shot, he smiled and thanked them and was approaching his pick up truck but was stopped by a familiar face.

“H-Hey, [M/N]!” turning to see who it was, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of one of the Byers siblings “Congrats on the win.” his smile grew at his words, he readjusted the shoulder strap of his duffel bag and approached him.

“Thanks, Will. Did you see my swing? I’ve been putting a lot of effort into my swings as of lately.” the Indiana boy nodded his head, his face lighting up as he waved his hands around.

“Yeah, I was watching from the crowd! It was pretty tense, but I knew you’d get it.” [M/N] chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully “Um, now that you’re here, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the after party with my lot.” Will tensed up when he saw [M/N] point over to the boys who were jumping into his truck while hooting and hollering.

“Come on dude! Lets get going!” he laughed and waved at them to wait.

“Gimme a sec, alright.” they groan but do, [M/N] then glanced at Will again and give him a hopeful look “So? Will you come?” he inhaled sharply, raising his hand to rub his arm.

“I-I’d love too, but I—”

“Will! We gotta go man, come on!” they both glance over and saw the eldest Byers, Johnathan, waving his brother over while his sister Jane and their friend Argyle sat in the van “Mum wants us home, like, right now.” Will closed his eyes in disappointment as he turned back to look at [M/N], who looked just as disappointed but he chuckled softly.

“Ah, that’s a bit of a shame, but it can’t be helped.” he murmured softly “I guess I’ll see you at school next week?” he asked, Will nodded his head.

“Y-Yeah, totally.” [M/N] smiled and sent the brunette a wink, causing him to fluster. [M/N] found the reaction adorable but latter groaned when he heard his friends shouting at him to hurry up, he waved Will goodbye then finally went back to his truck, chucking his shit at his passenger “See you later, [M/N]!” he exclaimed, this caused the [H/C] boy to grin and wave him goodbye before he turned on his radio and drove off with his friends and himself screaming to the top of their lungs to the music.

“Will.” he jumped at the call of his name, turning around, he saw Johnathan giving him a look “You good?” he nervously nodded his head.

“Y-Yeah, I’m spectacular.” Johnathan nods his head slowly.

“Yeah…”

Will couldn’t explain when his attraction towards [M/N] [L/N] first arose. Maybe it was because he was different in comparison to the other students of Lenora Hills High School. He was apart of the popular crowd, and how could he not be? He was gorgeous, athletic, smart and did I mention nice? It happened when Angela was bullying Eleven, there wasn’t much he could do to stop it because he didn’t have that kind of presence to do anything about it, but that was when [M/N] appeared. He didn’t hesitate to put Angela in her place, giving her a clean smack across the back of her head and sternly telling her not to bully poor little Eleven. Without a doubt, despite the both of them being sophomores, they were already declared to be the next King and Queen of the school.

Anyways, [M/N] just had Will swooning. He always stuck up for him and Eleven, he was always so nice to them and the way he would always send a smile his direction, how could he not fall deeper? But the moment he asked if they could be friends, gosh, he was over the moon. He wished things could’ve worked out with Mike, he wished he had to courage to tell Mike his feelings, but he knew they wouldn’t be reciprocated, Mike already had El and he knew he had to move on. Now his eyes were on the boy that every girl had a crush on, god, he was fucking doomed. He was cursed for crushing on the wrong people, Mike was taken and [M/N] was wanted by everyone. Maybe he was making a mistake for falling in love with the most popular guy in school, maybe he was better off digging himself a hole and burying himself—

“Will!” he jumped, slamming his locker door closed then turning to see [M/N] waving his friends off then jog over to where he was “Hey man, how was your weekend?” Will waved his hand.

“Oh, you know, same old, same old. I wouldn’t say anything exciting happened, but, you know?” he laughed nervously, this caused [M/N] to chuckle softly while running a hand through his hair.

“I get it, it’s still a shame you couldn’t come to the after party, would have loved it if you were there.” ah, there he goes again saying stuff that makes his heart flutter “We couldn’t do anything too chaotic, but we had fun nonetheless. Maybe I should win our next game, then maybe you’ll be able to attend the after party with me.” Will snorts softly, punching his arm.

“Don’t go getting arrogant, [M/N], that’ll cost you the win.”

“Haa, you’re right.” he then leaned back a little so that he was standing on the heels of his feet, a slight flush rising to his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck once more “Actually, I was wondering if you were busy this weekend? I was hoping we could, um, hangout?” how badly Will wanted to say yes, this was a chance for him to get closer to [M/N] that wasn’t simply over help with schoolwork and actually hanging out with his crush, but he couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, [M/N], but I can’t.” this caused him to deflate.

“Well, why not?” he gave him a sheepish grin, now rubbing the back of his own neck.

“My friend, from Indiana, he’s coming here to visit my sister and I.” [M/N]’s shoulders relaxed a little, looking up in thought to remember the friend Will was referring to.

“Oh… right, Mike Wheeler, right? I remember you mentioning him in w passing conversation.” he then lets out a huff, kicking his feet like child “Then I guess it’s alright, wouldn’t want your friend feeling lonely while in a completely different state.”

“Right.” [M/N] then let out a grunt when someone elbowing him, he gave them a soft glare when he saw that it was his friends coming to collect him.

“Come on, dude. We’ve got math first, and that’s on the other side of the building. I don’t want to be late because you were too business talking to Byers, let’s go.” he scoffs and kicks them in the back of their leg, this caused them to stumble forward but they managed to catch themself and laugh as they scurried away, he shook his head.

“Well, duty calls. I’ll see you later?” Will nods.

“Yeah, see you later.” [M/N] nods with a grin then runs off to catch up with his friends, when he was finally alone, he let out a deep sigh as he collapsed onto his locker and probably would have slid down it if there weren’t people around him. He silently cursed in the back of his head, if only Mike was coming a week later then maybe he could have the chance to be with [M/N] “Dammit.” [M/N] himself curses under his breath, walking beside his friends to their class.

“Do you think I’m being pushy? Every time I’ve tried to ask him to hang out, he’s always got an excuse.” his friend let out a groan, slapping a hand onto their face and dragging it down.

“Dude, you’re overthinking it. You said his friend is visiting from Hawkins, right? That run down little town out in the middle of the sticks? A friend that he hasn’t seen for about a year?” he nods his head “Then let the guy see him, man. You’re acting like a boyfriend who’s upset that his girlfriend is meeting a childhood friend, who is a boy, after a long time and worried that he’s going to steal your girlfriend.” he immediately grows flustered, the tips of his ears turning red as he smacked his arm.

“I am not.” he sneers, this earned an eye roll.

“Are too, mister drama queen.” [M/N] sighed and continued to walk to math class, rubbing his face when the blush on his face continued to color his cheeks.

The moment [M/N] saw Will Byers, gosh, to him it was like love at first sight. He knew that it was wrong for a boy himself to fall in love with another boy, but his heart would not beat for another. It was during the beginning of their sophomore year and he saw Angela picking on the quiet but sweet girl of Hawkins who had recently moved to Lenora Hills, he quickly disciplined Angela and comforted the new girl, but then his gaze went to the brunette that was her brother. Will Byers, a soul just as sweet and had him melting. He was always on the back of his mind that he couldn’t just ignore anymore, so he asked if they could be friends, he was internally screaming when he said yes. He took every chance he could to be with him, whether that be lying that he needed help with his schoolwork that he had to come over to his house so they could study, he was basically a regular in the Byers household. He was odd and it certainly was creepy, but he just wanted to be as close to Will as he could.

Before he knew it it was already lunch and he was being dragged out of class by his friends, he laughed as they threw him onto his feet and he bounced a little before finding his footing. Being apart of the popular crowd, [M/N] was greeted by many students and he politely greeted them back, not being a fan of being rude to people. Because of this [M/N] was generally liked by both students and teachers, and so here he was sitting at a table with various people fighting to sit with him, but of course his friends always got dibs to sit at his table. He was in the midst of eating his food but his eyes continuously scanned the cafeteria, one of his friends noticed so they let out a sigh and smacked him in the back of the head, this caused him to spit out some of his food and let out a yelp from the pain.

“Dude, what the fuck?” another friend that sat across from him gave him a incredulous expression.

“Yeah dude, what the fuck? He spat his food on me!” he groaned, face scrunching up in disgust at the bits of food on his jacket, causing a few of them to snicker, the one that smacked him rolled his eyes.

“You’re so obvious.” [M/N] cleared his throat, looking at him in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” he scoffed softly, [M/N] raised a brow when he passed him a note, he eyed it before sitting up straight and taking it from his hand. His friend side eyed him and sighed softly when he saw that scared reaction, [M/N] was trembling as a look of panic could be seen in his eyes.

’I know you’ve got a thing for that Byers guy.’

”W-What…?” he could tell that [M/N] was trying not to break down and make a scene so he reached over and grabbed the note, crumbling it up and tucking it into his pocket, this made him look up at him with the same scared expression.

“You’re so obvious.” he repeats “If you thought I, your best friend since we were toddlers, wouldn’t notice, I’d have to kick your ass.” [M/N] glanced around at the others, who surprisingly didn’t notice what was happening between the two of them, and gave him a cautious look.

“You’re not… grossed out?” this caused him to roll his eyes.

“No. I’m more upset over the fact that you thought I wouldn’t accept you, you’re my bro, and I care more about being your best friend than your goddamn preference.” [M/N] would probably start crying if he wasn’t in the middle of the cafeteria, he wipes his eyes with his forearm whilst his friend gently rubbed his back.

“You’re a true bro.” he chuckled.

“I know, and don’t you forget it.” his eyes then lingered up and his lips curved into a smirk at who he saw, so he grabbed [M/N] by the back of his neck and pulled him up “And look who just came walking in~” he cooed, snickering softly when he saw that lovesick gaze [M/N] always had on his face when Will Byers came into view.

“Do you think he’ll sit with us?” he questioned.

“Doubt it.” [M/N] slumps on disappointment “You know he always sits with his sister, doesn’t want her being alone. And if you try and invite her over in hopes of getting him to join us, she’ll be uncomfortable because I’m pretty sure half of the people here have taken part in tormenting her.” he slumps even more.

“You’re right.”

“I know I’m right, I’m always right.”

“You are.” he grumbles under his breath, he then briefly glanced at Will again and lights up when their eyes meet. He happily waved his hand to greet him with a big smile, his smile only growing brighter when Will mirrored his expression and returned the gesture before turning to sit with his sister, [M/N] then sat back down in his seat with a look of content but it dropped when he could feel his friends gaze on him “Stop looking at me like that.”

“You’re gay.” he whispered quietly, he laughed sarcastically before throwing macaroni in his face, causing the others to laugh.

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious, genius.” he winked.

[time skip: roller shaking rink]

If Will wasn’t already having a pretty awful day, it just got worse. He thought he’d be happy to see Mike when he got to California, he thought they’d get to talk like they used to when they were kids still living in Hawkins, but he’s been too busy oogling Eleven to even hold a conversation with him. What makes matters worse is that she’s been lying to him ever since they’ve got there, saying things about being friends with the same people who has been bullying her and going to that roller skating rink to the point she forgot an important detail. It sucked being the third wheel, watching as Mike and El held hands as they skated around while he lingered in the back and watched in dismay as they looked happy while he was forgotten.

’Maybe I was better off taking up [M/N]’s offer to hang out then being stuck being the third wheel.’ he thought to himself, just the thought of the [H/C] boy made him smile but he frowned when he knew that it was already too late and since he was already here he was just going to have to suck it up until six when Jonathan and Argyle came back to pick them up ’At this point I don’t even know why I’m here.’ he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his noise as Mike and El blubbered on about something, not that he was listening, but he was completely unaware of that fact he was being stared at.

“No fucking way…” a voice muttered, he hears a slurp but didn’t pay it any mind as the owner of the obnoxious slurping came to a rolling stop beside him.

“What’s the matter?” ‘twas [M/N] holding two large cups of soda in his hands, he sniffled as he took another huge gulp from his drink while his friend tore his gaze away from the bored Byers to stare up at his friend “Did you see someone, dude?” he rolled his eyes, grabbing [M/N] by the jaw and turning his head in the direction he was staring in.

“Yeah, the guy that rejected you.” he furrowed his brows at that and tried searching to see who he could be talking about before freezing up when he saw Will, he probably would have crushed the drinks in his hands if his friend let him go “His sister is here too, along with some guy with god awful taste in fashion.” at this, they both cringed at what the guy was wearing.

“It must be that Mike Wheeler kid he talks about.” his friend glanced up at him once more, noticing the way he was fidgeting as he stared at Will.

“You gonna go over there and say hello, or are you gonna stay here gawking like a fish?” [M/N] swallowed thickly, his grip on both drinks growing tighter before he let out a sigh and relaxed.

“Nah, he’s with his friend. I think I’d be intruding if I just suddenly went over there. Let’s go, the others are waiting for us.” his friend nodded and was going to leave it at that, they both turned away and planned on skating away but he stopped when he saw that familiar looking blonde making her way over to where the Byers siblings and their friend were.

“Wait.” [M/N] does and looks over at him in confusion “We’ve got trouble.” he hums then glanced back over to see what he was talking about before visibly getting angry at the sight of Angela approaching the three with her goonies following closely behind her.

“Get the boys, I’ll deal with her.” he snarled out and proceeded to skate over to the table.

“[M/N], what are you— you better not hit her!” this caused him to laugh.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” [M/N] wouldn’t publicly punch Angela in the face, without any context he just looks like an asshole, but he’s got a plan to humiliate her without looking like a douchebag… well, he’ll look like a douchebag if it was an accidental regardless. He popped off the cup covers and sped up a little, this was going to hurt a bit, the moment he was close enough he purposefully tripped up, causing the drinks in his hands to spill all over the poor unexpecting soul.

“Oh my god!” she screamed out, feeling the soda drench her completely “What the hell is wrong with you?!” she exclaimed, everyone in attendance to witness what happened were in shock, [M/N] stifled a chuckle as he pulled himself onto his feet while Angela’s friends comforted her.

“Oh man, I am just so sorry, I’m still quite new when it comes to skating.” Jane felt a sense of comfort when she saw [M/N], smiling softly when she felt him place his hand on top of her head and ruffle it around while giving Angela a smug grin when she turned and glared at him “Accidents happen, you know?” his grin grew bigger when she grew agitated while a few of her friends took a step forward.

“Man, you’re such a clutz, [M/N]! Why can’t you be good at skating like you are with baseball!” he let out a soft grunt when his friend appeared behind him, slapping a hand on his back with a laugh, Angela and her friends backed down when [M/N]’s friend group appeared and gave him threatening smiles “Forgive him, he’s still learning.” Angela growled, hand closing into a tight fist before glaring at the both of them.

“This isn’t over.” with that she skated away, [M/N] let out a breath before smacking his friend in the arm.

“Still learning? Dude! Nice one, didn’t you face plant not too long ago?” this caused him to make a face.

“Now let’s not get arrogant here.” [M/N] rolled his eyes, he then looked at the residents of the table and grinned, waving his hand to greet them.

“Hey Jane, hi Will!” he said happily, the Byers siblings returned the greeting with a happy wave of their own, he then glanced over at the ravenette and gave him a confused expression “And hello… Mike, was it?” he gave an awkward wave of his own,  Jane stood to her feet and grabbed his hands while gesturing with her other to Mike.

“Yes, this is Mike! He is my boyfriend.” this caused a few of them to be surprised, a few of his friends whistled.

“Wow, little miss pretty has herself a boyfriend? Never would have guessed.” this earned him a smack behind the head.

“Stop it.” Jane giggled softly, always appreciating it when [M/N] reprimanded his friends from making offhanded comments “Will told me how he was coming down from Indiana, you two must be really happy that he’s here after not seeing him in a long time.” Jane nodded her head, [M/N] glanced at Will and noticed he didn’t look as enthusiastic as his sister.

“Yeah, totally.” [M/N] and his friends noticed Will’s less than thrilled response and glanced at each other, his friends spare each other a glance and nod in unison before one of them wrap an arm around [M/N]’s shoulder and pull him in, causing him to look at them in confusion.

“Well, why don’t we leave the lovebirds alone to catch up?” he suggested then glanced at Will, who flinched when all eyes were on him “Hey Byers, why don’t you join us? Don’t want you being stuck as the third wheel!” Will looked a little hesitant but he didn’t even get a choice when they grabbed him out of the booth and started pushing him away, he couldn’t even stop them even if he could because of the skates.

