Hi all, and welcome to my Stranger Things Steve Harrington/OC story! It's been a long, long time coming. Seriously. Since 2017 long.
I just updated the first chapter, so this is a little different than the original I posted. In this story, we've got the Ice Queen of Hawkins, the older-but-shorter-by-season 2 sister of Dustin Henderson, because he deserves an older sibling. She's Veronica, and even though Heathers came out in 1989 I've taken the liberty of borrowing some of my favorite quotes because Winona Ryder Easter Eggs. Seriously, I cannot overstate my love for that movie. Anyway, there's more of a backstory for the Henderson family, including adding the dad to the "asshole fathers club", co-president with Lonnie Byers, the prick. Expect explicit language because, hello, Stranger Things isn't known for censoring language.
Fair warning, while this is Steve/OC the season 2 part will include Billy/OC, but not for long. I promise. He's a great villain, but he's a dick until he isn't. Just wanted to get that out of the way. Because again, he's a dick. But I'm also treating their relationship a bit like Jackson Whittemore and Lydia Martin's from Teen Wolf, especially with the later outcome. And there will also be inbetween chapters between ST 1 and ST 2, then ST 2 and ST 3, adding some more things as will as a deeper dive into how Max and Billy's relationship changes, because let's be honest that wasn't really commented on in ST 3, and I'd like to see it. But this will not be a Billy Hargrove/OC endgame story. Not like that.
As Veronica was last seen being dragged to the Upside Down, she's not around for the events of 1x03-1x04. This chapter has elements of 1x05 towards the end, but we pick up again with canon at 1x06 - next chapter, which will hopefully be updated tomorrow or the day after. In this update we see Veronica navigating the Upside Down, and basically deal with her inner thoughts. As she has been written to have depression and anxiety, we also see the tail end of what happens if someone is abducted, left on their own, and has to navigate a strange place in order to survive, and they haven't taken their medicine. And don't have actual food. Or water. So warning, it will get dark. There are thoughts of suicide, though not through graphic means in anyway. It's more about succumbing to that loss of hope and the fact it's been a few days so she'll "die anyway." And though it's a shorter chapter, there will be flashbacks and nightmares all about this adventure, so we'll see more of her in the Upside Down as The Ice Queen of Hawkins progresses.
Enjoy the story! I only own Veronica.
I start to open my eyes, vision blurry. The world is still dark, the floor is stick, and the air is hot and heavy and my ears ringing. So it's no surprise that my first thought is, "Oh, great, I blacked out at a party."
It isn't until I start to sit up that everything starts to come back to me. Jonathan and I drove to Indianapolis, and we missed the vigil for Will. Barb and Nancy picked me up. We went to Steve's for a party. Barb cut her hand. Nancy went upstairs. We sat at the pool. Then something… took us?
My ears are ringing and I press down on each one, rocking back and forth in pain. A blurry form comes in front of me, red hair matted with slime and clothes covered in goo. Barb. "-ica. On. Ver. Veronica!" My ears are still ringing but my name comes out, loud and clear. She has her hands on my shoulders, shaking me. "C'mon!"
"Where -"
"We have to go!" Barb helps me stand, and I groan in pain, stumbling, my left ankle on fire. "Nancy!" She shouts, looking around, and my vision becomes more clear.
We're standing inside a pool. An empty pool. Covered in vines, with ash in the air. "Co-cover. Cover y-your mouth." I stutter, pulling up my shirt collar up to cover my mouth and nose.
Barb ignores me though, holding me up with one arm as she yells, "Nancy! Nancy!"
The only answer she receives is a growl, and we both turn to see this great, terrible monster in the corner of the pool. It roars, face opening like a flower.
It's the creature that took us.
I'm too sore, too tired to scream. Barb does, though. Louder than I ever thought possible, and she rushes me to the side of the pool to latch onto the vines. "Climb! Get out of here!"
"Barb!" I shout, but she rushes away, the monster slowly approaching us, it's movements calculated.
"VERONICA, CLIMB!" She screams, and I nod.
My ankle is injured, but my arms are still strong thanks to archery. The vines are sticky, too, which helps. I try to hold my breath as my collar slips down from my face. The adrenaline keeps me from succumbing to exhaustion, and I carefully pull myself up and out of the pool, crawling to the stairs where a screaming Barb is making her way up.
"Barbara! Barbara! Take my hands!" I shout, shooting my body forward so it's between the metal bars of the pool ladder.
"Smarties!" She shouts, tears falling down her face. My own cheeks are wet, my eyes puffy.
"Take my hands!" I shout again, and our fingers become entangled, tighter than the vines I just climbed up. Suddenly she screams in pain, thrashing. "Barb!"
"Go! Smarties, go!"
