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[ . . . ]
1986
VIVIANNE HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED TRUE FRIENDSHIP OTHER THAN THE ONE SHE HAD WITH PETER. Now, of course, they were more than friends, but Vivianne could safely say that she'd sacrifice everything for him, even herself.
Sitting in an armchair, watching Max write her letters to her friends, she could tell they all cared deeply for one another. It was in their eyes, the flames of friendship. It would dance with lustrous colours in enchanting waves, burning bright and passionate behind their irises. Vivianne found it beyond intriguing, but understood that they'd do anything for one another.
A part of her admired that; how willing they all were to throw themselves into the flames to save another.
She could respect that.
'I know you guys are staring at me,' Max spoke up, glancing over her shoulder.
Steve turned his gaze towards the ceiling, throwing the ball into the air while Dustin and Lucas quickly took hold of a magazine.
'What, sorry?'
'You said you needed something?'
'Just hanging out.'
Vivianne let out an amused chuckle.
'How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don't know,' Max sighed, gathering her letters before walking over to the four of them.
Their eyes were anywhere but on her, causing Max to stop dead in her tracks.
'I believe you can look at her now. . .' Vivianne trailed off.
'One for you,' Max began, handing a letter to Dustin before moving on to Steve, and then Lucas.
'And uhm. . . Vivianne, I know we're not that close but I still wanted to give you one,' she told Vivianne, lips forming a thin line.
A small smile made its way to Vivianne's lips. 'Thank you, Max. I appreciate it.'
'Oh, and um, give this to, Mike, El and Will. . . If you can ever get a hold of them.'
Looking down at the envelope, Vivianne began opening it, only to get interrupted by Max.
'No, no, it's not for now. Don't open it.'
'Oh,' Vivianne uttered. 'Then what's it for?'
'It's um. . .' Max paused. 'It's a fail-safe. For after. If things don't work out.'
'Wait, woah,' Lucas spoke up. 'Max, things are going to work out.'
'No!' Max cut him off. 'No, I don't need you to reassure me and tell me it's all going to work out. People have been telling me that my entire life and it's almost never true. It's never true. I mean, of course, this asshole curses me. Should've seen that one coming.'
Vivianne wished to take her life right there and then for speaking ill of Peter. Biting her tongue, she leaned further into her seat, exhaling a small sigh.
'I'll get you out of it, Max,' she said. 'I give you my word on that one.'
[ . . . ]
'VIV,' Steve quickly uttered, shaking her shoulders to wake her up.
Jolting awake because of the sudden movement, Vivianne looked at Steve, eyebrows furrowed. 'What?'
'You have to get into her mind now, she━'
Vivianne turned her eyes towards the graveyard, seeing Lucas trying to pull Max out it. Cursing under her breath, Vivianne pushed the door open, feet hitting the ground as she ran over to the two.
She quickly dropped to her knees and closed her eyes, delving into Max's mind. Her body fell limp with Steve catching her.
She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding at the sight of the place.
Peter's mindscape, she was in Peter's mindscape.
It wasn't often Vivianne got surprised because of her vision, she knew what would happen. However, this seemed to be one of those rare moments when she was surprised. She knew she was going to save Max for some unknown reason, not that she would be in Peter's mind.
Turning her attention towards Max, Vivianne saw Peter, ready to take Max's life.
'Max!' Vivianne shouted, gaining the attention of the two.
Flicking her wrist, Vivianne pulled Max towards her, catching her before she met the ground. Her hands held a tight grip around Max's shoulders, steadying her. It wouldn't have been that easy to get to Max if Peter wasn't aware of her antics.
'Are you okay?'
What Max thought was worry stretched across Vivianne's face.
Hastily nodding, Max cast a glance over her shoulder at Peter.
'I'll take care of him, okay? Just run,' Vivianne told her, voice deepening at the last few words.
Max did not need another word from Vivianne to dash off towards the opening where her friends could be seen, shouting her name desperately in hopes of reaching her.
'You saved her,' Peter acknowledged as soon as Max was out of sight.
Vivianne nodded. 'I believe I know why.'
Tilting his head to the side, Peter took a step closer to her, hand reaching towards her face, claws touching her skin, brushing a lone strand of hair out of her face before tucking it behind her ear. 'Tell me why.'
'They wish to kill you, Peter. They're not satisfied with Max being alive. They want to stop you. I've heard them. With Max now connected to you, they will use her as bait to get to you,' she explained, piecing the puzzle together. The only thing she needed now was another vision to confirm her theory.
'If my assumptions are correct,' she said. 'Eleven will make her way into Max's mind as well to protect her. It would be foolish to assume she hasn't tried to get her powers back yet.'
'When they do, we'll kill them both. . .' Peter mused. 'And then the world will be ours to take.'
'Precisely,' Vivianne nodded. 'I do wonder what she's doing in here though.'
'That confuses me as well,' Peter replied.
'You feed off their trauma. . . negative emotions and such,' Vivianne said in thought. 'Max has a lot of people who love her. Perhaps that's why she was able to enter your mindscape.'
Peter chuckled. 'Clever girl. That does sound like a plausible theory. Love does make you stronger, we both know that. Don't we?'
