Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The steady thrum of the hospital monitor filled the room, a quiet buzzing coming from somewhere beyond the room accompanied with the sound of Steve’s snores from the chair beside her. She was trying to wrap her head around what had been told to her. El was gone, had defeated the demogorgon at the cost of her own life - though she had a hard time believing the girl was actually permanently gone, especially since Mike had said that he’d seen her outside his window. Will and Alex had been found by Hopper and Joyce, the two of them immediately being rushed to hospital.  

She hadn’t told Steve what had happened in the couple of days she’d been missing: he’d been in enough of a state at the sheer sight of her - broken arm, scattered in cuts of various severities, with a massive chunk of flesh ripped off from her side. Every time she closed her eyes, she was back there, the chittering of the Demogorgon living permanently in the back of her head, just out of reach from her.

She’d had various visitors in the few days she’d been in the hospital, the doctors keeping her on a steady stream of antibiotics in an attempt to stop any infections. Steve had barely left her side, taken to sleeping in the chair right beside her. Her parents had refused to come back, couldn’t cut their trip short - she was still alive, after all. 

Her side throbbed constantly, the painkillers they’d loaded her up doing nothing to help as she idly shifted in the bed in an attempt to ease the discomfort. The only lights coming from the room were from the monitor and the small lamp on the bedside table, Alex watching the bulb flicker every now and then, too restless to drift off to sleep.

The pulsing in her side got worse, her just about pulling herself out of bed and over to the bathroom where she hurled up her guts, her body shaking in exertion. Her vision blurred, a sudden wave of dizziness taking over as a searing pain cut through her eyelids, forcing her to close her eyes. When she finally regained some composure, she looked in the bowl of the toilet, the sight that greeted her causing her stomach to drop. A thick, slimy clump of something too dark to be blood sat in the bowl, the lingering taste it left in her mouth causing her to grimace.

The threat was gone, the Demogorgon finally dead, yet, she felt even less at ease than she ever had, a nagging feeling in the back of her head telling her that this was only the beginning.

Chapter Text

“I actually can’t believe I agreed to this.” Alex groaned behind her hands, falling backwards onto Will’s bed.

It was a Monday evening late October, Hawkins shrouded in darkness with the late autumn nights. Music played quietly around the room from Will’s boombox, the two of them having been sitting in comfortable silence doing their homework since they’d eaten dinner. She heard him shuffling around the room before the bed dipped beside her, Will taking a seat and looking at her in amusement.

“It will be fun!” Alex groaned again, “Besides, it’s not like you have anything else to do.”

She sighed as she sat back up, running a hand through her hair, eyes catching on a squirrel running across the roof of the Byers shed. He wasn’t technically wrong since she knew she’d be bored at home with no one there. Steve was out with Nancy and her parents were, predictably, out of town, so she’d reluctantly agreed to tag along with Will to the arcades. Unfortunately for her, that meant spending time with Mike Wheeler which was not something she was particularly looking forward to.

Her skateboard sat propped up against Will’s desk, precisely where it always sat every time she came over to Wills. She’d dropped her bag off at her house after school before skating over, enjoying the opportunity to skate around town with her music playing. It had been hectic recently, what with the check-ups with Dr Owens and the trouble sleeping, so she was grateful to have a release for her pent up restlessness. It was nice being at the Byers, especially since she and Will both had been through a similar experience the year before, the two of them having an understanding of the things that both refused to speak out loud. 

It was a few minutes later when Joyce popped her head round the door, smiling at the two of them. “You two ready to go?”

“Yeah, just a minute.” Will got up to grab his jacket and the few quarters he’d found in his room while Alex grabbed her skateboard and met Joyce in the hallway, letting Will finish getting ready. 

“Thankyou for taking us, Joyce.”

“It’s no problem sweetheart, I’m glad you decided to go with Will.” There was something in her statement and Alex knew exactly what it was. Will and Alex had been friends since kindergarten and Alex had always spent more time at the Byers than at home. Her parents were rarely, if ever, home, leaving her and Steve to fend for themselves. Joyce had always been welcoming, always made the time of day for her, even if she herself was struggling to just make ends meet sometimes.