“Have fun you two!” they exclaimed, [M/N] was confused at to what they were doing and was going to question them but froze up when they pushed both him and Will together and into the skating ring. He glared back at them with a bright red face but it dropped when he saw all of them giving him encouraging looks followed with thumbs up, one of them grinned as they leaned against the barrier and continued to watch [M/N] panic as he held Will from evidently falling over.

“He’s gay, right?” one of them questioned, another nodded.

“Oh, totally! Without a doubt.” they each share a laugh and place bets to see if anything will happen before the day was over, now back to the two, [M/N] was apologising profusely for putting Will on the spot like they did while untangling himself off of the poor boy.

“I’m so sorry, Will! I don’t know what’s wrong with them.” a soft blush settled on his cheeks when Will looked up at him with that oh so cute smile on his face.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I get where they were coming from, and it did suck a little being the third wheel back there.” [M/N] gasped softly, bringing a hand up to hover over his mouth.

“No.” Will chuckled at the reaction, nodding his head.

“Yeah, while those two were glued together, I just hung in the background.” [M/N] hummed softly before lightly shoving him with his shoulder and skating ahead of them, Will let out a whoa and quickly caught himself before he fell over then glanced over at [M/N] and saw he had a big grin on his face.

“Well, now you have me! Lets have some fucking fun, Byers!” he cheered, holding his hand out for Will to take. He looked hesitant once more but the way [M/N] had an eager look on his face, his eyes practically begging him to take his hand, how could he possibly refuse. He lets out a laugh and took [M/N]’s hand, laughing even louder when he was pulled towards him and together the two of them spun around before skating a few rounds around the ring then leaving and going over to the arcade. Will watched as [M/N] went over to the game where you had to knock clowns over to rack up points, he grabbed the baseball and tossed it up a few times “I may not be as good as our pitcher, but I’d like to think I’m second best.” he comments, this caused Will to jokingly roll his eyes.

“Your arrogance is showing.” he flushed up when [M/N] winked at him.

“Only for you.” at the end of the game he won a lot of tickets, throwing his fist up with a victorious grin. [M/N] continued to win the games, a few times playing some with Will until they were holding too many tickets that it was ridiculous. They both glance at each other before bursting out into laughter and going over to the ticket stand and trading the tickets for prizes, though in the end they couldn’t think of what to get and gave their winnings to the kid behind them and went over to get some food “You know? I didn’t think I was going to see you today, but I’m glad that I did.” he said, grabbing a few fries and throwing them into his mouth.

“I agree, you made my day a little bit better.” [M/N] grinned at that, as the two of them continued to talk he glanced behind Will and his face scrunched up when he saw his friends from afar making those same encouraging looks along with kissy faces, he wanted to kick their asses. He panicked when Will noticed that [M/N] was staring at something so he turned around to see what it was but his friends luckily ducked down before they could notice, when Will turned to look back at [M/N] he just got an innocent smile on his face “Well, um, I’m really glad I got to spend some time with you.”

“Same! At least you weren’t stuck in between your sister and your friend.” Will had a bittersweet expression on his face.

“I know he just got here and that El— I mean, Jane, is his girlfriend… but I’m his best friend. I wish he talked to me just a little bit longer instead of ignoring me, it really hurt.” [M/N] gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sure things will get better, like you said, he’s your best friend! I’m sure things will get better before you know it.” he reassured, this caused Will to smile.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” he nods.

“Anytime.” they stare at each other for a little longer then jump when a hand suddenly slammed down on their table, they then glance up at the owner and [M/N] couldn’t help but grimace a little when he saw that it was none other than Mike Wheeler.

“There you are, Will! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” he then gestured with his hand for him to stand up “I need to talk to you about something, so can we go?” Will pulled a face and looked at [M/N], he looked just as saddened but gestured for him to go.

“Don’t leave the guy waiting! I’ll be right here if you come back.” Will smiled before leaving, the moment Will was out of sight he let out a breath he was holding in and slumped into the seat, not even moments later his friends arrived and took over the booth.

“Well that was a disaster.” one of them said, a few of the other eating the food that was forgotten “You should have seen the way that Indiana guy was staring at you, dude. We were watching for a long time and that guy was giving you a dirty look.” another then dramatically held a hand to his forehead and fell back, one having to catch him before falling onto the ground.

“He must’ve been jealous that he was replaced and couldn’t stand the thought of his friend talking to a much better looking, well dressed, and friendly guy that isn’t him.” [M/N] rolled his eyes, grabbing his drink and taking a long slurp from it “We’re being serious, [M/N]. That guy definitely didn’t like the fact that you were with Byers, man.”

“You should shoot your shot.” this caused [M/N] to glare at the one friend he knew that knew about his sexuality, before he could say anything, he raised his hands and gestured to the lot of them.

“Dude, like I said, you’re so obvious.” he glanced at the others and saw they were all nodding their heads “Why do you think we were encouraging you that whole time, dumbass?” they all laugh when his head fell and thumped against the table.

“We’re your ultimate wingmen, trust us.” their heads shoot up when they all hear shouting, they look over and saw a crowd forming so they scramble to their feet and rush over, and there they saw Angela’s face bleeding due to the fact that Jane had hit her with a skate “Holy shit!” 

“You go Byers!” [M/N] shakes his head.

“Now’s not the time.”  “Sorry.” he shakes his head, he then glanced over at the siblings and saw they both had a panicked look on their faces before rushing away “Well that was anticlimactic, I didn’t expect her to do that.”

“Well what can you do? After all that torment that bitch has put her through, I was wondering how long it was going to take until she finally snapped.” he then claps his hands “Good for her, the wrong way of standing up for herself, but good for her.”

“Stop it.”  [time skip: later at night]

Today was just a fucking disaster. Will collapsed onto his bed and let out an exhausted sigh, if he thought the day couldn’t get any worse, he should probably shut the fuck up at that point. All was going swell when he was with [M/N], he had fun and it felt nice to be included, even more so being so close to the guy that made his stomach do flips. Mike had to ruin the moment but let it slide when he realised that Angela came back for revenge and evidently humiliated El before running off, Mike only coming to find him to help him find El. What made matters worse was when El slammed the roller skate into Angela’s face and it started bleeding profusely, god, he needed a break. He pressed the soles of his hands into his eyes and twisted slightly, dragging his hands down his face then throwing his arms open.

“What a disaster.” he closed his eyes and let his body relax into the bed, growing slightly irritated when he heard a subtle tapping, he lifts himself and glared over at the window. It stopped when he looked over at it so he let his body fall back onto the bed but not even a second passes when the tapping returns so he jumps off his bed and marches over to his window, ready to punch it but froze up when he saw that it was [M/N], who lit up upon sight.

“Will!” his voice was muffled through the glass but he definitely heard it as the boy waved his hand “Hi.” he shook his head with a laugh and opened the window.

“What are you doing here? It’s late.” he holds his hand up in a gesture for him to wait so he does with a slight giggle, watching as he ducked down to get something before shooting up with something in his hand. Will looked at in confusion then let out a sputter of words when [M/N] pushed it into his hands, he chuckled when he saw the excited look on his face “What is this?”

“It’s a gift. It’s for you.” Will furrowed his brows in confusion, a gift? He was going to question him again but [M/N] gestured for him to open it “Go on, open it!” [M/N] reminded him of a child on Christmas Day, so he just shrugged his shoulders and opened the nicely wrapped gift. He raised his brow in confusion at the sight of a box that was close shut by two latches, he looked at [M/N] and saw the eagerness in his eyes as he nodded at him for him to open it, so he did with a shrug. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw was inside, he couldn’t believe it as he lowered the lid to look at [M/N].

“I-Is this…?” he smiled and sheepishly shrugged.

“An oil color box set? Yeah, it took awhile to find this specific one, and it was really expensive as well, but what’s a few weeks allowance can’t do?” Will was at a loss for words, stuttering out a few that he managed to say as tears threatened to spill from his eyes “I remembered you saying that you were looking for one so you could paint while you were out, so I thought I would get you one and save you the trouble.” Will sniffled, raising a hand to rub at his eyes.

“But why? Why did you get this for me?” [M/N] looked at him in confusion, scoffing softly but realised that Will was serious,.

“Dude, Will… it’s your birthday.” Will couldn’t help but gasp softly at that, he completely forgot that it was his birthday, but that also meant that everyone else forgot about his birthday. He got a little bitter at that but what made it better was the fact that [M/N] remembered. A guy that he met in California, a guy that he told the date of his birth once and he remembered, a guy that was so popular that he was sure would forget, but he didn’t. He remembered and he even got him a gift. He then remembered to the start of that week that he tried inviting Will out to hangout, was he inviting him out for his birthday? “I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now, Will, but I hope you know I’m here for you. Happy birthday, Will.” he couldn’t remember what happened, what was going on in his mind for him to react the way he did, but he pushed the gift to the side and grabbed [M/N] by the collar of his shirt and yank him up. [M/N] let out a whoa, hands planting down on the windowsill to stabilise himself then let out a muffled gasp when Will pulled him into a kiss. He stared down at their connected lips in shock then his gaze fell upon Will’s eyes when he pulled away, a look of disbelief as they stared at each other.

…

… “Oh my god, what have I done?” Will muttered, still holding [M/N] by the collar of his shirt as he looked away, not noticing the lovesick smile that grace his lips as he let him go, letting the boy slump against the windowsill. All sorts of thoughts were circulating through his mind, thinking that he possibly ruined the best friendship he had in California forever and that he was going to lose a friend that meant the world to him and also the love of his life. He hadn’t even noticed [M/N] pull himself up until he was yanked forward, [M/N] having reach forward to grab Will by his cheeks and pull him into another kiss, this time, he was making sure Will felt that the kiss he gave him wasn’t one sided. When they finally pulled away, they stared into each other’s eyes before laughing.

“Will?” said boy let out a gasp and shoved [M/N] back and slammed his window shut, grimacing when he heard a loud thud followed by an oof and grunt but he ignored it as his mother opened the door to his room “Are you okay in here? I heard you pacing.” he gave his mother a reassuring smile, waving his hands to dismiss her.

“Yeah, I’m fine! Don’t worry about it, mum.” she gave Will a soft smile, blowing him a kiss before closing the door when she left. He waited until he couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore before turning around and throwing his window open and peeking out, he giggled to himself when he saw [M/N] wearing the biggest grin on his face as he covered his eyes with his hands “Are you okay?” [M/N] pushed himself up by his hands and gave Will a dopey grin.

“Am I okay? I’m fan-fucking-tastic!” he covered his mouth when Will shushed him for being loud, he quickly stood to his feet and returned to where Will was resting his folding arms on the windowsill and smiled “I can finally tell you that I’m in love with you. Your response?” Will laughs, pressing a hand to his cheek.

“I love you too.” they’re both smiling to the point it hurts, Will throws his arms around [M/N]’s neck and pulls him up into a hug, to which the latter reaches up and wraps an arm around his head as his other arm held the windowsill. When they pull away, [M/N] and Will stare into each other’s eyes once more and share a short and tender kiss, [M/N] winks and Will giggles.  “I’ll see you at school next week?” Will bites his lip, glancing back towards his door then back at [M/N].

“Do you want to stop by tomorrow? I’d love to spend some time with you.” he whispered the last part to himself but it didn’t fall to deaf ears because this earned him another peck on the lips, he looked at [M/N] and saw him grinning as he nodded his head.

“Yeah, I’ll totally stop by tomorrow!” he cheered “I’ll see you tomorrow!” he takes a step back but accidentally trips and falls back, Will leaned forward to see if he was okay but giggled instead when [M/N] shot back up but had a few leaves and twigs in his hair, but he didn’t mind it and waved his hand goodbye,

“Goodnight, [M/N].”

“Goodnight, Will.” he blows him a kiss followed by a wink, to which Will blushed but didn’t hesitate to catch the kiss. The moment Will pulled himself back into his room and close the window [M/N] let out a cheer as he threw his fists in the air, running back to his truck with an extra skip in his step “He said he loved me!” he shouts, he then heard cheering from his truck and saw his friends cheering for his accomplishment.

“Nice one, [M/N]!”

“Another win for you!”

Headcanons:

[m/n] is so in love with will that his friends have to tape his mouth shut if they don’t want to hear him talking about will this, or will that. it gets annoying.

the guys love will, don’t get me wrong, they just hate [m/n] for making the conversation all about his boyfriend. he’s in a relationship, they get it. no need to shove it down their throats with every chance he gets.

[m/n] told will that his friends know that they’re dating.

he was a little on edge to know that will wasn’t, well, straight.

[m/n] reassured him that they were cool, I mean, it was because of them they basically got to have a date back at the roller skating ring.

it made will feel happy to be accepted by a large number a guys.

it makes him even more happy that they’re happy [m/n]’s happy with someone that makes him feel the way he does. they tell will they’ve got his back if he ever needs it.

[m/n] more than once has will wearing his lettermen jacket, regardless of what people say.

will refused to wear it the first few times [m/n] asked him to wear it but was forced to wear it when [m/n] threw it at his face and ran away before will could give it back.

now [m/n] doesn’t get it back unless there’s a game.

totally worth it.

will totally shows up to [m/n] and his teams practices and their games. they all appreciate his attendance and whenever he’s there, they’re all at that a-game.

when [m/n] sees will in the crowd, especially if he’s wearing his jacket, it’s already over for the rivalling team.

he’s all the motivation they need.

will is totally their number one supporter.

jane noticed will has been happier as well, and without asking she already knew it had something to do with [m/n].

she saw the way will would look at [m/n]. he had that look in his eyes that sparkled whenever the boy was in the same room they were in or if he was brought up in a conversation. 

she might have accidentally caught the a few times together when will would sneak him in through the window so they could relax together or will would be sneaking out or back in from wherever [m/n] took him.

they had a sibling agreement to never bring this up.

joyce and jonathan had also noticed that will had being going out more and more.

they’d question him where he was going but fall short when they saw that oh so familiar lettermen jacket along with the sound of a honk.

peering out the window, there they saw their will rushing over to [m/n]’s pickup truck so the two of them can go out on a date. of course they don’t know that, but they’re happy will’s going out more.

will totally has [m/n] model for him when painting.

[m/n] blushed when will called him his muse, muttering the word under his breath more than once.

will always shows him what he’s working on and though [m/n] doesn’t have the best knowledge when it comes to art, he always shares his thoughts with will about what he likes about it.

will appreciated it.

together, the two of them are just so in love.

[m/n] doesn’t waste a second to show how committed he is to this relationship, always showering will in all the love his soul could pour out until he knew that will knew the extent he was willing to go to just to get a point across.

will also wanted to show [m/n] that what he felt for him couldn’t easily be replaced, that the only thing on his mind whenever they were together were the endless thoughts of how deeply in love he was with [m/n].

the two of them made it obvious that they were meant to be.

Lullaby pt. 3

word count: 15,031

Fandom: Poppy Playtime Pairing: N/A Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Familial Occupation: Caretaker Ability: Ballerina Music Box

The character takes the appearance of a beautifully crafted music box ballerina figurine made of the toughest porcelain and glass, their clothes made from real fabric that is soft to touch and hair so smooth and silky you'd mistake it for real hair. Attached to their back is a wind up key that continuously spins when they're active and stops when they switch off. If the key is removed they cease to operate until key is returned and they are wound up again. Before CatNap, the character was the one to put the children to sleep with their built-in music box that would constantly be updated with new songs to play to help ease the children to sleep.

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name

Warnings: the hour of joy, blood, death, all that shit.

"Lullaby" pt. 1, pt.2

I couldn't figure out how to end this so i'm not really satisfied with it, maybe I'll tweak it later but i'm not fucked right now.

that is all.

“Go! Get out of here! Get back to the Safe Haven!” Ballade’s voice cracked with urgency as she, Hoppy, Kickin, and Doey fled through the prison’s crumbling halls, their arms full of the few toys they had managed to rescue from the ruined ones. The closer they got to the Safe Haven, the more relentless their pursuers became. Ballade’s heart pounded — she couldn’t let them find it. She couldn’t let them get close. Not with CatNap lurking nearby. “I’ll stall them — just go!” she insisted, turning toward the oncoming threat.

“But what about you?!” Kickin’s voice rose in panic, his arms weighed down by the rescued toys.

“Forget about me! I’ll be fine!”

“How can we know that?!”

“Because CatNap won’t kill me — and those ruined critters can’t hurt me. But if any of you get caught, he’ll make sure you don’t walk away from it.” Her face hardened at the mention of him, her voice bitter. She knew his cruelty — but she also knew it would be far worse for the others.

