Hidden Within the Shadows

the aftermath of a victory

Nancy stared at Adrian from where she was standing in the doorway. The others were behind her, muttering and hissing at each other. It didn't matter. Adrian waved at his sister, and then she seemed to come to her senses. She ran at Adrian at full speed and she collided with him so hard it knocked them both backwards.

Like she had a sixth sense, Nancy twisted them around mid-fall so that Adrian landed on her and not on his wounds. Still hurt though. Harrington's tiled floor wasn't comfortable in the slightest. It almost knocked the wind out of Adrian, but he was relieved to see Nancy, a thing he never thought possible a week ago. Things had changed so fast.

"Are you fucking crazy?" she asked when she pulled away from him. Her eyes were wide and leaning towards manic. "Leaving the hospital like that - do you have any idea how much that terrified us?"

"Speak for yourself, I was so drugged up I thought I was back being test subject Twenty," he said, and Nancy rolled her eyes, settling back against the cupboards as he leaned against the island. She had a fond if worried, look on her face, and her leg was pressed against his. "I'm serious, my first thought was oh I'm on LSD like Brenner wanted."

"Ridiculous." Nancy smiled at him, expression going ever fonder. "Do you need help up?"

"Yes, I'm in so much pain - you may have ripped my stitches," he said, pointing a finger at her.

Nancy had the nerve to roll her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic." She stood up and helped him up, and Eddie moved over to help. He took on Adrian's weight, a sympathetic look on his face when he saw the way Adrian winced. His wound was still relatively fresh, and he was having a hard time standing and moving around. Going to the bathroom was another issue altogether.

"Let's get you on the couch. Fool,"

"Fool," he mimicked, but let Eddie lead them through into the living room. Adrian laid down on the couch and smacked Eddie's hand when he tried to pull his shirt up. Eddie smacked his hand in return and pulled the shirt up to look at the bandages. Chrissy came and crouched next to him, a nervous smile on her face when she looked at Adrian. It was still weird seeing her there, in the flesh, alive. Adrian could only wonder how she felt.

"Metal," she said, and it got the two boys laughing a little. Adrian winced a little; laughing still hurt.

Eddie removed the bandages, and Adrian caught the grimace on his face. "You almost popped your stitches. There's a bit of bruising, and your - Jesus, why do you make yourself walk, you shouldn't be doing that," Eddie said. He looked to Chrissy, and she handed over the medical supplies Nancy and the others had swiped from the hospital.

"Yeah, but I'm amazing. In absolute agony, but amazing nonetheless." Eddie made a noise in the back of his throat, an amused smile on his face. "So, uh, what's going - how's Hawkins?" he asked as the others converged into the living room. Harrington's house was big, so everyone managed to settle in somewhere without being squashed into the side.

"Havoc," Robin answered, peering over the back of the couch to look at Adrian. Her eyes went over the wound, and she gagged a little. Adrian snorted. "Uh, gross. So how are you not dead?" she asked, looking away from Adrian and zeroed in on Chrissy.

"I ... think you'd be better asking me that question," Chrissy said, a nervous smile on her face. "I'm still not sure how Adrian did it."

"I'm not going to even ask. Superpowers are impossible but so very real." Robin said, looking like she'd given up on logic and reason, which was a fair enough thing to do. Nothing about their situation screamed logic or reason.

Dustin cleared his throat. "People are leaving Hawkins, but a good amount of people are staying. Which is stupid because the gates of hell have opened up."