Chapter Text
March 21st, 1986
You sit in the back of Steve’s car, Robin’s band hat next to you in the backseat. You fiddled with your nails as Steve went on about his terrible love life and Robin sat in the passenger seat, fixing her makeup.
“--And then there’s Heidi tomorrow night, but the problem with Heidi is that she’s going out of state for college,” You rolled your eyes and twisted the ring on your left pinkie, not looking at either of your friends. “So it’s like, do I really want to start another relationship that has no point other than sex?” you snort and he looks over at you but you don’t meet his eyes. He sighs. “I mean, I don’t know, does that make sense to you?” He turns to Robin who puts on another layer of mascara. “Robin, are you listening?”
“Uh, yes, I’m–” she stutters.
“What did I just say?” he asks.
“Something about sex with Linda,” she responds.
“Heidi,” you correct her.
“Heidi, yeah, I knew that,” she says. Steve glares at her. “Come on, cut me some slack, please!”
“Well–” Steve starts.
“Your love life is one of labyrinthian complexity and it is seven in the morning, we have to go to this stupid pep rally, and I woke up looking like a total corpse.” Robin stretches her face in the passenger side mirror and you chuckle.
“Oh, you’re worried about a basketball pep rally?” Steve says incredulously. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Yeah, so?” You gave Robin a look and she leaned down in her seat, trying to melt into it.
“So, we all know what this is about, okay?” Steve says “I’m not buying that bullshit, this is about Vickie.”
“Absolutely not.” Robin states.
“Yes it is, and you know what else I think?” he asks, rhetorically.
“Harrington–” you try.
“I think you’ve got to stop pretending to be someone else when you’re around her, okay? You’ve just got to be yourself,” he says.
“Yeah? How’s that working out for you, Harrington?” you ask with a grin, leaning forward in your seat and he rolls his eyes.
“You’re literally quoting me to me, you do realize that?” Robin asks.
“Well, maybe you need to listen to yourself, you ever think about that? Smarty pants,” he asked. “I mean, I listened to you, and now look at me, boom. Back in business.”
“That’s a stretch,” you mumble.
“It’s not the same thing, okay?” she turns to Steve. “You ask a girl and she says no, big deal. Nothing happens. Maybe your ego’s a little bruised, but I ask out the wrong girl, and bam, I’m a town pariah.” You put your hand on her shoulder and she turns.
“Hey, you could always practice ask me out,” you tease, and Steve sighs.
“Yeah, you two’d make a great couple, Tweedledee and Tweedledum teamed up and constantly on my back. What a dream,” he complains and you and Robin laugh. You turn back to Robin with a sincere smile on your face.
“Hey, listen, Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl,” you said and Steve chimed in.
“She returned Fast Times paused at 53 minutes, 5 seconds,” he stated. “Do you know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes and 5 seconds?” you nod in agreement. “People who like boobies, Robin!” he shouts, and Robin groans. you scrunch your nose up and laugh at how he says it.
“Ew, gross, don’t say–” Robin groans.
“Boobies!” He yells and you lean your head back in laughter. “Not a big deal, okay? I like boobies, you like boobies, Mia likes boobies,” he states and motions between the three of you. “Vickie likes boobies!” he finishes decisively.
“Definitely,” you concur and turn to Steve, Robin falling silent in the passenger seat. “Hey, Harrington?” He looks at you through the rearview mirror. “You can’t use the car tonight.” He quickly turns back to you.
“What? Why not?” he asks and turns his head back to the road.
“Because, I’m driving Dustin, Lucas, and Mike to Hellfire, remember?” he sighs.
“Can’t they just, like, do that shit another night?” You wack him on the back of the head and he flinches.
“No, they can’t just reschedule, are you crazy?” you hiss. “Have you met Munson? He’s, like, insane when it comes to the campaign.” Steve rolls his eyes and sighs and Robin cranks the volume on the radio, the sound of Object of my Desire filling the car.
