Chapter Text
Losers, a pact, a group, a promise. A club.
See, the thing about being a Loser, was that you were all scared. But that you were all scared together, that no matter what, you always had your Losers there with you at the end of the day, and that you could face the world with them, no matter the cost.
And we Losers, always knew that no matter what happened. Even if something disastrous happened, us Losers would stick together.
Cause when you're a Loser like us, you don't have to hide.
cause being a Loser, means being a freak with us together.
Richie awoke with a massive headache and the sound of buzzing.
He groaned and turned around, planning to go back to sleep.
Apparently the universe had other plans.
His phone buzzed aggressively and Richie groaned. He begrudgingly sat up and reached for his glasses. With them now on, he grabbed his phone to check his notifications.
It was all from the groupchat he and the Losers made a couple weeks prior to the events in the sewer; they mostly chatted everyday, almost each member or all of them just butting into the conversation the previous Loser had with the other.
Richie would be lying if he said he wasn't woken up sometimes by the endless amount of notifications he sometimes received. Richie would also be lying if he said he hated the never inactive group.
He opened his phone and sent a message on to the chat and then went to the bathroom to wash up.
When Richie went out of the bathroom a message had already replied to his, followed by a few others, the first one - of course - to reply to his message was Eddie, followed by a sarcastic retort by Stan, then a teasing quip from Bev.
It seemed like a weekly routine to be honest, and Richie would be lying again if he said he wasn't a bit happy about being able to know his friends so well.
As Richie got to his kitchen his ever-so-lovely headache wanted to make his life a personal torment.
As if the clown wasn't enough. Richie tried to shrug the headache off and instead went to brew some coffee. While waiting he sat down to chat with the Losers for a bit, to get his mind off the peircing headache that felt as if it was going to errupt.
By the time the coffee was finished brewing the pain had settled over, leaving Richie a happier man as he got to enjoy his mid-morning coffee.
Beverly was pretty used to headaches.
Back when she wasn't in Derry, when she forgot about the rest of the Losers, she was used to headaches. Restless nights of unknown yet familiar faces dying, plauged her very being and kept her up at night as she stared at the ceiling.
When she woke up and got to work, she would be so sleep deprived, that getting headaches was basically a weekly thing.
Now - with them defeating It - Bev isn't as used to headaches as much. They still come though. When Bev is having those days, she can't sleep at all, no matter how much Ben's presence comforts her.
It's nice to finally have a big, open, peaceful house. It's nice to have somebody you love love you back - in a healthy way. It's nice to have the Losers back, to have them all back.
Having them around doesn't give her headaches at all, it doesn't give her worry.
Which is why she feels like shit when she wakes up with one.
Bev woke up with throbbing pain and a frown, she sat up. She assumed Ben was already in the kitchen cooking breakfast, she decided to go wash herself up before joining him.
As she exited the bathroom, she felt her headache getting a little worse, frowning some more - she walked downstairs to Ben, where the sound of the TV and freshly cooked eggs awaited her.
Ben must've noticed something because as soon as she walked into the kitchen, he turned to glance at her and his expression turned worried.
"Everything okay, Bev?" He asked.
Bev smiled slightly "Just a headache" with that, Ben gave her an understanding nod and turned the volume of the TV a smidge lower, Bev smiled at that.
As Ben served their eggs, Bev felt the headache ease a little and began to eat her normal, perfect, lovely breakfast with Ben.
Midday through, Richie started to feel like shit.
Well, close to shit.
His day started with a headache and some coffee, and when Richie thought the headache was fucking gone, it decides to make its entrance right when Richie's talking to his manager. It then began to worsen as Eddie calls him up to just - well, be Eddie. Eddie always called him for strange reasons; to rant about his coworker at his new job, to talk about why people at the store not sanitize the shelves they put the food on, to just talk about what he did that day, or to discuss something dumb one of the Losers said in the groupchat.
Nonetheless, Richie fucking loved those phone calls.
Which is why it was such a bitch for his goddamn headache to interrupt his perfectly good call with Eddie.
Richie groaned into his counter, clutching weakly at his head.
"Dude, are you okay?" Eddie's voice crackled through the speakers.
"Yeah, this headaches just a bitch" Richie said.
"How long have you had the headache for?" Eddie questioned, his voice already seeping with worry.
Richie smiled into the counter, Eddie and his concern. "Oh, just since this morning, it went away when I drank coffee, but it came back few hours ago and now it's being a bitch"
"Shit, since this morning? are you okay?" Eddie's voice crackled a bit some more through the speakers. Richie could picture his face now, his brows pinched, eyes worried, face scrunched. Adorable.
