Chapter Text
"You know what, it might not have been the best idea to have the fugitive suspected murderer wearing a Michael Myers mask," Sam says as Dean moves in front of Eddie, beckoning for him and the rest of the kids to follow.
"Oh, Jesus H. CHRIST!" Eddie says, his voice muffled by yet at the same time echoing strangely from the mask.
Max inhales between her gritted teeth. "Oops, sorry."
It's Dean who opens the door to the airstream, and who's instantly ducking under the dashboard on the driver's side, pulling his knife and tucking away his lockpicking kit -"Don't any of you try this at home," he says.
"You heard him, you little shits. I don't care who your lawyer is, Max." Steve comes up the steps to stop and pan his eyes and pointed finger around the interior of the camper van.
"All right," Dustin says
"You don't know WHAT I'm gonna do," Erica immediately counters.
"Erica!"
"WHAT, Lucas? He ain't my mom or dad, and I don't see anything but a demand. Since he's not a parent or a cop, I say," she rolls her eyes "he needs to worry about himself before he gets -"
"Okay you can cool it, little Sinclair," Steve speaks directly to her. "I know I can't make you do anything."
"But we all gotta siddown, right, Harrington?" Eddie drawls, bounding into the camper and clapping Steve's shoulders. "You got this under control, don'tcha, big boy?"
Robin raises her eyebrows and masks a snort as Nancy covers her mouth. Castiel and Sam have followed Max, who tosses her hair and says "Not to interrupt... whatever this is, but we should go."
"Got it!" With a coughing rev of engine, Dean straightens out of his half-crouched, half laid-out position and "shut the door, Sammy!" His brother reaches one long arm whilst glaring and yanks the door closed. Everyone is slung into the sde of the vehicle or on top of each other - Nancy ends up in Robin's lap, Max is caught by Lucas who in turn crushes Dustin
"Get off me, even though I don't have collarbones that fuckin' huRTS!"
"oW! All RIGht!" Lucas screams, or rather his voice climbs high enough on a noise it cracks into screeches.
Eddie has kept his hands on Steve, though he's dropped them to the sides of his waist, and Erica looks extremely unimpressed by everyone else's antics and shenanigans. Whether they were intentional or not. Some settling into seats, a hushed burst of words about keeping this thing steady and eyes on the road ensues from the giant guy with long hair to his brother who, in typical big brother fashion, doesn't appear to listen.
Lucas and Max end up in the back of this thing, people are screaming and waving behind them, so Nancy Wheeler tries to calm Eddie, who's pushed his mask completely off his head and clutches his long hair like that will somehow stop the owners of the camper from seeing him.
"Uh, good news," Dean calls over his shoulder "well, maybe, uh. There's a chance they saw me driving, so it'll be my description that gets passed to the cops." He shrugs.
"But I was still with you, following, man," Eddie says, a little hysterical.
Dean clicks his tongue and jerks his chin. "You're right about that." He makes a face. "Sorry kid."
Robin meanwhile tries to fan herself and face the window while not thinking about the way Nancy's weight had settled into her lap as the other girl fell with a gasp. Robin had automatically put her hands on Nancy's waist to catch her, steady her, something - Nancy's soft hair had filled all of her vision as she said softly "Oh! Thanks, Robin," and Robin had swallowed several times before managing to speak.
"I, sure, you're welcome, I'm glad I was there to catch you, I mean. You should be careful - I mean, it's, be careful. I-" when Nancy smiles slightly and turns towards the aisle, Eddie and Steve, Robin's final murmur under her breath is "...glad I could help. That's all I had to say. Great, I'm an idiot."
Robin sighs and pinches her nose and leans, or rather thumps her forehead against the window next to her. The cool glass is a bit of a shock against the skin of her forehead, but moreso is the reflection of a face close to hers.
"Sheeezus," she breathes as dark hair and high-boned face, it's the angel, Robin recalls; or rather the man who is referring to himself as one. She's not brainless, nor can she take things on blind faith. That isn't what life is about, not for her, at least. You can't take things on faith when you have a secret that could get you hurt or maybe even killed for divulging. But they might all be killed anyway by this Vecna, and that's scarier- the fact she feels less panicked about that than the possibility of someone finding out what she is.
Someone who isn't Steve.
She told him, and someone might say she did that on faith, were anybody else to ever learn anything about it, but she didn't. He hadn't understood initially, but he would have been hurt by feeling - whatever he started feeling for her if she'd let it go on. And besides, watching him now, utterly baffled by Eddie's winks and grins and suggestive phrases, Robin is relieved to catch his clueless eyes and be able to make a face and shake her head rather than sink into the hot stew of feeling she has for someone- like Steve discovered with her -who almost certainly does not and will not offer feelings back.
And Castiel, with his power, feels for this young human woman nothing more acutely at this moment than empathy. A yawning, aching gulf of empathy.