an overdue reunion

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

The ride to the mall was tense, and cramped, as usual. Alina found herself not minding it, though, probably because of her worry about Dustin—and Steve, who she hoped he was with—and what sort of condition she would find him in. Her ribs were aching again, too, and she was practically stabbing them with the ice she'd nabbed at Bradley's Big Buy, where they'd left a complete and utter mess of blood and medical supplies. She'd even thought she saw the hint of a chittering creature within a pool of red, but maybe she was just paranoid. But... if there had been, Billy and the Mind Flayer might have known where they were. She just hoped that it couldn't follow them here.

When they finally arrived, Starcourt Mall was glowing like the day it had been when the party went to the movies, bathing them in that classic neon light. Alina found her eyes dragging down to her pink and blue shirt she'd bought at the mall just a couple days ago. The once clean garment was stained with blood around the collar, and crusted with dirt as well. It made Alina shudder. She couldn't believe it had been such a short amount of time that spanned between that girl's day, giggling, playing pranks on Daniel and Stacy's crew, and now, with bruised and battered faces and a weight heavier than any fourteen-year-old—no, anyone—should have to carry.

Maybe after this, at least for a little while, she'd go back to wearing Star Wars merch and Jonathan's old shirts. If there was an "after this."

Despite the fact that the exterior of Starcourt Mall looked almost as normal as it did the day without boys, there was something a little off, and, as Nancy pulled into the parking lot, Alina realized why. The mall was closed now, so everyone had gone home... except for the two men standing by the entrance, holding something in their hands even Alina's sharp eyes couldn't make out. They were burly, and there was a certain look on their shadowy faces that told her that they were not men to be crossed.

"Who are those guys?" Gabe asked as he climbed out of the car. He looked the worst out of all of them, even with the blood and muck cleaned off his face. "Wait. Oh, shit. Do you think they're after Dustin?"

"It's a possibility," said Mike, squinting through the darkness. The men didn't seem to have eyes on them yet, even though they must've heard the woosh of the car as it rumbled into the parking lot. "I don't think we should go near them. We should find another way in."

Nancy nodded her affirmation, and the party snuck past the men to the back of the mall, which was darker and, to Alina, a lot creepier. She spotted an entrance, but this one was also guarded by two burly men. They were holding walkie-talkies in one hand, and the same cool metal the other guys were holding in the other, and that was when it clicked to Alina what they were. Guns. They were guns.

Judging by the men's bored faces, plus the way they kept glancing back towards the closed doors, Alina doubted that they were trying to prevent anyone from going in. So that meant they were keeping someone from getting out, and Alina bet that this someone was the one and only Dustin Henderson.

What had her friend gotten into these past few days? To have strange, foreign-looking men with guns blocking the entrance to a cheesy mall? Was Steve even with him, or was he on his own? Alina hoped Dustin had a companion, not just because she didn't want him to go through all this shit alone, but because she'd like to see Steve again. They weren't as close as Steve and Dustin, but Alina respected Steve, and she knew her friends did, too. He was their babysitter in all things Upside Down related. She could've really used him while they were fighting the Mind Flayer.

Unfortunately, in order to have this nice reunion she was picturing, they had to get into the mall, and there were currently two very dangerous obstacles preventing her from doing such a thing. The others seemed to realize this, too, because their shoulders were square and their heads were high as they took in this new addition to the already complicated equation.

"What should we do?" Max eventually asked, chewing on her lip. "How are we gonna get in?"

"We need to create a distraction," said Nancy. She turned to the injured girl. "El? Do you think you can do that? Create a distraction for us?"

El nodded weakly, but Alina thought it was just for show. She looked exhausted, her face pale and glistening with sweat, her mouth screwed up in pain. She'd been completely overworking herself as of late, and soon, she would be completely drained.

Lucas seemed to sense this, too, as he dug through his bag (he'd refilled it of all the things he'd tossed once they'd prepared to leave Bradley's Big Buy). "There's no need," he said aloud, pulling out his wrist rocket and a rock. "I've got this."

"You really think a rock is going to distract those guys?" Max asked skeptically. Lucas clenched his jaw.

"Max, I'd like it if you trusted me, just this once," he snapped. He seemed tired of her constant lack of faith in him. "I got this."

Jonathan eyed the two men, then Lucas's wrist rocket, and then stepped back. "Be careful. You need to get them far enough away from here that we'll have time to run inside."

Lucas nodded. "Okay."

He took a deep breath, tensing a little from the immediate pressure put on him, and loaded up his wrist rocket, shifting his feet slightly to angle himself in the right direction. Nobody spoke as he drew the band back, paused for a beat, and then let the rock loose.

It skittered over the men's heads and rocketed around the corner, where it fell to the ground with a clatter Alina could hear from here. Their heads immediately shot up, and they cocked their guns, saying something in a language didn't recognize. Lucas was readying another rock when they both abandoned their post, sprinting around the corner to investigate the source of the noise.

The group wasted no time in sprinting towards the now unguarded door. Alina tried not to lag behind as her ribs ached, but she managed to launch inside the mall just as she heard the men returning. Everyone dived into one of the dark stores, catching their breath, and Max crossed her arms, looking impressed.

