A/N [from 2022]: TW FOR VIOLENCE, BLOOD AND...Y'ALL PLEASE DON'T GET MAD AT ME...MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. 

BEFORE YOU READ!!! I NEED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU TO MAKE A SOLEMN PROMISE TO ME NOW THAT YOU WILL READ TO THE END AND NOT GET PISSED AND CLOSE THIS BOOK FOREVER!!! I'M DOING A DOUBLE UPDATE TONIGHT TO SOFTEN THE BLOW OF THIS INSANITY SO YOU CAN GO RIGHT TO A MUCH LESS SAD CHAPTER. 

SIGN THE CONTRACT HERE TO PROMISE THAT YOU WON'T QUIT ON ME —>

{The Piggyback, Part II}

Everything hurt.

Alice's head pounded. Her ears rang. Her muscles screamed in pain, making every slight move unbearable.

She opened her eyes, vision adjusting to the dim light. She sat in an uncomfortable wooden chair, wrists bound to the arms with vines. The stale air of the Upside Down made it impossible to catch her breath.

She couldn't quite tell where she was. The room was large, with a few tables and bookshelves of moldy games. The walls and floors had stripes painted on them, stripes of every color in the rainbow.

Alice yanked at her arms in a pathetic attempt to free herself.

"I would not do that if I were you."

She snapped her head to the left and resisted the urge to scream. Vecna stood in the corner of the room, watching her with those piercing pale eyes. The smell of kerosene and ashes clung to his charred skin. The scent nauseated her as he walked closer.

"Let me go," Alice said, raising her chin in defiance and trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"I will not."

"LET ME GO!" Alice yelled. Her eyes blazed with anger, and she prayed Vecna couldn't tell how scared she was.

"Oh, Alice," Vecna tutted. He traced the back of one finger down her cheek. She leaned away from his touch, stomach rolling. "You must have known it was all leading to this. To you and me, in the Rainbow Room."

Eleven had mentioned this room before. Alice remembered El saying she and Kali played here together, before Kali escaped—

"The Lab," Alice said, thinking of rabbits' cryptic messages. "You took me to the Lab. Why?"

"This is where my journey began," Vecna said. He paced in front of her, a slow shuffle, his newfound third-degree burns taking their toll. "The journey to become who I am today started not at my home, but here. And it is where your journey will end."

Vecna let out a dark chuckle.

"I wondered about you for a long time," he continued. "Papa suspected your mother Amelia had a child in secret, and he sent his men looking for you. But after months of surveillance, it was as if you disappeared. Papa gave up, assuming you died. I assumed the same. Until 1984."

He leaned in too close for comfort, their noses almost touching. Alice whimpered, her whole body tensing up.

"That's when I felt you," he said. "I felt you trying to stop me from taking Will Byers under my control. You were not supposed to be there, mucking things up. In all the plans I made, I did not anticipate you. You are an outlier. You are not meant to be here at all."

"No shit," Alice said. Forcing faux bravado, she added, "If I'm not meant to be here, just send me home. Hail me a cab?"

"There is no going home for you, Alice," Vecna said with a malicious grin. "I need your powers. With those, and my newly opened gates, I will return to your world and be a god amongst men."

"You aren't a god," Alice spat, eyes narrowed. "You're a fucking psychopath who gets off on killing people."

"Gods need two things," Vecna said. "Power and control. I will soon have an abundance of both. To think, I would have shared it with you if you had joined me willingly. You would not, so we must do things the hard way."

He lifted an arm, preparing to steal the rest of her powers. Alice's heartbeat quickened.

"I would say it was nice knowing you," Vecna said, "but truth be told, I find you quite taxing."

Adrenaline sparked something animalistic in Alice. She threw all her body weight backwards. The wooden chair splintered upon impact, freeing her from her bonds.

Vecna scowled. Before he could counterattack, Alice grabbed one of the chair's arms and lunged, digging the wood into his stomach.

