HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1986.

"VECNA HAD ME. HE WAS ABOUT TO kill me, and then he just... let me go."

Theresa's hands had not stopped trembling since they got to Max's house, having vivid recollections of what Vecna had shown her every time she closed her eyes. Steve would not leave her side, sitting on the edge of Max's couch beside her with bated breath.

The others in the room listened as Tess told them everything that she had seen, everything that Vecna forced her to watch.

"Why'd he just– let you go?" Eddie questioned from the corner of the living room. "That doesn't make any sense."

Theresa sniffled, staring at her hands in her lap. "Because he wanted me to tell you all what's about to happen."

The others exchanged simultaneous frowns, waiting for her to explain further. Tess inhaled shakily, shifting on the couch as she finally looked up at the rest of them.

"Vecna showed me things that haven't happened yet. He showed me this– this darkness. A-And it was spreading over Hawkins. There was fire, dead soldiers, and some kind of... monster." She paused, grimacing at the image that was burned into her memory. "There were a lot of monsters," her voice wavered. "A-An army of them, coming into Hawkins."

Steve reached over and placed his hand over Theresa's, which was shaking uncontrollably. He never doubted her, but just this once Steve wanted to have hope in the possibility that Vecna was only trying to scare them.

"Maybe... maybe he's just trying to scare us," Steve suggested. "I mean– it's not real."

"Not yet," Tess replied, glancing back down. "There... was something else. Vecna– he showed me these gates. Four of them, all in Hawkins. They looked like– like the one outside of Eddie's house, but... they didn't stop growing. It wasn't the Upside Down, either. It was here."

They all sat there in silence, unknowing what to do or say.

"Four chimes," Max spoke, Theresa looking over at her. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly."

Tess gave a small nod. "Yeah, I heard them too."

With another pause, she sat up a little straighter and continued, "He's been telling us his plan this whole time and we haven't even realized it. There's four gates. That means four kills."

Lucas cut in, "Wait. Chrissy, Fred, Patrick– that's three right there. So does that mean..."

He looked between Max and Tess, while everyone else realized the same thing. Vecna was coming for one of them.

And Theresa was the only one who knew that it was her he was going to take.

Dustin shook his head. "I'm going to try the Byers' place again."

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the phone, dialing the number. Theresa rubbed the back of her neck, Steve leaning forward to look at her. He squeezed her hand tighter, giving her a small smile that Tess weakly returned.

"You doing alright?" he asked quietly, Theresa replying with a curt nod.

"Mhm."

"It's been busy for three days," Max said, returning to the living room with her arms crossed after getting no answer on the phone. "Something's wrong."

Nancy stood up, pacing for a moment. "Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead."

She turned back to the others. "We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down."

"No, no no," Steve and Eddie were both quick to reply, Steve standing up.

"Let's think this through," he said, shaking his head vigorously. "Tess almost just died, alright? We cannot risk that happening to anyone."

Theresa looked between Nancy and Steve as they went back and forth, arguing over what they needed to do.

"She's right," Tess spoke up, Steve and Nancy both going quiet and looking at her.

Steve furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"Nancy's right," Theresa stood up, giving a firm nod. "If we go back in, prepared, then I think we've got a fighting chance this time."

He stared at her in disbelief, then shook his head again. Steve jabbed a finger at Tess, giving her a deadly serious glare.

"You're not going back there."

Theresa poked her tongue in her cheek. "...Maybe I don't have to."

She chewed her lip, looking at everyone in the room. "We'll have to split up."

"Oh, that's brilliant," Eddie murmured, Tess giving him a side glare.

Robin stood up after having been quiet the entire time. "Alright, enough! We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry– what are we calling him now?"

"One."

"Vecna."

"One."

"Henry."

Robin sighed. "Right. We've learned something new about Vecna-slash-Henry-slash-One. He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin– but my– my point is... he's super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight."

"So then why fight fair?" Dustin cut in, giving a shrug. "You're right. He's like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven's strengths. And weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Erica retorted, suggesting that Eleven did not really have those. Which was somewhat true.

"When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state," Dustin explained. "I bet the same is true of Vecna."

Lucas nodded in agreement. "That would explain what he was doing in that attic."

Dustin pointed at him. "Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless."

"Defenseless, yeah?" Steve gestured to his cut and bruised neck. "What about the army of bats?"

"Like I said," Theresa interjected. "We split up. There's enough of us."

Dustin once again nodded. "Exactly. Once they're gone, distracted, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin."

Robin looked over at Dustin. "That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings. I mean– at least not one that I can decipher. We don't know when's going to attack next, we don't even know who he's going to attack next."

"Yeah, we do."

All eyes turned to Theresa, who folded her arms with a decisive look. "It'll either be me or Max. So that means when he does come back for the final kill, we need to be in the same place and we need to be ready."

"Tess." Steve gave her a pleading look and a small shake of his head. "You can't–"

"Can I talk to you for a second?" she interrupted, a firmness in her voice that contradicted the tight swelling in her throat.

Steve hesitated, but he nodded. Theresa avoided the looks of everyone else as she headed toward Max's bedroom, Steve following and closing the door behind him.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, Tess turning to face him with hesitation.

"When I tell you this, I need you to promise me that you won't freak out. Alright?"

Steve frowned, but he slowly nodded. Theresa closed her eyes, then raised her head to meet his eyes.

"Vecna told me that it's gonna be me. He told me he's taking me, not Max."

He stood there, feeling himself going somewhat numb at those words. Steve processed what she was saying, trying his best to stay calm like he had promised.

"Why didn't you tell the others that?" Steve quietly replied, knitting his brows.

"I am. I'm going to tell them. But I wanted you to know first, to give you time to prepare."