"No, I'm not leaving you!" I scream back, holding on tighter.
She shakes her head, face twisted in pain. "Veronica, go! Get out of here! Go!"
We both scream as she pulled away from me and I scramble forward to reach her. "NO! NO!" The world closes in on me, tighter as the monster disappears into the dark, empty pool, Barbara with him.
Something else growls, though, in the distance. But I don't care. I need to get to Barb. I have to get to Barb.
The growling gets closer, and I roll over just in time to see this wolf-like creature jumping over me, snarling in warning.
And my adrenaline snaps back in. The age old "fight or flight" dilemma takes over and I stand up, backing away and screaming when my ankle snaps a bit.
"Get away from me!" I yell at the creature, but it only snarls and runs towards me.
So I make my decision. Ankle be damned, I run into the woods, staggering as I go and covering my mouth and nose with my arm.
Something growls, and I force myself to continue running away. It feels like I'm stepping on a bunch of snakes, and my ankle is constantly getting tangled up or catching onto a knot, but I can't see a lot even with the lit fog surrounding me.
"Please let this be a bad dream. Please let this be a bad dream." I pray out loud as I run through the woods I thought I knew, but when I pinch my skin nothing happens.
I keep to the edge of the forest, close to where I can easily escape.
As I move as silently as possible through the ashy forest, my mind slips back to the past. The good past.
"Okay, kid. Let's say you go camping alone. You get lost on the way to the site you know, and end up in a completely different location. What do you do?" My dad asks.
"Don't panic." I tell him, twelve-year old me tugging a pigtail nervously.
He smiles, proud. "Good, good. Okay. Next?"
Try… try to retrace your steps."
"Yeah. And if you can't?"
"Stay put?"
He shakes his head. "Only if you've told someone where you're going. Let's say you don't. What do you do?"
"Stop… think… observe. Plan?"
"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner." He smiles and pats my shoulder. But then the smile falls, a serious look back on his face. "Let's say you're injured. What do you do?"
"First aid, as soon as you can." I bite my lip. "Why do I need to know this, dad? You're always going to be with me."
"Always." He promises, one last lie before the truth comes out. "But you never know what's going to happen, Veronica. So I need you to be prepared for anything. What else do you have to do?"
I blink and look around, mind no longer focusing on the bright sunny day my dad and I spent in the woods, a week before mom and I caught his ass. Find shelter. I look around, and it's as though he's next to me, not miles and a whole world away. Someplace to stay warm and dry. Get water, and purify it. Make a fire. Ration your food. Be on the alert.
I can remain vigilant, but the rest? I don't even know where I am. There are only two things I'm sure about as I creep through the woods. One, this place looks like my home, but it's not. And two, this isn't a dream, this is real. I'm on my own, Barb was taken, and I have to find her. But the only way I can do that is if I survive whatever the hell those things are and fix my damn ankle.
Finally, I reach what used to be a stream, only it's dried out. The coolness comes from the goo. It's surrounded by trees, and I sit down at the base of the largest trunk, pulling off my dirty, ripped varsity jacket as well as the flannel top covering my tee.
The button-down is ripped, so I dig my fingers into the tears and pull at the seams, continuing to rip until I have a bunch of makeshift bandages and a large square.
The first thing I do is take that large square and fold it like a bandana, tying it around my nose and mouth and double knotting it underneath my ruined ponytail. Then I roll up my jeans and carefully untie my converse, slipping it off my left shoe and pulling down my green-stained sock. My ankle is covered in bruises, and I bite my lip to hold in my groan as I press at it. There's no way for me to diagnose my injury, though. I can only hope it's just a bad sprain. So I tie the ends of the strips together and wrap my ankle slowly, making sure it's fully supported before I put my shoe back on. It's still throbbing, but the pain has gone down.
As I'm standing, jacket wrapped around my waist, something slithers over my hand. I turn my head and watch with wide eyes as a vine starts to wrap around me, getting tighter. More creep up, attempting to grab me.
But I won't let them take me. I have someone I need to save.
So I hold in my scream and tug back, uncaring about the rawness on my wrist as I run as fast as I can away from whatever the hell was trying to grab me.
Only the vines are more alive now, snaking up on my legs as I run and tug, ankle still supported because I'm overcompensating with my right.
Finally I'm practically crawling until I've reached an area of the woods not completely covered in vines, my lungs on fire. I'm in shape, yeah, but this is different.
Suddenly, the events of the night catch up with me, as if my brain is telling me it's time to succumb to the anxiety that kept inflating inside of me ever since I woke up in the pool. As if my body was biding it's time before the balloon popped. The next thing I know, my back is pressed against the tree and I'm cover my eyes with my hands. A sudden sob wracks through my body, until more hiccup out of me.