“But if they take your key—”

“We won’t know how to save you!” Hoppy cried.

“Maybe it’s for the best.” Ballade’s voice softened, her guilt seeping through. “After everything I did… this mess is my fault. If I’m the price for your safety, so be it.” She turned to Doey, placing firm hands on his shoulders, her eyes filled with a desperate seriousness. “Take care of them, Doey. You’re the only one I trust to keep them all safe.”

“W-What? Me?!” Doey’s eyes went wide, his voice shaking. Behind them, the twisted laughter of their pursuers echoed closer, growing louder.

“I know it’s a lot, and I hate putting this burden on you, but I don’t have a choice! Please, Doey — if I don’t come back, don’t try to save me. Just… forget about me.” Doey shook his head violently, panic rising in his chest.

“B-But I don’t know the first thing about being a leader! I-I can’t—” A loud crash cut him off. They all spun toward the sound — the ruined critters had finally caught up, their broken forms crawling into view.

“There’s no time!” Ballade shouted. She pushed them back, then struck a support beam with all her strength. The ceiling groaned before collapsing in a cascade of rubble, blocking the path between them and the ruined toys. Dust filled the air, but Ballade didn’t waste a second. She turned back toward the enemy, steeling herself. “Go! I’ll hold them off. And remember what I said — if I don’t come back—”

“Ballade—” Kickin started.

“IF I DON’T COME BACK!” she repeated, her voice fierce. For a moment, no one moved. Then Hoppy sucked in a shaky breath, turning her face away as the sound of sinister laughter grew closer.

“…Don’t try to save you,” she whispered weakly.

And then they ran.

She let out a breath as she heard the sound of their footsteps disappear down the hall until she couldn't hear them anymore, she rolled her neck and turned towards the ruined critters with a fury burning in her eyes.

"Well then? Come on, let's see you get past me."

-

A figure stepped cautiously into a dimly lit hallway, their flashlight beam cutting through the heavy darkness. The walls here were lined with faded murals of smiling toys and children, their once-bright colors dulled with age and grime. The eerie quiet was only broken by the soft hum of flickering lights overhead. As they moved forward, the beam of their flashlight fell on something ahead — a shape standing motionless in the center of the corridor. Instinctively, their heart leapt, but as they got closer, they realized it wasn’t a threat.

It was a cardboard cutout.

The cutout depicted a toy they hadn’t seen before — a delicate, doll-like figure with big, expressive eyes and an elegant dress. Despite the wear and tear, the character’s design had a grace to it: flowing ribbons, musical motifs, and a kind but somewhat melancholy smile. The words “Press Here” was scrawled in ornate letters within a white speech bubble, though parts of it were scratched and peeling. Like the many other cardboard cutouts they came across, the reached forward and pressed the button and the cutout came to life with a burst of static from a hidden speaker.

“Hello there, little one!” The voice was warm and gentle, with a soft musical lilt, though the audio crackled with age. “Welcome to Playcare — the happiest, safest place in all of Playtime Co.! My name’s Ballade Ballerina, and I’ll be your guide while you stay with us!” there was a moment of silence before they press it again. “Here at Playcare, we believe every toy — and every child — deserves love, laughter, and a safe place to call home. You’ll make so many friends here! There’s games, stories, and oh-so-many songs to sing!” The recording glitched, her voice stretching into a distorted warble before cutting back in. “…And remember, if you ever feel scared or lonely, just find me! I’ll always be here to help!”

The cutout’s smile seemed a little too wide now, the dim light casting long shadows across its face.

The speaker clicked off, leaving only the faint buzz of static in its wake.

Ahead, the hallway stretched into darkness, and with a deep inhale they ventured on.

We now welcome our protagonist, the Player, and their journey for answers as they traverse deeper and deeper into Playtime Co. after the horrors they had experienced since stepping for into this facility.

Huggy Wuggy had been the first nightmare — a towering figure of blue fur and wide, unblinking eyes, his silent pursuit relentless. The player could still hear the sound of his massive limbs scraping through vents, the way his sharp teeth snapped just inches from their heels. Only through sheer desperation and quick thinking had they managed to outmaneuver him, dropping a heavy box on him just in time and watching him fall into the depths below.

And then there had been Mommy Longlegs.

Her sing-song voice still echoed in their mind, playful and sadistic. The chase through the twisted factory had been a nightmare of tangled machinery and crushing danger. Her elastic limbs had reached through impossible spaces, her laughter turning shrill when the player narrowly escaped her grasp. The final confrontation left the player scraped, battered, and with a deep sense of unease — as if she wasn’t truly gone.

And now they find themselves in what is left of Playcare.

Broken play structures loomed in the dim light. A carousel, long stilled, sat tilted on its side. Empty cribs and overturned chairs lay scattered across the area, and torn stuffed animals slumped against the walls.

But it hadn’t always been this way.

Once, Playcare had been filled with the sounds of laughter and music — a safe haven for the children of Playtime Co.’s employees. The walls had been vibrant and bright, decorated with colorful murals and happy handprints. The toys here had been companions, carefully crafted to nurture and delight. But something had gone terribly wrong.

The downfall of Playcare had been swift and brutal. Whispers of experiments gone awry crept through the abandoned halls — the blending of innocence and industry turned monstrous. The toys designed to protect became the very thing to fear. Children vanished, their giggles replaced with terrified screams. Staff members who tried to intervene were never seen again. The signs of that ruin were everywhere. Walls scarred with deep gouges, as though something with claws had tried to escape. Dried stains marred the cracked tiles, and the flickering lights cast frantic shadows. The colorful handprints smeared across the doors were not all made in paint.

Given the mission to bring back the power to the Playcare, the Player entered Home Sweet Home first as instructed by the young boy Ollie had instructed.

The red smoke hit them first — thick and choking, its hallucinogenic effects warping the world around them. Walls twisted and pulsed, laughter turned into distorted echoes, and familiar shapes morphed into something sinister. The Player stumbled through the haze, their vision swimming with impossible images — the faces of children flickering into grotesque grins, toys shifting and writhing with unnatural life. It felt endless. But somehow, they pushed through. When the smoke finally thinned, the Player found themselves in the wreckage of what had once been Home Sweet Home — a place once filled with children and laughter, now as broken and abandoned as the rest of Playcare. Cribs lay overturned, toys lay shattered, and the air was thick with an oppressive quiet.

And there in the main lobby of Home Sweet Home, the Player spotted a stage that had seen far better days. Its wooden frame sagged with age, the paint chipped and faded, and the once-vibrant curtain hung in tattered, dust-covered folds. The air was thick and heavy, carrying the faint scent of decay and something sickly sweet — like old candy left to rot. The soft creak of the floor beneath their feet echoed through the hollow stillness as the Player approached cautiously. Their eyes locked onto the curtain, noticing it was open just a crack. Through that narrow gap, a faint green glow pulsed softly.

Curiosity and unease prickled at the Player’s skin as they reached out, their fingers brushing the old fabric aside. The curtain’s texture was rough and brittle, and a cloud of dust rose as they pushed it aside. With a slow, hesitant motion, they opened the curtain wider — and their breath caught in their throat.

There, slumped against a pile of forgotten and broken boxes, sat the remains of Ballade Ballerina. The once-elegant toy had fallen into a state of tragic disrepair. Her porcelain-like face was cracked and smudged, the painted features chipped but still heartbreakingly delicate. Her glassy eyes, half-lidded and lifeless, stared into nothingness. Her dress, which had surely once been a vision of grace, lay in tatters — the flowing fabric torn and stained, the ribbons frayed and hanging limp. Her hair, once meticulously styled in a pristine bun, had fallen loose, draping unkempt and tangled over her face.

Despite her ruined state, there was an eerie beauty to her stillness — a lifelike presence that made the Player’s skin crawl. It was almost as if she could move at any moment. And through the dimness, the source of the green glow became clear: a battery clutched tightly in her unmoving hand.

"Whoa..." The Player’s voice was barely above a whisper, but even that seemed too loud in the oppressive quiet. Despite everything, they couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer realism of Ballade. Other than Poppy, she was the most human-like toy they had encountered — and even in her broken state, there was a strange sense of care in how she had been left here, as if someone had made an effort to preserve her, even as everything else around her crumbled.

Shaking off their unease, the Player activated their GrabPack, aiming for the battery. The metal claw latched onto it with ease, but when they tried to pull it back, Ballade’s arm jerked forward — her fingers remaining locked around the battery in an iron grip. The Player grimaced and tugged harder, but no matter how they pulled, she wouldn’t let go.

"Haaa, of course it wouldn’t be that easy," they murmured, frustration creeping into their voice.

As they stepped closer, their eyes fell on a crumpled, faded drawing lying near Ballade’s feet — clearly the work of a child from long ago. It depicted Ballade in happier days, twirling gracefully with a wind-up key embedded in her back. The detail stood out immediately. The Player’s gaze shifted to Ballade’s back, and sure enough — the slot for a wind-up key sat empty and waiting. Their heart sank. Of course it wouldn’t be as simple as taking the battery — they’d need to find that missing key.

Letting out a tired sigh, the Player stood and surveyed the wreckage around them. The thought of combing through Home Sweet Home for a tiny key felt like an impossible task — a needle in a haystack. But there was no choice.

Leaving the stage and the battery behind for now, they pressed forward, solving the puzzles scattered throughout Home Sweet Home. Room after room yielded new challenges and eerie reminders of the building’s past. Children’s murals, long faded, peeked through layers of grime. Toys lay scattered and broken, their smiles cracked and hollow. Every step forward felt like intruding on something long abandoned — and yet not entirely lifeless.

Eventually, their search led them to the upper levels — and into a room unlike the others.

It was unmistakable. The oversized, plush cat bed and scattered toy remains made it clear.

They had found CatNap’s old room.

Realizing what they had stumbled upon, they turned to leave — until something on the oversized bed caught their eye. Their heart leaped when they spotted it: the unmistakable glint of Ballade’s wind-up key. Without hesitation, they darted forward, snatching up the key and cradling it in their hands like a fragile treasure. Relief flooded them — but it was short-lived. The ever-present sense of being watched prickled at the back of their neck. CatNap was still lurking somewhere nearby. They had to move — and fast.

Keeping their steps light and their movements subtle, the Player hurried back down the stairs, every creak of the old wood sending spikes of fear through their exhausted body. They reached the stage without incident, their chest heaving with the effort to remain quiet. Climbing onto the stage, they knelt beside Ballade’s still form. Gently, they pushed her slumped body forward, revealing the empty key slot on her back. Taking a steadying breath, they slotted the key into place.

Then they began to wind.

The resistance was immediate — the mechanism inside her body was worn and rusted, and every turn of the key felt like a struggle. The Player’s arms burned with the effort, their grunts of exertion breaking the oppressive silence. It was a wonder the key turned at all.

Finally — with one last, straining twist — the key clicked into place. As the key slowly began to turn on its own, Ballade’s hand twitched. Fingers that had been frozen in a death grip began to uncurl. The green battery slipped free, falling to the stage with a quiet thud. The Player exhaled in relief, their muscles trembling with exhaustion, and reached forward to claim their prize.

With the final battery in hand, the player stumbled off the stage, their heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst from their chest. Every muscle in their body ached from the endless chase, the constant fear, the exhausting puzzles — but the urgency to get out of this place kept them moving. They tightened their grip on the battery as though it were their only lifeline.

Behind them, the eerie ticking of Ballade’s wind-up key still echoed softly, rhythmic and deliberate, growing fainter with each step as they hurried toward the battery slot. But even as the sound faded, it felt like it followed them — like something unseen was counting down.

The building around them felt more oppressive than ever — the walls seemed to close in tighter, the air thick and stale. Every shadow stretched a little too far, twisting unnaturally with the dim, flickering lights. Every distant creak and groan made their skin prickle, their breath catching in their throat. The remnants of Home Sweet Home were silent, but never still. And worst of all, they knew they weren’t alone.

CatNap was still out there. The colossal cat had been stalking them ever since they set foot in this cursed building — an ever-present threat lingering just out of sight. Watching. Waiting. The Player’s eyes darted to every darkened corner, every vent, every narrow hallway. The feeling of being hunted had become almost suffocating.

Reaching the battery slot, the Player slid the battery into place with trembling hands, the device clicking into position with a satisfying thud. They exhaled shakily as the system hummed to life, ancient machinery groaning and sputtering like a creature slowly awakening from a long slumber. Lights flickered, casting long, wavering shadows on the walls. The room vibrated with power as circuits sputtered and sparked to life.

But even with the relief of progress, that uneasy feeling didn’t leave them. Instinct tugged at the Player, a cold chill crawling up their spine. Slowly, almost unwillingly, they glanced back toward the stage.

They froze.

The stage was empty.

Ballade was gone.

The curtain still hung open, the boxes she had been slumped against remained — but she was no longer there. Only the faint sound of the ticking key remained, echoing softly from somewhere deeper in the building. The Player’s throat tightened, their pulse quickening as they scanned the darkened room. And then — the ticking stopped.

"W-Where... where did she--" the Player’s voice barely rose above a whisper, their words cut short by the suffocating weight of fear. But there was no time to linger, no time to question. They’d done what they were supposed to do within Home Sweet Home — the last thing they needed was to stick around where that big cat and an even bigger doll could find them.

Screw it.

They turned and ran, feet pounding against the floor as they rushed out of the building, desperate to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the threats lurking inside. But as they vanished into the dim, flickering corridors, they remained unaware of the pair of eyes watching their every move from the shadows.

-

Ballade didn’t know how long she had been turned off for — she never really could tell how much time passed when she was asleep until someone "woke her up." It was almost like being in a coma or perhaps paralyzed; she couldn’t move or see, but she could faintly hear what was happening in her surroundings. Distant voices, the scraping of metal, the slow decay of her world — all filtered through the darkness of her slumber.

She could feel it too — the slow breakdown of her own body. The way her delicate mechanisms grew rigid and rusted over time, the stiffness of her joints settling like an ache she couldn’t relieve. Dust settled thick over her frame, and the once-smooth grace of her design began to fade beneath the weight of neglect. Her porcelain-like face, once pristine and expressive, had cracked, faint fractures spreading like delicate spiderwebs. The once-vibrant paint of her features had faded and chipped, her eyes dull and lifeless. Her limbs, so carefully crafted for fluid movement, had grown stiff and unyielding, the internal gears grinding with each attempt at motion. The soft fabric of her dress had long since frayed, the elegant ribbons trailing in tatters. Her hair, once styled into a graceful bun, had loosened and fallen over her face in knotted, dusty strands. The neglect was total — and yet, she had felt it all.

But then, there was something new.

A click. A winding. The sudden, jarring sensation of gears turning, slow and strained, after so long without movement. She could feel her key twisting into place, the old machinery inside her fighting to respond. It hurt — but it also meant something else.

She was waking up.

*blink*

*blink*

A soft gasp left her lips as her eyes blinked to life, flickering with an eerie glow as they darted around in alarm, desperate to see who — or what — had turned her key. The disorientation was overwhelming. She felt the stiffness in every part of her body, her joints cracking and groaning as she shifted. The effort it took just to lift her head sent sharp pangs through her worn-out frame. She managed to catch a glimpse of a figure slipping out of her tent — too fast to make out any details. But she ignored it for now. There was something more important.

She needed to move.

The struggle was immediate and humiliating. As she tried to push herself upright, her legs buckled beneath her, the rusted mechanisms inside protesting every motion. She fell once, twice — each time catching herself just before hitting the stage floor. The effort left her breathless, but she forced herself onward, finally managing to stand on trembling legs. Peeking through the gap in the curtain, her wide eyes scanned the room — and then stopped, her breath catching.

A human.

Her mind reeled. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. An actual human employee. But… how? Weren’t they all dead? The factory had been silent for so long — abandoned, left to rot just like the toys inside. And yet there they were, very much alive. But why? Why on earth would anyone willingly come here? What could they possibly hope to achieve? More than anything, though — what confused her the most — was the fact that she did not recognize them. They must be a lower level employee, Leith told her she didn't need to put in the effort of remembering employees who were disposable. But still, how the hell did they get so far into the factory on their own?

How did they get past Huggy? And Mommy?

Her eyes narrowed as she watched them place the battery in its slot and restore power to Home Sweet Home. Hmmm... she’d just watch them from afar for now, just to see what they were doing. After stretching her limbs, she hoisted herself up by the rafters above her head, the rusted joints protesting but slowly obeying her commands. With surprising agility for something so long dormant, she leapt up to the upper levels of Home Sweet Home, silent and shadowed. From her vantage point above, she watched with cold amusement as the employee looked around in alarm, their panic clear when they noticed the empty stage. It was almost hilarious to watch them scramble out of the building with their tail between their legs.