Steve scoffed. "Prepare? Prepare for what? Tess–"

"You know, Steve," she muttered, averting his eyes. "You know."

He raised a hand over his mouth, rubbing underneath his eyes. "Tess. I-I can't– I can't accept that. How do you expect me to be calm about that?"

"Because it's better for me that way, Steve," Theresa quickly responded, her voice slightly rising. "It's easier for me to go if I know that you're at peace–"

"No," he shook his head, refusing to listen to what she was saying. "No, no. Tess, you are pregnant with my child. It wouldn't just be you that I'm losing."

Somehow, those words hurt Theresa, but she understood where Steve was coming from. And, in all honesty, ever since she had come so close to death only hours before, Tess was starting to have a different outlook on living.

She did not want to lose her life now– she had a lot left to live for.

"You want me to be honest, Steve?" Theresa looked into his eyes, breathing in slowly. "I am really fucking scared right now. I-I don't wanna die–"

A sob escaped from her throat, Tess choking up on her words and going forward to bury her face into Steve's chest. He grabbed onto her, locking his arms around her tightly while she clung onto fistfuls of the denim vest he wore. Steve could feel the tears stinging his own eyes, hearing her muffled sobs and not knowing how to stop them.

"I'm not gonna let you die," he whispered, placing a hand over her head reassuringly. "You're not gonna die."

Theresa was losing hope in that.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     THERESA STARTED TO QUESTION WHY Eddie was wearing a Michael Myers mask, but she decided against it.

But she knew that he had to keep his face hidden, so she just followed along with the plan.

They were going to the army surplus store to get weapons. And, as Tess had just been informed five minutes prior, they were about to steal an RV.

The group were ducked behind a trailer outside, Eddie taking the lead with his Myers mask. The serious looks on everyone's faces actually brought Tess some amusement, as she found the whole thing kind of silly.

But nonetheless she was right behind Eddie as he pulled on windows to a middle-aged couple's RV, finding one unlocked and sliding it open. He hoisted himself up and wiggled in head first, Theresa directly following with a boost from Steve.

She collapsed in the back seat, and then Lucas suddenly fell on top of her without warning. Tess groaned, shoving him off of her.

Tess and Steve followed Eddie to the front of the van, finding him cutting wires and what appeared to be casually hot wiring the vehicle.

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" Steve inquired.

Eddie grimly smiled. "Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot wire. Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now... I'm wanted for murder. And soon, grand theft auto."

Surprisingly, Theresa gave Eddie a pat on the shoulder. "Beautiful story, but could you hurry up?"

Eddie halfway rolled his eyes.

Robin darted over at that moment, saying, "Uh– Eddie? I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving."

"Oh, I'm just starting this sucker. Harrington's got her," Eddie looked to Steve with a smile. "Don't ya, big boy?" he quipped.

Tess raised an eyebrow, but she did not say anything as the RV's engine sputtered and the people sitting outside it rushed over and began banging.

"Time to go," she nudged Steve to the driver's seat, having just enough time to collapse into the passenger seat before Steve slammed on the gas pedal.

He swerved wildly, running over and through many things before getting onto the paved road and steadying them out. Theresa did not realize how hard she was gripping the seat, letting out a relieved exhale.

She turned her head to Steve. "Should've let me drive," she nabbed lightheartedly, Steve returning her smile with his own.

"Last time you drove, you T-boned Billy Hargrove."

"Nailed him perfectly," Tess replied, Steve laughing softly.

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, thinking for a moment.

"You know, it's– it's silly, but... I actually always had this dream that I'd have this really... really big family. I'm talking, like, a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six kids."

Theresa's eyes widened a little, bringing a hand over her abdomen. "Six?"

"Yeah, six little nuggets," Steve nodded.

She made a face, scrunching her nose. "Six little nuggets? Mm, how about three?"

Steve glanced over at her, not knowing how to respond for a second. He was surprised she'd even want that many.

"So you'll compromise with three?"

"Sounds like a good deal," Tess shrugged, a hint of a smile forming on her face.

Steve laughed once again, raising his shoulders. "Alright, fair enough. Well, in my dream, I figured that every summer, all of us Harringtons– we would pack into something like this," he gestured around the van, "and... just see the country."

Theresa looked at him with a soft gaze and the warmest smile on her face, listening as he described his perfect dream.

"I think that sounds really beautiful," she said, Steve looking over with a grin.

"You think so?"

She nodded. "I do. Especially the West Coast trip. I hear they have some great designer stores over there."

Steve breathed out another laugh, shaking his head slightly. In the back of his mind he kept hearing this small voice, reminding him of the danger that was currently being imposed on Theresa. The possibility of her not ever getting a chance to go on a roadtrip to California with their three to six children. And it slowly chipped away at his heart more and more, but Steve was determined to ignore it. He would not face that feeling until he had to.

"If you get tired of driving, I'll switch with you," Tess said, drawing Steve from his thoughts just then.

He gave her a look, raising an eyebrow. "What, because you think you're the better driver?"

Theresa scoffed with folded arms, resting her head back and closing her eyes.

"Oh, please. I know I'm the better driver."

Notes.
no i didn't take a 4 month hiatus why do you ask

no but seriously guys, i'm so thrilled to be back. it's been quite a stressful semester and since i'm finishing up, i've finally had some time to focus on updating! i guess you could say i got my writing rizz back 🙏

soooo... we left off at quite the cliffhanger and i tried to make this chapter end on a slightly less nerve wracking note :) the calm before the storm, as i like to call it

so i'm estimating maybe two more chapters left?? it makes me sad to think about, but i'm finally gonna stop stalling and get around to writing the super gut wrenching scenes 🥲 can't wait

idk what i'll do with my life once i finish this fic </3 heart brocken just thinking about it

what other fictional couples do tess and steve remind you of?