Finding El part.

2
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/39846081.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Relationship: Steve Harrington/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Robin Buckley & Steve
Harrington & The Party
Character: Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Nancy
Wheeler, Eddie Munson, Jonathan Byers, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin
Henderson, Will Byers
Series: Part 6 of Max and Steve's Secret
Stats: Published: 2022-06-24 Words: 1407

Finding El part. 2
by nataliaromanovabarnes

Summary

“I want to know her location.”

"I don’t know.," As Steve said, his body was trembling from the impact and another shock.

“If you choose, we can proceed in a difficult manner, but be aware that you will ultimately
lose.”

Notes

See the end of the work for notes

Steve opened his eyes slowly, his head aching, flashes of the previous events dancing in his mind,
vaguely reminding him of when he was drugged by the Russians. He tried to move, being
prevented by the rope, he was tied up.

"Can you stop moving?" Max asked, her voice weary.

After finally seeing the redhead's presence, Harrington remained silent; they were bound back-to-
back.

"Everything all right? He questioned while tightly closing his eyes since it was too dark for him to
see anything around him.

“We're still here.” Max said while inhaling deeply to slow her heartbeat.

"Are we still in school?" Steve questioned, unable to remember what happened after they entered
the gym.
"Maybe" The redhead muttered. "I don't think they transported us anywhere else."

The area fell silent once more, although there were faint sounds of footsteps, suggesting that
someone may be in a nearby room. His attention was drawn to the sound of a chair being dragged
and the clicking of buttons as something was being adjusted. The shocks were followed by a high-
pitched scream, and Steve grabbed the redhead's hand and held it tightly.

As the door opened, Max could feel her heart racing and struggled to adjust to the startling clarity.
Before her arm was grabbed, she didn't realize what was going on. She opened her lips to scream,
but nothing came out. When the redhead saw that Harrington was attempting to kick the troops, she
fought back. Her efforts, however, were in useless as they were pulled from the dark room after
having syringes shot into their necks.

Since she had already come face to face with otherworldly beings that were attempting to destroy
Hawkins, Max found the unknown to be terrifying. She was dizzy and unable to keep up with her
mind's rapid-fire activity as the lights came on and revealed a room with white tiles.
At least they were together, so she relaxed and let her head drop back, feeling Steve's body. When
the door opened and eager feet stepped inside, Max trembled. The redhead kept her head lowered
while fixating on a pair of black boots.

As it flipped through a brown folder, a deep voice said.

"Maxine Mayfield.I wonder what you might have accomplished if you hadn't run into problems
given your interesting background.”

The man moved around and picked up another folder when the redhead remained silent.

"Steve Harrington. It appears that your parents' resources were insufficient to bail you out of
trouble." He said, perusing some papers.

"They weren't there to observe what was happening, after all." Steve murmured, becoming more
careless due to the narcotic in his blood.

"Oh, you two want to chat? "The man crossed his arms and exclaimed. " What happened to the girl
with the unique abilities, then?"

"Eleven escaped?" Max said with a sigh of relief on her face.

It didn't last long; a slap across her face startled her and caused her to spin around with her lips ajar.

"You find that amusing, right?"

"You people were stupid to believe you could restrain her, I tell you." Max raised her eyes to meet
her interrogator's turquoise gaze.

"You are foolish to think that you can speak arrogantly without being reprimanded." His hand
lingered over her head as he took a step closer.

With his shoulders tense from the bindings, Steve yelled, "Don't touch her."

The guy chuckled.

"Okay, I won't if you tell me where Eleven is."He extended an offer.

"Never!" Max yelled.

The interrogator simply sighed and motioned with his hands, his henchmen walked up to them,
applying a shock, making them scream.

“I want to know her location.”

"I don’t know.," As Steve said, his body was trembling from the impact and another shock.

“If you choose, we can proceed in a difficult manner, but be aware that you will ultimately lose.”

They remained silent since there was nothing to say, they had no idea where Eleven may be, and
even then they wouldn’t tell. The shocks persisted, occasionally being broken up by forceful
tactics to get them to speak.

