𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 *𝙻𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚡

*Four strikes*

*Requests : BrishtiMukherje asked for a one-shot where Steve, Robin and Nancy are all in the upside down and Max has just gone up against Vecna but the clock rings four times, meaning they think Vecna has killed her but she's only in danger so far. They all hurry and come out of the upside-down only to find Max with Lucas all messed up. Eventually, she gets to the hospital, revealing the mom side of Steve while Lucas loses his mind since he is desperate to see her again. This chapter is on the longer side and can be emotional. Huge spoiler warning for volume two!! I really enjoyed writing this and I think requests like this are adorable. Let me know what you all think!

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Steve merely had to do a double-take to make sure he heard those ticks right. The clock did indeed strike four times. With Robin and Nancy giving each other a knowing look Steve cussed under his breath, "Shit." They had established what this meant for Max earlier. Scrambling for the front door to get back to her, a loud sound was heard from the attic. 

It could've been several different things but Steve's mind instantly went to one possibilit: it had to be a new gate. This could only mean one thing... Which didn't necessarily make him feel any better about the sound of the clock. The new gate meant that Max must've died for it to open. Beginning to shake at the thought, Robin murmured to herself, "Max.. sh-she's..." "Upstairs,"

Nancy nodded mostly speaking to herself while she dodged her way up the stairs. Robin and Steve followed, in shock but with a valid motive to get out of here. "She's okay, right?" Her voice cracking as she spoke, Robin slowly trailed behind them. With her words Steve sucked in a breath, "She has to be." He opened the attic door sighing, too scared to look inside just yet. 

"We're about to find out." Robin gulped,  "What if she's dea-" Not believing the words were about to escape her throat, Steve cut her off shaking his head. "Don't say that Robin. God, don't say that!" Not wanting to jinx it she nodded in response, "Right, sorry."  She looked around, spotting a piece of wood to knock on quickly, "Knock on wood," 

Nancy rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Oh god," Steve jumped between them, taking in a long deep breath. "I'm going in now." He told them not wanting their conversation to continue. Normally, Robin would have laughed seeing Steve walk inside with goosebumps on his arms. But now, due to the current circumstances it really wasn't funny.

"Going in," She repeated nervously. "It's really hot in here, is it just me-" "Just stop Robin!" Steve snapped trying to focus on the room before him. "Right..." But, like his instincts had assured him, Max was in fact not okay. Less than okay if that's even possible. When Steve, Robin and Nancy arrived back in Hawkins, she was laying coldly in Lucas's arms looking close to a corpse.

"Jesus Christ Sinclair! This was not the plan!" Steve cursed crouching down to see both their states. Not only did Max look like she had gone through hell but so did Lucas. "I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I tried to save her, I really did, but Jason, he tried to kill me- and I- look at her!" Lucas panicked speaking between breaths while he cried over his ex-girlfriend's frail body.

Her body close to his own, his hands shook slighly as they traced over her cheeks. Robin made eye contact with Lucas before quickly looking back at Steve, "Is she.." Lucas whimpered, dropping his head back down once again. "She has no pulse." "Shit." Nancy gasped springing into action, running back down the stairs to get some help. 

Sure, Erica had already gone to get some but it was no use in telling her not to go either. "I tried," Lucas murmured, "I really tried to save her," He sobbed, his tears dripping onto Max's pail almost purple skin. "Fuck!" Steve suddenly yelled kicking over an old canister and loosing his cool. He had kept it in this long, but finding Max dead- the opposite of the plan, had nearly killed him.