Chapter Text
On a dark autumn's night, at the edge of Maple Street's suburban cul-de-sac, sat two sprinklers. They spat out their water to refresh the newly mowed lawn of the Wheeler residence. This lawn, amongst other aspects, was a symbol for the perfect nuclear family residing within the two-story home. Below those two stories, within the basement, sat the four members of Hawkins Middle School's Audio Visual Club and players of the current Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
"Something is coming. Something hungry for blood," whispered the president of the AV Club, Mike Wheeler, eyes trailing across his three friends who sat around his square table. "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here."
"What is it?" The soft voice of Will Byers impatiently asked across from Mike.
"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin Henderson raised his brows at his friends. Will sighed out and slumped against his chair in distress. "Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon."
Lucas Sinclair, across from Dustin, widened his eyes and spoke with gestured hands, "It's not the Demogorgon."
Mike smirked at his friends' groans and moans before grabbing a figure from behind his cardboard covering and slamming it upon the board in the middle of the table. "An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!"
"Troglodytes?" Dustin grinned at Lucas, who smugly smiled back at him.
"Told ya." He chuckled.
After the three unsuspecting boys' laughter trailed off, a moment of silence passed before Mike's face dropped in feigned confusion. "Wait a minute. Do you hear that? That... That sound? Boom... boom... Boom!" He banged against the table, causing the boys to jump and gasp. "That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that... That came from something else."
Lucas and Dustin shared a knowing look before Mike slammed another figure onto the board. "The Demogorgon!"
Three sets of groans filled the basement, Dustin smacking his hand against the table. "We're in deep shit."
"Will, your action!"
"I don't know!" The Byers boy exclaimed.
"Fireball him!" Lucas said as if it were obvious.
"I'd have to roll a 13 or higher!"
At this, Dustin widened his eyes. "Too risky. Cast a protection spell."
"Don't be a pussy. Fireball him!"
"Cast Protection."
The argument between Dustin and Lucas ended abruptly upon Mike banging his hands against the table yet again. "The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps toward you. Boom!"
"Fireball him!"
"Another stomp, boom!"
"Cast Protection."
"He roars in anger!"
From above the basement, on the other side of the closed door, a figure leaned against the wall, listening to the clamoring of the boys. Her sock-covered feet excitedly tapped the hardwood floor as a small smile graced her features. At Dustin's chants of 'oh my god', a soft giggle escaped from her throat. From behind her, she heard the approaching footsteps of her mother, Karen Wheeler. The woman moved to her side and opened the basement door, revealing Mike at the bottom of the staircase, seemingly searching for something. "Mike!" She called out.
The Wheeler boy snapped his head up to them, throwing his hands out to the side. "Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!"
"You mean the end? Fifteen after." She tapped her wristwatch before walking back into the kitchen. As she passed her daughter, she gently touched her arm. "It's time to get ready for bed, (Y/N). You have school tomorrow, and you threw up earlier. You need rest."
Mike sighed and charged up the stairs, moving past his sister to get to Karen. Before he could start pestering their mother, the girl caught up to his side. "Hey, Mike, can I be added to your game next time? I was thinking-"
"For the thousandth time, Doc, no. Mom! Just twenty more minutes!" He brushed off his sister and turned to Karen.
"It's a school night, Michael," Karen sighed as she cleaned the remains of dinner. "I just put Holly to bed. You can finish next weekend."
"But that'll ruin the flow!"
"Michael-"
"I'm serious, Mom. The campaign took two weeks to plan. How was I supposed to know it was gonna take ten hours?"
Karen raised her brows in shock. "You've been playing for ten hours?"
Mike hesitated before turning to his father, Ted, who was adjusting the antennas on their television irritably. "Dad, don't you think that twenty more-"
"I think you should listen to your mother." He spoke before banging his hand on the television and quietly cursing. When Mike turned away from him, his sister walked over to the television and quietly whispered to her father.
"Dad. Can you please tell Mike to let me play with them next weekend-"
"Doc! I said no!" Mike yelled at her before storming away towards the garage. With a huff she crossed her arms and turned to her mother.