She grabbed her walkman off the kitchen table as her and Joyce entered the room, Will joining them with a nod to his mom. The two of them left the house first to go wait by the car while Joyce locked the front door. It was a surprise that no-one else was in the house, especially since the woman had recently started dating Bob Newby, a nice guy who was the manager at the local Radio Shack. 

“Alright, let’s get going.” Joyce rounded to the driver's side of the car, Alex sliding in behind her and leaving Will to get in the passenger seat. 

When they pulled up to the arcade, Joyce stopped in the car park, the other three boys spotting Will and waving from the bike rack. Will waved back before his focus returned to his mom. “Okay. So I’ll pick you up in two hours. That's 9 o'clock on the dot,”

“Okay.”

“If anything happens, if you need to come home, just ask them to use their phone and call home. Okay?” Will was ready to leave the car, hand on the doorhandle ready to open it. “Dont-”

“Don’t walk or bike home. I know.”

Joyce smiled at him softly, Alex easily reading the concern behind her eyes.“Okay but sweetie-”

“Mom, I have to go.”Will pushed out the car first, Alex stopping to offer Joyce a smile and a thank you before she pushed her own door open, joining Will as he walked towards the waiting boys.

“Have fun, you two!”

The arcade was as busy as it usually was on a Monday evening: filled with relentless kids and teenagers feeding money into games so that they could try and win. Alex stood playing pacman with her Walkman tucked into the waistband of her jeans, her headphones resting on her neck as she glanced at the group of boys who were playing Dragan’s Lair a couple of games down. A small pacman plush was tucked under her arm which she had won on the first try and she was still revelling in the fact that she had seen Dustin’s top ranks on Centipede and Dig Dug replaced by someone under the name of ‘MadMax’. His measly 650000 points on Dig Dug had earned him second place with MadMax having a total of 751300 points at first place. While Alex wasn’t particularly fond of DigDug, she knew that that amount of points was impressive, if not, nearly impossible.

She could hear the boys screaming instructions at Dustin, to which she rolled her eyes. No one around them was particularly bothered, which was one of the things that Alex liked about the arcade. Keith was eating a packet of cheese puffs beside her and the noise of him chewing slowly and loudly was grating on her. She tried ignoring him, to no avail, turning instead to glare at him with sharp eyes, “Do you mind?”

“What.” He spewed little crumbs as he spoke, Alexs’ face grimacing in disgust. Before she got to say anything to him, she saw Will out the corner of her eye wandering out the arcade door, her brow furrowing in concern as she brushed past Keith to follow him. As she got to the door, her vision began to flash. She assumed it was just a trick of the light, almost like when a film breaks, until she saw the world around her turn into something different. Her hand clasped the door handle and it felt too cold under her grip, vines suddenly coating it. She looked around her, weird particles floating around in the air around her. Jerking her focus back inside the arcade, everyone was gone; the arcade machines were suddenly covered in vines just barely visible in the darkness. It was quiet. Too quiet.

As she pushed open the door fully, focused turned back to finding where Will had gone, her vision flickered for a second, the world becoming normal again as she spotted Will through the darkness. Another flicker and she was back into the morphed world. The coldness ate at her and she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. Outside was even worse, the arcade sign covered in the same thick vines as it flickered slowly. The sky was a deep red colour and the particles were more prominent, almost suffocating around them.

Halfway across the parking lot, Will was standing, staring into the distance at something. Alex knew he was seeing exactly what he was seeing. She became suddenly aware of how fast her heart was beating, unable to get any words out to call out to will. Sure, this kind of thing had been in her nightmares for months, but this was different - this was will. She was actually in the Upside Down.

As soon as she’d realised where she was, she was brought back to reality by the sound of a familiar voice. Mike stood at the arcade door calling Will’s name. He walked up and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, looking at Alex who shoved her hands in her pockets.

