Summary: "Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality..."
- Emily Dickinson (Because I Could Not Stop for Death)
A/N: Y'all I think I may have to go to an ENT for my fucking ears :'D
DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. As the author I do not always agree with the actions the characters take. The MC has Haphephobia. The depiction of such in the story may not be entirely accurate and I do not claim it to be so. The depictions of anxiety and OCD are based on my own personal experience and do not apply to the illnesses as a whole. There will be mentions of various sensitive topics which are updated in the tags, read at your own risk.
November 9, 1983
The day had been so clear and pretty that an outsider to Hawkins would never know the horrible undercurrent of fear and unease that ran through the town, through some of its citizens. They would never suspect the evil that rippled just beyond the veil between worlds. Hell, most people wouldn't believe in other dimensions, even if they saw them.
Mads definitely wouldn't, even though she was herself was something most people would have trouble believing in. But she had seen it, one too many times in fact. And good God, she didn't want to believe it existed, but she couldn't scrub its reality from her mind, no matter how much she wanted to.
She had dropped her bike off at the motel, Eddie following to pick her up, then they grabbed Tris at her place. Don had given Mads the week off work because of her migraines – and secretly because he didn't want her out after dark because of Will's disappearance, and Benny's alleged suicide, but he wasn't going to tell her that. There would be plenty of work for her over Thanksgiving and winter break she could make up.
They were driving aimlessly, the static on the radio drowning out Eddie and Tris' soft conversation from the front. But Mads still couldn't place where 011 was going. There were no roads, no identifying marks she could distinguish to locate the girl. At least until she started through an incredibly familiar copse of trees. Mads had been here before.
But not here. No. Mads had been here in the Vale, where she'd found Will. Where she'd escaped from the monster the first time, leading it away from the boy.
011 was headed to the Byers' house.
But why?
It didn't matter now; it was getting dark and they'd been driving for hours. The street directions flew from her lips, rapid fire. Tris and Eddie didn't question her, the van's tires screeching against the pavement with the hastily made turns.
Mads prayed to whatever God was out there that 011 wouldn't leave, at least for a few more minutes. Thankfully, it seemed that she had come to a halt, pausing in front of the non-rotted version of Joyce's home. Soon, the crunch of gravel filtered through the static and she ripped her scarf off her eyes. They were here.
"Cut the headlights," she demanded, lunging between the front seats to turn the radio down.
Eddie obeyed wordlessly; mouth set in a grim line. Tris' leg was bouncing furiously, whether in excitement or nervousness even she wouldn't have been able to say.
"Stop here," Mads said, and he did. "Turn off the car, we don't want to spook her."
Once he killed the engine, Mads hopped out of the van, leaving the door open. She gestured for them to do the same, whispering. "I want you two to stay at least ten feet behind me unless I say it's cool to come closer; she may be skittish and lash out. If I say 'run', you run, got it?"
"What if she hurts you?" Tris whispered back; eyes wide.
"She can't hurt me," Mads grinned, flashing her teeth in the dark.
"But she can hurt us," Eddie muttered, rubbing his eyes. All the times he wished to play D&D in real life were haunting him. What he almost wouldn't give for a normal life again.
"Uh, yeah," Mads responded. "I just said that. Stay far back behind me and you'll be fine."
"What about my baby? Are we just gonna leave her here with the doors open?"
"Too much noise and we'll scare her. Besides, no one's gonna wanna steal your baby."
Eddie made an offended noise as she flounced off, Tris already scrambling out of the van to follow. Grumbling, he exited the vehicle, trailing after them at a safe distance. He hoped with all his might that this 011 kid was less impulsive than Mads, but he had a sinking feeling that she very much was not.
Faint arguing could be heard as they approached, their steps muffled by the grass they walked on alongside the driveway. And there she was… 011. Small, coltish, so, so tiny. The instinct to grab the girl and envelop her in her arms was nearly overwhelming, but she held herself back, balling her hands into fists.
Dustin Henderson, Mike Wheeler, and Lucas Sinclair were with her. They must have smuggled her away somewhere, keeping her safe. But they were fighting; 011 looked upset, her shoulders were heaving. Sinclair was yelling about something, about a lie. Little Wheeler sounded like he was berating 011… That was what was making her upset.