—
As you get to the school, Robin gets out of the car and heads to the rest of the band, shouting for them to wait for her. You get out of the car to sit in the passenger seat, but as you grab the handle on the door, you notice Max talking to the school counselor. You think for a second, then open the car door slightly.
“Just give me a second,” you tell Steve and he nods as you shut the door and jog over to Max as she heads into the school, headphones on. “Hey, Max!” you shout, but she doesn’t hear you. You poke her on the shoulder and she turns, pulling her headphones off. First, she looks angry, but then she notices you and she smiles.
“Hey Mia, what’re you doing here?” she asks. You shrug.
“Harrington was giving Robin a ride, I thought I might tag along,” you say. “Where’d you go yesterday? I thought you’d be staying for dinner with us,” you said, trying to hide the concern in your voice. She glanced at the ground.
“Yeah, my mom just needed my help with something,” she said, vague. You grabbed her hand.
“Okay, but, are you coming over after the game tonight?” you ask, not wanting to push. She nods and tries to leave but you squeeze her hand and she turns back to you. “Hey, Max. You know you can talk to me, right?” You ask and she doesn’t meet your eyes. “I was there too. And I will always be here for you,” you state, leaning into her as she lifts her eyes to yours. “I’m not leaving you,” you say, a mantra the two of you had gotten used to since the night at the mall last summer. She squeezes your hand.
“Never,” she says and goes to hug you. You brush her hair with your fingers and kiss the top of her head before letting go. She smiles sadly at you and you nod.
“I’ll see you tonight?” you ask and she nods back before putting her headphones back on and turning to the gym. You stand, frozen for a second, rubbing your arms as you feel that familiar tingling sensation in your hand and you look down at it to see it faded once again. You gasp and observe it, holding it out slightly in front of you. Most of your hand is gone this time, only your forearm and part of your wrist still visible. Images flash through your head of Max in the air, Eddie throwing his arms around you at skull rock, and Steve on the boat. The sound of Steve’s car horn brings you back and you quickly stuff your hand in your jacket pocket. You jog to the car door and open it, sitting down without so much as a glance at Steve, your mind racing.
“Hey, you okay?” you buckle yourself in with your free hand.
“Yeah, no, I’m fine,” you breathe and stare ahead of you. “Let’s go.”
“Are you sure–” Steve says, his brows knitting in concern. You turn to him with a glare.
“Steve, I said I’m fine, let’s just go.” his brows perk up and he nods, driving out of the school parking lot. As he moves his head, you pull your hand out of your pocket. It’s returned to normal but the images stay in your mind. You and Eddie at skull rock? That can’t be a memory.
“It’s a vision…” you whisper so Steve can’t hear and play anxiously with the S around your neck.
—
You sit, twiddling your thumbs at Steve’s house. You don’t have a shift today and you're just killing time until you have to go pick the kids up for Hellfire. Steve’s at work and you took the keys and put them in your bra so he didn’t have the chance to steal the car from you. You try not to think about what happened this morning and your supposed vision, but it gets difficult the longer you sit in the living room with nothing to do. You sigh and get up from the couch to head out to pool, when the phone rings. You roll your eyes and walk over to it, picking it up.
“Harrington residence, he’s not here right now, can I leave a–” you start.
“Mia, hey!” Dustin cuts you off.
“Dustin? Why are you calling? Steve’s on shift.” you say, assuming the boy had some weird fact about Suzie he wanted to tell Steve or something.
“No, no, I know,” he says and you lift a brow. “I was hoping to talk to you, but I didn’t know where you’d be,” he said and you shrugged.
“Well, you found me, what’s up?” you ask, twirling the phone cord between your fingers and leaning on the counter next to you.
“You know D&D right?” you chuckle.
“Know it? I’ve been a DM since I was 14,” you answered. Dustin chuckled into the phone.
“Great so, would you want to act as a sub with our campaign tonight?” you stilled.
“What? But isn’t Lucas–” you started, thinking back to the show, deja vu washing over you as you thought about the date and your familiar conversation in the car earlier.