“Hey, you alright Will.”

Will looked at Mike and Alex could see the evident fear on his face. “Yeah, I just needed some air.”

“Come on, you’re up on Dig Dug. Let’s take that top score back. Yeah?” Will nodded, letting Mike guide him back into the arcade and leaving Alex outside. Her heart was still beating at an alarming rate as she tried to process what had just happened. She had been in the upside down but also not at the same time. Shaken up, Alex decided to just skate home. After telling Will she was going, she slid back on her headphones trying to drown out her thoughts of the Upside down, her eyes still darting around, expecting to be there again,

That night, Alex didn’t get much sleep, too busy about what had happened outside the arcade. Will had been there too. Will and Alex had been having episodes for months, although Alex’s mainly came in the form of nightmares, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d just been through what Will did every time he had an episode.

When she woke up in the morning, Alex’s head was throbbing, her whole body drenched in sweat. She had finally drifted off to sleep about 3, though her sleep had been haunted with images of the Upside Down and flashbacks to the previous year. The anniversary affect, Dr Owens had called it in their last check-up, when she’d mentioned the increasing occurrences of her nightmares - a common event in PTSD patients.

It took a lot of effort to drag herself out of bed, the upcoming appointment that afternoon making her want to do nothing but lay in bed. Unfortunately, she’d promised Steve that she would go to the appointments, and she hated the thought of further adding to the concern that he already felt towards her. With that in mind, she just about managed to get herself out of bed, squinting against the darkness of her room as she felt around for some clothes in her closet before heading towards the bathroom to shower, grabbing her towels on the way. She refused to turn on the main bathroom light - not wanting to escalate the migraine she was definitely getting - instead flicking on the small yellow bar light that spanned across the mirror above the sink, putting her clothes on top of the counter for after her shower.

Ensuring the shower was on the coldest temperature, she stepped under the spray, letting the water trickle down her back and wake her senses up. Goosebumps worked their way down her arms, the coldness seeping into her skin and washing away the sweat. With it, the memories from her dreams went, swirling with the water down the drain, drifting further and further out of reach. She felt some of the tension alleviate from her shoulders the longer she stood under the spray, eventually resting her forehead against the cool tiles and closing her eyes, letting herself just stop and breathe for a second.

She eventually finished up her shower, drying herself off and changing into her jeans and faded black band tee, brushing her teeth and combing through her hair. She’d cut her hair during the summer, resting a couple of inches above her shoulders, the sides cut shorter in somewhat of a messy mullet. Her parents had been less than pleased with the arrangement, had argued that it wasn’t fitting for a young woman, but Alex had argued to Steve that they weren’t around enough to have an opinion - the very argument that had led Steve to agree to take her to get it cut.

When she was done in the bathroom, she grabbed her backpack, jacket, and her walkman from her room, leaving her skateboard since she was getting a ride with Steve and Nancy to school, then getting picked up after lunch for her appointment. Steve was already in the kitchen when she reached the bottom of the stairs, the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting through the doorframe as she walked in.

She ruffled Steve’s hair as she walked in, moving towards the counter to make herself a hot chocolate, “Morning Stevey boy.” 

Steve grunted in response, Alex putting her bag on the corner of the kitchen island and stealing a piece of his toast off his plate. The gesture earned her a glare which was returned with Alex sticking her tongue out at the boy. When he’d returned his attention back to the paper he was looking at, Alex resumed making her hot chocolate, pouring it into her chipped favourite mug which she refused to get rid of. When it was done, she carried it over to where Steve was, sliding into the seat beside him and taking a long slurp of it while she regarded her brother with a raised eyebrow, the boy meeting her gaze with a roll of his eyes. 

She knew exactly what he had been looking at, having just finished his college application the night before. Alex had read over it after she’d gotten back from the arcade and grimaced. Her brother was great at many things - maybe - but writing was not one of them. She hadn’t directly told him that, though, and was grateful for the fact that he was insistent on getting Nancy to check over it for him. It was Nancy’s problem now, and she was glad that she wouldn’t have to deal with it.