He howled in pain and pulled it out. Anger radiating off him, he swiped at her with his claws. She staggered back, narrowly missing getting scratched, but couldn't run far before he wrapped one of his hands around her wrist and held it in a vice grip.

"LET GO!" Alice screamed, legs scrabbling for footing on the dirty tile.

"Give in, Alice!" Vecna roared. He tossed her to the ground, towering over her. "It is too late."

"Never!" Alice said. From her position on the floor, she tackled him around the legs. Thud! He hit his head on the corner of a table and grimaced.

Alice made a break for the door, but Vecna was too quick. He wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her backward.

"NO! NO!" Alice yelled, thrashing wildly in his arms. "LET ME GO, YOU BITCH!"

She elbowed his stomach, stomped on his feet, and scratched at his arms, to no avail.

"Stop it!" Vecna roared. He dug three of his claws into her ribs and raked them down her stomach. She cried out, blinding pain and the feeling of blood pooling across her abdomen distracting her momentarily.

Vecna deposited her in another chair and didn't even try to tie her up. He held an arm level with her chest and began stealing the rest of her powers. Alice was in so much pain already, she could barely feel it.

She noticed something heavy and round on the table nearby. She dove for it and chucked it at Vecna's skull. The Magic-8 ball between the eyes sent him crumpling to the ground, concussed.

He tried to stand once more, but Alice stomped one foot on his stomach to keep him still. She snatched up the leg of the broken chair and held it high above her head.

"I would say it was nice knowing you," Alice spat, echoing his own words, "but you deserve to rot in hell. This is for Max."

With all the strength she could muster, Alice impaled Vecna through the heart with the piece of wood. He sputtered and coughed, blood pooling out of his mouth.

Alice was not proud of it, but she stabbed him again, and again, and again. It was violent, it was brutal, it would make her mother faint on sight. But it was necessary.

After a couple more stabs, Alice stumbled back, dropping her makeshift weapon to the ground. She sucked in a breath at the sight of the unmoving Vecna, a sense of relief flooding through her.

She sank to her knees, realizing the full extent of her own injuries. She couldn't seem to stop the bleeding on her ribs, no matter how hard she tried to heal.

Her panic increased when the unthinkable happened: Vecna started to glow.

"No," Alice mumbled, shooting back to her feet so fast she almost fell right down again. "No!"

A black nosebleed oozed out of Vecna's nostrils, and Alice started to sob, before turning on her heel and bolting out of the Rainbow Room.

He's not dead, Alice thought, tears rolling down her face. All of that, and he's not fucking dead.

She'd never been to this wing of the real-world Lab before. The twisting hallways, akin to catacombs, gave her distance as she sprinted away from Vecna in the Rainbow Room. But distance would do no good if she couldn't find her way out.

The burning in her ribs intensified with each step. She winced, gripping her stomach, and continued to run.

🌈 🌈 🌈

Meanwhile, Steve and Kali broke through the trees surrounding the Lab.

"Do you have a plan?" Kali asked as they approached the Lab doors—which were tied up with more vines.

"Get Alice and get the fuck out," Steve said, raising his ax and hacking at the vines blocking their entrance.

"Obviously," Kali huffed. "I mean a plan for Vecna."

The vines recoiled at the attack, allowing Steve to wrench open the door.

He held up the ax, his hardened stare unnerving Kali only slightly.

"Go for the head."

He stormed into the Lab.

"Perhaps the person who lived here should lead the way," Kali quipped.

"Okay, sure," Steve said. He stepped aside and let Kali take charge as they jogged down the main hallway. "Where would Vecna hang out when he was here as Henry-slash-One? Did the orderlies have a teacher's lounge or something?"

"They had a small wing with their rooms," Kali said, "but they were only there to sleep. They spent most of their time in the Rainbow Room or the training rooms."

"What the hell is the Rainbow Room?"

"A game room of sorts," Kali explained as they made it to the first intersection. "A normal child would have recess during their school day to unwind. Us lab rats had the Rainbow Room."

