Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Stranger Things.

A/N: This is a much shorter chapter than my average, but I feel like it packs a bit of punch.

Please let me know if you are liking where I am going, I think I'm going to try and wrap up the plot over the next few chapters. As always, thank you to each and every one of you who are still reading and commenting you're amazing! Xx pixie dust

Chapter 17: "Fear"

"Fuck me. You're like… some kind of cocaine—" Billy panted heavily as he threw himself back into the bed. Stars filled his eyes as a cascade of feathers ruffled beneath him. "Better than cocaine-- instead of being bad for me, you're good, —so good." He smirked as he forced El's still straddling body down to him to steal an erratic kiss.

God, he had needed that, so badly. And wow. Just wow. –it had been mind-blowing. Better than he had ever thought possible.

That had always been that main underlying problem with having multiple, infrequent sexual partners— they always lacked familiarity. Is that why this had been so different? It was like she was inside of his head and for the first time ever, he didn't feel like discarding her afterwards.

What the hell did that mean?

"Sorry… for the mess." She whispered as she gently blew a feather from his face, the white dusting that now covered the room caused her to bury her head into his chest with embarrassment. "Hey, don't be--" He forced her head up to meet his gaze, "it's so fucking hot, that you can't fake it."

"Fake it?" her brown eyes peered into his, "yeah… umm… I'm not going to explain that one to you, it works in my favour if you just stay in the dark." He gave a charming smirk, whilst suggestively running his hands down the contours of her back.

He closed his eyes and gave off a giddy smile at the memory of just moments before, but the smile quickly deteriorated when he felt El roll off him and make her way to the edge of the bed. "Are you alright?" he leant up on elbow to watch her wrap a loose sheet around herself.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she gave her best smile, "I'll be back in minute." She informed as she quietly made her way towards the door to leave.

WELL-- this was new.

He had always been the one to abruptly leave after a sexual encounter, never before had it been visa vera. It wasn't like he cared or anything… she was doing him a favour, cuddling after sex was NOT something that Billy Hargrove enjoyed, it was WAY too intimate for him. But if that was the case… why was his heart fluttering with panic as he watched her walk away…

Had he hurt her somehow? Did she regret it? Fuck had Rob done more to her then just slap her?

With these thoughts in mind, he quickly discarded the piece of rubber from his still throbbing member. Grabbing a pair of boxers', he made his way out the door to follow her.

--

El had been holding in the cry that had disguised itself as a lump in her throat, until she reached the sanctuary of the bathroom door. The stinging and throbbing pain in her wrist had become so unbearable that she hadn't even had the thought process to close the door behind her. As she turned the facet and placed the tender skin under the cool water, she continued her ongoing struggle to choke back her tears. Billy just couldn't know, what would he think? That she was some kind of freak? Or worse… that perhaps she had been taken over by the mind flayer.

Ironically, she thought to herself, she'd have to remember to thank Rob the next time she saw him. He'd given Billy the most effective tunnel vision she had ever witnessed, he had completely forgotten about this morning antics and with it, all his suspicions causing her awkwardness… A slap in the face had been a small price to pay.

With the stinging subsiding from the consistent flow of cool water, she quickly rewrapped her wrist and turned on her heels to head back to Billy before he asked any further questions. Little did she know that he was already almost at the door to seek her out.

"Hey… Are you alright?" he held her firmly by the upper arms, "and don't say 'I'm fine.' Everyone knows that 'I'm fine' means, 'I'm not fine." He rolled his eyes in a hiss.

"I'm okay?" she replied with a frisky smirk, "you're a pain in the ass, you know that?" he attempted to keep his face serious, but a small smile snuck out from the corner of his mouth.

Before she could get another word in, he snatched the sheet from her body and discarded it to the floor. Keeping his face stern, he then leaned forward and roughly chucked her small frame over his shoulder. With one strong arm placed at the back of her thighs, he held her there firmly, ensuring there with no chance of her escape. Shocked by his roughness she took a frantic breath in, realising after a moment his obvious playfulness, she and held in a giggle as he turned around to head back towards the scene of their original crime.

"You keep escaping-- I might have to tie you down hey?" he chastised her with a fondling smack to her bare backside, she couldn't help but gasp and follow it through with a burst of laughter.

"Hey! I've got my powers back you know!" She wrestled against him with a gentle protest of kicking and squirming, Billy's smile only widened by her apparent fury.

Ignoring her threat, he made his way back to the bedroom, stopping at the base of the bed, he grabbed a handful of cheek and thigh and nipped at it teasingly. Feeling insatiable and mischievous he then deposited her into the middle of the bed with a bouncing thud.

"Think I need another hit," he growled as he yanked her towards him by her legs, accompanying the act with his best predatory stance. Accidently breaking his bad boy persona with a smile when he heard another giggle escape her lips. As he pulled her in closer, he leant his body into hers to claim back what was rightfully his.

--
The Lab, November 30th, 1985

"How is it that we have lost yet another one of our test subjects?" Dr Brenner angrily paced the white tiled floor.

"I've told you before doctor, we can't control something that we don't fully understand…"

"THIS WAS NOT PART OF THE PLAN!" he shouted with an accusing finger, "Now look where we are... first Eleven gone, now six is somehow missing, when he is SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDED TWENTY FOUR HOURS A DAY."

"Doctor—" Cohen attempted to rebuttal but was quickly interrupted by the furious white-haired man in front of him.

"I don't want to hear your petty excuses; you know what six is capable of-- and you know damn well what his plans would be if he escaped. If he finds eleven before we do and converts her to his way of thinking, we are all as good as dead."

