Trust - Lucas Sinclair

The Battle of Starcourt (Part 3)

"Well, that settles it," Erica shook her head in disappointment. "He's gonna die. They're gonna die."

Nikki felt sick as she took in the words the girl was saying. She had said them so matter-of-factly that it made Nikki question whether or not to confront them and make them take her with for protection. She looked over at Hopper who was too distracted reloading his guns to notice the girls eyes burning a hole on the side of his head.

"Yep," Dustin nodded, getting Nikki to look away from Hopper and to him, "most likely."

"You guys survived," Lucas said, looking rather confused on why they would seal their fate when they were in the same situation and standing right in front of them, very much alive.

"Barely," Dustin turned to his friends. Nikki could see the hint of sadness and betrayal in his eyes. "We could have really used you guys down there."

"Could've used you up here, too," Mike replied honestly.

"Yeah, man," Lucas agreed. "We missed you, dude."

"Yeah," Will nodded. "Big time."

Dustin stepped closer to the group and put his arms over Lucas's shoulder. "I missed you guys, too. Big time."

"Please don't cry, nerds," Erica's voice interrupted the moment between the boys, getting a dirty look from Lucas and a nudge from Nikki.

"Erica," Lucas scolded.

"Keep saying my name, see what happens."

"Enough," Nikki said, calmly, hiding the slight irritation she had with the girl and her attitude. Erica quieted down after that. Truthfully, ever since she had met Nikki and had gotten to know her more, she looked up to the older girl more and more. She had become more like her older sister everyday.

"Hey, heads up," a new voice entered the conversation, they all turned to face Hopper who threw a walkie talkie at Dustin, who caught with ease. "You can navigate, just from someplace safe."

Dustin shook his head. "It's not that simple."

"The signal won't reach," Erica added.

"Not with this," Dustin held up the radio in his hands. "You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has accessed to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh, wait. That's me."

Nikki looked over at El and both of the girls shared the same exhausted look. Sometimes it felt impossible to keep up with what these boys were saying.

"If you want us to navigate," Dustin continued his speech, "you got us. But we need a head start. And a car."

***

After saying goodbye to Dustin and his crew, Nikki and the rest of her friends had to say goodbye to the grown ups, who were about to do something that didn't sit right with Nikki, but then again, nothing sat right with her right now.

"My battery's low, but," El told Hopper who sat between the girls, holding their hands, "it will recharge."

"I know it will, kid," Hopper nodded before turning to Nikki. "How are you holding up?"

Nikki shrugged. "I'm sore, but I have the energy. I can fight."

"We can fight," El corrected.

"Better than any of us," Hopper agreed, smiling at his daughters. "But right now, I need both of you safe. This thing is after you two. It's not after me."

But somebody is, Nikki's mind told her. She looked at Hopper skeptically, who was after him.

She looked at a new cut on his forehead. It must have happened at least a few days ago due to his skin still being red and bruised. She felt her blood start to boil at the thought of another person trying to hurt her family. She hated seeing the she cared about getting hurt, especially when she could do nothing to help them. It made her feel like a failure. Her powers gave her a sense of purpose in life, to protect her friends and family, and she failed to even do that.

"Do you understand?" Hopper asked, tearing Nikki away from her horrible thoughts.

Nikki nodded as El looked down at her hands, also looking saddened from the fact she couldn't help.

"Hey," Hopper gave the girls' hands a squeeze, "I need you to understand."

El finally nodded and gave Hopper a weak smile.

"Hey," Mike's voice, broke through the conversation. The family looked at Mike, Max and Lucas, who were all waiting for El and Nikki to join them. "We should probably go."

Nikki felt the pit that has left her stomach in what felt like days, deepen as Hopper pulled El in for a hug.

They pulled away from their hug and Mike and Max helped El stand up and start walking to the exited.

"Mike," Hopper called making the boy stop and turn back to him as the two girls continued on. "Be careful."

Mike nodded and returned to El's side as Nikki caught a glimpse from Lucas, who was waiting for her. She held up a finger, telling him she would be right there.

She turned back to Hopper, who opened his mouth to say something, but Nikki beat him to it. "Don't go."

Hopper looked at her in shock. "What do you mean?"

"I don't have a good feeling about it," she said, quietly. If she was right if what her gut was telling her on this...God, she hoped she would be wrong. "You can't go."

Hopper must have seen the look of panic on her face that she was desperately trying to conceal and figured out what her warning was all about, because he sighed and picked up her hand, squeezing lovingly. "Nikki, what I'm going to do is going to help a lot of people. It will not only keep our group safe, but the entire town also. And, sometimes, you have to do something to help that larger amount of people, even if it means it doesn't end well with you. You have to accept it. And if I have to do it to keep you guys safe, I'll do it over and over again, in every lifetime I get."

Nikki blinked back her tears as she embraced Hopper. She thought of all the things that could go wrong and a lot could. She thought of her visions and the feelings she had been getting all day. She didn't know how to change the future to make it all end okay. She didn't to accept the future just yet. They had time to figure it out. But until then, all she could say was...

"I'll see you soon."

Authors note

I loved writing this chapter and I hope you guys liked it.

Just to let you all know, tomorrow voting on the ending will be coming to a close, so if you want to vote and you still haven't done it, I would suggest you do it now. But until then...

Love ya!!❤️❤️❤️