Seriously… how had they gotten this far?

Ballade's eyes narrowed as she watched the employee from her spot in the upper levels of the building, their frantic movements betraying the fear she expected. Every little sound they made echoed through the hollow, broken remains of Home Sweet Home. The flickering lights cast long, distorted shadows across the decaying walls, making the space feel even more eerie and oppressive. She shifted quietly, her body still stiff and aching from years of stillness, the rusted joints inside her creaking with every small motion. She winced at the sound—like old gears grinding against each other—but her curiosity kept her silent and patient.

And then she saw it—something that truly caught her attention.

"Is that..." she whispered, her voice barely audible as she peered through a cracked and grime-streaked window, her face twisting in mock disbelief. "Poppy?" It had been so long since she’d last seen that doll—so long since any familiar faces crossed her path. The sight of that small, porcelain-like figure sent a strange jolt through her system. Ballade leaned against the windowsill, her faded ribbons trailing limply from her arms as she watched intently. Through the dim light, she saw Poppy handle Kissy Missy—ever the sweetheart—after she had tackled the employee to the ground in what was clearly an attempt to kill them.

Ballade’s fingers tapped rhythmically against the rotting wood beneath her, the soft sound blending with the distant hum of restored power and the occasional groan of the building settling. Her mind pieced together the situation from the fragmented conversation she managed to overhear. The employee had come to Playtime Co. searching for their missing coworkers—fools, she thought, for stepping into this graveyard of twisted dreams. And yet they had somehow survived encounters with Huggy Wuggy and Mommy Long Legs, defeating both of them despite the odds.

But their victory had been hollow. They’d been meant to leave—finally escape this nightmare by taking the train from the Game Station. And yet... Poppy had intervened. Ballade’s lips curled into a wry, bitter smile. Of course she had. That was so like that manipulative little girl. Trapped in that fragile doll body, Poppy was incapable of doing things on her own—so she pulled the strings of others, making them dance to her tune. It was always the same—always others who did the hard work while Poppy watched from the sidelines, her innocent appearance masking the calculating mind underneath.

And now it seemed she’d found her latest puppet.

The employee. The survivor.

But how long would they last, Ballade wondered, before Poppy’s game broke them too? How long before this poor fool realized they were nothing more than a disposable piece in Poppy’s never-ending quest for freedom? Ballade almost pitied them. Almost.

"Hmm, what to do, what to do." she murmured to herself. She continued to watch them from Home Sweet Home as they restored power to Playcare and a sense of nostalgia hit her like a wave. Memories of when Playcare had been whole—when laughter filled the air and the children’s joy was the only sound that mattered. She could still hear their giggles echoing faintly in her mind, the pitter-patter of tiny feet running through the halls. She remembered the way they’d reach for her hand, their eyes wide with wonder as she twirled and danced for them on the stage. The warmth of their applause, their delighted cheers—those days felt like a distant dream, faded and fra— she nearly threw herself out the window when she saw them approaching the school. "Oh, no. If she's still in there... uh oh."

-

Uh oh, indeed.

The Player moved cautiously through ruined corridors of the school, every step echoing off the cracked and peeling walls. They turned a corner into what looked like an old classroom, the faded remnants of colorful posters and children’s drawings hanging limply from the walls. As they ventured through the school, collecting notes that solved the mystery that happened to this establishment, the PA system crackled to life. A high, lilting voice filled the corridor, sweet yet off-kilter, like a pre-recorded message gone wrong.

"This is Miss Delight speaking, please excuse the interruption! Students, remain in your seats until the bell has rung, and no going in the halls without a hall pass!" The Player’s skin prickled as the message faded out. They pressed on, tension coiling in their gut. Later, as they crawled under a desk in another room, they caught a glimpse of her—a flash of frilly pastel fabric and jerky, uneven movement. Miss Delight walked across the hallway just ahead, her head twitching unnaturally, one glassy eye swiveling in its cracked porcelain face. The Player held their breath until she passed. As they were still reeling from the sight, Miss Delight’s voice boomed again over the PA system. "Wait, I recognize you… Yes! I remember! You used to work here! How are you… alive? Hm? Barb? Oh… Barb says you're looking for your co-workers. CatNap wouldn't like that you're here! You should leave, for your own safety."

Ignoring the warning, the Player pushed forward through the abandoned school. Eventually, they reached a door leading to a dark, forbidding area. The PA crackled again, the sweetness in Miss Delight’s tone giving way to something darker. "Not a good listener, are you? You're a lot like the other humans in that way. I wonder if your screams will sound like theirs too! I look forward to finding out."

Determined, the Player powered on the generator, hoping to illuminate their path. But the light was short-lived. With a loud crash, the door burst open, and Miss Delight strode into the room. In one swift motion, she lashed out with Barb—her twisted, jagged weapon—smashing the generator and sending its battery flying across the room. The lights flickered, then died, plunging the halls into darkness once again.

The Player races through the dim corridors, their breath coming in ragged gasps as Miss Delight’s sinister laughter rings out behind them. Every time they risk a glance back, they see her frozen in place — a weeping angel-like figure locked mid-step, her face twisted into an eerie smile. But each time they look away, even for a second, she draws closer. The sound of her footsteps echoes impossibly loud in the empty space, and the Player can almost feel her breath against their neck. Panic rises with every turn, every flickering shadow playing tricks on their eyes as they search frantically for more batteries to restore power and unlock the closed gates and doors.

At one point, the Player whips their head back, heart slamming in their chest — and Miss Delight is right there. Too close. Her twisted face inches from theirs, her hand outstretched, ready to grab — and then she stops. Dead still. The Player lets out a breath of relief that they managed to catch her before they caught them and slowly backs away, unaware that Miss Delight's gaze wasn't looking at them but instead on what was ahead of them. It was the gaze that was stopping her from getting too close to them, from killing them.

As they near the exit in the maintenance area, the desperation in Miss Delight becomes palpable. Her movements grow more erratic, more forceful, as if the thought of losing her prey is too much to bear. They sprint for the final gate, hands fumbling with the controls as the sound of her approach grows louder and faster. Finally, they spot a lever and yank it down with all their strength. The heavy door begins to close with a grinding screech — but Miss Delight is not done yet. With a burst of speed, she drops her frozen façade and charges forward, her porcelain face contorting with a mix of rage and desperation. The Player watches in slow motion as she reaches out, fingers just inches from their face — and then the door slams shut with a sickening crunch. The laughter stops. The halls fall silent, save for the faint echo of metal settling into place. And when the Player dares to look back, all that remains of Miss Delight is the twisted ruin of her head beneath the heavy door — her wide, delighted grin forever frozen in place.

"Whew..." finally, they can take a breather.

-

Ballade moved with calculated precision, her every step taken in the dark corners of the school, her presence barely more than a whisper in the air. She watched as Miss Delight, once a beacon of warmth, now stood twisted and savage, her eyes burning with hunger, no longer the kind and gentle teacher that had once graced these halls. It was a sickening sight, the aftermath of years of suffering, the price paid for survival. Ballade could feel the weight of regret heavy on her chest. If only she had been able to reach her sooner, perhaps things wouldn't have spiraled so far.

Ballade’s eyes tracked the employee, her focus shifting between them and Miss Delight. She couldn’t let the deranged teacher get too close. With careful timing, Ballade would step out just enough to catch Miss Delight’s attention, drawing her gaze away from the employee. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to stop Miss Delight in her tracks. Ballade would retreat the moment the employee turned their attention back towards the woman, ensuring the cycle continued. She had to make sure Miss Delight didn’t get close enough to the employee. She still wasn't sure what their goal was but Poppy needed them alive to achieve something, and she was very curious as to what it could possibly be.

When they reached the hallway leading to the exit in the maintenance area, the employee suddenly turned and fled, desperate to escape both the school and Miss Delight. Ballade watched helplessly as Miss Delight reached out for them, her fingers stretching toward their target. But as she drew near, the employee slammed the door down, crushing Miss Delight beneath its weight. Ballade approached the lifeless form slowly, a deep sadness in her eyes as she stared down at what had become of her.

"Oh, Miss Delight," she whispered softly, kneeling beside her. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. I wish it didn't have to come to this." Her hand gently caressed what was left of Miss Delight’s face, a tender gesture in the face of such brutality. As much as it pained her, maybe this was for the best. After a few moments of quiet reflection, Ballade rose to her feet. With a grunt of effort, she reached for the underside of the shutter and, using sheer brute force, ripped it open. She stepped out into the cavernous depths, her eyes narrowing as she set her sights on the employee once again. They were heading toward the Playhouse, the den of those ruined creatures. How could she not follow them now? The stakes had never been higher.

-

It was seriously one horror after the other.

After completing some puzzles within the caverns and quietly passing by CatNap worshipping an amalgamation of dead toys, the Player approaches a heavy, rusted door with a faded sign above it, signifying they're next destination was the Playhouse. The air grows colder as they step inside, the dim light flickering ominously. The walls are cracked and stained, and the distant sound of skittering echoes through the darkness.

Continuing into the Playhouse proper, The Player navigates a maze of shadowy rooms and claustrophobic tunnels. They're startled at the sight of the Ruined Critters lurking around, grotesque and twisted versions of their former selves, appearing suddenly from holes in the walls and nipping at their heels. Their chittering grows louder and more frantic as more of them join the pursuit. To keep them away and light their way, the Player uses their newly acquired orange hand — a weapon-like tool gained after surviving the School and defeating Miss Delight — to shoot flares that burst with brief, brilliant light, sending the Critters scurrying back.

Their progress is halted by a massive door requiring two pressure pads with the Playtime Co. logo to be activated. So much work to do, they thought. They enter a network of tunnels, solving the puzzles to locate two heavy boxes and drag them onto the pads, shooting at the ruined critters that came out of their little hidey holes before continuing with the task at hand. They perk up at the sound of shifting mechanisms rumbling through the walls as the door slowly creaks open. Beyond the door lies a vast chamber dominated by a towering central spire. A platform connected to a long beam juts out from the structure, they scurry onto the platform, pressing a button that has the platform moving rather slowly. As it aligns with various doorways, they curiously explores each one, eventually entering a cavernous pool room with stagnant water reflecting the dim light. At the back of the room are two foreboding yellow doors.

They shudder to themself as they enter the room and find a rusting cell block. They could only guess who the residents of the cells belonged to, counting eight altogether as they walked down the dimly lit hall. They're careful to mind their step when they spot a hole in the ground barely covered by the wooden boards that could collapse under their weight, if only they could just find the exi-

"You..." they jump in surprise at the sudden voice, their heart leaping into their throat. They whip their head around and their eyes widen at the sight of DogDay... or rather, what was left of him. A once-joyful toy now reduced to a ragged and broken figure hanging on the wall by his arms, his once-bright colors faded and his blood seeping through gaping tears in his fabric. "...You're Poppy's angel, come to save us."

"S-Save you...?" they whisper, their voice trembling as they take an uneasy step closer. Their eyes rake over his horrific form, a hand flying to their mouth in shock. His bisected torso, blood-stained and grotesque, was only held together by a leather belt cinched tight, barely keeping what little remained of his innards from spilling out. Despite his broken state, DogDay gave a weak, humorless chuckle.

"Nothing left to save... not here..." he rasped, his voice strained and fragile. "You're in CatNap's home, angel. Their home." He lifted a trembling arm, gesturing toward their bleak surroundings. The subtle sound of scampering echoed through the Playhouse—the Ruined Critters, always watching. Always waiting.

"A million pairs of eyes are on you now. Watching, waiting... hungry," he continued, his words a haunting whisper. "That... thing... CatNap. The Prototype is his god, and this..." his voice cracked as he gestured toward his broken body, "this is what he does to heretics." The distant sounds of the critters grew louder, their scratching filling the heavy silence.

"These little toys follow CatNap to avoid that very fate—and in return, they are fed." His breath hitched, his eyes glassy and distant. "We tried to fight it... to fight the Prototype's control." He swallowed hard, his voice barely above a whisper now. "I'm... the last of the Smiling Critters." the state he was left made them think of Ballade, how she was left to collect dust and to be forgotten by those who remembered her. CatNap must have had a deeper connection with these two to have kept them around, even with the conditions he gave them. "Listen to me, you need to get out of this place. You need to live." their eyes widened.

"You want me to... leave you here?" they whispered softly, their eyes darting around when they heard footsteps. "At least let me take you with me." he only shook his head.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I'll... only slow you down." they bit their lip.

"There must be something I can do." they mutter but DogDay shook his head.

"You and Poppy can fix this, end this madness, the torment, the—" The Player let out a startled shout when a hand suddenly appeared against the cell bars. They stumbled back, quickly raising the flare gun, only to freeze in shock at the sight of Ballade. She paid them no mind, her wide eyes fixed on DogDay with an overwhelming sense of sadness and horror.

"Oh, puppy..." she whispered, her voice trembling as her hand reached toward him. "What has he done to you...?" The empty void of DogDay's eyes seemed to spark to life at the sound of her voice—at the sight of her after so many years.

"B-Ballade? Is that really you? I'm not hallucinating, am I?" His voice cracked with disbelief. She shook her head, stepping into the cell and collapsing to her knees. Her hands cupped his ragged cheeks, her thumbs brushing over his battered face with heartbreaking gentleness. He leaned into her touch, starved for comfort after years of isolation and agony.

"This isn't a dream, right?" he whispered, his voice fragile.

"No, puppy," she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. "I'm really here. I'm here, my sweet baby." She pulled him into a tender embrace, cradling him as his broken frame shook with quiet sobs. Her hands rubbed soothing circles over his back, desperate to offer whatever solace she could.

"How long was I gone?" she asked, her voice muffled against his shoulder.

"...Four years," he whispered, his voice breaking. DogDay let out a soft grunt as her arms tightened around him. When he finally pulled back, his gaze locked onto hers—and the pain reflected in her glassy eyes was almost too much to bear.

"When you disappeared," he continued, his voice quivering, "it was the worst time of our lives. We didn’t know what he did to you, where you were... we couldn't even confirm if he’d taken you to the Prototype or not. We were so scared. What happened that day?" Tears welled in his eyes as he searched her face for answers.

"I'll explain later," she said quickly, shaking her head. "Right now, we need to get the hell out of here." Her eyes flicked up to the belts strapping him to the wall. "Hold on, puppy—I’m getting you down." her grief now replaced with anger, she grasped tightly at the belts and tore him free from his confines and when he fell into her arms, his own arms wrapped around her and they shared another tender embrace.

"U-Um, I hate to interrupt..." the Player's voice broke the moment, hesitant and uneasy. Both Ballade and DogDay turned toward them. "But I think we've got company." Ballade's face darkened instantly. She felt DogDay's arms tighten around her, his broken body trembling as the sound of the ruined critters echoed around them—scratching, skittering, getting closer.

"N-No, not again... please, not again," he whimpered, his voice cracking with fear. Ballade's eyes hardened.

"You! Come here!" She moved with sudden urgency, grabbing the Player before they could react. Spinning them around, she carefully pressed DogDay against the back of their GrabPack. With quick, practiced motions, she snatched up several of the discarded belts littering the ground and began strapping DogDay securely to their back.

"Alright, can you move well enough with him on your back?" she asked, tightening the last belt. The Player staggered slightly, adjusting to the unexpected weight.

"I-I think so—"

"No time! Get moving!" Ballade shoved them forward just as the first of the ruined critters began pouring out of the holes in the walls, their twisted forms scrambling toward them. DogDay watched as Ballade backed away, rolling her neck, her whole posture shifting into a predatory readiness. Despite his fear, a weak chuckle escaped him when he saw that familiar, dangerous glint in her eye.

"Is she going to be okay?" the Player asked breathlessly as they ran. DogDay let out a weary, fond laugh.

"Oh, she’ll be fine. Trust me." The Player plunged into the twisting tunnels of the Playhouse, their pulse pounding in their ears. DogDay’s weakened voice guided them through the maze-like corridors while the distant sounds of Ballade’s fight faded behind them. But the ruined critters weren’t far off. Their skittering grew louder, closer, and soon they were spilling from the walls, giving chase.

"Faster! Please—faster!" DogDay pleaded, his panic rising as the swarm closed in. Ahead, the path ended at a steep drop. Without hesitation, the Player launched themselves forward, using their Purple Hand to swing across the gap. The roller door slammed shut behind them with a metallic crash, cutting off the horrid screeches just in time. Shaken but alive, the Player stumbled into an elevator, their breath ragged. As the lift carried them upward to the top of the slide and out of the nightmare of the Playhouse, the reality of their narrow escape began to sink in. But there was no time to rest. Not yet.