“No, he’s got his stupid basketball thing,” Dustin complained and he kept talking but you zoned out of the conversation, your thoughts stuck on Max, then Chrissy. “Hello? Mia, you there?” you shook your head to rid yourself of your thoughts.
“Uh, yeah, no, I’m still here,” you said.
“Great, okay, so you’re in?” you thought about how coming with them might give you the perfect opportunity to talk to Eddie and Chrissy.
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” you said. “Let me just get some semblance of a character together, we can discuss it when I come to pick you up tonight.” Dustin agreed and said goodbye, leaving you alone with the tone from the phone. You smashed the phone down on the receiver and thought about how you’d go about this.
—
As you sat in the car, drumming your fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of Girls on Film by Duran Duran softly echoing through the car, outside of Dustin’s house, you thought about how you’d be able to convince Eddie to let you come along with him and Chrissy tonight. The sound of the passenger door opening pulled you out of your head and you jumped as Dustin sat down next to you.
“Ah, jesus, Dustin!” you whisper-shouted and he shrugged at you.
“Sorry, I tried to knock on the window but you didn’t hear,” he said as an excuse and you rolled your eyes, turning the ignition and backing out from the house. “Are you alright, Mia?” he asked. You chuckled.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that today?” you said, mostly to yourself. “I’m fine.”
“Okay…” Dustin eyed you verily and you tossed your papers over to him to distract him. He looked over your character sheet and notes. “Woah, hey, nice job on the character. Elven Hunter, huh?” You quirked a smile.
“Thanks, it’s what I could put together in a few hours, so…” you explained, driving down the road to Mike’s house. Dustin's brows shot up as he continued reading.
“Chaotic good?” he asked.
“Of course, what do you take me for, lawful?” You laughed and he chuckled. “You know, D&D in my time is a lot more intricate than this, so it’s kind of nice to have it stripped down a bit.” you stated, trying to focus on the campaign and recall what they’d told you about it over the school year as you kept giving them rides back and forth. “You think Munson’s going to go for this?” you nodded at the papers in Dustin’s lap.
“Definitely, he’s the one who told us to find a sub,” he said and you nodded, taking a breath.
—
Eddie welcomed the boys as they stepped into the room ahead of you. You leaned into the doorframe and Eddie’s eyes flew over to you.
“My, my, isn’t this a nice surprise?” he sauntered over to you in a dramatic fashion and you rolled your eyes at him, holding your papers close to your chest. “If it isn’t my favorite customer.”
“Oh, please Munson, I’m your only customer,” you smirked at him and he clasped his hands.
“What owes me the pleasure?” Eddie asked.
“She’s our sub,” Dustin said from behind Eddie and he turned.
“Your cousin is your sub?” Eddie asked and motioned to you. Mike and Dustin nodded. “Well, well, looks like the Henderson apples don’t fall far from the tree.” you rolled your eyes.
“Look, I’m here now and I’ve got my papers,” you said, handing them to him. “Look those over and I’m sure you’ll see I know more than you think.” you smiled at him. He looked them over and laughed. “What Munson? Scared a girl will beat you at your own game?” he looked at you through his lashes and smirked.
“No, I just didn’t peg you as the chaotic kind,” you smiled.
“Guess you have to get to know your customers better,” he huffed and held his hand out to you.
“Welcome to Hellfire,” You shook his hand.
—
The game was coming close to an end as you and the boys thought with all you could against Vecna. At this point, only you and Dustin were left standing. you huddled together on one side of the room to talk strategy.
“Guys, I hate to say this,” Gareth said. “But we have to flee.” the other standard members of Hellfire agreed.
“Hey, I thought we agreed, ‘to the death'?” you argued.
“That wasn’t literal,” Gareth hissed. You glared at him.
“That sounds like something a coward would say,” you bit back.
“Vecna just decimated us,” Jeff said from your other side. “We can’t kill him with two players.”