“Remember that-”

“Joyce is picking me up at 1 to take me for my check up. I know Steve.” Steve rested his eyes on her, clearly observing her for any sign of anything. She wouldn’t let anything show though, despite the fact that the growing bags under her eyes gave everything away. He sighed and turned back to his plate, finishing off his toast in silence. He was worried about her, she knew it all too well: since she’d been in the hospital after what happened, he’d stepped up a lot more - had felt guilty for not being there for her more, for not protecting her like he should’ve. It was why he had been so for the idea of her going to check-ups with Will, relieved at the prospect that something might help. It had taken her a while to agree, but she had - for him. 

The drive to the Wheeler’s didn’t take too long, despite them living on the other side of the school to the Harringtons and Nancy was already outside waiting for them when Steve pulled up and beeped his horn. She smiled as she made her way over to the passenger side door, putting her bag on the floor before looking back at Alex. “Hey Lex.”

“Hey Nance. Looking beautiful as always.” Nancy blushed as she sat in her seat, Steve glaring at Alex through his mirror, as he got ready to drive off.

“Stop flirting with my girlfriend.”

Alex returned his glare, “No.”

Nancy laughed at their antics as she turned on the radio, Steve’s awful music beginning to blare through the car speakers - which was enough for her to put her walkman on and drown it out. She idly watched out the window as they drove, watching as people walked around the town, off to their jobs or walking to school. She liked to come up with stories for each of them, had found it to be a good way to distract herself - though it proved challenging sometimes in such a small town, where everyone knew each other. 

She’d been in the middle of creating a story for a redheaded woman she’d seen walking on the sidewalk in town, since Alex hadn't recognised the woman, when they pulled into the school parking lot. It was highly convenient that the high school and middle school were right next to each other, meaning she didn’t have to walk far from wherever Steve chose to park.

Steve turned around to face her when he put the car in park, Alex taking off her headphones to rest them on her shoulders instead, pressing the button to stop her tape. “Alright, so I’ll see you later.”

Humming in response, she wrapped her hand round the strap of her backpack and moved to open the door, only to be stopped by Steve talking. “You know, you’ve gotta be honest with Dr Owens, he can help.”

“Steve-”

“Im serious Al, you need to tell him about everything that’s going on.” Alex shook her head, not needing the lecture, and pushed out the car door, dutifully ignoring Steve as she slammed it behind her. She wasn’t disputing the fact that Steve was just concerned about her because he cared - she was happy that he did care - but they’d had the same conversation nearly every time and she needed a break from it.

Someone calling her name broke her out of her thoughts and she spun round to see her friend Lily standing over by the entrance of the school, waving at her. It was lucky she was responsible enough to look both ways before crossing to get to her, a blue Camaro suddenly speeding down the school lane, music blasting loudly from it as the driver obnoxiously beeped their horn. She flipped off whoever it was, making sure they saw her, before she actually crossed, meeting an amused Lily. 

“Dont even.”

The blonde held up her hands, “I wasn’t going to say anything.” 

Alex shook her head, Lily wrapping her arm round the brunettes shoulder, turning around as they walked into the school and towards the rows of lockers. Their lockers were only a couple down from each other, which was convienient when they were meeting inbetween or after classes. Alex opened her locker, sorting through the books she needed for the day and switching the ones in her bag, while Lily talked about her trip to her grandparents over the weekend.

Will’s locker was next to Alex’s so when he turned up she closed hers, leaning against it and greeting the boy. He slid in his own stuff before picking up a piece of paper off his books, brows furrowing in confusion before he was looking around, a sadness clouding over his expression. Concerned, Alex peereed over thee paper: a clipping ripped from a newspaper article about the boy, two red X’s drawn over his eyes. The sight of it elicited red hot anger inside of her, Alex taking the paper and crumpling it in her fist, looking around the hall to try and identify the perpetrator. 