"Finally... we're out!" the Player shouts aloud before pressing their hands to their face. "That was literal hell," they murmur against their palms. They feel a pat and see that it was DogDay.

"Are you alright, Angel? I'm sorry you had to lug my dead weight around while you were running." DogDay’s voice is soft, filled with guilt. They give a weak laugh in response.

"Nah, you're probably the nicest face I've seen that hasn't backstabbed me or actively tried to kill me. It's nice to have someone like that around after what's happened in the past few hours." DogDay gives his own weak laugh.

"I'll say. But thank you, Angel. You didn't have to do what you did." They shake their head.

"That toy scares me. I think she would have snapped my neck if I refused to do as she said." DogDay makes a face at their words, though they don’t see it. You're not wrong. "Anyways, are you sure she'll be okay? I feel bad for just leaving her there by herself."

"That's the thing, Angel. She prefers to be alone when dealing with the ruined critters — it allows her to fully let loose."

"Let loose?" they echo, confused.

"Yes. She was a toy designed to handle the bigger toys the human employees couldn’t — like Huggy and Mommy. The little ones? Though they outnumber her, they won’t even be able to leave so much as a scratch on her." As if on cue, the doors to the Playhouse are suddenly kicked off their hinges and a few dead critters fly out. Ballade steps out, crushing the neck of a ruined Crafty in her hands before kicking a ruined Bobby so hard it splatters blood all over the pavement.

"Better think twice before coming at me again, twerps!" she shouts, tossing the dead toy aside without a second thought. Her eyes scan the area, lighting up when she spots DogDay. "Puppy! You're okay!" DogDay cheers as Ballade scoops him up and starts twirling him around. It’s only when she starts planting kisses on his head that she notices the extra weight.

"I don't suppose you could put me down, could you?" the Player grunts from where they dangle off DogDay’s back. She sweatdrops.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that, Angel." Her tone carries a teasing lilt as she uses the nickname. Holding DogDay in her arms, she nuzzles her cheek against his head, cooing sweet nothings to comfort him. "Thank you, Angel. Not only for returning my key to me and turning me back on but for also protecting DogDay from those ruined toys." They rub the back of their head.

"It was nothing — I’m just glad you were there to hold them back." Ballade chuckles softly.

"Well, I've been following you ever since you stepped foot in the school. How else do you think you survived?" They blink in surprise.

"Wait — what?"

"I kept Miss Delight back each time you turned your back on her," she explains with a grin. "She got real close a couple of times, but I stopped her before she could kill you." She tilts her head, eyes gleaming. "You're welcome, by the way."

"Thanks," they mutter, still processing everything.

"Why are you trying to turn on all the backup generators by the way? What has Poppy got you doing?" Ballade asked, following the Player toward the Generator Room. She adjusted her hold on DogDay as she crouched down to squeeze through the tiny door. "I don't suppose you're trying to get the full 'Playcare' experience, are you?" The Player let out a weak, playful laugh.

"No, she wants me to redirect the red smoke — send it in the opposite direction from where it was in the beginning." Both Ballade and DogDay froze at the words, exchanging a look of confusion and concern.

"Why would she want you to do that, Angel?" DogDay asked, his voice uncertain. "Did she tell you why?" The Player shook their head.

"Not really." DogDay watched Ballade closely, noting the way her expression hardened in thought. They must have been in Gas Production Zone, inside were three massive tubes that controlled the red smoke’s direction. Ballade hadn’t seen it in years, not since everything fell apart — but even after all this time, she remembered the right tube was where the red smoke had always been contained. If Poppy wanted to redirect it to the left tube… that meant the smoke was headed toward the prison and the lab.

"Don't tell me..." Ballade murmured to herself, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What is it, Ballade?" DogDay asked, his face filled with concern. She glanced at him but shook her head, brushing it off.

"It's nothing," she said, though the tension in her voice told a different story. "I'm probably overthinking it." The Player kept moving ahead, taking the key from the tube and heading toward the Counselor's Office. Ballade and DogDay trailed close behind, their footsteps soft but ever-present. After a moment, Ballade noticed the Player sweating a little.

"Is something the matter, Angel?" she asked, a hint of teasing in her tone. "Nervous?" The Player hesitated before glancing back.

"Are you... planning on following me?" Ballade blinked at the question.

"It's not like we've got anything better to do. Why? Don’t want the extra muscle? I can keep CatNap back, if he’s got the gall to show his face." DogDay winced slightly when he saw Ballade clench her fist tightly. She probably wouldn’t mind getting a shot at CatNap if the opportunity arose.

"We can help you get the backup generator up and running," DogDay added quickly, trying to ease the tension. "We know this place like the back of our hands. And like Ballade said, she’s your extra muscle. I might not be as strong, but I can be an extra pair of eyes." Both of them looked at the Player with genuine gratitude. "Allow us to pay you back for setting us free," DogDay said softly. The Player hesitated, then nodded.

"Well... having you two around will definitely make this task safer and quicker."

"That’s the spirit!" Ballade grinned, ruffling their hair in a warm, familiar gesture—an old habit from the days when she looked after children and the few employees she liked. "Let’s get a move on. That generator won’t run itself." With a gentle push, she urged the Player forward, following close behind. Since Ballade’s body was larger than the doorframes, she had to crouch to avoid knocking her head, letting DogDay take the lead. The three of them made their way down the corridor until they reached two locked doors. To their left stretched a hallway filled with red smoke, while the path ahead led to the reception area, which required a battery to unlock.

Well, at least they knew where they needed to go.

*THUD*

"Ow." The Player and DogDay turned to see Ballade rubbing her head after hitting a light fixture when she tried to stand up. "I forget these buildings were only meant to accommodate the human employees, not us toys." DogDay laughed softly, patting her head in an attempt to comfort her.

"We never really were allowed in here." Despite the tension, the Player couldn’t help but chuckle. It was nice to have some company around. After a quick search, they found the battery hidden in an air duct and swiftly placed it into its slot. The door swung open with a mechanical hiss, inviting them inside. As they entered, Ballade and DogDay wandered toward an old vending machine, their curiosity piqued.

"You think the drinks in here are still good?" DogDay mused.

"Only one way to find out," Ballade replied, cracking her knuckles as she prepared to strike the machine. But before she could, an all-too-familiar alarm blared through the room, making both toys jump. Their heads whipped toward the TV screen, where the Player had just inserted a VHS tape labeled 8/8/95.

The room fell silent, save for the low hum of the monitor as the tape began to play. The Player didn’t seem to notice how Ballade reached for DogDay and gently covered his ears. He hadn’t been conscious that day, but the ringing had gone off the entire time — a sound that never stopped until everything was over. When the tape finally ended, the Player turned toward the two toys, noticing their unusual quiet. Their suspicion grew when they found the duo locked in a silent embrace, Ballade’s hand softly rubbing DogDay’s head in a soothing, apologetic gesture. The weight of whatever memory the tape had stirred hung heavy in the air, unspoken but undeniable.

"It's over, puppy. I'm sorry that it happened, I'm sorry."

"Are you two... alright?" she looked back at them and gave a weak smile.

"Just... old memories resurfacing, but we'll be alright." The Player was kind enough to wait for them to collect themselves before proceeding. Walking down the halls of debris and dead bodies was a familiar sight, but it still hurt seeing the few bloodied toys that littered the ground. The Player found the room they needed to enter filled with red smoke — not a problem thanks to the gas mask they’d acquired in Home Sweet Home. The real problem was the locked door — their eyes widened when Ballade kicked it off its hinges with a single powerful strike. "Ladies first," she said with a smirk.

"Thank you." It beat having to take the long way around. The Player slipped on their gas mask and stepped into the room, but they quickly noticed the two toys lagging behind.

"Go on ahead," Ballade called. "We’ll wait here. I can follow you, but DogDay can’t. The red smoke doesn’t affect me, but I also don’t want to leave DogDay alone while CatNap is still roaming around." DogDay whined softly.

"Sorry for being a burden." The Player shook their head.

"You guys being here keeps me at ease." They offered a reassuring wave before heading off to restore power and unlock the next door. With that, Ballade found a corner where she could keep an eye on both the room the Player had entered and their only exit. She knelt down and patted her lap, inviting DogDay to lay his head down and rest. As she gently stroked his head, the soft but fragile sound of her music box began to play, filling the tense silence with a bittersweet lullaby. After a few moments, DogDay broke the quiet.

"Can you tell me now?"

"Hmm?" Ballade glanced down at him.

"The day you didn’t come back with the others... Can you tell me what happened?" Ballade’s hand stilled. She took a deep, steadying breath, closing her eyes for a long moment. When she finally exhaled, the weight of old pain settled into her features.

"...To me," she whispered, "it really feels like it was only just yesterday."

-

"Is... is that all you got?" Ballade panted, hunched over her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. If she could sweat, she'd be drenched — the endless waves of ruined critters sent her way had pushed her to the brink. Her chest rose and fell in ragged motions, and though she fought valiantly, the sheer number of enemies was starting to take its toll.

She had cornered herself without realizing it. There was no clear path of escape, no way to break free from the swarm. The little toys couldn’t harm her directly — they had no claws or teeth sharp enough to leave so much as a scratch — but their numbers were proving to be their greatest weapon. Their relentless assault, throwing themselves onto her to weigh her down, was working. The growing piles of broken bodies made movement harder with every second, and the sheer mass of them threatened to bury her alive. Ballade gritted her teeth, shoving one off her shoulder and stomping down on another’s head, but her limbs felt heavier with each passing moment. She was strong — built for battle — but even she had limits. And the enemy knew it.

“You always were a strong fighter, [F/N].” Lifting her head, Ballade let out a weak, bitter laugh. Bloodied, battered, and surrounded by the broken bodies of ruined toys, she still managed to glare defiantly at the figure stepping from the shadows.

“Of course… it just had to be you…” she spat, eyes narrowing as CatNap approached with that same calm, calculated air she remembered all too well. “Was this your idea? Wearing me down? Other than the Doctor, you’re the only one who knows that endless hours of fighting will tire me out.” CatNap shrugged, his eyes watching her closely.

“There was no way I could beat you in a fair fight. Wearing you down was the best and safest option.” She scoffed, her breath ragged. The cynical laughter of a ruined Hoppy rang out from the shadows behind her, and with a violent stomp, she silenced it, grinding its remains into the floor.

“Safe for you?” He tilted his head, his tone almost gentle.

“For you.” Her face twisted in confusion. She took a step toward him—and then the exhaustion crashed over her like a wave. Her limbs felt like lead, and the subtle ticking of her wind-up key behind her back began to slow. Each click echoed louder in her ears.

“You… you planned this,” she rasped, trying to force her legs to move. But the ache in her joints grew unbearable as they started to lock into place. He nodded slowly.

“I knew you wouldn’t let me or the critters get too close to your hideout. And I knew you’d sacrifice yourself to let the others escape. That’s because I know you. You’d rather get hurt yourself than see others suffer—trying to make things right after what you did…” Her vision blurred, the room spinning around her. She stumbled, her knees buckling as she collapsed onto the lifeless bodies scattered beneath her. The coldness of them pressed against her, an eerie reminder of what would soon become of her.

“You’d rather… my body shut down… than fight me…”

“It’s better this way,” he said softly. “Better than the Prototype or the Doctor stepping in.” Her key turned slower. The sound of it was fading. “If you change your mind now… maybe I can convince the Prototype to forgive you.” Her head snapped up, eyes narrowing despite the weakness overtaking her.

“…Huh?”

“The Prototype is merciful to us toys,” CatNap continued, his voice soothing, persuasive. “I’m sure, with time, he’ll forgive you for turning your back on him. He only wants what’s best for us. So please, [F/N]—” He extended a paw toward her, his expression almost pleading “—won’t you join my side again?” For a long moment, she just stared up at him. Her breath came in shallow, uneven gasps. The room around her felt distant and cold. With the last bit of strength she had left, she raised her arm—and smacked his paw away.

“I made a mistake… trusting you years ago…” her voice was weak, but her words were laced with venom. “I’m not gonna… make that mistake… again…”

And her body stilled, locked in place and waiting for her key to be turned again. Ballade lay there amidst the lifeless bodies of the ruined toys, her form slumped and motionless. The soft ticking that had once been the quiet rhythm of her life had finally gone silent. CatNap stood over her, his shadow falling across her still frame. His paw flexed slowly, claws extending and retracting as he stared down at her. This was his moment — the perfect opportunity. One strike, and the most dangerous and capable toy within the factory would be gone. The Prototype’s paranoia would be eased, their fear of Ballade’s rebellion finally put to rest. He raised his paw, ready to deliver the final blow… but he hesitated.

The seconds stretched out, and his arm trembled. His mind replayed flashes of the past — moments of laughter, of camaraderie, of whispered conversations in the dark when they’d both been afraid. He remembered the warmth in her voice when she’d encouraged him, the fierce loyalty she had always shown, even when the world around them turned to madness. But then came the guilt. The lies. He had manipulated her trust, twisted the truth to push her toward the Prototype’s cause. And deep down, he knew — if she had known the reality, the full extent of the Prototype’s plans — she never would have sided with them.

CatNap’s arm fell to his side, his face twisting in frustration and something dangerously close to regret. He couldn’t do it. Whether it was loyalty, guilt, or the echo of their old friendship… he just couldn’t strike her down.Instead, he grabs her wind-up key and yanks it out, the sharp, metallic sound echoing through the hollow chamber. Ballade's body slumped further, completely lifeless now, her glassy eyes staring into nothingness. CatNap stood there for a long moment, his paw still clutching the key as his chest rose and fell with shaky breaths. With a strangled sigh, he let his arm fall to his side. The fight drained out of him as his claws retracted, and without another word, he reached down and grabbed her by the nape of her neck. The weight of her dormant form was nothing as he dragged her through the winding corridors of the factory, up to Playcare, and into Home Sweet Home — the place where she would remain, motionless and silent, for four long years.

And yet, he never left her side. Day after day, he watched over her stage like a silent sentinel, his eyes ever-vigilant for the ruined critters that occasionally dared to draw near. He chased them off with swift brutality, his protectiveness never waning. Sometimes, when the loneliness grew too heavy, he would climb into the stage and curl up beside her lifeless body, just as they used to do when things were… better. Back then, she would talk for hours, filling the silence with stories of her day or soft lullabies that soothed his restless spirit. Now, the only sound was the distant hum of the factory and the occasional soft, ragged breaths he took as he lay beside her, longing for the warmth of her voice once more.

-

"I'm not completely... unconscious when my key stops turning," she began, her hands gently caressing DogDay's head. "I'm somewhat aware of what's going on around me, just not fully. To me, it was like I was trapped in a dream and no time had passed at all inside my head — like I just went to sleep and woke up the next day. The same, however, can't be said for my body." Her voice softened as she lifted her arm, the quiet creak of her joints filling the air. She was one of the toys that had been looked after the most. A rare, one-of-a-kind creation that couldn’t simply be remade. As the Doctor often said, she was a masterpiece — fully conscious, capable of speech, and above all, obedient. That was why she had weekly maintenance to ensure she would malfunction.

DogDay nuzzled closer, his voice quiet. "I... I had no idea."

"No one did," Ballade murmured, a distant look crossing her face. "Not even CatNap. I kept that one to myself."

“It must've been so hard for you." DogDay’s voice was soft, filled with a gentle kind of empathy. Ballade shrugged, her movements stiff.

"Eh, maybe I deserved it. I did side with the Prototype, after all. I had it coming." She tried to sound flippant, but her voice cracked just a little. DogDay pursed his lips before slowly reaching out and taking her hand. His grip was warm, steadying. He squeezed it, and when she looked down at their joined hands, something in her hardened expression softened.

"...You did what you thought was right," he said quietly. Her face twitched. She wanted to pull away, but the warmth of his hand kept her still.

"I locked you and the other critters in your cells," she whispered, her voice heavy with guilt. "I knew the Hour of Joy was coming years before it even happened, but I did nothing to stop it. I—I killed humans and toys alike and thought what I was doing was right… but I was wrong. So wrong." DogDay’s eyes filled with a sadness she hadn’t seen in a long time.

