𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒! [𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎

The next day, Margo went with Robin, Steve, Dustin, and Max to pick up food and essentials for Eddie. She didn't exactly like going back to the creepy garage behind Reefer Rick's house, but she, Robin, and Steve all agreed that they weren't going to let Dustin and Max go by themselves. 

When Dustin opened the door and held up his plastic bags, Eddie was standing against the far wall, fear-struck. "Delivery service," Dustin said cheerfully. 

Eddie let out a sigh of relief. "Shit, man, I thought you were the cops." 

"No cops, just food," said Margo, pulling out a bag of chips and tossing it to him. He caught it and instantly starting eating like he hadn't in weeks. 

They all made themselves as comfortable as they could in the garage. Eddie sat in his boat, Dustin took a seat in front of him, and Steve leaned against the wall. Margo stood near the door with Robin and Max. Dustin cleared his throat. "So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?"

Eddie almost smiled. "Bad news first, always." 

"Alright, bad news." Dustin took a deep breath. "We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy." 

"Like, a hundred percent kind of convinced," said Max. 

Eddie looked back and forth between her and Dustin. "And the good news?" 

"Your name hasn't gone public yet," said Robin. "But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do too, and once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you." 

"Hunt the freak, right?" said Eddie, any semblance of a smile seeping from his expression. 

Robin nodded. "Exactly." 

"Shit."

Dustin wasn't about to let anyone lose hope. "So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence," he said quickly. 

"That's all, Dustin?" Eddie said sarcastically. "That's all?" 

"It's just three steps," Margo said with a shrug.

Robin put a hand on her arm to shut her up. It worked. "Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this before. I mean, they have a... a few times, and... and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh based, theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this." 

"Yeah, see, we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers," said Steve, "-but, uh, those went bye-bye, so..." 

"So we're technically in more of the..." Robin trailed off.

"The kinda..." said Margo, trying to help her. 

"Brainstorming phase," Max said at last. 

Robin and Margo nodded at her, and Steve snapped his fingers. "Brainstorming." 

"There... there's nothing to worry about, though," Dustin spluttered. Steve scoffed and tried to give Eddie an encouraging smile. It looked more like a grimace. Somewhere in the background, police sirens sounded. 

Margo widened her eyes at Robin. "Tarp," Robin said, reaching for it. 

"Yeah." Margo grabbed it and together, they covered, Eddie in the tarp. Then, the rest of them ran to the window. Eight or nine police cars sped past them, sirens blaring, right past them.