Steve remembered one of the visions Vecna showed him. A vision of the day Eleven sent him to the Upside Down in a room full of games and rainbow stripes—and bloodied corpses.

"That's where they are," Steve said.

Kali raised an eyebrow.

"And how would you know that?"

"I just do, okay?" Steve snapped. "It's a room important to Vecna, so it's where he'd take Alice to—to—whatever! Which direction is it?"

"To the left. Let us go."

Kali and Steve turned down a few more hallways. They burst through a side door and ran smack into—

"Alice!" Steve breathed out, rushing to her side. His angry expression melted to one of relief and concern.

She looked worse for wear, with a tear-stained face and a deadly pallor to her skin. She had her arms wrapped tightly around herself like she was giving herself a hug.

"Something's wrong," she croaked out, sniffling. She started to sob. "I thought I killed Vecna, but he started healing! I tried to kill him, I really did!"

"It's okay, Alice," Steve said. He strapped his ax to his bag so he could check her for injuries. "Did he hurt you?"

"He did something," Alice said. "I can't—"

"Where is he now?" Kali demanded.

"The Rainbow Room. He's unconscious, but healing. He's going to find me and kill me!"

"No he won't," Steve said sharply. "We won't let him. Hold still for me, okay babe?"

He gently gripped her shoulders, a grounding touch, as he scanned her from head to toe. A false sense of security overwhelmed him when he didn't notice any wounds...until he saw the way she was holding her stomach.

Kali noticed it too.

"Alice," Kali commanded. "Drop your arms."

Alice grimaced and moved her arms to her sides, holding open her jacket for them to see the damage.

Every swear word in the English language erupted out of Steve's mouth.

Her shirt was ripped and stained crimson. Three deep gashes tore through her abdomen, and the bleeding wasn't slowing down.

"I can't heal myself," Alice whispered through cries. "I can't stop the bleeding."

She swayed on unsteady feet. Steve swooped in, pulling one of her arms over his shoulders and holding her around the waist.

"Prasad, get her other side!" Steve demanded. "We need to get her out of here and bandage that up."

"What about killing Vecna?!" Kali said, eyes flicking down the way Alice came.

"We don't have time for that!" Steve said, tightening his hold on Alice. "She needs help!"

"We need to kill that monster!" Kali said. "Give me your ax. I will go alone."

"Prasad, drop it!" Steve said, voice rising in pitch.

"It's no use," Alice said. "No matter what, he'll just heal."

"Not if we go for the head!" Kali said darkly.

"Kali, please!" Steve begged, voice breaking. "Please just fucking help me!"

Kali thought back to her time with her gang. Being the leader had its perks—when she made an order, the others had to follow.

But she wasn't a part of that crew anymore. She wasn't in charge here.

She considered ignoring Steve. She considered grabbing his ax and marching into the Rainbow Room, chopping Vecna's head off and mounting it on the wall of some dusty old cabin.

But Steve was crying, and Alice was bleeding out, and Kali could not leave them in good conscience.

Kali propped up Alice's other side, allowing the injured girl to rest an arm around her shoulders.

"Thank you," Steve said, relieved. "We need to move fast."

The trio stumbled through the Lab, following Kali's directions to the exit. Steve tried not to think about how much sticky red blood coated the hand holding Alice's waist.

"Hold on, Al," he murmured. "That's it. Keep going."

They burst forth out of the Lab building and into the woods of the Upside Down, back toward the direction of the trailer park and gate.

"Slow down," Alice panted, struggling to keep up with her friends. "I can't...I can't run that fast."

"You've got to!" Steve said urgently. "We just need to go a little further, and then we'll be safe!"

Alice's knees buckled. She fell to the ground, causing Steve and Kali to stumble. The walkie-talkie fell out of Kali's pocket and crashed onto the forest floor, the antennae bending at an odd angle.

"Whoa, whoa!" Steve said. He glanced behind them. "Shit. We'll rest here for a minute. I'll bandage your wounds and then we'll head home. How does that sound?"

