Chapter Text
Richie was thankful Derry had a very forgiving nature when it came to suspicious behavior. He was able to go directly into three different hotels and ask point-blank the room numbers of guests, and no one asked any questions. He was able to find Will and Mike’s room within the hour he left Eddie’s house and was standing outside of it, hand raised to the door, running through every possible thing to say before even knocking.
He thought he had finally figured it all out when the door swung out from under his hand. Both he and Will jumped at the appearance of the other.
“What are you doing?” Will gasped, clutching his chest. “Jesus, Richie.”
“I was coming to talk to you guys… Hi.” Richie waved awkwardly at Will, like they needed a new introduction. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah. I guess.” Will said, stepping aside. “Mike? Your brother’s here.” The bed sheets began to move and a matted head of hair rolled towards them on the pillows.
“Richie?” He groaned, eyes squinted. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I wanted to talk to you.” Richie said, stepping inside. He shut the door behind him. “I’m ready to listen. To all of it.”
“Are you sure?” Will said, looking at Mike. Mike sat up further in the bed and ran a hand through his hair. It was just as unruly and mad-scientist as Richie’s. It was strange seeing himself in someone else; he was used to staring at his parents and seeing straight, bleached hair.
“Yeah. Family shit aside.” Richie said. “What do you think it-- they-- need me for?” Richie wasn’t even sure who he was talking about. Was it even a who? He watched his own fear of disappearance manifest before his very own eyes; a few weird conversations were going to be nothing.
“A-Are we really the people to explain all of this?” Will said, Mike considering the question and chewing his lip. He groaned, the two of them sharing thoughts without words.
“Maybe we can call everyone in the morning, but I think we know enough.” Mike said. “I don’t want to wake El and ask her about it this late.”
“Is that Eleven?” Richie asked, remembering the name. A number was hard to forget. His brain bounced to the idea that having such a name could be pretty fucking metal, before he yanked himself back to the topic at hand. Focusing was even harder when he didn’t want to do it. “Who the fuck is that?”
“My sister.” Will said, pulling a chair out from the hotel desk and offering it to Richie. As Richie sat, he sat next to Mike on the bed. “Well, step-sister. But she’s not even related to her dad.”
Richie blinked at them. “How the hell does that work?”
“Kind of how you do.” Mike answered, rubbing the back of his neck. “But like, not really.”
“Oh. Adopted.” They weren’t even going to say the word.
“Stolen, actually.” Will said. “She was used for science experiments.”
“Oh shit.” Richie said. “That’s fucked man.” And not what Richie went through. Well, actually it would probably explain a lot--
“She’d probably agree with you.” Will laughed, although he ended with a heavy sigh. “She was basically forced to open the gate to the Upside Down. And then close it again.”
“So she’s… an alien?” Richie was trying to follow, but comic books could only make him so smart. “Or like, what?”
Will and Mike exchanged a look. “Uh, we’ll get back to you.” Mike said. “But, she’s one of the only ones we know that can go between here and the Upside Down.”
“Except for me. But that isn’t a power. That was a fluke, kind of.” Will shrugged.
“Possession. Not a fluke.” Mike corrected.
“Yeah, I guess--”
“I’m sorry. Rewind: possession?” Richie repeated. “Please don’t tell me we’ve got a whole goddamn Exorcist plot line in here too. Dude I fucking hated that movie.” Will sat silent, rolling his lips inward. “Oh fuck.”
“We figured it out though. We fixed it.” Mike insisted. “Will’s fine now.” He placed an arm around the boy and grinned. They leaned their heads together and Richie couldn’t help but want Eddie there with him. He wanted his own comfort, but he also knew bringing him along for this ride wasn’t fair to him. His mom already hated him and Richie together as it was. Going MIA for an undetermined amount of time wasn’t going to help anyone. Maybe Richie should have asked Bill; both their parents would have just shrugged at their children's empty beds.
Richie began to wring his wrists, fingers running over familiar protruding bones and scars. Richie never remembered any of them, but his parents--foster parents-- said he was a trouble child and his entire body was aching proof.
“Will and El are pretty much the only two people who know what it looks like. And then there’s you.” Mike explained. He grabbed Will’s hand and Richie never felt more alone, sitting and having to hold his own.
“And you.” Richie said. “I’ve never seen it before you. I’ve never seen any of that shit before in my entire life.”
“Not once?” Will asked, eyebrows furrowing. “Nothing with lights? Radios? Static?”
“What do I look like? A defective Radio Shack? No. My life has been relatively normal for the most part. Some weird things cropping up, but nothing like that.”
“Why can’t I see it?” Mike sounded deflated, like he was missing out. “That could have saved everyone.”
“Blame Mom and Dad.” Richie scoffed, crossing his legs on the chair. He placed his arms over his legs, still twisting his wrist between his thumb and forefinger. “Why did they do that, anyway?”
“They said you were sick. Taken to a foster family to be taken care of. I don’t remember anything from then, but the stories are all kind of vague. A lot of doctors and stuff. But by then, mom said you had passed.” Mike shrugged. “Or else I would have come looking for you.”
“I don’t remember any goddamn doctors.” Richie said. He remembered eye doctors, ones treating his broken arm when he was younger. He must’ve seen others for all his cuts and bruises, but not a single one stuck in his mind. Any memories was of white rooms, but that could really be anything. He assumed he just had a very boring daycare. “Not one.” He continued to twist his arms.
