Raising Hel | a Stranger Things fanfiction

Chapter 21

Timeline check: sets during ST4 episode 9, on Thrusday 27th of March 1986, after the epic Master of Puppet scene.

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Hellen desperately tries to see what's going on through the gate as she hears the muffled sound of Eddie and Dustin's screaming. She wonders if the bats could cross into their world, although there's little she could do to stop that. The boys zoom past the gate. She chews on the inside of her cheeks, craning her neck to get a glimpse of them.

The noise grows louder and suddenly Dustin is climbing up the knotted sheet with a look of sheer panic. Hellen clears the mattress so he can land on it, helps him up his feet and they both look up to check on Eddie. Dustin urges him to hurry up, Hellen wishes she could just grab him by the collar and pull him in. He's halfway up the sheet rope when he stops.

– Eddie! Come! On! shouts Dustin.

But he jumps back down and lifts his head to them. Hellen sees the resolution on his face, her heart sinks.

*

Eddie stops midway through the climb. Chrissy is there. Not the bloody vision of her that has been haunting him for days. Just her, in her cheerleader outfit and her anxious face. She stands where she stood while she was waiting for him to find the ketamine, twisting her hands nervously. Their eyes meet as she calls out for him. He's not going to leave her. Not this time.

He jumps back on the mattress and looks up to Dustin and Hel. He needs to protect them. If the bats find the gate, they could fly through and attack them. He won't let that happen. No more retreating, right?

He can tell Hel understands he isn't coming back, but Dustin is still yelling at him.

– What are you doing?

– Buying more time, he replies before looking at Hellen. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, okay?

He disappears from their view without waiting for her answer, ignoring Dustin's outraged cries. He pulls the mattress away to make sure they won't follow him and skips to shake away the fear coming back to his mind.

– Come on, he mutters to himself, time to show 'em you can be cooler than Harrington!

He grabs his shield and spear, takes a deep breath and bursts out of the trailer to climb on the bike and ride as fast as he can. He pictures Nancy's determined face right before she dove into Lover's lake. He can do this!

– Come get me, you sons of bitches, he bellows.

*

Hellen curses under her breath. Dustin is going mental around her.

– That fucking dumbass! They're going to shred him into pieces!

She thinks back at Steve's wounds and gets overwhelmed by images of a bloodied Eddie crying for help. Dustin grabs her by the shoulders:

– We need to go after him!

Her heart agrees but her reason screams at her how foolish this would be, how it could only lead to the three of them dying, how Eddie asked her to look after the kid. But what if there was a chance. A chance of defeating those Demobats. A chance that Steve, Nancy and Robin actually kill that think before it's too late for them.

All the while Eddie was missing, there was little she could do except from waiting and hoping. Now it's different. Scary as hell, but different. She strides to the crane, pull the lever to retract it – her repairs seem to be holding – and climbs onto it. Dustin doesn't need to be told anything, he's already climbing next to her. They grip on whatever they can and Hellen pulls the lever the other way.