Work Text:
A lot had happened in the span of an hour.
El vanished along with the Upside Down, and a brutal silence echoed through the military base. The soldiers vanished as well, one by one, abandoning the group as they followed Dr. Kay back inside, ready to erase any crucial evidence before locals, politicians, or activists could ask the wrong questions.
Within that hour, Joyce and Jonathan took Hopper, along with a grieving Mike and a shaken Will, to the cabin. Murray and Professor Clarke gathered the kids and brought them back to their families, since the military had disappeared entirely. Derek waved at Holly with a shy smile before getting into the SHWK van. Steve made sure the older kids got home safely, knowing their parents probably had no idea what had happened, and wouldn’t understand their grief even if they did.
Steve asked Robin if she and Vickie were coming with him. The two exchanged a quick look and decided to head back to the radio station together. There was something unspoken between them, a tension Steve couldn’t quite read.
Not until he saw Robin walk up to Nancy and Holly, asking if they’d be okay, and then giving Nancy a very obvious, very dramatic lost-puppy look when Nancy said yes, she was fine and Robin could go. A few feet away, Vickie shook her head.
Steve told himself he wasn’t really paying attention.
…But maybe he noticed.
Nancy was obviously worried about Mike. Still, she knew he’d be safe with the Byers, and that Will would find some quiet, awkward, sincere way to comfort his best friend. Nancy herself felt numb. The adrenaline was still burning, dulling everything else.
She didn’t even notice the pain in her left arm, or the way her body ached in places she couldn’t fully name yet. Her priority was Holly.
Getting her to the hospital. Getting her to her mom. Making sure she was okay.
“My car’s not far. I’ll take you to the hospital,” Nancy said firmly, already heading toward the exit of the base.
At the hospital, after more or less threatening the receptionist, Nancy managed to get Holly admitted for overnight observation, with her mother beside her. After an emotional reunion, the doctors examined Holly carefully, confirming she was truly unharmed.
Only then did the nurses insist on immobilizing Nancy’s left wrist, which had been pulsing for quite a while at a distinctly wrong angle. She hadn’t even noticed the sprain until Holly was safe.
Only then did Nancy let out a breath of relief.
In less than an hour, it was over.
Well. Almost.
There was still grief to face. Hawkins needed rebuilding. Her family needed time. She would have to live with whatever scars the trauma left behind. She would have to unpack the end of her relationship with Jonathan, and the real reason it had fallen apart.
The relief quickly turned into restlessness.
Nancy couldn’t stand the hospital room anymore. The silence forced her to think, and she wasn’t ready for that.
“Holly?” she whispered, careful not to wake Karen, sedated and finally resting. “I need to take care of something. I’ll be back soon, okay? Tell Mom I’m fine.”
Holly nodded sleepily.
Nancy left.
She nearly ran into Vickie in the hallway.
“Hey, Vickie?” Nancy asked. “Is everything okay? Where’s Robin?”
Vickie barely slowed down.
“You know exactly where she is.”
Nancy stood there for a moment, trying to decode what that meant. Then she decided not to waste time. She got into her car and drove straight to the radio station.
Robin was sitting on the edge of the roof, legs dangling, staring into absolutely nothing.
“Hey, stranger,” Nancy called. “Should I be worried, or are you just dramatically contemplating life from dangerous heights?”
“What?” Robin startled, nearly losing her balance. “No jumping. I am emotionally compromised, not suicidal.”
Nancy waited while Robin climbed down and walked over.
“What are you doing here?” Robin asked. “Not that I’m not thrilled, but shouldn’t you be with your family?”
“I can’t,” Nancy admitted. “Do you want to get out of town? Just for tonight. I… I need company.”
“The quarantine?”
“I heard the military lifted it.” Nancy tilted her head, giving Robin a softer version of the same lost-puppy look she’d seen earlier. “What do you say?”
Robin hesitated, then smiled.
“Okay. Give me a minute.”
Nancy entered the car and closed the door as Robin sprinted inside the station, reappearing with a backpack. Robin dropped into the passenger seat and finally noticed the bandage in Nancy’s hand.
“Oh,” she said, worried. “That’s… not decorative.”
“I can drive,” Nancy said, starting the engine. “I need to grab clothes too. Then we’re gone.
They drove for hours with no real destination in mind. The silence inside the car was heavy, but not uncomfortable. Nancy focused on the road. Robin watched the darkness pass by.
Eventually, a flickering neon sign appeared in the distance.
“Let’s stay here,” Nancy murmured, pointing to the roadside motel. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah,” Robin said. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
Inside the cramped room, Robin dropped her bag on the bed.
“Mind if I shower first?” she asked. “These clothes are starting to feel like they’ve been through multiple dimensions.”
“Go ahead,” Nancy said distractedly, already dialing a familiar number.
“Steve?” she said when he answered. “Can you check on Mike for me? And Holly?”
“Of course,” Steve said immediately. “Where are you?”
“I’m out of town. With Robin. I needed some space.”
There was a pause.
“…And how does Robin factor into that?” Steve asked, protective and curious.
