Breathe ⭐️ Reddie

31

Of all of the people working for the Hive, Beverly Marsh was the best at sneaking around and escaping. Especially when she was pissed and motivated. Being tied up and separated from her friends who could be being tortured and interrogated motivated her more than anything.

As soon as she was dumped in the quarantine room, she pulled the bobby pin that had been clipped to her jeans out. It took a half an hour because she was tied with ropes, but Bev eventually got the ropes off. Then, she looked around the room, noticing that there were no cameras.

"Idiots," Bev scoffed.

She ignored the door, knowing it would get her caught again. She may have been the smartest and sneakiest, but she also was the smallest and lightest. She could fight for sure and take down one or two people on her own, but the Scorpions would know that because of Henry. Bev was smart enough to know she couldn't fight her way out.

So, she skipped the door and noticed a sealed vent on the floor. It was bolted shut, but it was no match for Bev's skills. She opened it and crawled through, closing it behind her.

Bev didn't bother to go after any of the other quarantined. They were all bigger than her and wouldn't fit through the vents. She focused on following the path that Richie and Eddie were taken down. They'd be the ones in danger.

"Where are you fuckers?" Bev whispered, her voice drifting through the vents.

As soon as she said it, she heard a pained scream. Instantly, Bev began crawling down the vent quicker.

•••

Richie screamed loudly, out of the blue, surprising Eddie. The pain was so sudden, hitting his gut like a ball of fire had rooted itself there.

He looked terrible. His face was red and flushed, dripping with sweat. Eyes bloodshot, tears and snot running down his face. His skin had paled as he continued to groan and yell out in pain.

"Richie?! Are you alright?!" Eddie yelled, though it was obvious he was in terrible pain.

As he figured, Richie ignored his yelled and continued to scream. He was full on sobbing, his breathing rapid. The needles still hung out from under his nails, the skin purple where they had been inserted.

"Make it stop!" Richie screamed, eyes shut in pain.

Eddie felt his eyes burn with tears. Richie hadn't done anything wrong to deserve the pain, and Eddie knew he didn't have the answers to do anything about it.

As his tears began to fall, the glass door to the room slid open and Patrick and Henry strolled inside, both looking pleased with themselves.

Richie let out another pained yell, and Patrick sat over next to him, touching his forehead. "Damn, he's burning up. I didn't expect him to get this bad," he said with a laugh.

"Stop it! Give him an antidote!" Eddie yelled, both out of fear and anger. Who knows how the poison would affect Richie long term?

"Give me my answers," Henry said.

"I don't have any! I don't know what HI-11 is!" Eddie yelled, watching as Richie started breathing harder.

Patrick stood up and stood next to Henry, holding a vile of an aqua liquid. "This is your antidote. I'll give it to him, but we need answers."

His calm tone sounded evil, and it made Eddie shudder.

"I don't know anything about it," Eddie whispered as Richie let out another scream.

"Then you don't need your anti-" Patrick stopped talking abruptly and fell to the ground, the vile landing and rolling across the floor.

Henry turned around to see a flash of red hair before Bev slammed her fist into Henry's nose. He fell to the floor, grabbing his face. Bev kicked him in the head once again, knocking him out cold.

"Bev! The blue stuff in the vile! Give it to Richie!" Eddie yelled over another pained scream.

Bev nodded and grabbed the vile, popping the lid off and forcing it down Richie's throat.

Richie tried to spit it out, his confused brain convinced it would hurt him more. However, he wasn't able to get it out as Bev forced his mouth shut and made him swallow the liquid.

"Pull the needles out!" Eddie called.

Bev shuddered at the length as she drew out the needles, ignoring Richie's pained yells. She angrily stabbed five into both Patrick and Henry.

She grabbed the pair of scissors from off of a nearby table and cut off Eddie's restraints before tying up Henry and Patrick.

Eddie rushed over to Richie and touched his forehead, sighing in relief when he realized the temperature wasn't burning. Instead, it seemed as though he was cooling down.

"Richie?" Eddie whispered, shaking him gently.

Richie's eyes fluttered open, his vision blurred. He would've panicked, but he recognized Eddie's gentle voice and soft touch.

"Eds?" he asked in a scratchy voice.

"Come on, we have to get out of here," Eddie whispered as Bev undid the restraints.

Richie stood up on shaky legs, an arm wrapped around Eddie for support. "Why is it always me who needs to be saved?" he asked.

"Because you're new and Eddie's obsessed with you," Bev said with an eye roll. "They know he'll break."

"Fuck off, Bev."

They opened the door to the room, Bev gripping both Patrick's and Henry's guns in her hands. As Bev led them down the hall, yells echoed.

"Fuck," Richie whispered. "I cannot go through any more of that shit."

"Run!" Bev yelled, taking off.

Richie tried, but fell quickly. In a matter of seconds, armed guards surrounded them.

Eddie expected to be tied up and pulled away again, but the guards knelt down and pulled off their masks.

"Dad?" Eddie asked.

"Thank god you're okay," Frank said, hugging him and helping Richie to his feet.

"Wait, how'd you-" Eddie began, only to be stopped.

"No time to explain. We need to find the others. Do you know where they are?" Frank asked.

"I can take you. I can also show you where they're all hiding," Bev cut in.

Frank nodded and handed her a bulletproof vest. "Get these two back to the base, now."

Eddie and Richie both wanted to fight, but they knew Richie couldn't move or help in any way. He was still in pain and weak, and there was no way Eddie would leave him alone.

They allowed themselves to be escorted by the mass of Hive members, both silently praying that all of their friends would make it out alive.