"I want you to find her, bring her back here—then we will have some sort of negotiation over him." He softened his tone, "He's always had… what you might call 'a fascination' with her. Which in this case will work perfectly in our favour."

"And doctor… what about the hole… things have constantly been trying to come out… will we have the girl close it?"

"No, I want to mix her power with its counter parts, we will leave the door as it is." Brenner scolded the young doctor's foolishness.

"Right… and how do you propose we find her? We've been looking for days and haven't found a single hideaway; I'm actually wondering if she's even in Hawkins anymore."

"I think it's time to hit her where it counts, that will provoke a reaction."

"An innocent kid?"

"I've told you before, there are always sacrifices to be made in the name of science… it's time you sucked it up and learnt that."

--

Billy awakened the following morning to a very unfamiliar sensation, unfamiliar yet oddly pleasant, it was good, it felt like home. There curled into his chest, so vulnerable and trusting; laid the most perfect brunette bombshell he'd ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. When his thoughts began to run in the direction of "I could really get used to this" he stopped them dead in their tracks.

What the hell was happening to him? He didn't cuddle and he certainly wasn't a one chick kind of guy. So, if that was the case why was there a longing to stay exactly where he was?

Sure, maybe it wasn't who he was and maybe he'd never be that guy—but it wouldn't hurt to savour the moment just this one time… just pretend to be that guy, for her, she deserved that much.

Despite having her twice now, she still managed to possess most, if not all her mysteriousness. It left Billy feeling compelled to continue to study her, to learn everything about her. She was complex and damaged, just like him. He hadn't bored or tired of her and that was a terrifying thought just on its own.

He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard as he peeled her thick dark locks from her face. Peering down to see that the once red handprint on her face, was now a purple print against her once seemingly perfect complexion. "Bastard," he whispered under his breath.

Rob was going to pay for what he did, he knew that much. It was going to be satisfying on so many different levels. Sure, El would most likely try and talk him out of it, try and talk him down off the cliff of insanity— but she'd get over it and hopefully, she just might even understand. No one seemed to understand him, if anyone ever could, it was going to be her. She understood anger, rage and irrational thought, if he was honest it shocked the hell out of him that she had even let the bastard get away with it in the first place. It would be better this way; he'd get to do it and he was going to enjoy every bloody minute of it.

With gentle fingers he traced the bruise across her cheek, checking to see if it was tender enough to rouse her. Seeing that even in her sleep the light contact caused a sudden wince, he stopped and began moving his hands down the silhouette of her body. Grazing the sides of her breast and petite hip, he was distracted when he noticed the bandana on her wrist. It just seemed out of place, when compared to her nude state. He peeled back the fabric and gently placed a calloused hand around her arm, turning it around to view the other side he jolted at the sight.

"What the fuck," he breathed heavily, who the hell had done this to her? How long had it been there? He gently rubbed a thumb across the lettering, it erupted an immediate groan from the sleeping girl against his chest.

Jesus, it was fresh.

He thought the last one had been bad being only about a centimetre long, now here was this one, quintupling in size and would just be about impossible to hide.

Someone had done this to her. Another sick fuck running around wanting his pound of flesh from her.

He stared at it for what felt like an hour, studying the craftsman ship, placement and what the hell it even meant.

Why someone would even want to do this to her. He considered waking her, in nothing short of true Billy Hargrove fashion. Interrogation at its finest of course-- but since last night, they had come along way, he knew his anger never seemed to go anywhere with her. She would shut down in this case, if he went about it the wrong way.

He'd have to be sensitive, a hard task for him-- the hardest task ever actually.

"Hello, is anyone there!" a frantic Max shouted from the bedside table, the walkie's static had muffled out the rest she had to say.

"Ughhh" a bed headed Eleven groaned beneath the sheets, "too early." She buried her head further into Billy's side attempting to block out the agitating static.

"So, when were you planning on telling me you got some new ink," Billy lifted her arm towards her face, "haven't see you in a tattoo parlour lately."

"It's nothing," she whipped her hand away from his grasp and pointlessly tried to escape the bed.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" He yanked her back to him, "and it's not nothing! What you had before maybe could have passed for nothing. This IS SOMETHING."

"Who the hell did this to you? And when?" He demanded, still holding her firmly.

"I don't know!" She cried, wriggling against him to free herself.

"Don't you lie to me El! Who was it?"

"I never saw his face!" She shouted back angrily, "-- maybe six. I don't know. But what he said made sense." She cried out defeatedly, "Now let me go! Before I shake you back!"

Sensing her desperation, he released her, not out of fear of her sending him through the nearby wall.

No, it was her fear.

She was terrified, not of him, but of herself. She was afraid he wouldn't cope with all the shit that just seem to keep on coming. She was afraid that he'd leave her and that cut him deep, to a level he'd never felt before. No one knew that feeling better than him. It hit him then, another freight train at full speed ahead, she cared so much, it shone through her with such force, it was blinding.

"I'm sorry El." He reached out to touch her arm, "I'm a fucking idiot—I didn't mean to shout at you… we'll figure it out, alright." He tested her anger with a half-smile.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you—" with eyes still glossy she returned the smile.

"Can you come here then?" He asked with open arms.

Not hesitating in the slightest, she climbed her way into his lap and tucked her face into the croak of his neck.

He was going to have to work on his sensitively that much was clear-- but she was so patient, so forgiving, that was something that was so foreign and new to him.

"BILLY, ELL, CODE RED. FOR GOODNESS SAKE, SOMEONE ANSWER ME!" The walkie blared from the bedside table, provoking a jolt of shock from the reconciling pair.

Scrambling over El, Billy reached an arm for the walkie, "what do you want Max, it better be good." He hissed impatiently.

"Billy! It's your dad, you need to come home, something has happened