"I'll be fine, it's just one headache, Eds. How bad could it be?" he shifted his head to face the side of the cold counter, his glasses moving forward due to the movement.
"Don't call me that" Eddie said automatically "And a headache could be a symptom for many things! Diabetes, cancer-"
"I don't have fucking cancer, Eds" Richie replied tiredly.
"-you don't know that!" Eddie snapped.
"Uh, actually, I think I fucking do"
"Oh really, asshole?"
"Yeah"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah"
"Yeah?"
"Yea-" Richie cut off himself off and groaned some more, the headache worsened. "Fuck" he muttered.
"You okay, Rich?" Eddie said, he paused a few moments before speaking again "Maybe it's a migraine?"
"Sure feels like it" Richie muttered.
"Are you sure you didn't sleep late last night?" Eddie asked.
"Eddie, baby, I sleep late every night"
"I just-" Eddie was interrupted by a sound of a phone, and that's when Richie knew their call would come to an end. "Shit- sorry Rich, that was my manager, I need to go"
Richie sighed, "It's okay, I'll make sure to call Dr. Kaspbrak if anything goes wrong."
Eddie chuckled. "You better, asshole"
Richie's heart jumped a little.
Bev was currently massaging her forehead, her headache slowly becoming a migraine, it didn't deter her though. With headaches becoming a frequent thing before, she knew just what to do to make it go away.
It was a rest day for her, which meant she had the house all to herself while Ben went to his meetings - she convinced him that he needed to start going out - and while Bev stayed here at home. She was supposed to be resting, but this headache - maybe migraine - proved that difficult.
Bev sighed and looked out her window, she could try going for a swim, that would ease her pounding forehead. Maybe take her mind off it.
With that in mind Bev went to get up, only to be met with a terrible feeling. She held on to the couch for support, she was feeling dizzy. The world spun around her and she couldn't get ahold of her surroundings.
Then, in a second, the dizziness faded. The black spots in her vision slowly started to settle. Bev blinked a little before sitting down slowly. In confusion, and maybe a little of shock.
Bev opened her phone and listened as the phone rang.
Ben picked up after the 2nd ring. "Bev?"
Bev let out a breath and calmed down almost instantly. "Hey, Ben."
"Is everything okay Bev?" Ben asked, his voice concerned.
"Yeah." Bev let out a shaky breath. "I just... got a little dizzy."
It was nighttime and Richie could get on his knees and cry.
It was time to sleep away this motherfucking headache and for him to finally get some rest.
Honestly, Richie felt drained throughout the day, Eddie called late afternoon to check up on Richie, which resulted him into him finding out that his ever-growing migraine. It didn't hurt much at that point, but still left Richie irratated.
Eddie tried to console him with reassuring words and soft praises. Richie would've preferred he tell him that in real life so Richie wouldn't have to suffer alone.
But he managed.
After Richie lazily brushed his teeth and washed his face. He stumbled onto bed and closed his eyes.
There were 5 painful minutes of dread where Richie thought he would never sleep, until he started to drift off and smiled as blissful sleep took him.
Richie woke up only to find him in a dream with a turtle.
a flying turtle.
and Bev.
"Well, I've had weirder" Richie said aloud. He had a huge smile on his face from the lack of pain he was feeling.
They were in a void, a large one, there were stars on the top, planted like this place had walls, but Richie saw none. The starts let out a soft glow, but the only ones that had real color in the black void was him, dream-Bev and the giant turtle. But the turtle, much like the lights, glowed too. The animal had a soft green glow to it.
He waved to Bev. "Hi dream-Bev"
Dream-Bev gave him a weird look, "Uh, this is my dream"
Richie raised a brow "Uh no, I'm the one dreaming, dream-Bev" he gestured to himself, as if to say 'see?'
Dream-Bev paused for a few seconds just staring at him, before her eyes flickered with... Confusion. She narrowed her eyes at him "Richie, go pinch yourself."
Richie stared at dream-Bev "Why would I do that? I just got to sleep!" Richie threw his hands in the air.
Dream-Bev looked at him before shooting her arm forward and pinched his arm.
"Ow- What the fuck!" Richie shouted, he clutched his arm. "You pinched me!"
She looked at him, before pinching herself, she didn't flinch but her eye twitched slightly.
Her eyes went wide before looking at her fingers. She counted them all softly under her breath before her face tightened.