"But you did it out of love," he murmured. "What you did… it may not have been the right choice, but you thought there was no other way to save us. You fought for us in the only way you knew how." He paused, his voice growing softer, more fragile. "You may not be able to forgive yourself… but I forgave you a long time ago." Ballade’s breath hitched, and though she was incapable of crying, the way her lips trembled made it clear how deeply his words cut through her. She shook her head slowly, the weight of her guilt pressing down on her.

"How… how could you forgive me?" she asked, her voice breaking. "I helped ruin everything." He looked down at their hands, his fingers tightening around hers as he searched for the right words.

"...You could have left a long time ago," he began softly, his voice heavy with emotion. "You're capable of doing so—but you didn't. You stayed here to help us. You stayed to make things right… even when you didn’t have to." He paused, his breath catching, then slowly pulled himself up, wrapping his arms around her neck. He nestled into the side of her neck, his voice a warm whisper. "So how could I not forgive you?" She believed she choked out a sob as her hands slowly rose, trembling, to press against his back. She held him close, her grip tightening like she was afraid to let go.

"Y-You always did have a heart of gold, puppy," she whispered softly then they both sat in a comfortable silence, waiting patiently for the Player to return while remaining vigilant- who knows what could be lurking in the shadows. A couple minutes past and Ballade hears the whir of electricity, seems they finally managed to restore power to the back up generator. "I'm going to check on Angel, will you be fine here if I leave you?" he salutes her, she snickered softly when she could see an imaginary tail wagging.

"Affirmative." she pats his head.

"Okay, but I'll be quick." She set him down gently where she had been sitting, giving him a reassuring pat before rushing off to find the Player. She moved through the thick red smoke with ease and entered the maintenance room, her eyes scanned the area, but the Player was nowhere to be seen. She hummed softly then scaled the wall leading to the room with the generator but then she saw the shutter doors closed, her brows furrowed in confusion. Without hesitation, she grabbed the edges and tore them open with a loud screech of metal. But the room was empty. Her eyes swept the space carefully until they caught the glint of an open vent, the cover hastily removed and set aside. They must have trapped themselves in the room and neither she nor DogDay could hear them, if they called out for help, so they took an alternative route. But where did they-

"Ballade!" The desperate cry of DogDay rang out, sharp and panicked. Her head snapped toward the sound, and without a moment’s hesitation, she leapt down from where she stood, landing in a low crouch with a soft thud. She broke into a sprint, her heart pounding against her chest as she raced back to where she’d left him. The Player would have to wait — DogDay's safety came first. She couldn’t let anything happen to him. She wouldn’t. As she neared the end of the corridor, she felt a brief wave of relief when she saw him — still in one piece, still there. But the feeling vanished in an instant when she noticed the wide-eyed panic on his face. He was pointing down the opposite hallway, his whole body trembling.

"CatNap!" he gasped. "I saw CatNap!"

"Where?" DogDay couldn’t help but shudder at the venom laced in her voice.

"Down the hall from where we came from!" he cried. Ballade scooped him up and sprinted down the corridor, specifically to the door they ignored. She barreled toward the door leading to the room filled with red smoke, her hands slamming against the doorframe as she skidded to a stop. Her eyes widened in horror when she spotted CatNap through the glass, his claws raking viciously at the Player.

"Angel!" DogDay’s desperate shout echoed through the hall. The sound made CatNap’s head snap toward them, his eyes locking on the sight of Ballade and DogDay. His expression shifted from menace to fear.

"Get away from them, CatNap!" Ballade’s voice was a furious snarl. She struck the door with enough force to make it shudder in its frame. CatNap didn’t take his chances. He stumbled backward and quickly scrambled into the vent, disappearing from sight. The second he was gone, DogDay leapt from Ballade’s arms just as she kicked the door open, red smoke billowing out into the hallway. Her eyes flicked upward toward the vent, but she forced herself to focus on more immediate concerns. "Oh no," she whispered harshly when her gaze fell on the Player’s still form. They lay unconscious on the ground, their gas mask shredded and useless.

"Are they okay?" she let out a breath as she quickly picked them up.

"Maybe a few scratches, but CatNap broke their mask. They inhaled some of the red smoke." DogDay pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Oh no." she nods as she carried them out of the room.

“My words exactly.” Ballade let out a long sigh, the weight of the situation settling heavily on her shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.”

She knelt down, offering DogDay an easy path onto her back. Once he climbed on, she stood and carried them both out of the building, not venturing far — just enough to escape the oppressive red smoke. Outside, she settled on the worn concrete steps, the cool air a stark contrast to the suffocating heat of the facility. Carefully, she removed the GrabPack from the Player’s back and adjusted their position so their head rested gently in her lap. As their face twisted with the torment of the hallucinations the red smoke induced, Ballade’s fingers instinctively moved to their forehead, brushing soothing circles in an effort to ease their pain.

“Will they be okay?” DogDay’s voice was soft and worried as he slid off her back and settled beside her. He leaned into her side, seeking the comfort she always provided.

“Hopefully,” Ballade murmured, her eyes never leaving the Player’s pale, strained face. “It might be a while before they wake up. I feel like this is the first bit of rest they’ve gotten since getting stuck here… even if they’re suffering through whatever haunts their mind.” She huffed softly, the sound heavy with a mix of frustration and concern, her hand never stilling as it moved in gentle strokes through the Player’s hair.

"Shouldn't we... hurry?" DogDay asked softly, his voice tinged with concern. Ballade shrugged, her eyes still scanning their surroundings.

"What's the rush? CatNap's not gonna do anything rash now that he knows we're out and protecting the employee, and Poppy can eat it. She ain't gonna rush me—I just woke up." DogDay couldn't help but chuckle at her choice of words.

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right." Ballade’s tone softened just a bit. "Let's enjoy this last bit of freedom before we have to go back to the prison." He peeked up at her, his brows knitting together.

"How do you know we're going to the prison?"

"Where else is there to go?" she said with a sigh. "I’ve got an idea of what little Miss Poppy is planning, but I highly doubt she's gonna let them go now that she's trapped them this deep. If we don't keep a close eye on them, she's gonna wear them down." Her voice grew quieter, more serious. "And that's the last thing we need." She wrapped an arm around him, her hand rubbing up and down his arm in slow, comforting strokes. DogDay leaned into her warmth, his tension easing little by little. But even as she comforted him, Ballade’s eyes never stopped moving, watching every corner, every fleeting shadow. She was waiting, daring that cat to show his face again. If CatNap came near them—near DogDay, near the employee—she wouldn’t let him get close.

"Nngh..." the two look down and saw the Player stirring softly, their hand weakly lifting from their side to press against their head. Their hand rubbed over their eyes then dragged down their face and when they finally came to they were startled to see Ballade looming over them.

“Well good morning, sleeping beauty~” Ballade teased, laughing when the Player practically launched off her lap. DogDay peeked over her shoulder and couldn’t help but giggle himself when the Player scrambled to their feet, eyes wide in confusion.

“W-What happened?” they asked, brushing themselves off. Ballade pursed her lips, drawing lazy circles in the air with her finger.

“CatNap attacked you, and you inhaled some of that nasty red smoke. We saved you just before he could do any real damage, but… sorry we didn’t get to you sooner.” The Player let out a long breath, rubbing the back of their neck as they settled down next to Ballade again. “Did you enjoy your nap?” she teased.

“Other than the hallucinations? Yeah. Great nap,” they deadpanned, making her snicker. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“We noticed how exhausted you were,” DogDay answered before Ballade could. “She thought you could use the rest… even if you were suffering through a couple of hallucinations.” Ballade sweat-dropped at his bluntness.

“Never know when you’re gonna get to sleep again.”

“Yeah, especially when I’m already stuck in a nightmare,” the Player muttered.

“You could say that again,” Ballade agreed softly. The three of them fell into a comfortable silence until the Player surprised them both by leaning their head against Ballade’s arm. She blinked in surprise but let them stay—what’s a few more minutes of peace? “…I almost miss it,” Ballade murmured so quietly they almost didn’t hear her. The Player and DogDay both glanced up at her.

“What do you miss?” the Player asked. She laughed softly, a little wistful.

“The work. The best thing about being assigned to Playcare was watching the kids… making sure the Smiling Critters didn’t get into too much mischief—which they often did. But still… most of the time, I was just lazing about, listening to their laughter.” She smiled, the memory clearly warm despite the weight of everything that had happened.

“We gave you a lot of trouble back in the day,” DogDay said with a small grin.

“Oh, you did. But you? You were the peacemaker,” she said, giving his head a soft pat. “Kickin and Hoppy were the ones that had me running around like crazy, but they never got far.” Her smile faded as a heavier thought crossed her mind. “I miss it. The good days… I really do.” The Player swallowed thickly when they noticed her hand clenching into a tight fist. The tension only eased when DogDay placed his paw on her other hand, grounding her. She was surprised when the employee gently placed their hand over hers. Looking down, she saw the pained expression on their face.

"I don't understand what you've been through, not one bit," they admitted, their voice soft but steady. "But I do know one thing... you didn’t deserve what happened to you." They turned her hand over, rubbing their thumb over her knuckles in a comforting gesture. "None of you did. You were just… you were just children." Her eyes widened.

"You..."

"After finding those VHS tapes and notes on my way down here, I could put two and two together." They shook their head, a mixture of sorrow and determination in their gaze. "You could have had a life, but you were robbed of your childhood. I can't give that back to you, but the least I can do is help take down the Prototype—the thing that brought all of this crashing down." Ballade and DogDay stared at the Player for a moment before bursting into laughter. Ballade placed a hand on her chest to steady herself, while DogDay pressed a paw to his mouth, trying to stifle his giggles.

"You're funny, Angel," DogDay managed to say between muffled chuckles.

"We appreciate the sentiment," Ballade said, amusement still lacing her tone, "but if you really want to take down the Prototype, you're going to have to do a lot of work. He’s been scheming since the early nineties... I think. I’m close." She inhaled deeply before rising to her feet, easily hoisting DogDay onto her shoulder. She then looked down at the Player, offering her hand. "Well, if you’re serious about this, then let’s get to it." The Player met her gaze before letting out a soft laugh, placing their hand in hers.

"Let’s." She helps them up, and the three of them take the power cord connected to the Counselor's Office and bring it back to the generator room. When connecting it, they realize they're just a tiny bit short due to Poppy restoring power to the skylights. Ballade leaves DogDay with the Player and quickly rushes off to grab the power cord from that terminal. She's back in record time, and with that last power cord, they've produced a giant blue battery. She offers to carry it, but they reassure her that it's no problem, picking it up with the GrabPack and carrying it to the Gas Production Zone.

"Do you think..." DogDay's voice breaks the silence as he shifts slightly on her shoulder, lagging behind a bit as the employee walks ahead. "Do you think we'll actually be able to beat the Prototype? We've been trying to get the upper hand for years, but we haven't even come close." Ballade stares at him for a moment before shrugging.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll all die in the end. Maybe that's better. But they've come so far... maybe they really will kill the Prototype and finally end our suffering." She feels DogDay’s small arms wrap around her.

"I hope they do." She pats his arm gently. "I'm just so tired of needing to survive, I just wanna live again." She nods, her voice soft.

"Me too, puppy. Me too." As they finally approach the Gas Production Zone, the Player has already entered the room, making their way toward the blue battery slot. Just as they reach it, the doors suddenly slam shut. "Wha—what's going on?!" Ballade shouts, rushing forward. She grimaces as she peers through the glass, only to see the shutters closing as well.

"Angel! Angel, are you okay?!" DogDay yells, his voice edged with panic.

"It's CatNap!" Their eyes widen as the Player’s voice crackles through. "He's filled the room with the red smoke! I—I've got to go!" She can hear CatNap's heavy footsteps stomping after the Player before they vanish completely.

"No... no, no, no!" Ballade dropped DogDay to the ground and tore the door open, flinging it aside before forcing her hands beneath the shutter doors and ripping them apart. A thick wave of red smoke billowed out, forcing DogDay to cover his mouth as Ballade rushed inside, searching desperately for both the Player and CatNap. She cursed under her breath. The room was empty. The lift to the escape room had already been activated, the blue battery abandoned on the floor. "They got away, but CatNap went after them...!"

"Then follow after them!" Ballade hesitated, catching the way DogDay’s gaze flickered toward the red smoke, fear flickering in his eyes.

"What about you?" DogDay clenched his fists before looking up at her.

"Take me with you... I'll—I'll be fine." She swallowed thickly.

"Are you sure?" He nodded.

"Yes. I don’t want to wait this time."

Ballade sighed but nodded nonetheless, scooping him up before stepping back into the smoke. She felt him shake his head, trying to fight off the hallucinations as she quickened her pace toward the elevator. As they waited for the lift to descend, she kept a comforting hand on his back. Finally, when it arrived, she jumped in, hitting the next button to take them up. If memory served her right, the room CatNap had taken the Player to was a panic room. She vaguely remembered Stella mentioning it in passing—back when things were normal. It was never meant to be used, but when everything went to hell, that’s where most of the human employees fled. And she had personally dealt with them.

-

Fending off CatNap in the Safe Room was a waking nightmare.

The moment they entered, Poppy’s voice crackled through unseen speakers, her instructions flashing on the terminal. Defend yourself. Activate the traps. Survive. The Player wasted no time. They grabbed a battery and slammed it into one of the defense stations, watching as a steam wall roared to life, sealing off one corridor. They activated a green hand port, but the moment it triggered another steam wall, the first one flickered off. A mistake. They cursed under their breath and tore the battery out, resetting it before CatNap could take advantage of the gap.

With the final battery in hand, they sprinted to the top-left receiver, locking it in place. A timer appeared on the terminal. The countdown had begun. Then came the footsteps.

They paced between the two open corridors, Flare Hand at the ready, breath hitching as shadows loomed at the ends of the hall. CatNap. Or was it? The red smoke thickened around them, warping their vision, making the walls feel closer, suffocating. Illusions. They raised their arm and fired a flare down the corridor—the ember burst, cutting through the haze. Nothing. A hallucination. The terminal alarm blared—new battery required. The Player bolted to the next receiver, shoving in another battery just as the trapdoor above them creaked open. Their stomach dropped. A low, guttural growl rumbled from above. He was using the ceiling now. They barely had time to react before the hatch shifted, a clawed hand reaching down. Their heartbeat pounded in their ears as they lunged, slamming the trapdoor shut just before CatNap could drop in.

His claws scraped against the metal, the sound making their skin crawl. Every second, his footsteps echoed from all directions. The illusions flickered in and out of existence, growing closer, the glowing white eyes multiplying in the shadows. They couldn’t tell what was real anymore. Somewhere beyond the suffocating red haze, Ballade and DogDay’s voices rang out. Their stomach twisted—was it really them? Or just the smoke playing tricks on them? There was no time to figure it out. CatNap was relentless, his attacks coming faster. The Player barely managed to stop him, blasting steam at him, whipping around to fire off flares, and slamming the trapdoor shut again and again. Their lungs burned, their arms ached, but they couldn’t afford to slow down. Every time they turned, those soulless white eyes were closer.

The terminal outlet flashed brighter than before. The Player’s eyes snapped to it. This was it. Without thinking, they shot out their Green Hand, feeling the electricity surge through their arm as the circuit overloaded. CatNap crashed through the trapdoor just as they turned. With gritted teeth, they raised their hand, aimed at the monstrous cat, and fired. A surge of pure electricity shot forward, slamming into CatNap’s chest. His body convulsed, a twisted, piercing screech ripping from his throat. Smoke poured from his body, his glowing eyes wide in shock as the energy coursed through him, crackling through fur and metal alike. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air as he collapsed.

CatNap, against all odds, was still alive. His body trembled as he struggled to push himself up, smoke curling from his scorched fur. His ragged breaths filled the tense silence, his limbs barely able to support him. Then, the trapdoor above groaned open. The Player flinched as a long, mechanical claw descended from the darkness—a skeletal hand of slender silver pins, its joints clicking unnervingly as it extended downward. The Prototype.

The metallic fingers twisted with eerie precision before stopping, hovering inches from CatNap’s face, waiting. His breath hitched as his pupils shrank to pinpricks. Then, with a slow, reverent movement, he pushed himself onto his knees, head tilting slightly as if gazing upon something holy. He remembered the first time that hand had reached for him—the day it saved him, the day he learned what true power was. His lips curled into something between a grimace and a grin as he presented himself openly to the Prototype. He was here to save him. Just like before. Just like always. What more could he ask for—

"No!" A voice cut through the tension a second before Ballade slammed into CatNap, knocking him away. They hit the floor hard, but she didn’t hesitate, scrambling over him as she fixed her wild eyes on the Prototype. She and DogDay had finally reached the panic room, just in time to see CatNap kneeling before the monster that had destroyed them all. The Prototype’s fingers had been poised like a spear, seconds away from driving straight through his skull.