Mads held up her hand to her friends as they slowly approached, gesturing for them to stay back. She couldn't bear it if 011 hurt them. Couldn't bear the thought of what she would do if that happened.
When she was only twenty feet away, Mads purposefully planted her foot on a dry-looking twig.
Snap!
The sound shattered the nighttime silence around them, the group of children turning to face her with terror written in their eyes, on their soft little faces. She almost hated to get their attention that way. Almost. She couldn't help but think it was a little funny. Eddie and Tris were going to be so mad at her later.
"Madison?" Lucas said, face scrunching in confusion.
"Madison!" Dustin shouted, bounding towards her, wrapping his arms around her middle.
"Hey kiddo," she laughed, patting his cap. Of the four boys, he was definitely her favorite.
"What are you doing here?" Mike sputtered.
"I could ask the same of you guys." She smirked, making eye contact with 011, who's own eyes widened in fear and recognition.
Mads knew 011 had seen her the night Will disappeared. She just knew it.
"We're looking for Will," Mike said petulantly.
"Well, you're not gonna find him here," she said, pulling Dustin along with her back to his little party.
"That's what I said," Lucas grumbled.
When she reached them, she raised her hand, beckoning Eddie and Tris forward.
"It's safe you guys," she called, staring with shaking limbs at 011.
They approached tentatively, their long, wild hair and dark clothes startling the boys a bit. Tris gave them a tiny wave and a smile, but Eddie just stared at 011, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. He had believed Mads – of course he believed Mads – but believing her and seeing things… that was a whole other ballgame. Fuck, it was a whole other universe, like, literally.
And to think… her head was once shaved clean like this kid's. She was skinny, and tattooed and abused. The thought made his stomach lurch, and seeing 011 – solidifying the horrifying truth he already believed – made that feeling worse.
But 011 was here. Really here. She was safe.
"Hello, 011…" Mads whispered, her throat constricting.
The little girl stared up at her, her big brown eyes nearly swallowing her face.
"What did you say?" Mike asked, voice full of mistrust and worry.
"Dude, I think she called her 011," Dustin mock whispered.
"Do you…" Mads began, taking half a step towards her. "Do you remember me?"
011 stared at her for what felt like eons, but was probably only a few seconds. The sound of the boys arguing buzzed in her ears, but she couldn't make out a thing they said. Then, Mads removed her leather wristband and bandage, holding out her arm. Moonlight shone upon her pale skin, revealing the faded, but still viable ink, marred by her scratches from the night before.
"009…" 011 whispered, her face screwing up as though she were about to cry.
"Yeah," Mads croaked, swallowing back the lump in her own throat. "Yeah, it's me."
011 hurtled herself across the short distance between them, throwing herself into Mads' arms, almost knocking them to the ground. Tiny, quiet sniffles could be heard from the space she pressed her face into Mads' biking jacket.
"You came back," she whispered.
"Yeah, I came back." Mads tightened her arms around 011 like she never wanted to let her go.
"Why?"
Mads nearly laughed. If she didn't have three terrified adolescent boys staring at her, she might have. Who was she kidding, she would laugh because she had three terrified boys staring at her. She only didn't because she knew if she started laughing, she would cry, and she didn't want to fucking cry.
That simple "why" had been eluding her for a while now. Why had she come back? Initially, she thought she wanted her revenge, to end her misery in a fiery ball of judgment and glory. She thought she wanted to punish Dr. Brenner and 001 and every single one of the people there who had kept her trapped, and she still did… but her feelings had changed.
Mads no longer wanted to die, that much was for certain, and that simple realization caused her to rethink her entire reason for coming here in the first place. With Kali, she killed indiscriminately, whether the people were active participants in her suffering or not. Kali would withhold her love if she didn't.
"I'm hard on you because I care about you," she would say, then bait Mads with the attention she so desperately sought.
But did those people she killed really deserve what she did to them? Did the people at the Lab now deserve what she wanted to do? They could have been just trying to provide for their families, keeping their head down and taking orders, not trying to look to closely at what was actually happening. Just like her. Just like Kali taught her to do.
