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Chapter Text

Splashing through the frigid Pacific waters flooding into their compact submarine, Eddie and Richie did whatever they could do to stop the immense leak from pouring into what was once their safe world from the dangers of the ocean.

“Deep Blue Sea to Base, come in! Do you read me?” Eddie sounded over the radio once more. “We are quickly taking on water! I repeat we are taking on water at an immense pace!”

“You really think they’re going to answer if you enhance your vocabulary?” Richie teased. It was mainly to lighten the mood. The frigid water searing against his bare skin felt like knives shooting into him. Those survivors from the Titanic weren’t exaggerating.

Eddie sighed, ready to give in. “There’s no answer!”

“We’re flooding like a son of a bitch!” Richie announced stating the obvious. A foot of water already made its home inside the submarine.

“I’ve noticed,” Eddie noted with a sneer. Fortunately for Eddie, he couldn’t feel the freezing climate because of his wetsuit. He was well prepared for everything.

As Richie studied the wall trying to find where the water was coming in, he nervously looked at Eddie who was also in a panic. Oh, he hated worrying him. The doctors had warned Eddie to take it easy right after his life-threatening injury. That was the whole reason why Eddie decided to begin a whole different career choice that Richie never knew about. That was one of the best things about reuniting and getting to be with Eddie. He had so much more to learn.

“I didn’t know those rocks were going to be around the corner!” He apologized to Eddie.

His heart fell into the pit of his stomach. His latest screw up really messed everything up this time. For Eddie. He had everything he’d been searching for. The greatest job opportunity, along with studying with some of the greatest marine biologists and even viewing sights so glorious for one’s eyes.

When Eddie had asked the Losers Club to come and witness a free open look at what his job was like, none of them could refuse, including Richie. Eddie loved his job so much that he wouldn’t be home until later at night, sometimes after Richie was finished with one of his performances. And that was late.

Richie knew he should have just left Eddie alone instead of begging for him to take him along on his next adventure under the sea. He couldn’t help it. That’s what happened when you missed someone you loved. It wasn’t easy almost witnessing someone you love almost die in front of you.

“Neither did I, Rich,” Eddie responded, turning to look at him with this gigantic grin. He wasn’t at all bitter. Although Richie couldn’t tell if he was covering it all up just for his sake. “Nobody has explored these parts yet. We were first!”

For a brief second, Eddie’s glimmering expression distracted Richie. That was also the reason for the accident. They were exploring a new and different world. Together.

Just then, a dozen electrical sparks shot out from the side of the sub, flying dangerously close to Richie. The lights flickered, and went out for good, leaving the lovers in darkness.

Immediately, Eddie picked up a flashlight and shined it on Richie. “Are you okay?” Eddie asked worriedly.

“Yeah, the stupid water must’ve fouled up the wires! I didn’t do anything!”

Eddie sighed and smiled tenderly at his love. “Rich, I don’t care about this fucking submarine. Just tell me how you are so I can breathe, please?”

Richie smiled warmly at the comment. It eased some of his tension. “Yeah. I’m okay. Are you?”

“Fine.”

More and more seawater poured into the submarine with no signs of stopping. Looking out the small ocular window Eddie squinted and caught sight of the rig. They were quite some distance away.

“You think they’d come after us?” Richie asked, his voice sounding unusually distressed.

“That’s what I’m trying to estimate! It’s sixty to seventy yards away. But it’s going to take them a while to find us!” Eddie stared into the back of the sub. The amount of water was increasing at a quicker pace than expected. The best option was to stop the flooding and fast.

“Do you see where it’s coming in from?” Eddie asked Richie, shining the light into the dim room, stepping into the back of the sub with Richie.

“Behind this panel!” Richie grunted trying to remove it. Unfortunately, the panel was glued to the wall and wouldn’t budge. Not only that but Richie was getting soaked from the splashing water. It was tough to see with water sloshing onto his glasses.

“I wonder if we have any tools to help remove it.” Eddie wondered. He shined his light all around and started walking into the wheel room again. Everything on the ground was already underwater. The most random thought came to Eddie’s mind. Were fish looking in on them right now? They were the abnormalities to them.

An immense splash caught Eddie’s attention. Turning around, Richie had fallen back into the water completely soaking himself from head to toe. Luckily, his glasses didn’t fly off. He must have tried too hard to tare the panel off.

“Fuck!” Richie screamed, spitting out seawater. He punched the panel with his fist as if to punish it.

Eddie reached out placing a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Richie, stop! That never works and you know it! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

“‘K!” Richie responded bitterly, flipping his wet hair out of his face. Eddie finally noticed that Richie was shivering all over, and his teeth were even chattering. Not to mention, his hands were turning blue!

Putting the flashlight on a nearby shelf, Eddie took Richie’s hands and immediately rubbed them together creating friction. How could he forget that they were in waters below freezing?

