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Eddie had discovered that he was changing. Not the metaphorical therapist shit (though boy, was he discovering some things about himself), but that he was able to bounce back a little faster, heal a little quicker, regain a bit of stamina (thank Christ, because having the equivalent of a bowling pin shoved up his ass most nights proved that he was a glutton every time), and he had to assume it had something to do with the vampires infecting him every time they hit down. It wasn’t a lot, certainly not enough to put him on par with anybody in their big castle (except those, like, zombie things? He was getting good at taking those ones down actually), but it left him feel confident. Maybe too confident, because he’d started leaving the castle more frequently, to the point where Steve had gifted him what amounted to a cat tag, and that unlocked something new in Eddie because he fucking loved it and wore the red and black triangle proudly. (Billy suggested they TNR him. Eddie refused to give him any blood that day.) But he wasn’t stupid, he knew which of the entities he was safe around (Donna was an actual sweetheart once he’d offered his services painting dolls and sewing clothes for them. Salvatore was kind of just looking for someone to talk to. As long as Eddie didn’t let him know that Mother Miranda had no idea about him, he was pleasant enough company.) and who was dangerous (Mother Miranda, for obvious reasons. Heisenberg, too, if not just to piss Steve off. The vampires were a different sort of danger, a danger Eddie very much liked.) but…he got cocky.
See, he was almost unquestionably able to take humans in a fair fight (except for that one dude who punched a boulder, like what the fuck?) and with the whole ‘healing quickly allowing a little more roughhousing with the kids’ thing he’d gotten cocky, he’d gotten sloppy, he’d gotten careless, and then he’d gotten caught.
Steve scowled when Heisenberg strolled through the doors, glaring down at him as his children stayed to the shadows, “I should drain you for your rudeness alone.” He was agitated and not just with the scruffy little morsel of a man. Eddie had gone missing days ago and, despite their best efforts, nobody had found anything.
“And I should tell Mother Miranda that your little himbo of a toy gave Ethan Winters his kid’s head back.” Heisenberg drawled.
Billy merely sneered, fangs glittering in the soft light. They’d agreed he would take the blame if anyone asked because Eddie was a very poorly kept secret, and Mother Miranda would have reacted poorly to a hidden human just giving up the resurrection of her child.
Steve moved between the two, blocking Heisenberg’s sight from everyone else, “Why are you here?” His voice was cool, calm, but bubbling magma under the surface.
“Mother Miranda found a new subject. I was tasked with giving out the pieces.” Heisenberg’s grin was alarming, Steve could hear Eleven hiss in the background, but he was gone before anything else could be said once the container was in Steve’s hand.
Steve first noticed the red and black tag dangling from the handle, twisted, gnarled dread filling him. His eyes slowly lowered to the tags, the picture of The Vitruvian Man replacing a curled up child, and he almost didn’t want to turn the flask to see
SPECIMEN: EDWARD M
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