"Nice job," she admitted. "But El could've probably done it better."

Lucas glared at her. "We're still in, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are," said Nancy. "Nice job, Lucas."

The others chimed in with their thanks for Lucas's impressive aim, and he was looking quite flustered when he finally rose to his feet. Alina took his hand, stroking his palm with her thumb as they set out, because she'd be damned if she didn't admit that she was proud of him. She didn't say it, though, but she could tell that Lucas knew it by the gesture.

The mall was dark and eerie with most of the lights off, and the party ran through it, straining their eyes for any sign of Dustin and their ears for any noise. After a couple of minutes, they heard the slow murmur of chatter and peeked over the balcony of this floor. Sure enough, downstairs, under the turned-off escalators was a group of men, speaking into their walkie-talkies in the same language the others had been speaking outside, and slowly heading towards one area.

Will pointed there. "Look," he whispered. "I bet that's where Dustin is."

El immediately pushed to the front of the group. Although she still seemed in pain, she was looking a little better than before, and Alina was immediately glad she'd had time—if not much—to recharge. "Here," she hissed. "I got this one."

Alina and the others nodded, backing up a bit as the armed men crept closer and closer to one of the stands in the food court. They raised their guns, Alina suppressed a gasp, and then El flung out of her arm. Even though everyone had been expecting it, they all jumped when the car that lay in the middle of the mall for some sort of advertisement burst to life, the alarm blaring obnoxiously loud and the horn honking occasionally. It quivered, like it was caught in an earthquake, and a stream of blood burst from El's nose.

The men had whirled around at the sound, blinking at the rattling car in confusion, and then, after another moment of honking and wailing, El jerked her arm, sending the car flying. The car twisted in mid-air and rammed right into the unsuspecting men, sending them all flying—and probably killing them instantly—before coming to a rattling stop against what looked like a pizza place, glass raining everywhere.

Alina stared at the car for a second, and then the men, who weren't moving. Yep. They were definitely dead.

For a moment, just a tiny one, Tom's hollow eyes flashed across her vision. And then she was hurrying forward at the hiss of steam, spotting four heads beginning to creep up from the stand the men had been heading to. Alina immediately recognized Dustin and Steve, who were, as she'd thought, together, but there was also Robin, Steve's coworker at Scoops Ahoy, and... Erica Sinclair?

As if he had heard her thoughts, Dustin immediately looked up, and a bright smile came to his face at the sight of them. He was alive and unharmed, and that was all Alina could ask for. She immediately, followed by the others, began to run down the escalators to greet them. Dustin, Robin, Erica, and a beat-up Steve (jeez, again?) hustled forward, too.

Dustin laughed as he made his way towards them. "You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!" he shouted cheerily, throwing his arms around El and Mike, who were closest. Alina immediately threw her arms around him, too, because she was so glad to see him, so glad he was okay.

"Holy shit, Dustin," she murmured. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

"Same goes for you," said Dustin. "Oh, my God, you don't know how happy I am."

"Steve! Robin!" Gabe had lunged forward, tackling the two of them in a hug. Alina knew he'd gone to Scoops a lot more than the others had, so he'd developed a friendship with both of the workers. Robin blinked for a moment before accepting the hug.

"Uh, hi, Child Number Six," she said, patting him awkwardly on the back. "I didn't—I didn't know you'd come here. And what happened to your face?"

Before he could respond, Erica's disbelieving voice rang out as she ran towards her brother. "Lucas?" she cried. Alina broke her hug and faced the ten-year-old, confused as Erica looked. What was going on?

Lucas blinked. "What are you doing here?"

But Erica didn't seem to have time for her annoying brother's stupid questions. She instead launched herself into Alina's arms with the agility of a ballerina. "Alina!" she cried. "Oh, my God, you won't believe what happened to me! I was down in some Russian shithole for twenty-four hours, and, to make it even worse, I was stuck with those nerds!" she jerked her thumb at the bewildered Steve and Robin.

Steve, his face puffy and his left eye swollen, crossed his arms. "Oh, so I'm a nerd, and Alina's not? She's like, way nerdier than I am."

Robin elbowed him.

"Wait, sorry, I'm lost," Will blinked. "What's going on? What are you doing here, Erica?"

"Ask them," snapped Erica, pointing again to Steve and Robin. "It's their fault."

Steve broke his awkward hug with Gabe and put his hands on his hips. "True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault."

Alina smiled, and then she was grinning, bigger than she had for the past few days, because her friends were here, and they were safe, and maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be fine.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: was the distraction kind of stupid?? yes. did i do it anyway because i wanted to give lucas another moment?? yes!! 

i've literally been waiting since book ONE to write the alina/erica duo, and here it is!! erica definitely plays favourites LMFAOO

finally, i know we're all really nervous about the election results right now, so i hope i helped distract you, at least for a couple minutes. remember to take a break from social meeting, drink some water, and just breathe. shit's stressful, but you don't have to be swept away by it.

'till next time!