“I don’t want understand, Richie. I don’t know why they gave you to them if you weren’t sick. I don’t understand.” Mike sighed, shaking his head. His curls flopped around and Richie had to laugh; they were identical to his own. He could think of at least one person who had the same hands as him; he could pretend he was holding his brother since he technically couldn’t without transporting dimensions. “I can’t believe they did that.” He leaned his head on Will’s shoulder, and Will leaned back, but his eyes were focused on Richie’s arms resting on his lap.
“What happened to your arm?” Will asked, pointing at it bluntly. There was a lot to question.
“Uh, I don’t know.” Richie muttered. “They’ve been there so long I thought they were birthmarks as a kid.” Some were new and Richie remembered putting them there, but he was willing to lie. “Void Mom and Dad said I was a fucking tornado. Which I believe.”
“That... That looks like a burn, Richie.” Will said, leaning forward and touching the rough, red skin.
“Okay, Unsolved Mysteries, get back to answering the questions at hand.” Richie yanked his arm away like it burned but the skin had been numb for years. “I’ve had that since I was a kid. Mom said I burned it playing with matches.”
“Your arm? Not your hands.” Mike raised the question with a raised eyebrow. “Sounds like shit to me.” Richie glared and tucked his arm against his chest.
“You know,” Will said to Mike with a chuckle. “It reminds me of El’s new tattoo. Same place too. God, why didn’t we bring her?”
“Because this was a couple’s vacation?” Mike responded. “And I’m done dating your sister.”
“Wait. El has one just like this?” Richie pointed at his burn. First someone with the same face, now the same deformities?
“No. She has a tattoo-- a little butterfly. She won’t tell any of us what the hell it means, but she really loves it.” Mike grinned. “It’s covering her number. Her name.”
“Eleven.” Richie repeated. “It was tattooed on her?”
“There was obviously more than one.” Will said solemnly. “They kept track of each one.”
“What the fuck.” Richie breathed. “And she was made to... what? be a liaison for all this weird shit?”
“Listen, that whole lab is… it’s messed up.” Mike said roughly. “Stole her from her own mother.”
“Huh, know how that feels.” Richie was barely wrapping his head around the idea, but he already had the feeling he’d have a lot in common with that Eleven kid. Although it sounded like she had a better grip on her world than Richie did at the moment; he was too busy twisting his wrists to hold it correctly and with steady hands. Will was still staring. “Dude, would you fucking stop staring like that. You’re the strangers here-- I shouldn’t feel like this is freshman homeroom for fuck’s sake.”
“Sorry.” Will distracted himself by looking at the ceiling. “Sorry.”
“Can I ask a question now?” Richie said, crossing and then recrossing his legs. “What does The Upitty--”
“Upside Down.”
“Yeah. What does it do?” Richie asked. “Like. What does seeing it mean for me? What do I do with this fucking second pair of eyes?” Will and Mike looked at each other with half-finished sentences passing between the two of them. “That’s not comforting.”
“It’s just the opposite of this world. It’s dark and and controlling and vengeful. The fact you can see it from here has got to be a good thing.” Will offered, his eyes still trying to admire the room’s decor rather than that on Richie’s arms.
“A good thing?” Mike echoed, staring at him. “How can you say that? That’s my brother. I wouldn’t wish--” Brother. Already, Richie had been absorbed into Mike’s life, something he considered an extension of himself. He came to his defense. He didn’t even know Richie’s last name.
“It’s okay. I--I don’t mind.” Richie wasn’t sure what he was excusing, but the explosion of feelings seemed imminent on either end of the conversation and he was eager to reserve that for himself. “I can be a mutant with powers, I guess.”
“El will be able to explain things so much easier.” Mike said. “We’ll call her tomorrow. She can tell you her whole story beginning to end-- she can do that now.” He sounded proud. “She picked up curses from Hop so she tells the ‘Papa’ parts very well now.”
Richie grabbed his arms and felt himself become exposed, even under his clothes. His skin felt tight and itchy. “Papa.” The word had been hiding under Richie’s tongue for years, unfurling and flying from between his teeth involuntarily.
“Yeah.” Mike said. “Papa.” He looked at Richie with narrowing eyes. “Richie, you good?”
“Yeah.” Richie couldn’t tell from where that word had uncovered itself. He was on a first name basis only with his foster dad; Wentworth was just so much cooler sounding than Dad. “That just sounds really familiar... Guess I called Wentworth that before, well, Wentworth.”
“You call your dad by his first name?” Will asked.
“Yeah, I never felt like Dad worked, and he never corrected me.”
“Wentworth.” Mike echoed. “Sounds like a mad-scientist.”
“He’s a fucking dentist.” Richie laughed, wondering what his real dad did for a living. Fuck, what if his real dad was worse? “Although, after all the shit you were saying, growing up in a lab doesn’t sound half bad.” After so many doctor’s appointments, Richie kind of felt like he did. The two boys were obviously well-loved boys, blinking at Richie with concern. Richie shifted the conversation quickly, clearing his throat. “I can’t wait to meet El.”
“You’ll love her.” Will smiled, his excitement bubbling as he reached over and touched Richie’s knee. Mike reached over too, but placed his own hand on Will’s, careful of contact with his brother. “God, you’ll have so much in common.”