“You too?” Dustin asked. “He only has 15 hit points left, don’t be pussies.” You turned your head to him and knocked hard on his back.
“Language, Dustin,”
“Sorry,” he said.
“Because we’re not delusional?” Gareth asked.
“Hey!” Eddie shouted at you and you all turned to him, “If I may interject, gentlemen, Miss Croft. Whilst I respect the passion, you’d be wise to take Gareth the Great’s concern to heart.” He stated. “There is no shame in running.” you huffed and crossed your arms. “Don’t try to be heroes. Not today, ‘kay?” You huddled back together.
“What do you think, Mike?” Dustin asked.
“How many hit points do you and Croft have?” he asked.
“Twelve,” Dustin and you stated in unison. Mike thought for a second.
“It’s risky as hell,” he said. “But you’re the ones on the battlefield. So it’s your call.” You turned to Dustin smiling.
“What do you say cuz?” you asked and he looked at you. “Want to show that ugly motherfucker how Henderson’s do it?” He laughed and you turned to Eddie.
“Let’s kill the son of a bitch,” Dustin said. You all got back to the table. Fighting with your dice as sweat started running down your face. Dustin got ready for his final attack and as you looked at the table, suddenly it shifted. You squinted your eyes as the table reformed and the papers, figures, and dice on the table reshaped themselves into phones, blunts, and plastic cups. You recognized the table as Noah’s living room table, low and a light wooden color. You blinked to make it go away but it didn’t. You turned to look over at the others who didn’t seem to notice anything. Dustin threw the D20 and as it bounced on the table, it appeared only as static in your vision. You faintly recognized the sounds of defeat from those around you and felt someone take your hand. “Mia?” Dustin asked, giving your hand a squeeze. You turned to him, mouth slightly agape, brows furrowed. He held out the static dice to you. “It’s your turn,” he said, concern on his face evident. You nodded slowly and swallowed. You took the dice, feeling that same tingly feeling from it as with your hand earlier and you closed your eyes for a moment to collect yourself. You threw the dice and opened your eyes as you heard it hit the table. Everything had turned back to normal and you followed the dice with an intense stare. It rolled over one last time, revealing a nat 20. You sighed and heard the guys cheer around you. Mike shook you by your shoulder with joy and you tried to get the vision and the sinking feeling in your gut out of your head and join the present again. Eddie made some goofy movements and you saw his lips move, but you didn’t register any words. You shook your head roughly and looked back. you caught Eddie’s eyes looking at you and a flash of worry went past his eyes. You gave him a small smile and he returned it.
As everyone packed their things and started heading out the door, you stayed back at your seat.
“Hey, Mia, you coming?” Dustin asked and Mike looked at you expectantly.
“Uh, actually, could you ask Harrington to drive you home?” you asked and tossed Mike the car keys. “I just remembered I have this thing I need to check on. Just tell him I went on an errand, okay?” you smiled at them and Mike nodded. You turned to Eddie who was packing up the last few pieces in his backpack and getting ready to head out. “Hey Munson?” he raised his head to look at you. You bit your lip slightly and thought about how to phrase it. “I heard through the grapevine you and Chrissy Cunningham we’re meeting up tonight.” He suddenly stood up.
“Who told you that?” Eddie said, anxiously. You held your hand up to calm him.
“Relax, no one important,” you said and he looked at you with a raised brow. “I was just thinking, I haven’t been over to get anything from you in a while, would you mind if I tagged along?” you said, trying to sound as sweet and innocent as possible. He crossed his arms.
“I don’t know, Henderson,” he started and you clasped your hands together.
“Please? I swear I’ll be good, all this work at Family Video has just got me on edge,” you said and he sighed. “Chrissy doesn’t even know me, it’ll be fine.”
“Alright, alright, okay,” Eddie surrendered and you smiled at him. “Just… meet me at the car alright?” he said and you walked out to his car, seeing Chrissy leaning on it. She stood up quickly as you approached.