Nancy smiled faintly. “I ran into Vickie at the hospital. She seemed off. I figured Robin shouldn’t be alone.”
From the bathroom came Robin’s voice, loud and delighted. “WOW. YOUR SHAMPOO SMELLS AMAZING.”
Nancy rolled her eyes fondly. “I also needed a friend,” she added softly.
“Oh,” Steve said. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll watch Mike. And Holly. I promise.”
“We’ll be back soon.”
“Take your time,” Steve replied. “Enjoy the honeymoon.”
“What?!”
“IDIDNTSAYANYTHINGTELLROBINSISAIDHI BYE.”
The line went dead.
Later, when Robin came out in clean clothes, she looked calmer, quieter.
“Thanks,” she said, sitting on the bed. “For today. For… everything.”
“Are you okay?”
Robin swallowed.
“The world almost ended,” she said. “And I’m upset because Hawkins has a newly bachelor. Amazing priorities.”
She sighed. “I was with someone. They were right to leave. I don’t get to half-love people just because I’m confused.”
Nancy didn’t interrupt.
“I’m orbiting someone else. And they don’t deserve that. They really don’t. They were right. I’m emotionally unavailable in the worst possible way, because apparently my brain decided to latch onto someone completely different.”
Nancy listened carefully, piecing it together.
“…Vickie?”
Robin froze. “I, wow. I talked way too much. That was not subtle.”
“You weren’t subtle,” Nancy said gently. “During Will’s speech.”
Robin groaned. “Of course I wasn’t.”
“It’s okay. I would never judge you for that.”
“Thank you,” Robin said, meeting Nancy’s eyes. “Seriously.”
The moment stretched.
Nancy stood abruptly. “I should shower too.”
“Uh, Robin?”
Robin jumped up at Nancy’s voice.
“Can you help me?”
Robin walked to the bathroom door, worried, but didn’t open it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just…” Nancy hesitated, embarrassed. “I can’t get dressed.”
“…Oh.”
“It’s okay. You can come in.”
“O-Okay.”
Robin opened the door cautiously, covering one eye with her hand just in case.
“Can you help me fasten this?” Nancy gestured to her bra, half-open at the back. “I can’t do it with one hand.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
Trying very hard not to look at Nancy’s bare back, Robin stepped closer and, with trembling fingers, fastened the clasp, then immediately stepped back.
Nancy turned just as quickly, ignoring the shiver that ran through her at Robin’s touch.
“Thank you.”
Robin barely had time to feel flustered. Her reaction shifted to shock as she noticed the bruises and cuts across Nancy’s torso. Nancy’s pale skin was marked by a deep bruise on her collarbone, likely from repeated contact with her weapon. Scratches along her ribs, probably from the repeated trips in and out of the Upside Down. Nancy had taken the worst of it.
“Nance… you’re covered in bruises,” Robin’s voice broke, as if the pain were her own.
“I’m fine,” Nancy said, trying to cover the marks near her ribs with her good arm.
“Can I at least clean them up?”
Nancy looked down, defeated. She wasn’t used to being taken care of. She was good at brushing off Steve’s or Jonathan’s concern after battles. But something about Robin made it impossible to refuse.
Maybe, just for tonight, she wanted to be cared for.
Robin took her good hand and guided her to the bed.
“Here. Sit.”
She rummaged through her backpack and pulled out bandages.
“You just… carry a first-aid kit around?” Nancy asked, amused.
“Well, I mean… we were basically on the brink of death every day.”
“Robin Buckley. Still full of surprises.”
Robin grinned. “Okay… let me take care of this.”
She focused, careful and steady as she cleaned and bandaged each bruise.
“You don’t have to be strong tonight,” Robin said quietly. “You already were.”
Nancy met her eyes.
“I’m orbiting someone too,” she admitted. “That’s why things stopped making sense with Jonathan.”
Robin froze.
Then Nancy smiled, gentle and certain. “You look at me differently. Like I’m not a prize.”
“You’re not a prize, Nance.” Robin whispered. “I adore you.”
Nancy laughed softly, emotional. She leaned in and kissed her, shy, sincere.
“I feel the same.”
They kissed again, slow and real, not dramatic, not rushed.
Something soft. Something hopeful.
Two days later, somewhere far from Hawkins, the morning air was cold and clean.
Nancy leaned against the car, coffee in hand. Robin sat on the hood, legs crossed, squinting at the sky like it personally offended her.
“So,” Robin said, “if the world doesn’t end again this week, what happens now?”
Nancy considered it.
“We go back. We take care of the people we love.”
Robin nodded. “And us?”
Nancy smiled, small but certain. “We don’t rush.”
Robin smiled back. “I’m actually very good at not rushing. I panic, I spiral, I overthink, but rushing? Nope.”
Nancy laughed.
They stood there for a moment, quiet, watching the sun climb.
Hawkins would still be broken when they returned.
But not everything was.
Robin opened the car door dramatically. “Ready to face the consequences of our emotional decisions?”
Nancy got in. “Yeah. I think I am.”
They drove back toward Hawkins, not healed, not whole, but hopeful.