“We need to get you out of here! Why on earth did you wear shorts?” Eddie scolded.

“Crashing into rocks and flooding the sub wasn’t on the list!”

“Then you should have at least accepted a wetsuit!”

“Your marine biologist group only supplied us with one scuba tank! I’m not the only one who should be reprimanded for bein’ unprepared!” Richie did make a point there. As smart as most of these scientists were they were quite aloof.

Eddie’s mind raced in a million different directions trying to come up with a plan. From the looks of it, they didn’t have much time. The sub was now flooded up to their waists and rising. Richie was shivering and shivering, continuing to swear under his breath. His breath was even starting to race. Not a good sign.

Shaking off the cold, Richie grabbed the nearby scuba tank and threw it around Eddie’s back. “You swim back to the rig!” he ordered.

Eddie refused it, lightly pushing it away, and shaking his head. “It’s at least an eight-minute swim each way! If I went then you’d be…” Eddie cut himself off. They both knew the dire consequences of what would happen. Richie’s throat closed up. Eddie had an exact idea of what memory Richie was thinking about. Reluctantly, Richie slowly nodded, accepting the fact.

“We have to figure something out together!” Eddie persuaded.

Richie moved to hook Eddie into his scuba tank. “Let’s get you set first!”

Just then Eddie had an idea. He grabbed at the zipper holding his suit together. “No, you put this on!”

“No, keep it on!” Richie frustratingly implored, zipping Eddie back up. Now Eddie was going to be difficult?

“You’re a better swimmer!”

“And you’re not! You need this more than I do!” Richie argued. Eddie couldn’t argue with that. Swimming was not his forte. Well, it used to be when he was a kid. Deepwater swimming was a challenge for him after the injury. Most simple tasks were. Only part of his spine was hit much relief to the doctors who told him that he could have been paralyzed. Thank God, he didn’t.

Without another struggle (which was impossible in Eddie’s case) Richie finally strapped the scuba tank over Eddie’s back. “We need to think of the most logical option right now and we’re running out of time!” Eddie urged. Their heads were close to touching the ceiling now.

“Eds, every idea p-people have come up with is crazy! There is no-no such thing as logic! F-Fuck logic!” Richie was so cold that he could hardly form words anymore.

“Then what do you propose we do!” Eddie shouted, his temper rising.

Richie shivered. He could hardly even think now. Then he stared darkly at the water, eerily quiet for a second, until meeting Eddie’s eyes. Eddie frowned, fearful of the fear etched in Richie’s blue eyes. In all the years Eddie had known Richie he never witnessed a look like that.

The next thing Eddie knew Richie took his hands, hugging them tightly. “L-Listen, listen, Eds,” Richie urged as gently as he could, trying to speak coherently. “Do you t-trust me?”

Those words. “Yes. Yes, of course, I do, Richie!”

“And I trust you,” Richie admitted earnestly. He then stared into his lover’s enamoring brown eyes and placed his cold hand on Eddie’s cheek. It was enough to make Eddie shiver. But he leaned into it, enjoying the gentle touch. “Y-You remember when you told me that story about h-how some guy was-was pulled out of the water after drowning? He wasn’t even breathing and had no pulse. But, paramedics brought him back to life. Do you r-remember how long that was?”

“Ten minutes,” Eddie responded, utterly confused.

“And it takes eight minutes to swim up to the rig!”

Eddie’s blood ran cold, finally understanding what Richie was getting at. He shook his head furiously. “No… no, no!”

“Yes! Yes, it’s our only option! I drown, you t-tow me back to the rig, and then you can revive me. R-Raise me from the dead!”

As insane as Richie’s plan sounded they were running out of options. Tears fell from Eddie’s eyes. This mission was only to explore ocean life. He wanted to go back to looking at all the fish and different creatures inhabiting the bottom of the ocean. And Richie marveling over the sights made him so happy. He just wanted to come along to see what his job was like. And then Eddie realized how little time he’d spent with his boyfriend lately, all because he loved his job wanting to spend more time researching and watching marine life. They’d only been together for not only two years.

Not only two years…

“Christ, Richie… this is insane…”

“Tell me about it!”

“What if…”

Richie cut Eddie off with a searing kiss easing their tension. Neither resisted the heated love. For all they knew it was possible that it was their last.

In a split second, Richie grabbed Eddie’s helmet floating nearby and threw it over Eddie’s head. “You can do this, Eddie! You can do anything!” Richie encouraged, locking his helmet into place. The water surrounded all around Eddie’s head as he became a part of the water, ducking under the surface.

The last of Richie’s air was a tiny space. The poor man choked, coughing, and sputtering. His hands hit the ceiling, screaming from the frigid pain. Tears spilled down Eddie’s face feeling so helpless as he watched Richie thrashing about, struggling. Due to his soundproof helmet, Eddie could not hear any of Richie’s heart-wrenching screams.