“Oh hey, I was just–” she said and you smiled at her.
“Hey don’t worry, I’m not a nark,” You said and held out your hand. “Name’s Mia, Henderson.” she looked at you, unsure first, then shook your hand.
“I’m Chrissy, Cunningham,” you beamed at her.
“Great to meet you, Chrissy, you don’t mind if I tag along with you and Munson right? I’m here for the same reason you are.” Chrissy looked apprehensive for a second, then shook her head.
“I’m sorry, don’t I know you from somewhere?” you lifted your eyebrows and shook your head.
“No, no, I don’t think so,” you answer and start walking around the car. She follows you and claps her hands together as you walk by the trunk.
“Oh my god, Tina’s Halloween party last year!” she squeals and you turn and smile at her. You can’t believe she remembers you. “You were dressed as Daphne, right? And– and you were with Steve, he dressed as…” she bites her lip as she concentrates.
“Marty McFly?” you supply. She snaps her finger and pulls her hands up to her chest.
“Yes! yes, with the vest, oh my god, you guys were so cute!” she says and you shake your head at her. You walk over to the passenger side with her as Eddie comes out of the school building, unlocking the car. You opened the passenger door and motioned for Chrissy.
“Ladies first.” she giggled and sat down. You walked to the backseat and looked over at the gym to see Steve with his date, arguing with the kids. He moved his head in your direction, meeting your eyes with a confused face and you quickly ducked into the backseat.
“Alright, next stop, HQ,” Eddie joked and started driving. Chrissy and Eddie chatted a little in the front seats as you put your arms between your knees, your breath shaky as you gripped your walkie tightly in your cardigan’s pocket and you felt the pressure from the knife in your holster under your skirt.
—
Max was outside, feeding a dog behind a fence next to her trailer. She turned at the sound of music from a car. The van stopped and she saw Eddie Munson jump out, followed by Chrissy Cunningham, which was already weird enough, but then…
“Mia?” she whispered to herself as you bounced up the stairs leading into Eddie’s home. She had a feeling something was off and decided to go look for Steve, choosing to stay far away from the other two with you.
—
Eddie quickly tried to put away most of the trash he had laying around in the living room.
“Sorry for the mess,” he said, which you found odd. He’d never apologized for the state of his home when you’d come here before. “uh, the maid took a week off.” he walked back to a drawer.
“You, uh…” Chrissy started. “Live here alone?” she asked looking around.
“With my uncle,” Eddie answered. “But, uh, he works nights at the plant. Bringing home the big bucks.” You chuckled and Chrissy turned to you. You smiled at her and she anxiously smiled back.
“How long does it take?” She turned back to Eddie and asked. You both looked at her and you felt that uneasy feeling in your gut again.
“Sorry?” Eddie asked.
“The special K,” you raised a brow at the name. “How long to kick in?” you bit your cheek and crossed your arms.
“Oh, uh, well, it depends if you snort it or not.” He simply stated. “If you do, then uh, yeah. It’ll kick in pretty quickly.” He glanced over at you as he held a box. “What about you, Henderson? What’re you looking for?” you kept your eyes on Chrissy and waved your hand at him.
“Uh, yeah, just like a half-ounce is fine, the usual,” you stated. He looked at you and shrugged, lifting the lid on the box.
“Oh, shit,” he looked into the empty box.
“You’re sure you have it?” Chrissy asked and you looked between them.
“No, no, no, I got it,” Eddie said quickly. “Somewhere…” he turned and disappeared into his room. You made your way over to Chrissy.
“So, uh…” You started, thinking of what you could say to distract her. “You cheer?” you asked, the most obvious question you could find, but it was something. She looked at you, seeming focused on something else as you approached.
“What?” she asked.
“Uh, cheerleading, you cheer?” you repeated and she shook her head.
“Oh, uh, yeah, for a few years,” she responded.
“That’s fun, yeah,” you said, keeping eye contact and stepping slightly closer like you were approaching an injured deer. “You know, I used to play Softball at my old high school,” you said.
