Love Is A Battlefield (A Stranger Things/Steve Harrington Fanfiction)

Chapter Ninety-Three: Vecna/Henry/One

Once we had both caught our breath, Steve helped me to my feet before turning to face me.

"You scared the life out of me." He said, putting his hands on my arms and looking me over. "That one...that looked different than the other times. Before you seemed vaguely, somewhat conscious, but this time you were like, completely dead to the world-"

"That's because it was," I told him, looking up through the hole at the others before meeting his eyes again, "It was different this time. I wasn't witnessing someone else's attack, that one...this one was mine." 

"But you're alive," He pointed out, confused, "We didn't play music or anything, you just woke up." I nodded.

"Yeah, um...there's a reason for that," I replied, "Let's get back into our world and I'll sit down and explain everything."

He nodded in agreement, and I turned towards the sheet rope, jumping up onto it again. I pulled myself upwards through the opening, and once again, just like it had in my nightmare, my hair fell over the top of my head as the direction of gravity changed. I tightened the grip of my hands as the rest of my body came through, swinging down and landing on my feet on top of Eddie's mattress.

"That wasn't terrifying at all." Eddie said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into a hug. I hugged him back, and as soon as he let me go, Nancy and Robin had their arms around my entire body, crushing me between them. I smiled.

"I'm ok, guys. Honestly, its ok." I said, pulling away from them as Steve came through the portal. "But um...I've got quite a bit to fill you in on, so you might want to take a seat."

I sat down in a chair that sat in front of the window, while Nancy, Eddie, and Erica sat down on the couch across from me. Robin sat on the floor and Dustin and Max stood on either side of the couch, all of them watching me intently. Steve opted to sit on the floor beside me, putting a hand on my knee.

"For starters, I know who Vecna is," I told them, tucking my hair behind my ear, "He's actually Henry Creel...Victor Creel's son."

"I thought he died." Robin said. I nodded.

"Victor only thought he did,because that's what he was told," I explained, "He actually ended up at Hawkins Lab with Dr. Martin Brenner...he's Number One, he's the one that all the kids in El's program are based off of. He is the reason that they all have powers...and apparently why I have mine."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked. I bit my lip.

"Apparently, I was born...different, I guess. My Dad, when he was in the war, they had him working with Chemical Warfare. He spent hours at a time working with Agent Orange without gloves or masks or anything. He and everyone else they had working with that stuff thought they were fine because they were told that they would be. But then those soldiers grew up, and  they started having kids, and they were the ones reaping the consequences. Deaths, birth deffects...Cancer, in my little sister's case."

"But not you." Eddie pointed out. I nodded. 

"Apparently instead of facing the same side-effects as the other kids, I just...I don't know, absorbed it? Essentially, I was some kind of mutant freak before I ever went into the Upside Down. Its why I ended up with these powers, I assume its how Vecna was able to open his first gate, and...its why he took me to the Upside Down in the first place."

"Wh-Vecna knew?" Dustin asked. I nodded.

"He said we're the same," I continued, "He looked at the crappy circumstances of my life back then, mixed with my bizarre biology and he thought he could get me on his side. He's been planning all of this, my entire screwed up life from the very beginning. Probably since I moved to Hawkins."