"Mom!"
"(Y/N), I can't force Mike to include you."
Leaning against the wall glumly, she could hear Will and Lucas stomping up the stairs and wishing the Wheeler couple a goodnight as they headed towards the garage with Mike. Behind her, she felt someone poke her shoulder, causing her to turn around.
It was Dustin, holding a pizza box in his hand. "Hey, Doc! Want this last slice?"
"No, thanks, Dust. I'm not hungry. Thank you, though." She smiled and left the Henderson boy to see her friends out with her brother. Upon her arrival, Will grinned.
"Hi, Doc!"
The girl matched his expression and pranced to his bike, placing her hands on the handlebars from the front. "Hey, Will! How's the game going? I heard you guys screaming."
"It's pretty heated right now, but I think we'll be okay." He nodded, his voice trailing off as Doc absentmindedly brushed her index finger against his. The two, once she had realized, made eye contact and shared a nervous smile before Dustin interrupted.
"There's something wrong with your sister."
"Which one?" Mike smirked, receiving a light slap to the arm from Doc.
"Nancy. She's got a stick up her butt."
Lucas nodded as the three boys mounted their bikes, Doc removing her hands from Will's handlebars. "Yeah. It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington."
Doc furrowed her brows. "Douchebag? I think Steve's pretty nice."
"Well, obviously. There's no chance for him if he isn't nice to the little sister." Dustin pointed out, Doc rolling her eyes. "He's turning her into a real jerk."
"She's always been a real jerk." Mike frowned as the boys turned on their bike lights. Dustin shook his head and began to pedal away.
"Nuh-uh, she used to be cool. Like that time she dressed up as an elf for our Elder tree campaign."
"That I wasn't even invited to." Doc muttered before Mike placed a hand over her mouth to shush her.
"That was four years ago!"
"Just saying!" Dustin called back. Lucas wished the two a goodnight and pedaled away as well.
Will watched as Doc smacked her brother's hand from her mouth before he spoke up. "It was a 7."
Before they could break out into an argument, they both turned to Will. "Huh?"
"The roll, it was a 7. The Demogorgon, it got me," He smiled as he moved his eyes to Doc. "Night, Mike. Night, (Y/N)."
"Night, Will," She smiled and watched him pedal away. "See you tomorrow! Tell your mom and Jonathan I said hi!"
"I will!" He called back.
Once the two were alone in their garage, Doc turned to her brother. "Mike, hear me out. I've been thinking about my D&D character and was thinking I could be a sorceress!"
"We don't need a sorceress," He sighed. "Besides, you don't know anything about D&D!"
"You could teach me!"
Mike threw his hands up in the air. "Why can't you just leave my friends alone?! You don't even do the same things as us. You don't play D&D, you're not in the AV Club, you don't like science, and you don't even bike!"
"I do like science, I ride my bike when the skates aren't practical, and you won't let me join the AV Club! You never let me do anything with you guys. I may not be in your Party, but they're my friends, too!"
"No, they're not! You have Brenda Holloway and Sheriece Jacobi! Those are your friends! Why can't you just do the things you like to do with the people you like to spend it with? Just stick with making clothes with your friends. It's not hard."
And with that, Mike made his way back into the house, leaving Doc with a clenched jaw and crossed arms. The moment he closed the door, the lights above flickered, arising confusion within her. The next second, the hairs at the back of her neck stood to attention and she tensed slightly at the feeling of a looming presence. Turning on her heel, she switched off the lights and trudged inside.
Routinely, Doc took the stairs two at a time before she ended up in front of her older sister's, Nancy's, door. Raising her hand, she softly knocked three times. On the other side of the closed door, Nancy could be heard groaning. "I'm on the phone!"
"It's (Y/N)!" She called back. A moment of silence passed before Nancy opened the door, a small smile on her face.
"Sorry," She sighed and leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Night, sis. Feel better, okay?"