“Oh really? Where?” she asked.
“Arizona, Haddonfield high. Go Rabbits.” you chuckled slightly. Chrissy seemed to relax at that and chuckled as well. “So, Chrissy…” you said. Suddenly you heard the chime of a clock and she whipped her head around. “Chrissy?”
“Do you hear that?” she asked. You looked at her with concern.
“Yes…” she walked up to the window behind her slowly and you followed. She looked outside and you shut the curtains for her. You felt a wave of nausea and headache overtake you, but you bit down and tried to ignore it. “Munson? You find anything?” you shouted behind you as Chrissy walked back. No response. “Eddie? Hello?” you heard some rustling from his room and then you turned to Chrissy, noticing she’d stopped. “Oh shit, Chrissy?” you said and marched toward her. You got around her and noticed the milkiness of her eyes and you shook her as she stood still. “Chrissy! Chrissy! can you hear me?” you grabbed her face and tried to shake her awake. “Oh fuck, shit, Eddie! Eddie, something’s wrong!” you yelled.
“Just a minute…” He said and you turned back to Chrissy, still frozen in place. You let her go and started throwing things around the room, looking for tapes or a radio, anything.
“Eddie, we don’t have a minute!” you yelled as you pulled the drawers out of his cupboard. “I need you, now Munson!” Eddie jogged out of his room with a box in his hand.
“I got it, I got it!” he said. He then saw you tearing his trailer apart and ran up to stop you. “Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing!?” he yelled and grabbed your hand.
“Do you have a radio, Munson?” you looked at him, frightened, and his brows lifted.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said.
“Where?” you asked, peeling yourself out of his surprisingly strong grip.
“Why do you–” he started and you shook him.
“We don’t have time for this, Munson, where is the god damned radio!?” you yelled and he blinked.
“It’s–it’s in the bathroom,” you nodded and ran as fast as you could to the bathroom, pulling cabinets open. Eddie looked over at Chrissy and started approaching her slowly. “Chrissy?” he asked and got no response. “Hey, Henderson, what’d you do to Cunningham?” he asked, half joking.
“Nothing, I just need that damned radio!” you yelled back and he walked closer to Chrissy.
“Chrissy? Hello?” he waved his hand in front of her face.
“That’s not going to work, Munson,” you said, looking through the pile of laundry next to the toilet in the bathroom. Eddie turned your way, then back again.
“Is she, asleep?” he asked.
“No, not quite,” you answered, lifting a smelly band t-shirt off the floor. The radio was underneath. You sighed in relief and turned it on. Nothing. “Hey, Munson, does this thing have any batteries in it?” you asked.
“Uh, not sure,” he shouted back.
“God damn it,” You said and dropped the radio. As you stood up from your crouched position, you noticed the lights started to flicker. “Shit.” you ran into the living room, Eddie standing confused in front of Chrissy. “Eddie, we have to go. Now!” Eddie turned to you.
“What’s going on Mia?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you in the car, where are your keys?” you asked. Eddie pointed at a counter by the door and you grabbed them. At that point, Chrissy’s body started levitating off of the ground. Eddie looked horrified at the girl.
“Mia, what the fuck is happening?” he said, not looking away from Chrissy.
“Munson, come on!” you shouted and grabbed his arm, pulling him with you out the door. “We don’t have time!” you stressed. You pushed him out the door as you heard the cracking of bones from the ceiling. You turned to see Chrissy’s body contorted the way you remembered from the show, but much more disturbing in person. What you didn’t remember was when her head snapped in an unnatural angle toward you and her mouth opened. Mia… a distorted voice came through her and you gasped in fear. You turned and ran for the car. “Get in! Get in!” you yelled at Eddie as you jumped into the driver’s seat and started the car.
“Where are we going!?” he screamed at you.
“Reefer Rick’s” you stated.
“What!? But he’s in prison!” Eddie shouted.
“Exactly,” you said and put your foot to the pedal.