Richie watched her with a confused look as she whipped her head to face him. "Richie! count your fingers!"
Richie raised his eyebrows at her.
"In dreams, you always have the incorrect amount of fingers. So count them!" She took his arm and pushed it in front of his face.
Richie gave her a weird look, but did it nonetheless, the cogs turned in his brain as he did so, and once he finished countiang all his fingers he went to face Bev.
"Uh, Bev?" He asked hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"Are... are we not in a dream right now?"
"I-"
But before Bev could even get a word, suddenly, the giant turtle started speaking.
"You are in a dream" Richie screamed and Bev looked at him with wide eyes.
"THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Richie pointed at the turtle and took a step back.
"Do not worry, I am on your side" The turtle spoke again. Richie took a one more step back and Bev did the same.
"The fuck?" Richie muttered. He turned to Bev "You're real, right?" before Bev could speak he went forward and poked her face, she swatted his hand away.
"Holy fuck." He pointed at the floating talking turtle. "So I'm not hallucinating this shit?"
"Nope" Bev whispered softly.
"Don't worry, I am just here to talk, I do not intend to hurt you" The turtle said. Richie narrowed his eyes at him, Bev stared.
"Have I gone crazy?" Richie muttered.
"Well, if you're crazy, I'm crazy" Bev said back.
They both paused before Bev spoke. "Who are you?"
The turtle shifted in the air. "I am Maturin, I am the all knowing; we seem to have a mutual enemy"
"Did I drink last night?" Richie said to himself.
"Pennywise seems to be lurking afoot, I require your help" The turtle lifted it's head, ignoring Richie. "You see, something is wrong with the timeline as of now, I felt a strange anomaly in one of the universes, specifically yours"
"There's a multiverse?" Richie asked. "Those comics were right" He muttered, slightly breathless.
The turtle put its head back down. "Yes, this may seem troubling, but I sense a strange rupture in your timeline"
Richie stared, still bewildered.
"But why us? " Bev asked. "Last time we dealt with something big all the other Losers came to help, so why just me and Richie?"
The turtle closed its eyes and nodded, opening his eyes again. "You see, You two are the only ones who's come close enough to Pennywise for you both to have effects that plauge you that others don't have" the turtle explained "Strangely enough, you both were the only two left, with that magic, you are still able to fix the anomaly and stay safe if you are to handle it due to the lasting effects of the deadlights."
"That means we're magic, Bev." Richie whispered, he still had a slight hysteria in his voice.
"Why not you? you got me and Richie here, so why can't you solve it?" Bev asked with a hint of annoyance.
"I can't take form of anything else, so I remain like this. I cannot track location without movement. I can't do anything about the anomaly if I were to be seen." The turtle flipped its fin for emphasis
Bev nodded devastatingly. Her eyes flickered down for a second before coming back up. "So, to complete this mission is a must?"
The turtle nodded. "It is a need, the anomaly is a fracture in the timeline, something that isn't supposed to happen, and I fear it might have to do something with Pennywise" Richie inhaled sharply. Bev simply tensed.
"So, what exactly is the problem?" Bev asked. Though it sounded more a demand than anything else.
The turtle spoke. "See, your purpose was finished, you've already defeated It, which means everything else shall continue without any supernatural beings coming your way."
"Something happened, something went out of order in your past timeline, causing you both to experience headaches due to you both being connected to the deadlights"
"Okay, but what's the thing affecting the timeliness or whatever?" Richie asked, he didn't want to ponder longer on what he had to face.
"It is active, Pennywise is moving. Which shouldn't be possible since It is supposed to be in slumber for 27 years, in that time at least" The turtle said. "I initially thought this must've been because this version of Pennywise was aware the sudden existence of a timeline due to its strange behavior. However, I have come to find out that this sudden behavior is not because of Pennywise, but a person"
"Soooo, someone went back in time to fuck with us?" Richie asked.
"Not exactly, more of that this person came into contact with something he should not have, this person would have had to be in contact with Pennywise or possesed by him" The turtle said.
Just fucking fantastic. "Great, so we have no idea who they are" He threw his hands up in defeat. At this point, Richie would be better off humiliated than face this bitch-ass clown again.
"I've narrowed it down to a few people. There's Al Marsh, Henry Bowers and Kersh Gray" Bev tensed at the first name, Richie noticed, but didn't comment on it.
"Well , what happens if we don't find this person?" Bev asked, though her tone was hesitant.
"Your universe, as I know, will cease to exist."