However, Mads found that her initial plan still held water. She had wanted to free the other experiments – the other kids – like her. How? She didn't know, but if she died, it didn't really matter. Now that she knew their fate, that plan had changed as well. And with 011 before her, in her arms, she wasn't entirely sure where to take her own.
"I-I…" She began finally, running her ring covered, long nailed fingers over 011's shorn scalp. "I'm not really sure anymore."
"Papa?" 011 asked.
"I did come to… punish him," Mads admitted.
"Okay." 011 nodded, her mouth set in a grim line.
Mads bit back a laugh again, looking around at the three boys in front of her. They were missing their friend, and so was Mike's sister. Whatever her reasons for coming here, they would wait. They could wait. This was more important – her friends – and 011.
"But not now, kiddo," Mads smiled, pinching her cheek. "We've gotta find Will."
"Hiding," 011 said solemnly, chancing a glance back at the group of boys – Mike and Lucas who were arguing, Dustin who was squinting down the driveway.
"Yeah… in the Vale," Eddie said, his sharp voice startling the group in the gloom.
"What?" Mike snapped, anger in every line of his tiny body.
"Guys!" Dustin yelled, pointing to a hoard of flashing lights flying by the Byers' driveway.
Police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances flew by, each one sending Mads' heart an inch closer to her toes. Had the monster dragged Will or Barb's desecrated corpses back to this dimension? If it did, why the hell would it do that? What would it accomplish?
"I think…" Tris said, taking a few steps down the drive. "They're headed… They're headed towards the quarry."
"Will…" Mike breathed, jetting off on his bike, the other two boys hurrying behind him.
011's face was crestfallen, tears pooling in those big doe eyes.
"Hey," Eddie said, moving closer when he saw her tears. "Hey, we believe you. Mads has seen Will. And my van's right there. It'll be faster than those bikes. We'll catch up."
Initially, 011 flinched towards Mads at his sudden movement, but set her chin, nodding when she noticed the boys weren't coming back for her. If 009's friend said his "van" is faster than a bike she would believe him. 009 was her friend, and friends do not lie. Mike told her so.
"C'mon, 011," Mads said, pulling her along towards the van. "We'll prove to your loser friends that Will's still out there."
"Loser?" She asked as Mads hoisted her into the back, then climbed in after.
"It means they suck," Tris supplied, pleased that she was getting to sit shotgun again.
"Suck?" 011 asked, looking between the three teenagers.
They all shared a collective look. 011's vocabulary wasn't as advanced as Mads was. That was likely due to the latter living on the streets for five years instead of being locked up in a lab.
"That, uh…" Eddie faltered, pulling onto the road.
"It means…" Tris began, looking back and forth between Mads and 011.
"It means they behaved badly," Mads said and squeezed 001's hand. "Leaving you here with us wasn't a nice thing to do."
"No…" 011 agreed.
Eddie wasn't wrong, they passed the boys on the way to the quarry, Tris cackling at their surprised faces. The four of them knew Will was alive and safe, whatever awaited them at their destination would not be him, of that much they were certain.
Carefully, so as not to draw attention to themselves, Eddie parked the van a ways away from the quarry's entrance. From there, they snuck around to the back of one of the emergency vehicles. Radio chatter crackled all around them, groups of first responders huddled at the water's edge. None of them were Chief Hopper.
Alarm bells rang in Mads' head. If Hop wasn't among them, then it could be a bunch of government stooges who were on Dr. Brenner's payroll. Good thing she'd packed twice as much as normal for lunch that day. She was gonna need a lot of energy in case she had to wipe some memories tonight.
Just then, Hopper's cruiser roared down the gravel drive, passing right next to them. Though, with their dark clothes and being partially hidden behind the fire truck, he likely hadn't seen them, or recognized them in any case.
"Fuck, that was close," Tris muttered, earning a smack to the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Language," Mads hissed, jerking her chin at 011. She didn't even let herself remember 001 had admonished her similarly just the night before.
"Sor-ry," Tris grumbled, rubbing her head.
Tiny, crunching footsteps came from behind them. No one needed to turn to see who it was. The three boys huddled close, watching as the responders pulled a pale corpse from the water. A primary-colored puffer vest contrasted sharply with the dark water.
"It's not Will," Mike whispered. "It can't be."