“So nothing, then?” With his hands in the air, the man indicated his impatience. "You can put an
end to them."

As guns were directed in their direction, Max froze. She closed her eyes and tried to have faith that
they would manage to escape. She didn't want to think that they went through all of that pain with
Vecna only to be killed by a gang of thugs.

"Last words?" The interrogator made a suggestion, taking pleasure in the unease.

Steve mumbled "Max," attempting to control his breathing. "I couldn't die without telling you that I
love you. I didn't want it to turn out like this."

The redhead felt tears streaming down her cheeks, her throat constricted, and she wanted to speak
but was unable to.

“Nothing to say, sweetie?” As he pressed the gun against her forehead, he questioned.

"I..." The cold gun's barrel caused Max to close her eyes and tremble as it reminded her of her
terrible fate. “ I love you.”

The redhead gasped as shots rang, wondering why she was still alive. Thought they started with
Harrington, she feared the worst, but his breathing jolted her from her nightmare.
"Release them." While squatting down to fetch another rifle, Nancy spoke.

Max asked, perplexed "How?" while observing Robin cut the rope securing them.

"Let's just say Wheeler can shoot, and I always have a lighter." Eddie spoke.

"Are you all right?" Steve asked, dropping to his knees beside Max, who hugged him tightly.

"I thought I was going to lose you." . The redhead broke down in confession, her tears dampening
his shirt.

“I’’m not going anywhere.” He reassured and kissed her on the forehead.

****

The group moved along the quiet hallway while carrying pistols and teasers. With each step they
went, the exit felt further away due to the shivering wind. Nancy had informed that Eleven had
finished off the majority of the guards after finding that they belonged to a group that hunts for
deviations.

"So we're safe?" Dustin asked, walking beside Steve.

 "I hope so." Eddie spoke, pointing his teaser forward.

They were able to flee as soon as a shelf was knocked over, Nancy shooting at the guards who
attempted to pursue them while aiming over her shoulder. She turned her attention to Jonathan,
who agreed and nodded before firing a single round at the lamps to set off a tiny explosion.
When Robin tried to open the door, she discovered that it was locked and that they were at the
incorrect exit. Eddie pulled out his pocket knife and attempted to open the lock. While the rest of
the group worked to postpone the enemy' arrival.

"Quick!" A shot nearly hit them as Lucas yelled and pulled Will to the ground.

"I'm trying!" Eddie stated, looking back anxiously, his fingers twitching from the action.

"Let me try." Robin told him to leave as she took a deep breath and pointed the gun at the glass
door, firing a couple shots, cracking all the way through.

As Steve drew nearer, he elbowed the broken glass, smashing the door.

"We have to go." He yelled.

Since this was Robin's first time firing a gun and she had just shot the door seconds before, Nancy
and Jonathan continued their gun battle. Robin swallowed forcefully.
They would need to be quite near to operate the apparatus, Eddie and Steve thought as they dryly
gulped while looking at their teasers.

"Run!" Nancy yelled, unsure of how long she could endure.

"We're not going to leave you here," Steve said, gripping the teaser in his fist.

"You have no other option." Her eyes were moist as she mumbled. "Protect El,"

Eddie's truck crashed into the school before they could argue.

"Enter quickly!" As he talked, Dustin unlocked the trunk.

Lucas inserted a piece of his t-shirt into a bottle of vodka, lit the tip, and threw it into the corridor.
Although it wouldn't make a large explosion, it would be enough for the group to escape.

The party had to grip on so they wouldn't fall when Max sped up the automobile and made a risky
turn while taking a shortcut.

"Max!" Steve yelled, while observing the redhead zigzag down the runway.

"We don't have time for this." She responded, pressing the gas in an effort to go as soon as possible.

End Notes

I'll be honest: I have no idea what's happening.

After ‘Robin's discovery’ I didn't think I'd write any more.
Anyway, I appreciate you sticking with me; I'll attempt to figure out the ending soon.❤️
Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!