The blistering pain made it near impossible for Alice to speak. She managed a small nod and sat against a tree trunk.

"Okay," Steve said, kneeling in front of her. "Let's take a closer look."

He lifted her shirt and choked back a panicked gasp. Kali covered her mouth with her hand to keep from gagging. The cuts were much deeper than they initially thought.

"It hurts," Alice sobbed. "I still can't heal it!"

"It's okay! Don't cry!" Steve said. He tore off his backpack and rifled through it. "I have a first-aid kit. You're going to be okay."

He turned to Kali.

"You need to go to the others," he said in a low voice. "Have them call an ambulance."

"What about you two?" Kali said.

"I'll stop the bleeding and carry her to the gate," Steve said. His voice wavered, his eyes were glassy. He didn't look like the tough soldier he had been play-acting as earlier that day. He looked so scared. So, so young.

Kali shuffled from foot to foot, glancing between the shaky Steve and weak-looking Alice.

"Are you sure you do not need me to stay?"

"I need you to go get help!" Steve said loudly with a glare, stress getting the better of him.

Kali nodded and shot Alice a warm smile before sprinting toward the trailer park.

Steve popped open the first-aid kit and pulled out a bundle of gauze.

"It's all going to be fine, Al," Steve said gently.

Alice coughed and felt something warm drip down her chin. Steve's expression morphed into one of utter horror.

"No," he whispered. "No, no, no."

He quickly pressed the gauze to the scratches. The sudden pressure caused Alice to let out a squeal of pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Steve said. "Here, drink this."

He procured one of the vials of Dr. Owens' medicine from his first-aid kit.

"Why do you have that?" Alice croaked, recognizing the shimmery purple liquid that was supposed to help regulate her powers.

"Since Starcourt," Steve said, "I always keep some with me. I had Dustin steal it from your room. Sorry. Open up."

He tipped it into Alice's mouth. She gagged at the taste.

Steve waited with bated breath for a nosebleed, or a glow, or any sign that Alice was healing. None came. Tears welled in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Alice," he said, pressing more gauze to the wounds. "This shouldn't have happened."

"It's not your fault," she mumbled. She coughed again, more blood seeping out of her mouth.

"You have to try and heal, okay?" Steve said frantically. "I know you aren't at full strength, but you're Alice the Amazing!"

Alice squeezed her eyes shut and tried once more to heal herself, with no luck. She was too weak and too injured.

"Alice the Amazing is just a character," Alice wheezed. "A stupid Dorks and Dragons character that Dustin made up."

"She's based on you," Steve said. He gave her a watery smile. "And she's not going to die today! Lean forward for me, babe."

He wrapped a bandage tightly around her ribs. His hands shook as he tied it off.

"'M tired," Alice said as he worked. She closed her eyes. "I think I need to nap..."

"NO!" Steve yelled. He shook her shoulder and her eyes snapped back open. "You've got to stay awake for me, okay? Let's talk about...about our RV trip! Where's our first stop going to be?"

Alice's brain felt like it was full of potato salad. It was getting increasingly more difficult to focus on what Steve was saying.

"Niagara Falls," she mumbled. A feeling of numbness spread across her chest. "Lucas said his cousins visited and rode down it in a barrel. I couldn't tell if he was joking."

"That's perfect!" Steve said, rambling to keep her alert. "We'll go to Niagara Falls. And maybe we can go to New York City! Be annoying tourists in Times Square!"

"Sounds good," Alice said. She smiled weakly at Steve. "I can't wait."

Steve smiled back before tightening the bandage. "Is that too tight?"

"No. But I'm cold." Alice shivered, despite her thick coat. "Is it cold to you?"

Steve's panic rose. Alice always, always ran hot. If she was cold...he didn't want to think about that.

"Here," Steve said, shrugging off his leather jacket and covering her with it, like a blanket. He then moved her so she was partially in his lap and ran his hands up and down her arms. "Better?"