“God, why did I think of this stupid fucking idea?!” Richie screamed, accusing himself of coming up with literally one of the worst ideas ever. Right when he was cut off from air, Richie ducked under the water, already struggling, unprepared to hold his breath.

Water was such a unique world from all the rest. No sound. Just a liquid world surrounding you. With no air. Eddie had a clear visual of Richie’s contoured, scared expression while all Richie could make out was a complete blur. That’s what his vision was like without his glasses. Though he could just make out Eddie’s brown eyes.

Richie reached out, holding Eddie’s arms, practically squeezing the life out of him. Eddie held him back doing whatever he could do to comfort his boyfriend. Words lodged inside his throat, unable to say anything. What could he say?

Richie hugged Eddie feeling himself slowly succumbing to no oxygen. It hurt. How it hurt. This was going to be quite the story to tell. No, he didn’t want Eddie to know about this part. If he lived… God, if he lived he would invent a machine to erase all memories that were nightmares.

Hold me, Eddie. I’m so scared!

Eddie felt Richie’s body convulse right under him until he noticed a string of bubbles.

And then… nothing.

Chapter Text

The team of scientists scrambled in the labs to find a solution, any solution, to free the trapped explorers. The Losers paced around, worried about their friend’s safety. They had been listening to radio transmissions of the dive. The last thing they heard was a panicked Eddie alerting Richie about rocks and then that was it. They lost all communication via radio. There was a crew just getting ready to scuba dive into the depths of the ocean when Beverly noticed something on the screen.
“Guys, come look at this!” She urged the Losers.

On the surveillance camera, a figure was swimming through the water, out from the submarine. They were struggling to hold something up.

Bill’s heart throbbed. “Is that…”

“Deepcore, Deepcore, do you read?” Eddie’s panicked voice sounded over the intercom.

Stealing the radio from one of the scientists, Mike answered his friend’s calls. “We read you, Eddie! We’re here!”

Dr. Brigham, the head of the marine biologists, snatched the radio from Mike, eying him. “What’s going on, Eddie? What’s happening?”

“Go to the infirmity, get the cart, oxygen, the defib kit, uh, oh yes, adrenaline… and-and heating blankets! Lots of heating blankets! Please, do you have all that?”

“Affirmative, Eddie!” Dr. Brigham answered. “We’ll have everything ready!”

“Meet me in the moon pool!” Eddie ordered, breathless. He was trying to remain as calm as he could. His heart was pounding in his chest. Focus, focus on your breathing. It was just five more minutes! Oh please, Richie let this work! Eddie couldn’t bear to glance at Richie’s limp body which was easier than he thought to drag through the abyss. Eddie could only hope that they’d make it in time.

Everyone feverishly scrambled around, even tripping over one another once they arrived at the moon pool. Richie was right. Although very bright these scientists were quite aloof to the most simple tasks.

Finally, Eddie’s blurred shape was made out through the water. Now they noticed Richie’s lifeless body.

Bill and Mike dove into the pool, ignoring the frigid temperature once Eddie surfaced, struggling to hold his boyfriend by himself. Together the Losers helped carry Richie to the hard surface, laying him on the floor. Ignoring any help offered to him, Eddie scrambled to remove his mask and pushed through the crowd, dropping to his knees.

His boyfriend’s glassy eyes stared up at him in an image so nightmarish that Eddie felt his heart stop.

“Give me the defib!” Eddie growled, snatching them from Dr. Brigham.

“You don’t have…”

“Bud, just let him do it!” His wife argued warming up the machine. Then she noticed Eddie preparing to snap the defibs against Richie’s chest. “You know the defibs can only work against flesh. His shirt…”

Taring Richie’s shirt in shreds, Eddie went to work. The thought that Eddie just ruined one of Richie’s favorite shirts crossed his mind, but that wasn't important. He’d make it up to him. Hopefully.

Preparing the machine, Eddie held the defibs over Richie’s chest, waiting.

“Clear!”

Richie’s body jerked from the circulation of the defibs. Nothing.

“Come on, Richie! Fight!” Eddie cried.

“He’s still not breathing.” One of the scientists remarked with little empathy. Eddie eyed him. The man had a problem with everything. Including his relationship with Richie.

“Again!” Eddie ordered.

The machine beeped and Eddie pressed the cold iron against Richie’s flesh a second time. Again, Richie’s body jerked but there was still nothing. His eyes remained like the eyes of a doll. No life. An oxygen mask was placed over Richie’s mouth. Multiple fingers pressed around his neck searching for a pulse.

“Come on, get it ready again!” Eddie screamed, his voice croaking.

“Eddie, calm…”

“Don’t you tell me to calm down! He’s my boyfriend for crying out loud! Start the machine up!”