It wasn't. Whatever that thing was in that gurney, it wasn't Will Byers. In fact, as Mads reached out towards the thing, she could tell it wasn't even human. The emotions coming from the man who pulled him out confirmed the feeling she got from the pseudo-corpse.
But Mike didn't have her senses and he had less of a reason to trust her. None of the boys did. And they didn't have any reason to trust her or 011 either.
"It's Will…" Lucas breathed, shaking his head in resignation. "It's really Will."
"Mike…" 011 whispered, tugging at his sleeve as he walked away in disbelief.
He rounded on her, fury flashing across his face. "'Mike', 'Mike'," he mimicked. "What?"
Mads strode over, 011 bumping against her torso as she backed away in shock. Eddie and Tris formed a protective half-circle behind them, identical glowers crossing their faces.
"Think very carefully what you say next, Wheeler," Mads warned, face dark and eyes flashing in the low light.
Lucas hurried to his friend's side, trying to make himself appear as big as he could. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size, you freaks!"
"Oh, yeah?" Eddie purred, a manic grin curling the corners of his lips. "Like you two? Picking on a little girl? I dunno guys, that looks like some freak behavior to me."
"Major freak behavior," Tris agreed, crossing her arms.
Eddie slipped his arm around Mads, placing his hand on 011's shoulder, his tongue flicking out at the two boys, sending them flinching backwards. Yeah, they were just kids, but watching their reactions was so satisfying. Mostly because they were being total assholes to the girl.
Instead of arguing further, Mike grabbed his discarded bicycle and peddled off, leaving a pitiful cloud of dust behind him. Mads almost felt bad, the kid had thought he lost one of his best friends after all. However, his outburst, and his unwillingness to let 011 explain herself rubbed Mads – and the others – entirely wrong.
His friends called after him as quietly as they could, until he was out of sight. Lucas rounded on them, but flinched when Mads glare found him again, her hand atop 011's downy head.
"That's not your friend," she said, using her thumb to wipe away 011's tears.
"Then who is it?" Dustin said, sounding entirely defeated.
"Nobody, it's not even a person," she informed them.
"What the fuck," Tris said, rushing to peer around the fire truck again. "You sure? It looks pretty person-y to me."
"One-hundred-percent."
"Shit."
"Language."
"Shit, sorry."
"How do you even know that?" Lucas said disparagingly. "We don't even know you, how are we supposed to trust anything you say?"
Before one of them could snap back with an answer, 011 pulled herself away from Mads and marched up to Lucas, scowling fiercely.
"Will. Is. Hiding." Her small hands balled into fists the very same way Mads did when she was so angry her abilities threatened to lash out on their own.
Oh , her chest hurt.
Lucas opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it, looking back at the five stares from the group of people facing him, which included Dustin – who had sidled up to where Eddie and Mads stood.
"Guys," Tris hissed, rushing over. "Cops incoming, we gotta book it!"
"Shit!" Dustin exclaimed in a whisper.
"Language!" Mads admonished.
Without waiting for permission, Eddie and Tris grabbed the boys bikes and ran for the van. Mads grabbed Dustin then 011 by the hands and set off at a run behind them. Lucas sat, sputtering for a moment before chasing after them.
"You just stole our bikes!" He exclaimed when he reached the van, well out of earshot of the cops and rescue squad down at the quarry.
"D'you want to explain to a bunch of cops why you're out past dark at a fake body dump site, kid?" Eddie asked, throwing Lucas' bike into the back of his van.
"No, I guess not."
"Then hop in."
They drove off at such a breakneck speed the kids were surprised none of the officers at the bottom of the hill noticed or chased after them. The van was silent, Eddie's knuckles white on the steering wheel. Tris even had nothing to say except "holy shit" under her breath every few seconds.
Mads held 011 close to her on the single bench Eddie left in the back, her long nails scratching lightly over the girl's scalp. Touching new people was usually hard for her… but then again, 011 wasn't really a new person, was she? And the little girl welcomed her touch like a child deprived of it. Mads knew from experience that she was.
Eventually, it was Dustin that broke the silence, which was unsurprising to just about everybody. He clambered over the bench from the back where Eddie had thrown the boys' bikes, and shuffled up to the front, staring up at Eddie with his goofy, toothless grin.