Alice nodded and leaned her head on his chest. "Better."

A cool calm washed over Alice. The pain seemed to subside.

"Can we go to Disneyland too?" Alice said quietly.

"We can go anywhere you want, Al," Steve said. "I just need you to keep your eyes open, okay?"

"It's too soon for the nuggets," Alice said, ignoring him. "But I thought of a boy's name I like: Bartholomew. Bart for short."

"Bartholomew Harrington," Steve said. He continued warming her up and tried to ignore how clammy and fragile she looked. "Sounds like a cool guy."

"He will be. And he'll be sporty, like his dad."

Alice coughed once more and spat blood onto the forest floor.

"Shit, shit, shit," Steve said. He reached for the first-aid kit. "Here, let's get you some more of your medicine."

"Steve...it's no use," Alice said. She sniffled. "I don't—I don't think I'm getting out of here."

"Don't talk like that!" Steve shouted. "Yes, you are! We'll get you some medicine and then I'll carry you to the gate. And then paramedics can patch you up!"

Alice lifted her head slightly and placed a hand on Steve's cheek.

"You've g-gotta be like Dustin's b-brother now, all right?" she said. "He's g-going to need it."

"Alice," Steve sobbed, holding her tighter. "Please, just hold on a little longer, okay? Try and heal again." He brushed the hair off her forehead. It frightened him how cold her skin felt.

"Tell Dustin he's the best little brother a girl could ask for," she added. "And that I know it was p-probably weird when Mom and Dad brought me home one day, like a goddamn stray dog. But he n-never made me feel like I didn't belong. Like I wasn't f-family. Even when I was a total b-bitch to him."

She dropped the hand from Steve's cheek, eyes unfocused.

"Stay with me, okay?" Steve said, fear in his eyes. He grabbed the walkie-talkie from the ground. Despite its evident brokenness, he pressed the talk button and desperately shouted: "HEY! Does anybody copy?! Code Red! Alice needs help! Please!"

"I'm so sleepy..." Alice mumbled.

"Stay awake!" Steve said, shaking her shoulder. Back into the radio, he yelled, "Please! Somebody! Anybody! Code Red! Alice is—she's—she's dying!"

The delirious Alice gazed up at Steve, trying to memorize every line, freckle, and mark on his face. His hair stuck out in all directions, giving him a mad scientist look. His lips, although pulled into a frown as he barked into the radio, still looked as kissable as ever. His soft brown eyes were sad, but beautiful.

"I w-wish we had more time," Alice said. "More time for more d-dates...more kisses...more c-canasta...lots m-more canasta."

"We'll have time for that," Steve said urgently. "We will! Just don't fall asleep!"

"I love you," Alice whispered. "To the moon, to Jupiter, to g-goddamn Pluto and b-back."

"I love you too," Steve said. He pressed three frantic kisses to her temple. "So much, Alice. So, so, so much. I can't lose you, so please, just stay awake—"

"P-promise me that you'll still go on that road trip," Alice said.

"Not without you," Steve said, roughly wiping tears with his shirtsleeve.

"You've g-gotta," Alice said. "Forget about m-me. F-find some nice, n-normal girl from a nice, normal t-town. M-marry her, c-canasta with her, and get her knocked up s-six times."

Steve let out a cry of anguish and tried to give Alice more of Owens' medicine. She coughed it all up.

"Why isn't this shit working?!" Steve yelled, throwing a now-empty vial against a nearby tree. It shattered into a hundred pieces.

"I wish that girl c-could be me," Alice continued. "G-god, I wish it would be me."

"She is you!" Steve cried out. "Al, please..."

Alice's eyelids fluttered closed. Her head lolled forward, chin tucking into her chest. She let out a soft exhale and stilled.

Alice Henderson was dead.

It felt as if a piece of Steve's very own soul withered away and died with her.

"Alice?" he croaked out. He shook her again. "Alice, come on, wake up. Please."