Sure enough, she spotted Troy Walsh and his little group of friends laughing and whispering while pointing at will. She was sick and tired of him, especially with how he’d always taken the piss out of people who were different from him. 

As she was about to move, a hand touched her arm, Will looking at her with resigned sadness, “Don’t Al, it’s fine.” The words had no effect, Alex refusing to let Troy get away with how he continued to treat people. Will tried to stop her but she was already halfway to Troy, nothing else mattering but the rage she could fill as she stood behind the group, clearing her throat. They all stopped laughing to watch, Troy cocking his eyebrow.

“Something funny Walsh?” She crossed her arms over her chest, the boy snickering as he shared a look with his friends.

“Yeah, maybe.” He looked at her as if he was taunting her and she just knew that he was under the impression that she wasn’t going to do anything about it. It was a mistake on his half clearly, if the fearful look in his eyes as she pinned him up against the locker was anything to go by. No one was laughing now, his friends having taken a cautious step back. Alex was so caught up in her rage that she hadn’t noticed the silence spread out across the hall, everyone looking at the spectacle. Troy regained his composure slightly under her grip, “Awh, getting all protective over Zombie boy.” He leaned in closer, his words hot on her face, “What is he? Your little boyfriend?” His taunting, along with his amusement, left as soon as it had arrived as a fist collided with his nose with a sickening crunch. He stumbled into the lockers, clutching his bleeding nose while Alex looked down at him, fist clenched so hard her knuckles were white.

“You’re fucking pathetic Walsh.” She turned around, ignoring all the stares she was getting as she walked to her lesson, closely followed by Will and Lily.

“Meet the human brain,” Alex watched intrigued as Mr Clarke placed a human brain model on the table. “I know. I know, it doesn’t look like much. A little gross even, right. But consider this. There are a hundred billion cells inside this miracle of evolution. All working as one. No, no, I did not misspeak. I did not stutter. A hundred billion.” A girl behind her yawned loudly before blowing a bubble with her gum, which made Alex turn around and give her a glare. The girl stopped and sat up straight in her chair, Alex turning around just as the classroom door opened. The principal walked in followed by a girl who Alex assumed had to be new, since she’d never seen her before.

The first thing Alex noticed was not her fiery red hair but her blue eyes, ocean blue waves glistening under the warm lights of the classroom. A skateboard rested in one hand, the strap of her backpack supported in the other. She looked as if she wanted the ground to swallow her whole and Alex couldn’t help but feel bad for what she knew was about to happen. It was a small town so someone new joining the class was a big deal. “Ah, this must be our new student.”

Mr Clarke smiled at the new girl, everyone’s focus directly on her. “Indeed it is. All yours.”

The girl went to walk to an empty seat before Mr Clarke stopped her, “All right. Hold up. You don’t get away that easily.” He gestured to the space beside his desk, “Come on up, don’t be shy. Dustin, drum roll please.” Alex rolled her eyes, slapping her hand to her forehead as Dustin cleared his throat and started drumming his hands on his textbook.

“Class, please welcome - all the way from California - the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine!”

“It’s Max.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Nobody calls me Maxine, it's Max.” Lucas turned to the boys, the four of them whispering something she clearly heard as MadMax, all of them staring intensely at the poor girl in sudden interest. Mr Clarke dismissed Max to sit down, Alex trying not to whack her head off the table at the antics of the boys, questioning why she willingly hung out with them. Max picked the empty seat next to her, Alex leaning over to her as she slid into the seat, ocean blue eyes meeting dark brown.

“Welcome aboard, Voyager.”

Max snorted out a laugh, “Thanks.”

They were stalkers. Absolutely creepy and very obvious stalkers. Alex and Lily stood beside the boys, leaning on the wall as they watched them very obviously stare at Max, who was skating around the playground, attempting a trick. She was unsure what their plan was, but it had so far consisted of staring at the redhead like she was an exhibit at the zoo.