"Where're we goin'?" He asked jovially, like he hadn't just witnessed his friend's body being pulled from the quarry.
Well… He technically hadn't but that was still up for debate for the remaining boy in the back.
"We're just gettin' far away from there, kid," Eddie said, eyes trained on the road in front of him.
"So, like, how far?"
"As far as we need to, to avoid suspicion," Mads interjected.
"How do you know El, Madison?" He asked, turning to her.
"El?" Her brow furrowed.
"Short for 011," he explained with another one of his grins.
That was certainly cute. Her number wouldn't have had such a cute nickname, so she would stick with 'Mads' for the time being. But she could work with "El". It suited her.
Mads eyes met her friends' in the rearview mirror, asking an unspoken question.
"What should I say?" She whispered into their minds.
Had the situation not been so tense, she would have smiled a little at the identical jumps they did when she slithered into their brains. Tris rubbed the back of her head in discomfort, mussing her shaggy hair. Thankfully, Eddie kept the swerving to a minimum.
"Holy fuck!" Tris shouted back in her own head, unease coursing through her. "Can Eddie hear me too?"
"No, you can't hear each other unless I open the connection," Mads explained, confused by the relief that rushed over Tris.
"They already know about 011…" Eddie supplied, unaware of the other conversation. "And we've inserted ourselves into this mess, there's no way of getting out of it now, unless you want to rewrite their memories."
"That would be difficult. I'd have to go back to when they met her in the first place, then rewrite everything up until the present. Not to mention, I'd have to do the same for Wheeler too."
No, doing that would be too difficult. Every minute detail would have to be edited for three boys and she wouldn't be able to do it for several days' worth of memories without passing out or inevitably missing something. Manipulating someone was easy, manipulating their memories was a whole other undertaking.
Unless she made them forget several days of their lives in a row, no rewriting at all. But that ideal left a bad taste in all their mouths. They were just kids, they didn't deserve to have whole days erased from their minds.
"Bad place… with me," El said, snuggling closer into Mads' side, answering Dustin's question before the other's made up their minds.
"Oh!" Dustin said, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree. "So, you have powers like El?"
"Sort of…" Mads hedged, making eye contact with Eddie in the mirror again. "I don't really know everything she can do."
"She can move things with her mind!" He exclaimed, like it was the coolest thing he'd ever encountered. For a prepubescent boy, it was probably cooler than it was terrifying.
"She only closed a door," Lucas grumbled from the back.
"I can do stuff like that…" Mads admitted, unsure of how much to give away.
"Can you do anything else?" He asked, his excitement spilling out of him like a broken faucet.
"Hey, kid," Eddie said, getting his attention – drawing it away from her.
Dustin's head swiveled as if on an axel. "It's Dustin, not kid."
"Alright, alright, Dustin," Eddie amended while Tris giggled in the seat next to him. "Where are we dropping you off?"
"Mike!" El exclaimed, sitting upright.
"Ummm… Yeah, what?" Eddie asked.
"She wants to go back to Mike's," Dustin explained matter-of-factly. "She's been living in his basement."
"And his parents haven't noticed a girl with a shaved head down there?" Tris asked incredulously.
"They never go down there," Lucas supplied, peeking over the backseat. "It's kind of a 'no parents allowed' zone except they don't like it down there. Mrs. Wheeler says it smells like boy and Mr. Wheeler likes his TV too much."
That was kind of believable. Wayne never entered Eddie's room if he could help it – which meant he didn't go in at all – and Tris' parents avoided her space like the plague – their girls were just too strange and they preferred to mind their own business. And the Wilson's other cleaning girl was barred from even setting foot in Mads' room. It made sense. Some people respected other's privacy – or they just didn't care.
"You sure you don't wanna stay with me, El?" Mads asked, hopefully.
She shook her head. "Mike."
She felt deflated all of a sudden. Of course El would want to stay with him. It made sense, he kind of rescued her after all. Mads would want to be with her rescuer, if she had one. The unbidden thought of 001 was suppressed with an intensity that surprised even herself. He wasn't her rescuer; he was her tormentor.