No response.

"Please, Al," he whispered. Neverending tears spilled down his cheeks. "Please, wake up."

He cried out for help again, wondering if he shouted loud enough, Kali, Robin, and the others would be able to hear from the trailer park: "HEY! Can anybody hear me?! Please! We need somebody! Please!"

After a few more minutes of shouting until his voice was hoarse, he was hit with the sinking realization that no one was coming. That he was fully and utterly alone.

Grief clung to his bones as Steve sobbed. Sobbed for the girl he loved, and the love that was cut too short. A life cut too short.

I'm going to have to be the one to tell everyone, Steve thought, nausea rolling through his body. I'm going to have to look Dustin in the eye and tell him Alice is gone. Nance already blames herself for Barb's death. This will just crush her. Robin will cry for weeks. The kids will be devastated. Max and Alice, gone on the same day...oh my God. Alice's mom. Mrs. Henderson won't be able to handle this.

Steve's brain continued moving on autopilot, showing him glimpses of a potential future without Alice in it.

He could see her funeral. All their friends dressed in black, faces tear-stained, eyes glassy. It would rain the day of Alice Henderson's funeral, because the world would be infinitely more gloomy without her. What flowers would they throw onto the casket? Steve knew Alice preferred peonies over roses. He would make sure they used peonies.

Where would Alice be buried? In Hawkins? Or in Muncie, where Mr. Henderson was buried? Who would give the eulogy? Mrs. Henderson would be too distraught to speak—losing a husband and a daughter, in a span of six years, was too much to bear. Dustin probably would. He would say wonderful things about Alice, about how although the siblings bickered like children, they loved each other and would do anything to keep each other safe and happy. About how she spent so much of the past few years trying to keep everybody safe.

Steve caught a glimpse of his life five years from now. Ten years from now. Living another life, in another town, someplace far from Hawkins. Would he meet another girl to settle down with? The feat seemed impossible. Who could measure up to Alice, and the future he'd dreamed about with her?

How could he meet someone else? How could he move on? He imagined scanning crowds for that familiar, freckled face and those shining blue eyes he'd been enamored with since Christmastime, 1984. He imagined drunken escapades, bringing strange girls home from bars and murmuring the wrong name into their lips at the wrong times. Angry, they would ask Who is Alice? How would he even begin to answer that loaded question?

Steve needed to move. He needed to get out of the Upside Down. He needed to bring Alice's body back to Hawkins...but as soon as he did that, it would be real. Her death. And he wasn't strong enough to handle that.

He's not sure when he started performing CPR, lifeguard training kicking in like it was second nature. He's not sure how long he spent alternating between chest compressions and life-saving breaths. It could've been minutes, or hours. All he knew is that he didn't want to let Alice go.

He placed two fingers on her wrist, feeling for a pulse. He cursed and continued counting out compressions. At some point, he heard the sickening crack! of a rib, but he kept at it.

If it was me lying here, Steve thought, Alice wouldn't give up. She wouldn't stop trying to save me. Even if it seemed impossible.

"I'm not giving up, Alice," Steve said, voice wobbling, aware that he was talking to nobody. He didn't care. "I'm not giving up on you."

After thirty more compressions, he pressed his lips to hers for two more life-saving breaths. He checked her wrist again and sobbed with relief. She had a pulse. It was thready, and weak, and barely-there, but her heart was beating.

Steve's splintered soul patched itself up as he watched a nosebleed drip onto her lip.

Alice Henderson was healing.

She was alive again. 

{Posted October 21st, 2022; Republished March 27th, 2025}

A/N [from 2022] Let the record show that I planned this resurrection storyline before it happened with Max in Volume 2! I always knew I wanted Alice to use her powers to bring someone back to life, I just wasn't sure if it would be her or someone else. 

QOTD: If you were a pizza topping—wait a minute! what are you still doing here, the next chapter is posted already!

A/N [from 2025]: Sorry y'all...you have to wait two hours for the next installment...