“There’s no way that’s MadMax.” Mike stated, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Why? You annoyed you got beaten by a girl, Wheeler?” Mike rolled his eyes at Alex, averting his gaze back to stare at Max, Lily high-fiving her with a smirk.

“Mike’s right. Girls don’t play video games.” 

“Excuse me William.” Alex gestured to herself wildly.

“Apart from you Alex.” 

“Well, even if they did, you can’t get 750000 points on Dig Dug. I mean it’s impossible.”

“But her name is Max.”

“So what?”

Finally having enough of their shit, Lily and Alex both emerged from where they were stood, Lily going off to find her other friends, while Alex decided to head over to the girl, intending on actually introducing herself instead of just staring - like some people. 

“Your placements wrong.” Max looked up at her weirdly from the skateboard. “Your left foot should be a bit more forward.”

Max stared at her in shock before Alex nodded at the board. Taking her advice hesitantly, the redhead tried her trick again, managing to get it first try. “Oh, thanks.”

“No problem.” Alex held out a hand. “I’m Alex. Alex Harrington.”

Max smirked slightly, “Right, the stalker.”

Alex feigned hurt, clutching her chest, “You wound me Voyager.” Max laughed at her before looking over to where the boys were still standing.

“You friends with them?”

“One of them.”

“Right.” Blue eyes locked back on her, “So stalker, you skate?”

“Yeah, quite a bit.” Nodding at her, Max walked them over to her backpack, pulling out her notebook and ripping out a piece of paper. “What are you-”

“Just trust me.” Alex frowned as Max leant against her back, scribbling something on the paper before screwing it up and throwing it in the nearest trash can. She barely had any time to process before a hand grabbed her arm, the redhead dragging the two of them back into the school to watch from the window. 

Alex opened her mouth to ask what they were doing, only for all the words to die on her tounge as the two of them watched the boys run up to the trash can and dig through it. She groaned in exasperation, dragging her hands down her face, “Jesus christ, what the fuck is wrong with them.”

The door opened beside them then, the principal walking in followed by Will. He clocked onto the two of them, standing in front of them, looking between them both. “Ah, Miss Harrington, are you ready to go?” 

Alex tensed, mouth pressed into a thin line as she nodded, muttering a goodbye to a confused Max and following the man out of the school, her and Will pressed almost shoulder to shoulder. People stared at them in the corridor, as usual, as they approached the exit. They always looked at the two of them as if they were an exhibit. ‘Hey look its Will Byers and Alex Harrington. The kids who went missing in the woods.’ Alex hated it.

Joyce was standing against her car when they got out of the school, a cigarette in her hand as she waited. When she spotted the two of them, she waved cheerfully, dropping her cigarette onto the floor and putting it out with her shoe. The principal opened the passenger and back door for Will and Alex as Joyce rounded to the front. When they were all situated and Joyce had started to drive, Alex slid her headphones onto her head, listening to her tape as she watched the scenery go by. 

The ride was quiet. Joyce was talking to Will, glancing at Alex every few seconds who was still looking out of the window, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. Usually Hopper would be the one to take her to her appointment but he was meeting them there since he had an errand to run before the appointment. Hopper had forewarned Joyce that Alex was always quiet on the way and that it was no use trying to talk to her - a fact that only made the woman more concerned.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the lab, Hopper was standing against the truck with a cigarette in his hand which he put out upon seeing the car. Will and Alex got out of the car first, Alex taking off her headphones and resting them on her shoulders, hands in her trouser pockets as they started walking up to the lab.

“Hey Buddy.” Hopper said to Will as Joyce wrapped her arm around the boy’s shoulder. 

“Hey.”

Hopper fell behind Joyce and Will and walked beside Alex, looking over at her with a worried expression. “Hey kid, you alright?”

“Mhm. Just want to get this over with.”

“Don’t worry kid, we’re gonna figure this out.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, the girl grateful for the comforting weight of the contact.