Ballade didn’t know why she had moved. She was still so angry. Angry at him for lying to her, for manipulating her into following the Prototype, for trapping her inside her own body for four long years. But as she gripped his tattered fur, her breath shaking, something inside her twisted painfully. No matter how much she hated him, there was still a part of her that remembered the boy he used to be. The one she had cared for. The one she had lost. Ballade grappled with CatNap, the two rolling across the ground in a violent struggle. She managed to slip behind him, locking her arms around his neck in a tight chokehold. He clawed desperately at her arms, but after enduring a surge of electricity and severe burns, his strength was fading fast. He was no match for her.

"You are not going to die!" she shouted, tightening her grip as he thrashed. "I won't let him take you, Theo!" CatNap's breath came in ragged gasps.

"No! My god... he wouldn't abandon me! After everything I did for him, he wouldn't just..." His voice faltered, and his wide, panicked eyes darted upward. DogDay appeared beside them, his arms wrapping around both Ballade and CatNap, reinforcing the hold. His voice was soft, yet firm.

"He abandoned us a long time ago, old friend." CatNap's gaze snapped back to the trapdoor above. The Prototype, his supposed savior, was already withdrawing, disappearing back into the darkness. There was no hesitation, no second thought—just cold indifference. The realization struck like a blade to the gut. The god he had worshipped, the entity he had given everything for, had never truly cared for him. A furious growl rumbled from his throat, and he twisted violently, trying to break free.

"Let go! Let me go!"

"No, not this time!" Ballade barked, her grip unwavering. "I ran from you once, blaming you for what I had done. But it was my fault for abandoning you with that thing when you were just as manipulated as the rest of us. And I am so sorry, Theo!" His struggles weakened, his body trembling. His voice came out in a whisper, fragile and broken.

"N-No... he- he didn't..." But the truth was right in front of him. The Prototype was gone, and all that remained were the people who still cared for him, even after everything.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry for blaming you. You only did what you thought was right, and I believed in you. We both did. We put our faith in something we thought would save us, something that promised us salvation—but all it did was take everything away. And I let it happen. I turned my back on you when you needed me the most." Her voice trembled, thick with regret. "I can't take back the things I said. I can't undo the pain I've caused, the choices I made, the years we lost... but I swear, Theo—I swear—I want to make it right." even after everything that happened, even after they put each other through, she just couldn't bring herself to hate the young boy whom she loved with all her heart.

"I-I'm..." she peeked her head over his shoulder and let out a breath when she saw tears streak down his burnt face, she loosened her grip when she felt the fight drain out of him and he instead hunched forward and start crying. "I'm sorry for what I've done...!" she hummed softly as she moved her arms to wrap around his body and embrace him, her head leaning against his cheek and nuzzling it softly to comfort him.

"I know, I know..." Ballade left CatNap to DogDay, who was clinging to the toy and repeatedly apologizing for the state he had reduced him to. She turned toward the Player, who had been watching. "Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down to avoid overwhelming them.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good." They let out a sigh of relief and reached forward to gently pat her head.

"I'm sorry we weren't there to stop him in time. I feel awful for leaving you alone." Ballade shook her head, waving her hand to dismiss the concern.

"It's fine, really. I'm just glad you were here in the end." They smiled softly and withdrew their hand. Ballade helped them to their feet and then glanced back at CatNap and DogDay.

"I think this is where we leave you," she said, causing the Player to look up at her in shock.

"What?" She chuckled at their reaction.

"Don't worry. You're just going to have to go on without us for now, but we'll catch up. I’m going to have CatNap find DogDay's legs—he definitely left them somewhere. I also need to grab a couple of things. If you're going deeper into the factory, there are some things I need before we can follow." Ballade patted their shoulder. "But I must warn you... what you went through up here is nothing compared to what's below. If you're not careful... you might not make it out." The Player swallowed thickly.

"Right... I’ll take that warning to heart."

Monster

word count: 6395

Fandom: Stranger Things  Pairing: Chrissy Cunningham x Male!Monster!Reader  Pronouns: He/Him  Relationship: Familial Occupation: Protector Ability: Cursed Spirit

The character is a monster that has attached itself to its victim, posing as a sort of imaginary friend that only the victim can see. In the eyes of the victim, they have the appearance of an average man with a gentle expression and looks overall normal. To everyone else that they willingly let themself be visible to, they are nothing more than a ghost like wraith. They have the ability to let out a shriek like that of the wailing spirit banshee, and morph themself into a monstrous state.

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name  [L/N]: Last Name  [N/N]: Nickname  [H/C]: Hair Color  [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: vulgar language, violence, mention of drugs

got this idea after reading this story by @skinnywalker​ of their chrissy cunningham x male!reader, go check their story out cause I liked it.

there is going to be a part two.

that is all.

“Chrissy, what did I say about watching what you eat?”

“T-That it messes with my performances.”

“No, if you’re not careful you’ll end up fat and ugly. Nobody likes a fat girl, Chrissy.” she felt her lip tremble, hands fisting her sweat shirt around her stomach as her eyes start to water “I hope you remember that next time before helping yourself to seconds.

“Yes, mother.” glancing up at her mother, she noticed a jagged hand on her mother’s shoulder as a monstrous figured loomed above her. Its eyes were pitch black with a sort of liquid bleeding out from it, pale purple skin with its jaw snapped open and ready to bite her mothers head off. Chrissy lets out a sigh with a shake of her head, this motion caused the monster to momentarily freeze then retreat back to wherever it came from “May I go to my room, mother?”

“You may.” she turns on her heel and quickly rushes to her room, closing her door behind her and throwing herself onto her bed. She cries into her pillow at the endless cruel words that continue to fly out of her mothers mouth, berating her for not being skinny enough for her cheerleading career, not being beautiful enough in her eyes. What was the point of beauty if she had to go through all this pain to meet those shitty beauty standards?! She sniffles to herself, pushing herself up, hugging her knees close to her chest as her blanket was draped around her. She felt the room get darker and that same jagged hand from before came out from under her bed, reaching for her and grabbing her by the ankle.

“Chrissy…” the voice moaned out, hoarse and deep that would make the average person tremble in fear, but she didn’t. The mere presence of this monster under her bed made her feel safe, she smiled softly as she reached down to caress the hand.

“Hello, [M/N].” said man pulled himself out from under her bed to reveal not a monster, but a kind looking man with short/long [H/C] hair and soft [E/C] eyes, he smiled up at her from where he was sitting then opened his arms up for her. She didn’t hesitate to move from where she was situated, throwing the blanket off of her to embrace the monster posed as a man. He hummed softly, gently rubbing circles into her back as she cried into his shoulder, though that insatiable rage for his Chrissy’s mother started to take over his mind.

’How could that foul woman talk to her own daughter like that? Why can’t she see the way she’s talking to her hurts her? Why can’t she see the damage she’s done to her daughter? Why can’t I just kill her? My Chrissy would be better off if that bitch would just die.’ sometimes he would find it difficult to control his thoughts, sometimes he would act impulsively and not realise what he’s done until it’s too late.

[M/N]. He was a monster that attached itself to Chrissy at an early age of her life, when she was nothing more than a mere child. At first, she was food that he would feed off of but was startled when she started looking forward to seeing him. She was a weird one. He had the appearance of a revolting monster that would make even adults cry, but this child laughed and cheered whenever she saw him. The first time he did see her cry was not because of him, but because of those despicable words her mother would fill her head with. Saying she wasn’t good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough. That moment he wanted to kill that woman, kill the bitch that caused his favourite human to develop an eating disorder and resort to liking him, a monster that wanted to eat her. But Chrissy pleaded with him, begged him not to hurt her mother because of her? That girl was too kind for his liking, she was kind enough to give him a name.

[M/N], her imaginary monster.

”Chrissy…” he moaned out again, she pulled away with a sniffle, laughing weakly when he reached forward to wipe away the tears she missed. He pulled back again and she watched as he dropped numerous snacks in front of him, he then pointed at her mouth and did biting motions with his own mouth ”Eat.” he didn’t like the smile she forced onto her lips, it looked bitter and sad, not the one he used to see.

“Thank you, [M/N], you’re always so sweet to me.” he watches her silently, eating the food that he stole for her to fill her empty stomach. He was fully capable of swiping things here and there, sometimes even pulling small tricks and pranks that would make her laugh. One time, when she and her family were getting ready to eat, he pulled her mothers chair out so she fell to the ground. Another time was when he swapped the sugar for salt so her mother was in for a salty surprise when she drank her morning coffee, he did all that just to see his Chrissy smile.

”Performance tomorrow…?” her head perked up at the question, lighting up in remembrance about the pep rally tomorrow for Hawkins basketball team, she nods enthusiastically.

“Yes, yes! My girls and I have been practicing vigorously, I believe you’ll enjoy it very much.” he smiles, reaching forward to pat her head.

”Anything you do… I like.” she smiled.

“I know.” she looks at the time and takes his hand from a top of her head, pulling it down while caressing his knuckles with her thumbs “It’s gotten late, [M/N]. I think I should go to sleep.” he slowly nods his head, reaching to pat her head once more then pulling away, allowing her to lay her head onto her pillow whilst he grabbed the end of her blanket and pulled it up to tuck her in.

”Sweet dreams…” he waves her goodbye and retreated back under her bed but she knew he was still there, he was always around until she fell asleep. When she did fall asleep, his monstrous figure loomed over her body once more, his jagged fingers reaching forward to gently caress her face while removing a few loose strands of her hair off of her face. He then peeks over towards her door, his figure drops into the shadows and shoots out to where Chrissy’s mother was sitting in the living room watching T.V.  It was so easy. He could kill this woman and make Chrissy’s life a little easier. What stood in his way was the love Chrissy had for her mother, she would hate him if he were to take her mother from her. But he just couldn’t understand the young girl. This woman was no mother to treat her daughter the way she does, and what about the rest of her family? Have they done anything to stop her from doing it? No, they didn’t. All Chrissy had was him, he was the only one by her side that would do anything for her. He would die for her. He would kill for her. He would destroy the goddamn world if he needed to. All he wanted was for Chrissy to be happy, her happiness was his everything, and he was going to be damned if he’d let anyone take that from her.

[time skip: the next day]

”Wonderful…” [M/N] murmured softly with a tired smile on his face, standing at the very back of the gym as he watched Chrissy’s performance, clapping his hands while swaying side to side. His smile brightened when he saw her look through the crowd in search for him, her own smile growing bigger when she finally did find him, he then gives her a thumbs up ”You’re doing… great.” [M/N] always reminded Chrissy of one of those parents that always came to their child’s performances, being that person that cheered the loudest, and though no one else can hear or see it, she really appreciated it.

“How was it, [M/N]?” she asked him, taking a seat on the floor after they finished the routine. She glanced to her side when she felt his fingers roll onto her shoulders then pulled himself out from behind her, his head hovering a few inches away from her face “Did you like the performance?” he nods his head, leaning his head onto hers.

”Very flashy…” she only giggled at that, soon Hawkins’ basketball team came running into the gym and the crowd went wild once more.

“Good morning, Hawkins high!” Jason Carver, the captain of the basketball team and unfortunately Chrissy’s boyfriend, greets into the microphone with a big grin in his face “First off, I’d like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn’t be here. Give yourselves a big hand.” [M/N] had to admit, this guy had quite the charisma to get the crowd in an uproar like he does “And of course, of course I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad. Chrissy… Chrissy, I love you babe.” this caused the crowd to aw at the confession while she in turn blushed, blowing a kiss to Jason. She then had to keep a straight face when [M/N] glanced at her then turned away, making gagging noises while pointing into his mouth.

“Stop it…” she whispered, though it was funny. [M/N] could give less of a shit about the rest of his speech, spouting out some bullshit from what happened the year prior and how they haven’t won a game in the past twenty two years or something along the lines of that, he wasn’t listening. Whenever Chrissy is at school, [M/N] makes sure not to interfere and lets her go on with her day unless she calls for him. Those times are rare but they’ve been becoming more frequent ever since she’s been seeing that woman, um, Ms Kelly or some shit, he can’t remember. As of recently, he had been noticing how Chrissy was suffering through nightmares, one’s terrible then from before, causing her to have trouble sleeping and her headaches how been getting worse. He was always there to help her through it, cooing soft words of encouragement into her ear or being that shoulder she needed to lean on. 

This was one of those times she needed him, she was getting spewing her breakfast and most likely lunch into the toilet. He was holding her beautiful hair back while rubbing circles into her back in a comforting manner, he made sure the door was locked so no one would disturb her but the door to the bathroom opened and a small red haired girl entered. He briefly left Chrissy’s side to see what that girl was doing, phasing through the bathroom stall door to take a peek at what that girl was doing. His presence was unknown to her as she took her bag off to grab a small container of pills, he furrowed his brows when he recognised them as pills that Chrissy takes to help lessen the pain of her headaches, they both then glance back when Chrissy starts coughing.

“Hey, you alright?” she called.

“Yeah—yes, I’m… I’m fine.” the girl glanced back towards the bathroom door then at the stall Chrissy was in before approaching.

“Okay, um… you’re sure?”  “Please just go away.” this was enough to get the girl to leave, Chrissy lets out a groan when she heard [M/N] let out a sigh from outside the stall. She chose to ignore him for the time being and reached over to flush her vomit down, she then groans when she heard pounding on the door “Are you deaf? I said go away.” [M/N] raised a brow in confusion, looking over at the stall where he heard Chrissy speak, but who on earth was she talking to?

”Chrissy…?” he called out, reaching forward to phase through the door but his hand flinched back. He looked around in confusion when he felt a presence but he just couldn’t see it, his head then immediately whipped back towards the door when he heard Chrissy scream. He didn’t hesitate to phase through the door and there he found Chrissy pressing her back to the wall in the very corner of the stall, eyes squeezed shut as she covered her ears.

“No! Go away! Go away! Go away!” she shakes her head, repeating the phrase over and over, pleading for whatever was causing her these hallucinations to just disappear. She let out a scream when something grabbed her, shouting her name while shaking her back and forward.

”Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy!” she gasped, eyes snapping open when she recognised the voice. In front of her now was [M/N] looking distressed and concerned, she looked around and saw that the lights above her were no longer flickering and the pounding on the stall door had ceased.

“[M-M/N]…?” she whimpered out, he lets out a relieved sigh.

”You’re back… I’m glad.” his mouth opened slightly to speak but stopped when she quickly threw herself onto him, she held onto him so tightly she preyed that he didn’t disappear under her hold. He looked down at her in concern then raised his arms to wrap around her, pulling her closer into him then rested the side of his head against hers, rocking back and forward as she sobbed into his shoulder ”I’m here… I'm here, Chrissy.” he glanced around him before tightening his hold around her, a dark aura radiating out of him. Whoever or whatever did this to his Chrissy, it wasn’t anything he’s ever seen. He knew Hawkins was a fucked up place ever since that kid went missing a couple years back, he knew because he was one of those fucked up things, but this was something different.  This isn’t good. [M/N] now made sure not to leave Chrissy side, instead of lurking in the shadows or the depths below, he was now directly over her shoulder watching for anything else that could potentially harm his Chrissy. She felt more at ease knowing that he was there, reaching for her shoulder. The people around could only see her patting her shoulder and squeezing it but she was actually patting his hand and giving it a light squeeze, in return he would soothingly rub her shoulder and continue to tell her that he was right behind her and that he wasn’t going anywhere. [M/N] now found himself and Chrissy on the outskirts of the school, in the middle of the woods where a lone lunch table sat in the opening.  “Hello…?” she called out uneasily, looking around for someone but saw no one. [M/N] glanced at her and saw her look off, he followed her gaze and saw she was staring at a tree, he looked at her once more and saw that her unease grew as she approached the tree.  ”Chrissy…? What are you… looking at?” he questioned but didn’t get an answer as she got closer to the tree, he looked between the two and concluded that she was seeing something entirely differently to him so he quickly floated over to her, grabbing her shoulder and snapping his fingers in front of her face “Chrissy, there’s nothing there…” she snapped out of her daze as she looked up at him in shock.

“B-But, there was a clock…! I swear I saw it.” she starts shaking her head as she backed away, he called out to her to stop but couldn’t when she backed up into the chest of the man she was meeting.