Eddie’s lack of manners made Beverly shiver, grasping Ben. The Losers remained a close distance to the scene. Little tears fell from Bill’s eyes. Please, no, they couldn’t lose another.

Richie’s body jerked one more time. Nothing.

“It’s not working, the line is flat…” Dr. Brigham’s wife reluctantly announced.

Throwing the defibs to the ground, Eddie immediately got to work pumping his fists against Richie’s chest, performing CPR.

“1-2-3-4-5 BREATHE!” Eddie hoarsely commanded to his fellow scientists. Air was breathed into Richie’s mouth through the oxygen mask.

Eddie kept vigorously pumping, begging for his boyfriend to wake up. Eddie was unaware that the other scientists were glancing at each other in worry and utter sadness. Two hands fell on Eddie’s shoulders while Dr. Brigham reached over to grab Eddie’s arm.

“Eddie…”

“1-2-3-4-5 BREATHE!”

“Eddie!”

“BREATHE!” Edd commanded, flying spit from his mouth.

“Eddie,” came Beverly’s voice, holding his shoulders tightly. “Honey, he’s dead.”

Sniffling, Eddie stared into his love’s lifeless eyes. His face was scarcely pale. And his lips were blue from hypothermia. His image resembled… Jack Dawson from Titanic. And now Eddie was Rose. Alive. Free to live on. Without his love.

“It’s all over,” Dr. Brigham announced removing the oxygen mask. “I’m sor-”

“NOOOOO!” Eddie howled, practically whacking everyone’s comforting hands away. “NO! NO! NO!” Eddie screamed roughly pounding on Richie’s chest again. “Richie, you can do it! This was your plan! Now breathe! You have never backed down from any situation in your life!”

Leaning down, Eddie breathed into Richie’s mouth. Then he went back to the chest compressions as he remembered their first kiss, holding hands while walking through the park, and Richie comforting him, assuring that no matter what, he would always be there for him during the nights he’d wake him from nightmares.

“Again!” Eddie commanded picking up the defibs.

The machine took some time to warm up until it was given the clear. Richie’s body jerked.

“FIGHT!!” Eddie screeched in a hoarse voice, making everyone jump, pressing against the man’s chest. “You’ve encouraged me to keep fighting! Now it’s your turn! Fight! Fight, you asshole, fight!”

Right then, Richie’s body moved, and his throat jerked. Finally, his eyes blinked.

Coughing up the water that flooded his lungs, Richie came back to life, shivering from the cold. The oxygen tank was thrown over his face. Everyone laughed and cried, especially Eddie. The poor thing looked confused as ever, glancing around at each person surrounding him. Richie was looking for Eddie.

There was little time before Richie would close his eyes again, but Eddie grabbed hold of his hand before he passed out. “You did it, Trashmouth!”

Lifting him onto a gurney, The Losers had to hold Eddie back, not allowed to follow Richie to the infirmary. He was hysterical, sobbing, unable to catch his breath. Beverly hugged him, along with Ben. They were all crying and shaking from the scare.

Dr. Brigham put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “Just let him rest for the night. He will be okay.”

-

It was nightfall when Richie stirred hearing a noise. Blankets bundled him to the bone. A cup of warm cocoa sat on the table, steaming. And there was Eddie, smiling in relief at the entranceway of the infirmary.

“Hello, trashmouth,” Eddie greeted tears in the corners of his eyes. “They instructed me to leave you alone for the night, but I couldn’t wait.”

Richie smiled, tiredly. “Get over here, you!”

Immediately Eddie climbed into the bed, snuggling closely next to his love. The bed wasn’t large enough to accommodate the two of them. It didn’t matter much to Eddie and Richie. Being together meant more to them then having lavish comfort.

“How’d you know I needed a warm cuddle?” Richie whispered, smelling Eddie’s glorious scent.

Eddie leaned into Richie’s shoulder. “I always know.”

They were quiet, staring at the dark ceiling.

“So, do I get an A+?”

Eddie chuckled, kissing his cheek. “A-.”

“What? It worked, didn’t it?” Richie complained though he was still smiling.

Noting that Richie was hardly able to keep his eyes open Eddie moved a strand of his hair to the side and cupped his loves smooth face with a warm hand. “How do you feel?”

“Been better. Can you stay and snuggle?” Richie asked him, unable to keep his tired eyes open any longer.

Eddie hugged him tighter. “Anything you want.”

“A message with your warm hands?”

“Sure.”

“A hot shower together?”

Eddie kissed his lips. “Ask me when we get home.”

“No fair! How soon?” Richie complained like a child.

Eddie smiled at him. “Tomorrow.”

“I like that.”

Eddie kissed his nose and lied his head in the crook of Richie’s neck. “Sleep.”

And the lovers drifted off to the sleep, holding one another close.