"Okay, Nance. Say hi to Barb for me." Doc whispered before turning away and allowing her feet to carry her to her bedroom. As usual, she left her door open just a crack and changed into her night clothes. Switching off her light, she crawled into bed and turned to her nightstand, where two framed pictures sat.
One was of her, Brenda and Sheriece holding a trophy for winning the school's talent show with their revolutionary dance number. Beside it was her favorite. It was of Mike and his friends standing with her on her most recent birthday. They had just smashed her face into the cake and the five of them were grinning from ear-to-ear. Burying her face into her pillow, Doc heavily sighed. "One day..."
The next morning, Doc was the final Wheeler to join the breakfast table. After setting her pair of roller skates beside the front door, she sat beside her brother, who was currently pouring syrup onto his eggs. "You feeling better today, sis?" Nancy gently asked.
"Oh, yeah. I don't know what yesterday was about. Maybe I ate something bad earlier."
"Yeah, I heard you almost blew chunks all over Nancy's bed last night." Mike chuckled, receiving no response from his sister.
As Doc began to wordlessly eat, Nancy and Mike partook in their routine morning banter. "That's disgusting." Nancy scoffed.
"You're disgusting!" Mike immediately shot back. Doc shook her head and watched as her mother answered the ringing phone, her little sister, Holly, on her hip as she spoke. Her attention cut to her siblings. Mike had just poured syrup onto Nancy eggs.
"What the hell, Mike?!"
"Hey! Language!" Ted scolded.
As the two continued their bickering, Doc only dove into her breakfast further. This was uncharacteristic of her, for she and Mike always tag-teamed on bothering Nancy during breakfast and making her miserable just before school. But now, Mike felt as if he were doing all of the work. He turned to his sister with a frown. "Hey. What's wrong? You're not getting in on this?" He grinned just before Nancy kicked him in the shin, eliciting a hiss from him.
Doc looked up at her brother, acting as if she had just seen him for the first time that morning. "Oh. Oh. So, now you wanna include me in something?"
"Come on, Doc, don't be like that. Look, I'm sorry, okay? You can be in the AV Club," He offered a smile. "You can even make shirts for us."
It took a few seconds, but Doc couldn't help the small smile she cracked. She did like the sound of that. When Karen hung up the phone, she turned to her tween kids. "Will didn't sleep over last night, did he?"
Mike and Doc exchanged a look and shook their heads. "We watched him leave. Why? Can Mrs Byers not find him?" Doc set her fork down. Karen placed Holly in her highchair and shook her head.
"Joyce thinks he might have just left for school early. Just... make sure to check, okay?"
The two slowly nodded. After breakfast, they grabbed their bags and headed to their modes of transportation. As Mike went to retrieve his bike, Doc laced up her roller skates. They were nothing special, just her favorite color with tan laces, gifted to her on Christmas a couple years prior. She wore them with pride all throughout school despite her teachers' threats to take them and keep them in the front office until her mother picked them up. When those days did occur, she always had an emergency pair of shoes waiting for her in her locker. Thankfully, those days were rare.
The Wheeler siblings met in the middle of the driveway, Mike now mounted upon his bike. Doc adjusted the straps of her bag and slowly glided towards the street. She carefully watched her brother, who seemed unsuspecting. "Hey, Mike?"
"Yeah?" He noticed that she was trying to hide a smirk. "What?"
"I'll race you to the end of the street."
"You're on!" He grinned. "On your mark, get set, go!"
Biting her tongue in concentration, Doc bolted down the street, expertly moving her feet to avoid rocks and branches, all while forcing her brother to eat her dust. Coming to a stop at the end of the street, Doc grinned at Mike, who had reached her side three seconds later. "You barely beat me! It's not fair, skating is basically walking and running!"
"Oh, yeah? I'd like to see you try." She chuckled. Rolling his eyes, Mike continued forward.
"Whatever. Come on, we gotta meet the guys."
Catching up with Dustin and Lucas took no time and soon, the four were off. As they casually talked, Doc would hum a song and skate between them, Lucas or Mike freaking out about almost running her over a few times. Within minutes, they reached Hawkins Middle School.