“Whoa, hey, hey, hey.” [M/N] quickly returned to her side, floating behind her as they both stare at the newcomer “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. You okay?” she wordlessly stared up at him then back towards the tree, the man followed her gaze then glanced back at her, he then saw the way she raised her head to her shoulder and squeezed it. The two now sat on the abandoned bench, [M/N] had come to recognise this young man as the Hawkins freak, Eddie Munson. He never paid too much attention to this gentlemen, he never paid attention to anything that wasn’t Chrissy, but he knew that he wasn’t well liked “There’s, uh… there’s nothing to worry about, okay? No one ever comes out here, we’re safe. I promise.” Eddie reassures, taking off his jacket and vest then opening his lunchbox to reveal his stash of weed.

“So,” Chrissy starts, clearly nervous as she couldn’t meet Eddie’s gaze “how does this work exactly?”

“Oh, just like any other old sale, except, uh, cash only, and, uh, for obvious reasons,  or receipts.” she slowly nods her head “I’ll do you half an ounce, for uh, twenty. What do you say? Plenty of bang for your buck. Should last a while.” Chrissy lets out a gasp, whipping her head around when she heard a noise but only saw a squirrel run up a tree. Eddie watches her then soon lets out a sigh, putting the bag of weed back into his lunchbox then closed it “Hey, uh, we don’t need to do this. Just give me the word and I’ll walk away. Okay?” she quickly shakes her head.

“It’s not that. I don’t want you to go.” he raised a brow at that “Its just… do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?”

“Um, you know, just… on a daily basis. I feel like I’m losing my mind right now doing a drug deal with Chrissy Cunningham, the Queen of Hawkins High.” [M/N]’s brow perked up slightly when he saw a subtle smile appear on Chrissy’s face but it went away just as quickly “You know, this isn’t the first time that we’ve, um… hung out. No? You don’t remember?” she shakes her head apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I—” she glanced at [M/N] to see if he remember but he shrugged his shoulders with a shake of his head, Eddie just chuckled.

“That’s okay.” Eddie had a blank look on his face, soon both himself and Chrissy let out a startled noise when Eddie fell back onto the ground while pretending to stand himself. Chrissy immediately stands to her feet to see if he was alright while [M/N] hovered above him, seeing that he was fine he let out a sigh.

”What an… oddball.” he murmured, hearing Eddie laugh as he pulled himself up and onto his feet, [M/N] was going to say another comment but was taken aback when he saw the bright smile on Chrissy’s face as she laughed herself. It was a genuine smile that he hadn’t seen in a long time as she watched Eddie he himself.

“I wouldn’t remember me neither, Chrissy. Honestly, do I have stuff in my hair?” she continued to laugh as he smiled at her, shaking his hair to pull the leaves from out of his hair “You don’t remember me?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Middle school, talent show. You were doing your cheer thing. You know, the… the thing you do.” he tried to explain, waving his hands around to mimic the way she does with her pom-poms “It was pretty cool, actually. And I— I was with my band.” her face then lights up in remembrance.

“Corroded Coffin!” she exclaims, his smile grows as he clapped his hands.

“Corro— you do remember.”

“Oh my god! Yes, of course. With a name like that, how could I forget?” 

“I dunno, you’re a freak.” she chuckled softly, giving [M/N] a sharp look when she heard him growl softly, how dare this frizzy haired bastard call his Chrissy a freak?

“No, you just… you look so—”

“Different? Yeah, well, uh, my hair was buzzed, and I didn’t have these sweet old tatties yet.” she nods softly.

“You played guitar, right?”

“Uh huh. Still do, still do. You should come see us. Uh, we play at the Hideout on Tuesdays. It’s pretty cool. We… we actually get a crowd of about five drunks.” she laughs again, shaking her head softly “It’s not exactly the Garden, but you gotta start somewhere, right? So…” he shuffles over to a tree and starts lightly punching it, [M/N] returns to Chrissy’s side and watched that big smile on her face grow.

“You know, you’re not what I thought you’d be like.” Eddie hums, grabbing a few of his locks and pulling them in front of his face.

“Mean and scary?” she nods.

“Yeah.” he smiles.

“Yeah, well, I actually kinda thought you’d be kinda mean and scary too.” she gasps softly.

“Me?”

“Terrifying. Um, so, in other good news, flattery works with me, so… twenty five percent discount for the half. Fifteen bucks. You’re robbing me blind here, you know.” [M/N] frowned when that beautiful smile that adorned her face dropped as she stared down at her lap, he reaches over to caress her cheek as she fidgeted with her fingers.

“Do you have anything, maybe… stronger?”

[time skip: late at night]

”What a dump…” 

”Stop it.” [M/N] and Chrissy soon found themselves at the trailer park with Eddie to find said something stronger for Chrissy to take, Chrissy steps out of his van and he was kind enough to hold the door open to his trailer for her to enter first before walking in after her. She stood nervously in the middle of his trailer, rubbing her arms with her hands as she looked around, [M/N] doing the same but soon floating around Eddie to watch his movements.

“Sorry for the mess. Uh, the maid took the week off.” he apologised, cleaning up some rubbish that was left lying around then shuffling over to the other side of the room.

“You, um… you live here alone?” he shakes his head.

“With my uncle. But, uh, he works nights at the plant. Bringing the big bucks.” she nods softly.

“How long does it take?”

“Sorry?”

“The Special K. How long to kick in?”

“Oh, uh, well, it depends if you snort it or not. Uh, if you do, then, uh, yeah. It’ll, uh, kick in pretty quick.” he explains with a jar in his hand, he opens it and takes a peek inside but then lets out a sigh “Oh, shit.”

“You’re sure you have it?”

“No, no, I got it. Um, somewhere.” he raises his finger, signalling for her to give him a minute before turning away and scurrying off to his room to find the drug she was needing to relieve herself of her hellish realities. She takes a deep breath, bringing her hands to hold her arms once more then smiled softly with closed eyes when she felt [M/N] behind her, she leaned her back into the warmth of his chest as his arms wrapped around her gently.

“I’m so glad I still have you by my side, [M/N].” she whispered softly “I probably would have lost my mind a long time ago if I didn’t have you.” she felt slightly uncomfortable when he didn’t say anything back, he always had something to say because he loved talking to her even though he couldn’t really say much. She tried to turn around to get a look at him but let out a choked noise when his grip around her tightened, she lets out a gasp as she looked down at his arms that were around her “[M/N], you’re h-hurting me…!”

”I always try so hard to please you. Chrissy.” [M/N] spoke, but it wasn’t in the way he usually spoke. [M/N] spoke with a slow and slurred speech, not being able to finish his sentence properly without pausing, she started to tremble when the presence behind her became more ominous than comforting ”I only want what’s best for you. Chrissy. You know I’ll do anything for you, so I just don’t understand why you don’t want me to get rid of that eyesore that is your mother. That fucking bitch that hurts you. Don’t you trust me? Don’t you love me? Why won’t you just let me do this for you, Chrissy?!” glancing down at the arms that were holding her, she lets out a scream when she saw that they were slimy looking.

“Ah! Le— Let go of me!” she quickly elbows whoever was holding her and they let go of her, this gave her the chance to see who it was and scream when she saw that it wasn’t her [M/N] but some disgusting monster. She shakes her head and runs towards Eddie’s room, she pushes the door opened to try and find him but was instead met with the sound of a sewing machine and her mothers back “Mum?”

“Just loosening this up for you, sweetheart. You’re going to look absolutely beautiful.” her face dropped when her mother turned around, her face was completely grey with only the whites of her eyes visible. She didn’t take any chances as she left the room, closing the door behind her but instead of being in Eddie’s trailer, she somehow found herself back in her house “Chrissy!” she gasped when the door behind her opened but she quickly grabbed the doorknob and pulled it shut.

“No!”

”Chrissy, open the door!” she screamed no as the door slipped from her grip and flew open, she immediately turned tail and ran as far as she could. She hurried downstairs and searched for a way out but then her attention went over to the figure watching T.V, a breath of relief leaving her lips at the familiar figure.

“Dad?” she mumbled out before rushing over “Dad! Dad!” turning around, she screamed at the sight of his mouth and eyes sealed shut with blood seeping out of the wounds. She shakes her head and backs away, she looks around as tears ran down her face, lips trembling in fear “[M/N], please! I need you! Please, [M/N]!”

[outside of chrissy’s mind]

[M/N] was staring at a discarded album of sorts abandoned on the floor when he realised Chrissy had gone a little too quiet for his liking, he pulls back from out of Eddie’s room and peeked over his shoulder to see if Chrissy was alright. He furrowed his brows when he realised that she hadn’t moved from the spot he left her in so he floated over to her, that was when he finally realised something was wrong with her. She was standing uncomfortably still and was twitching now and then, but what scared him was the fact that her eyes rolled into the back of her head and only the whites of her eyes were seen.

”Chrissy…?” he called softly, snapping his fingers in her face in an effort to get her attention but nothing happen so he clapped instead, and yet nothing happened ”Chrissy, what’s wrong…? Chrissy… Chrissy!” he now resorted to grabbing her by the shoulders and violently shaking her back and forward but even that didn’t work, his hands then hovered over her head and there he felt a trace of some sort of power coming from her. His lip trembled, he didn’t delve in mind type attacks on his victims, that took a lot of concentration and focus to pull off, but whoever the fuck was doing it was a powerful one. He needed to wake her up, and he needed to wake her up now. He heard Eddie shuffling around and his face briefly lit up in remembrance of that human man, maybe someone alive could wake her up. He quickly grabbed an empty glass bottle and threw it against the wall, it shattered upon impact but at least he got Eddie’s attention.

“Chrissy? Was that you?” Eddie lets out an awkward laugh, grabbing the drug that he was planning on selling to Chrissy and came walking out of his room “I know I took my time, but I found it. Beautiful bliss, just moments away.” [M/N] watched in anticipation to see if Eddie could do anything, to which the young man waved his hand in Chrissy’s face as he slowly approached the possessed girl “Chrissy…? Hello? Chrissy! Hey, Chrissy, wake up. Hey, hello! Chrissy, hello! Hey, Chrissy!” he then started waving his hand while snapping his fingers in her face to get her to wake up, soon the lights started flickering about, this caused [M/N] to exhale sharply.

”Oh, no…” he then looked back and saw Eddie clapping his hands in front of her before grabbing her shoulders, shaking her back and forward while tapping her shoulders.

“Time to wake up. Hello? Can you hear me? Wake up, Chrissy. Chrissy, wake up! I don’t like this, Chrissy! Wake up!” [M/N] takes a deep breath, slapping his hands against his cheeks and quickly goes back over to Chrissy. Eddie still couldn’t see [M/N] but he could definitely feel him, he felt a shiver run up his spine when something cold passed him but when he looked around to see what it was, there was nothing there, so he shook his head and returned his attention back to the girl in front of him, cupping her cheeks and gently slapping them “Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy, wake up now! Chrissy!” [M/N] grabbed her discarded bag and searched through it, finding a cassette tape inside. This was a song that she had been listening to for a bit, “Moi Je Joue” by Bridgette Bardot, an old French song from the 60s. He nods to himself and quickly rushes to Eddie’s room to throw it into his stereo, to which the young man was too preoccupied with Chrissy to notice but flinched when the disoriented music started playing. He glanced back at his room in confusion, hearing a song that he knew didn’t belong to him, but shook his head in favour of waking Chrissy up. [M/N] returned back to Chrissy and stood behind her, hands cupping her cheeks as he closed his eyes.

’I haven’t done this in the longest time, I had no need to when I had you. But now you need me, so I’ll come in there and rescue you from that nightmare whatever piece of shit pulled you in to.’ and so with a deep breath, he leaned down and pressed his forehead against the top of her head.

[within chrissy’s mind]

“Please…” she whimpered out, a tear running down her cheek as she pressed herself into the boards that sealed her way out of this hellish nightmare. This… thing in front of her, this fucking garbage was the thing that’s been giving her those hallucinations and pushed her beyond her limits. She knew [M/N] wasn’t the prettiest thing to look at it, even in his human form he still looked beyond human, but his presence was something she had long gotten used to. But whatever this monster was in front of her, god, she wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

”Don’t cry, Chrissy…” the voice spoke, she whimpered as she leaned away when it reached forward and wiped away her tears, god she really needed [M/N] right now ”It’s time for your suffering… to end.” she shook her head, pressing herself further into the boards when it raised its hand once more, it outstretched over her face.

“[M/N], please!” she cried out, tears rolling down her face “[M/N]!!” the monster jerked backwards when Chrissy was suddenly pulled backwards and instead he was met with a creature as monstrous as he was, it lets out a grunt when he roared at it as he held Chrissy close to his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her.

”Don’t touch my Chrissy!!” he shouts at the top of his lungs, jaw splitting open as he roared at the bastard to get away from his human. She cried from within his chest, wailing into his chest as she wrapped her arms around the ghostly figure that’s been following her since she was a mere child.

“[M/N]!” she cried out, bringing her hands up to cup his cheeks to make sure he was real before burying her face into his shoulder “You came for me…! You actually came!” she sobbed out, he nodded his head but didn’t take his eyes off the thing in front of him but he did reach down to place his hand on her head, gently rubbing it to soothe her. She whimpered when he removed his hand from atop her head, instead, he glared at the monster in front of him and let out another roar.

”Get away from her!” he pushes Chrissy behind him then flies towards it, wrapping his arms around its torso and sent them both through the house. He had come to recognise this monster as the type of attacker than didn’t deal physical damage but had a strong control over the mind as he witnessed outside of Chrissy’s, so he knew he had to upper-hand. He was just throwing him around like he was some rag doll, holding him by the ankles and slamming his against the ground and walls before throwing him into the kitchen ”You thought you could target my Chrissy, my human that I’ve been haunting for nearly two decades?! I’ll make you fucking regret it!” he charged forward once more but was stuck in place when a force stopped him, he lets out a grunt as he tried to break free but was thrown back by said invisible force.

“[M/N]!” she cried out, she wanted to rush over but quickly backed up when that other monster started approaching her again.

”That guardian of yours won’t stop you from meeting your fate, Chrissy.” she shakes her head.

“No, I want to live.” it reached towards her once more but she kicked it back, just as [M/N] came flying over and tackling the monster in its side and into the wall “[M/N]!” he shakes his head, punching and clawing at the monster underneath him.

”Get out of here, Chrissy! Get out while I have him distracted!” she shakes her head.

“I-I… I don’t know how!”

”This is your mind, Chrissy! Think of your happiest memories to hide, and listen for the music! The music should help you find your way out of this nightmare!” he saw that she was still reluctant to go so he quickly threw the bastard away then rushed over to her, cupping her cheeks and giving her a reassuring smile ”Don’t worry about… a thing. I’ll take care… of this and be right back…” that slur in his speech calmed her down, she weakly nodded her head and that was enough for him to pat her head, kiss her forehead then gently push her along.

“You promise?” she whimpered, he nodded.

“I promise…” her lips trembled as she stared at him before finally turning on her heel and running away, with her finally gone, he took a deep breath and let his true emotions and form show. The monster before him let out an impressed hum, watching as his human disguise melted away and he was met with the abomination that was him ”I am going to enjoying tearing you apart, freak.”

“That’s quite rich coming from you.”

[outside of chrrisy’s mind]

Eddie had stumbled backwards when Chrissy started floating in the air, he didn’t know what the fuck he was watching as the Queen of Hawkins High was floating in the middle of his goddamn living room while some French song played in the background as the lights flickered about like he hadn’t been paying the power bill for months. If he thought talking to Chrissy that morning was crazy, this definitely took the fucking cake and he wished he was on something so this didn’t have to be fucking real. He didn’t know what to do, he wanted to turn tail and run but he just couldn’t leave Chrissy alone, before he could do anything, her eyes rolled back into place and she fell to the ground.

“Chrissy!” he shouts, quickly rushing over to see if she was alright but then jumped when she threw her arms around him, hugging him close and crying into his shoulder.

“Eddie! Oh god, I was so scared!” she cried out, burying herself deeper into his shoulder, fearing that he wasn’t real and that she was still trapped deep inside her mind. Eddie looked down at her before slowly reaching down and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his chest and letting her bawl her eyes out. It took her some time to find her way out but she followed [M/N]’s advice and listened out for the music, faintly hearing “Moi Je Joue” when she was running for her life, but now she was out and away from that thing that was trying to kill her.

“… Chrissy, what the fuck was that?” Eddie muttered out, she let out a shuddered breath.

“Me losing my bloody mind.” now she was worried about [M/N], she left him alone with that thing and she was concerned something happened to him while she was gone but she felt a sudden cold weight on her shoulder, this was enough for her to relax into Eddie’s embrace.