Whatever lives here, those creatures - they don't seem to hear me. Or care. I mean, they should be swarming me, right? I'm on their turf, I'm the one that got away. They should be coming after me.
Why the hell am I complaining about being safe?
My chest gets even tighter than before, and I feel everything narrowing, my vision getting dark on the edges. Vaguely, I can feel my whole body shaking.
I haven't had a panic attack in years. Well, minor ones, but nothing a few deep breaths and therapy couldn't take care of. But this one takes the cake. Nothing I'm doing is working. I try to think of a happy memory, but all my mind can focus on is the fact I'm stuck down here.
God, it took me finally getting my wish of being left alone to see how stupid I've been.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." I sob, and my heart feels like it's about to leave my body.
How could I have wished for this, ever? My mom's going to lose a daughter, my brother is going to lose a sister. Jonathan is going to lose a best friend. Nancy will be left with only Tommy and Carol.
I'm leaving them. I'm leaving them right now, being here. I'm gone.
Another shiver goes up my spine and my vision gets more hazy. Blacker. My breathing is completely erratic, and I can actually hear the blood pumping through my veins.
"Happy thoughts." I mutter. "H-happy. Thoughts."
I shift back and forth, covering my ears now to block out any sound. Think. Come one, please, please. Think.
"Leia." A familiar voice greets. I look around, startled. No one is there. "Leia." The voice repeats, closer. "Leia! Wait!" I blink and something tells me to look down. I stare down, a little boy with curly hair waddling up to me, dressed in a fuzzy bear-like costume, a strap running diagonally from his chest to his hip, completely oblivious to the world around him. "You promised!"
I get down on my knees to look directly at the boy, but his face is all blurry. Unfocused. I take his fuzzy gloved hands in mine. "What did I promise?" I ask, completely confused. "How did you get here?"
"You said you'd stay with me! No friends, just me! You promised." The little boy with the blurry hair stomps his foot, ignoring my last question in favor of my first. "You lied."
"I didn't lie. I didn't lie!"
"Then why are you leaving?"
"I'm not! I don't understand! What are you doing here?"
"Jonathan isn't your brother! I am! You said you'd stay with me! No party!"
I gasp. "Dustin?"
The boy's face becomes clearer, until I completely I'm talking to my little brother when he was six. A New Hope had come out that May. I was finally allowed to take Dustin Trick-or-Treating on my own that Halloween, and the nerd was obsessed with Star Wars. He even started calling me Leia, after he heard my mother say my middle name, "Leigh." We worked together, my mom and I, to make the perfect little Chewbacca costume for him. And with me dressed in a white long-sleeved dress and the twin donut-hair, we were the Princess and the Walking Carpet.
"Don't go to the party!" Dustin begs, lisp even worse as his teeth were barely there those days.
"What party?" I bite my lip, thinking back to Halloween of '77. I was 10. Jonathan and I had been invited over to Ally Stuart's house. I remember because I forced Jonathan to get a Luke costume. He just didn't seem the "Han Solo" type. He still isn't.
I had also promised Dustin I would stay with him all night. He threw a fit, when I said I was leaving after dropping him off at home. His bucket was filled to the brim with candy, and I remember half of it falling out when he threw it down and cried.
I can see the tears now, again, and while my chest should be ripped open at this point, it starts to… fade? That tight feeling. It's fading.
I repeat the words I'd said that night, a personal promise I have done my best to stick to. "I love you, Dustin. You are my little brother. I carry you right here, just like you carry me. And I won't ever leave you. I promise."
Something snaps inside me. I realize that I had closed my eyes when I hallucinated my brother, because once they're open it's like I'm seeing everything at its highest setting. The world around me is practically glowing as I start to stand, steadying myself on the trees around me. My breathing is still heavy, my body still shaking with panic, but all that's on my mind is Dustin.
Dazedly I think out loud, "If only Hawkins High could see me now. Their Ice Queen - the one they parted the halls for - afraid. Vulnerable."
I start to move, though. Through the dark forest, stepping as carefully as I can over vines, until I'm forced to stop, again. But this time for a completely different reason. Even though I'm at the edge of the woods, close to town, I have to stop.
Because I am oh so very hungry.
Uncaring of the vines at the moment, I fall to my knees, landing on the gooey soil. I breathe in under the hot flannel, hands landing on my thighs. I jolt when my left touches a mushy bulge in the pocket of my jeans. I nearly scream, expecting some kind of injury or thing. But a smile fills my face when I hear a crinkling wrapper and pull out a mushy but still real Three Musketeers bar, and look up at the sky.
"Thanks, Dustin." I whisper.
Dustin. My mom. My friends. The little girl we found. Will. Barb.