Dustin gave Eddie the Wheeler's address, directing him through a few shortcuts while chattering a mile a minute. That kid could rival Tris for the number of words spoken without taking a breath. Eddie didn't seem to mind though, he liked attention. And recruiting sheeplings.
Although, something strange had occurred to her when she saw El in person for the first time since her escape. She was older, probably about eleven years old, like her number. But when Mads escaped, El would have been around six or seven, and the illusion 001 showed her in the rainbow room depicted all of the other experiments just as she left them. Hardly a day older.
So how had El escaped such a fate? She hadn't even been a part of the illusion. And 001 spoke of her as though she had "thwarted" his plans somehow, like Mads had. Did El even remember 001?
"Is this a gun!?" Lucas exclaimed, jerking her from her thoughts.
"Don't touch that!" Eddie screeched.
In the darkness it was easy to sneak into the Wheeler's back yard and wait for Dustin to let them in. Mads had only planned to stay for a few minutes, but El wouldn't let go of her hand. Mike was huddled on the couch looking at a pile of drawings done in crayon, presumably Will's. The sound of a TV news report filtered through the basement door.
Mads and El were curled up in a blanket fort, playing with Mike's walkie-talkie – an impressive model she would admit. The static sound of it barely registered over Dustin's chattering at Eddie and Tris who were leafing through the boys' D&D campaign sheets with rapt attention. Lucas had gone home on his bike, refusing to have any part of their "Freak Fest".
A real charmer that one.
They looked quite the pair, the two girls, as they sat side by side. El with her shaved head and loaned gym clothes and Mads with her fluffy shag, dark makeup, and stylish biker-chic outfit. Nothing could look odder, but they fit together so well after all this time.
"Can you please stop that?" Mike snapped, glaring fiercely at Mads and El from across the room.
El quickly shut off the device, but Mads twisted the dial back on – turning it up to full volume – and sent a sneering look towards Mike. Childish? Of course. She was merely a child herself, just a few years older than him.
"Are you deaf?" Mike shouted, turning to glare at them once again.
Mads just smirked.
"Uncalled for!" Tris sang from across the room, earning a 'shush' from Eddie and Dustin."
"I thought we were friends, you know?" Mike continued, as though Tris hadn't spoken. "But friends tell each other the truth. And they definitely don't lie to each other. You made me think Will was still out there, that he was still okay. But he wasn't. He wasn't!"
Mads opened her mouth to tell him where to put his misplaced feelings, but El squeezed her hand tightly. One look at the hurt, but determined gleam in her watering eyes and Mads sealed her lips tightly together, anger building at Mike's continuing tirade.
"What you did sucks." Despite him being completely and utterly wrong, Mike was clearly very upset – with all of them – and Mads couldn't help but feel a little bad for the kid.
"Lucas was right about you, all along."
With his final damning words, Mike fell silent; though, it was not because he had run out of things to say, but because a voice had begun to stream through the static on the walkie. It was the same song by The Clash that had played the night before on her cassette player. But it wasn't Joe Strummer singing the lyrics…
"Will, is that you?" Mike shouted, scrambling over to the walkie, and grabbed it from El's hand as she held it out to him. "It's Mike! Do you copy?"
He shouted over and over into the walkie, begging his friend to answer him, to acknowledge that he was alive. Instead, the signal faded out and the song Will sang once again became static.
El's nose was bleeding.
Her powers were still a bit weak then. That felt odd, wrong somehow. When Mads was El's age, she was already learning new techniques – with Peter's help, of course. She had always been able to get people to do what she wanted. Making people obey her was easy, mind reading and making people see things came quickly after. Moving things and scrying took a lot more out of her than the other abilities.
But why did El's nose bleed after such a small thing? Is it because she had to cross the veil to find Will's voice? Either way, she should be more advanced than she was.
Horror filled Mads like she'd been dunked in a pool of ice water. Just last night, 001 had said he was trapped in the Vale because of El, that it was her fault he was the way he was. Could his murderous rampage have something to do with it? Had he harmed her in some way?
Mads couldn't ask her now, not with Mike and Dustin here. They didn't need to hear that conversation. And if she were honest with herself, Mads was almost too scared to even bring it up. That conversation would tear open the wounds 001 inflicted upon her that never healed properly. It would make her face the guilt she felt, leaving her "siblings" there all those years ago – and the guilt she felt about their deaths.