"That's weird," Mike hummed after the boys parked their bikes. "I don't see him."
"I'm telling you, his mom's right," Lucas followed right behind Mike and Doc as they moved forward towards the school doors. "He probably just went to class early again."
Dustin caught up to them after parking his bike. "Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz."
"And he has every right to be," Doc chuckled, her smile faltering a bit. "I hope that's the case, though..."
"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen!" The voice of Troy Walsh instantly made the four freeze and then slowly turn in his direction. Beside him was James Dante, an obedient goon to Troy. "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show. Who do you think would make more money in a freak show?"
He took a few steps forward, punching the four per insult.
"Midnight?" He punched Lucas, who reared back a bit.
"Frogface?" Mike tried to block, but ended up getting hit anyway.
"Toothless?" Dustin attempted to do the same, but got the same fate.
"Or Lost and Found?" Troy shoved Doc, nearly causing the girl to trip over her own skates. He and James cackled at this before the latter looked over the four.
It seemed Dustin was the target for the day. "I'd go with Thoothless." James mimicked Dustin's voice.
Dustin exhaled. "I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia!"
"'I thold you a million thimes'!" He chuckled as Troy's eyes zeroed on Doc.
"I don't know, James, I'm thinking Lost and Found."
"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"
The two surrounded Doc as she clenched her fists, face scrunched up in a look of irritation. Mike moved past Dustin to get closer to them.
"Because she's so easy."
"Leave her alone! And don't call her that!"
Troy and James snapped their heads up to Mike, grinning wolfishly. "She's all yours, isn't she?" They laughed before they both kicked either of her skates from under her, sending the poor girl to the ground. Doc cried out when she landed on her back. The two bullies howled with laughter and high-fived as they walked away from the group.
"Jesus, Doc, are you okay?" Dustin asked as Mike and Lucas helped her to her feet. She dusted off her pants and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine..."
Placing a hand on her arm, Mike guided her inside the school. "Don't listen to them, (Y/N). You're not a lost and found object. You're family. Okay?"
"I know that, Mike, I just... uh," She cleared her throat. "My back hurts, that's all."
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"Remember, finish chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation," Mr Clarke called out to the retreating students. The four who actually appreciated the class took their time in packing up. "This will be on the test, which will cover chapters 10 through 12. It will be multiple choice with an essay section..." His voice trailed off when he realized no one had been listening to him.
Turning forward, he was met with Doc, Mike, Lucas and Dustin who eagerly stood before him. "So, did it come?" Mike grinned.
"Sorry, boys," Mr Clarke sighed, earning looks of disappointment. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but... It came!"
As the five made their way to the AV room, Mr Clarke turned to Doc. "Ms (Y/N) Wheeler, it's nice to see you take an interest in our club."
"It's a pleasure to be a member," She grinned before hushed whispers called out to her. Turning around, she was met with Brenda and Sheriece. "Um... Mr Clarke, I'll be right back."
"Of course. We'll be right over there." He pointed to the room the three boys were currently in, excitedly talking over each other.
With a nod, Doc turned and skated towards her friends. Brenda held her hand as soon as she was close. "(Y/N)! We were gonna go to my house after school and hang out. Wanna come?"
"Oh, uh," Doc pointed behind her with a smile. "I'm... kinda in the AV Club now."
"AV?" Sheriece scrunched up her nose in distaste. "You know, you don't have to join nerdy clubs to get Will Byers to like you-"
"No, no!" She felt her cheeks burning. "No, I've always wanted to be in this club. It's just... Mike never let me. And now he is."
Brenda sighed and crossed her arms. "Next it's gonna be that stupid board game and then we'll never see you again."
"Dungeons and Dragons isn't really a board game, I think..."
"Either way, we just hope you won't forget about us." Sheriece raised her brows suspiciously. "Especially when you and Will start dating."
Doc went to scold her friends when a voice called out to her, "(Y/N) Wheeler?"
The three turned to see their principal walking with two other figures.
She gulped at the sight of Chief of Police, Jim Hopper, striding towards her with a look of indifference.