I have people counting on me, and I can't let them down.
So I take a bite, just one, and fold the wrapper down, tucking the bar into my pocket once more and standing up, shaky but a little stronger. More motivated.
First, I have to find Barb. I have to. Maybe… Maybe she was dragged out here, to the woods? Through a tunnel, or something? Predators always have lairs. Parallel universes or wherever the hell I am would follow that rule, right?
Caves. I should check in caves.
I take in a deep breath, then breathe out.
It's time for me to be the Huntress. For however long I can be.
I groan, climbing up another rock with help from the vines. I guess I smell bad even to whatever dragged my ass here, because nothing's attacked me in hours. Days? It's hard to tell, really. Because the sun doesn't rise or set here, even when my eyes close for however long they can. The lack of medicine in my body has made my anxiety and depression peak, but then again that could be because I'm in an alternate dimension. I'm not in Hawkins anymore, even if the woods seem familiar. I spend too much of my time running and hiding from monsters. A couple had come close to getting me, only I know how to navigate a forest, even if it's stranger than most. I climb trees, I work against the vines. But in the end, it's no use, and I'm stuck with the knowledge that I failed her.
My hunt for Barb has gone slow. Too slow. And with every step I take, the fear builds in my veins, until I come to this horrible conclusion that I'm too late. I lost her. And if I survive, I'll have to tell her parents that I failed to keep their daughter safe.
The dark thoughts take over my mind and I find myself lying down on the cool rock, staring up at the starless, foggy sky. I could just lay here. Finish my candy. Wait to just die from exhaustion, dehydration. I know I'm dehydrated. My lips are cracked, my skin feels too tight, and I've stopped sweating even though I'm constantly moving. I'm running on hope, but my battery is dying and I don't think I'll get a recharge. A human can only go a week without water, longer without food. I can already feel myself getting close to death's door. It's a scary feeling, knowing you're going to die and that no one will find you. Maybe a monster will come by and eat you, ignoring the smell in favor of a meal.
I reach into my pocket, only to feel the wrapper. No more nougat. The last gift I ever got, the last physical reminder of my little brother, and it's gone.
I gently move out of my jacket, having put it on… whenever ago. A thought crosses my mind when my hand reaches into one of the pockets and pulls out Nancy's index cards. I could just eat that, right? It's not like I'm going to live, anyway.
My mom and brother are going to be crushed. Do they even think I'm missing, though? Do they just assume I've decided to devote all my time to helping the Byers family? Is Will okay? Have they found him? What happened with that little girl we found in the woods?
I have so many questions, and no one to answer them.
Then my mind drifts further down the rabbit hole. Is Nancy happy? Is Steve making sure she's smiling? Is he taking care of her, like I wish he would take care of me?
Bet his friends would love seeing me like this, finally dethroned. Powerless. I can only imagine him caring about whether or not I'm okay. I don't actually believe he is. The only time he pays attention to me is when we're arguing. It's why I would keep them going, you know. Entertain him. Because even if it was for only a handful of minutes during the day, at least he noticed me. "King Steve and the Ice Queen." Now that could have been a good story. If only things were different.
I curl up into a ball and close my eyes, uncaring of vines that could squeeze me. I don't care anymore, and I don't care that I don't care. It feels good, letting go of all my feelings. My stupid, insignificant feelings. All I know is I let them win, over and over again. I pushed people away and missed out on so much. I'm going to die how I told myself I wanted to live - alone.
And you know what? That doesn't matter. Because my death won't make people stop living. They'll move on, even mom and my brother. They'll miss me, but eventually they'll let go. I know that should make me sad, but it's taking so much energy just to feel something right now.
I just want it all to be over. I want it all to end. I just want to leave.
I start to feel my breaths evening out, the world gets even more quiet. I can go, now. I can rest.
That's when I hear it, though. The thing that kicks me swiftly in the ass, jolting me out of depression and distracting me with confusion. An all-too familiar voice, sounding miles away but still so close. "Nancy! Nancy, where are you?"
"Jonathan! Jonathan!" A shrill scream responds, closer. So close.
"N-na." My voice cracks from disuse. "Na...na. Jo. Nath. Nan. Jona." I cough and sit up, slowly, energy wavering. I cough, clear my throat, anything to get it working again. "Nan. Cy. Jo. Athan. Nancy! Jonathan!" I finally scream, voice hoarse but suddenly strong. I scramble to the edge of the boulder only to drop and land on the vines, my right side taking the weight and my head miraculously not slamming on the ground. Something is snarling nearby, something else running, until a shadow looms over me, and my head rolls up, accepting my fate.
Only a flower-headed beast isn't standing over me, ready to attack.
It's Nancy.