"Where did you get this?" Eddie asked, pulling her attention onto him, his voice trembled like his hand which held a bright yellow t-shirt.
Something about that t-shirt looked familiar…
"El was wearing it when we found her, why?" Mike asked, looking at him with suspicion.
In Eddie's ringed fingers, he crumpled a Benny's Burgers t-shirt. The very restaurant he frequented after his D&D sessions with Hellfire. Mads had never gotten the opportunity to go with him.
"Shit… I– I," his gaze met hers and his face was pale, nostrils pinched like he was going to be sick. "I forgot to tell you…"
"What?" She asked, scrambling over to him and taking his hands in her own. "What did you forget to tell us? What's wrong?"
He looked between her and Tris, then slowly at the three children before speaking. "The guys told me this morning… I didn't know how to tell you, and then you told me about what happened last night and I forgot. I just… shit. Benny Hammond… died the other day."
The way he emphasized "died" spoke volumes to the two teenage girls. Something took Benny's life, and it wasn't natural causes.
A small hand carefully settled itself on her shoulder, causing her to jump. It was El, now standing with them instead of huddling in her fort where Mads had left her. El could touch her. It was okay. She just wasn't used to tiny hands. It was okay.
Then the girl held up her other hand, mimicking a handgun and pressed it to the back of Mads' head.
"Dead," she whispered as Mads' eyes blew wide.
"Holy shit," Eddie whispered, hands clenched into fists in the yellow fabric.
"F-f-fuck," Tris squeaked, tears brimming in her eyes.
Mads didn't correct their language, because holy fuck. If El knew Benny was shot in the back of the head dead, and she was wearing a Benny's t-shirt, then she had to have been there. Which meant Papa was after her.
Which meant Papa would be after her too.
And Eddie and Tris would die. Mr. Wilson, Pam, and Jake would die. And anyone else she loved.
The lights began to flicker, and they could hear Mike's parents upstairs exclaiming in confusion. Tremors wracked her body and nausea roiled in her gut. Oh God, oh god, oh God. Papa was going to be so angry.
So angry.
The walkie began squalling loudly, static and other radio noises spilling from its speaker.
Mads wasn't scared of what Papa would do to her. No, she was scared of what Papa would do to the people she'd been foolish enough to let herself love. She was a fucking idiot. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
A large, ringed hand cupped her cheek, pulling her out of the hole she'd sunken into. Hazel eyes met dark and his other hand rose to her face, wiping away her tears. He always did that…
"Mads," Eddie whispered as the lights began to slow. "Safe. We're all safe. They can't hurt us, not with you around. You're a fucking superhero; I need you to remember that."
"Eddie," she croaked, lifting a shaking hand to his wrist. "Eddie, he's going to try to kill you. And Tris. And everyone else."
"And you'll stop him, just like you stopped that monster."
"What if I can't?"
"You can."
Oh, her heart.
It was breaking in two and swelling three sizes all at once and it hurt so good to love someone so much. So much that she would die a thousand times just to sit in this basement that smelled like mildew and boy and look into those dark eyes she loved so dearly. Just so she could feel Tris' slender arms slide around her middle and hold her so, so tight. To feel El's tiny hand smoothing over her frizzed hair. Mads would do everything over again a million times if it led back to this exact moment and never regret a thing.
A/N: God I am so soft for Eddie and Mads
Why have I done this to myself?
BFFs for lyfe
Also! El is here! I hope you liked their re-intro! No action this chapter, just feelings
Lots and lots of feelings.
There is time for badassery later these bbs need snuggles
PLS spare me a comment i NEED to scream about these children
Chapter title taken from "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters on the studio album "The Colour and the Shape" released in 1997 (a good year imo for music and me). Its just so Eddie and Mads I cannnnt
Thanks for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I appreciate each one! (Please don't forget to leave a review if you liked the story so far!)
This is the "mixtape" I created for this fic. It's not entirely period accurate, but I feel like these songs fit the theme of the show and characters.
playlist/2w0Fg6UPmVvj5L3EIMRYfw?si=d8e38810c96f4875
