••••• "Don't don't you want me? / You know I can't believe it when you say that you don't need me" •••••
"This might be the stupidest thing I've ever gotten myself involved in, but I'm in."
In which Steve Harrington and Kimberly Henderson go from be...
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This was always Kim's least favorite part; when the group split up for the final battle. She wished she could clone herself, send each of her doppelgängers with each group to protect them.
The trailer was silent as they approached the Creel house, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Everyone wishing that Steve would just keep driving, drive them right out of Hawkins and never turn back. But that wasn't the plan and it wouldn't help anyone.
Steve pulled to a stop, the rundown, murder house looming. Max, Lucas, and Erica got up, gathering their supplies.
Kim grabbed Max's arm before the trio could get past her. "Be careful, okay? Don't do anything stupid." She turned to Lucas. When had he grown up so much? She could remember him singing about Dustin farting in the Wheeler's baskment like it was yesterday. "If she starts floating, get her out of there. I don't care if it's too soon, the rest of us will figure something out."
Lucas swallowed and nodded before the trio hopped off the bus.
As Steve drove away, he reached for Kim's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "They're gonna be okay, Kimmy. Everything's going to be okay."
She stared out the window, watching the house get smaller and smaller as the sun set. If the world hadn't been on the brink of collapse, Kim would have dragged Steve to Lake Jordan. They would sit on a picnic blanket or in a hammock and watch the pink sky fade to dark blue, just as they had done hundreds of times.
The trailer pulled to a stop again on a wooded road near the trailer park.
"Okay," Nancy sighed. "I want to run through it one more time. Phase one?"
"We meet Erica at the playground," Kim replied. "She'll signal to Max and Lucas when we're ready."
"Phase two?" Nancy asked.
"Max baits Vecna. He'll go after her which'll put him in his trance," Steve explained.
"Phase three?" Nancy quizzed.
"Me and Eddie draw the bats away," Dustin answered.
"Phase four?"
"We head into Vecna's hopefully newly bat-free lair, and flambé," Robin held up one of the Molotov cocktails.
"Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied," Nancy instructed, even though they had all heard this already. "Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?"
They all nodded, a chorus of got it's.
After gathering their weapons and getting off the mobile home, the group ran to Eddie's trailer.
"Be careful," Dustin warned, looking up uneasily at the gate.
"Thanks, bubby," Steve nodded. "Here goes nothing." Steve expertly pulled himself up to rope and landed with ease in the Upside Down. He looked back up at the rest of the group with a smug smile.
