Highway to Hell
I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
Yet another day passes with no kids barging into her home, so Dani takes it upon herself to be productive. She's been meaning to change the oil on her car, but she's been lazy or occupied by exploring Hawkins. Now, however, is a surprisingly cool day and she's got nothing else to do. So as Nathan Lewis eats some breakfast before getting ready for work, Dani dresses in a white racerback tank top and a pair of jean shorts- clothes she doesn't care to get oil on should things turn messy. Her hair gets pulled up into a messy topknot and she ties a yellow folded bandanna around her hairline to keep the shorter strands out of her eyes.
So after parking her car in the middle of the driveway and then gathering the creeper, the jack, and blocks to keep her car lifted so she could slide underneath, Dani then goes back to the garage to grab two oil pans, the new oil filter, a funnel, and a container of oil. She grabs a stack of old newspaper to wrap the old oil filter in and a couple of rags she knows she's going to need.
Jacking up the front end of her Firebird and setting the blocks beneath it so it doesn't fall on her, Dani slides one of the oil pans underneath while plopping down on the creeper and gathering a wrench and a rag from the ground. Then setting her boombox next to her car and pressing play, Queen's Another One Bites The Dust starts to blare as Dani slides herself underneath the car.
Staring up at the oil pan attached to her car, she locates the plug and sighs. "I really hate this part."
The drain plug is basically a nut that needs to be unscrewed, but the tricky part is keeping the nut in place after it's unscrewed and then hurriedly moving her hand out of the way so the oil can fall into the other pan that's right next to her head.
With a rag wrapped around her hand, Dani unscrews the nut, grimaces when she gets oil on her hand, and moves out of the way just in time for the oil to start draining. As the old oil is draining, Dani slides herself back out to start removing the oil filter from the top of the engine. Being careful she finally removes the old filter and then empties that into the other drain pan she had left over. Then once it's empty she wraps it up in newspaper to keep from getting oil anywhere else.
I Wanna Rock by Twisted Sister starts playing and Dani takes the moment to sing and mess around. Laughing at herself she then screws the new filter in place. Hotel California plays next and Dani nearly chokes on her water, her mind immediately jumping to the one boy from California whose been on her mind lately. She checks here and there to see if the oil is done draining, and when it is she reluctantly settles back down on the creeper to slide underneath her car.
Dani's in the process of wiping off the excess oil around the drain when a rumbling engine can be heard getting nearer and nearer. The familiar sound suddenly makes her heart race, but she shakes the feeling off and focuses on the task at hand. But then the rumbling stops when it's at it's closest, a horn honks, and Dani jerks in surprise.
"Lewis?"
"Oh god." Dani slides out, still lying down and staring at Billy practically hanging out the driver's side window. "Hey, Billy." She weakly waves. Smirking at the sight of her, he takes it upon himself to park and get out.
Dani hurriedly slides back underneath her car to replace the drug plug. No One Like You by Scorpions comes on next and Dani closes her eyes with a groan. She just knows that this particular song coming on at the exact moment Billy exits his car is going to make him say something.
Sliding out once more, Dani sits up and finds Billy smirking at her. "Knew I was coming, did you?" He asks arrogantly. "Nice song choice."
"Shut it, Hargrove."
He chuckles as he comes to a stop just in front of her. "You do your own work on your car? Not gonna lie, I'm a bit turned on."
Billy offers her a hand up and Dani takes it, she grimacing at the oil she leaves on his hand. He shrugs and grabs one of her spare rags, wiping it off as if it were no big deal. "Uh, part of the deal for me getting a car was that I learned to take care of it," she says while lowering the volume on the boombox.
"Nice. I like a girl who knows her way around the guts of her ride."
Dani watches as he looks her up and down, his tongue peeking out as he licks his bottom lip. She scoffs. "Of course you do. And how the hell do you make that even sound dirty?"
"It's a talent." Billy looks around and his gaze eventually lands on her dad's patrol cruiser. Something in his expression falters and Dani grins. "Who's the cop? Mom or dad?"
She takes a sip of water before answering. "It's just me and my dad." A door shutting has Dani looking over her shoulder. "Speak of the devil," she then muses.
Billy seems to straighten up at the sight of Nathan Lewis, Dani's dad's gaze hardening at the sight of the boy in a white tank top and too tight jeans. Dani's lips press into a hard line to keep from laughing as Nathan makes a beeline for them.
"Billy, this is my dad Nathan Lewis. Dad, this is Billy Hargrove. He's Max's step-brother."
"Sir."
Billy shakes Nathan's hand with a firm grip, he layering on the charm a little too thick. The two stare each other down, Dani's gaze darting back and forth like a ping pong match. Nathan's deadpan expression is the complete opposite to Billy's grin.
The moment breaks and Nathan cracks a smile. Looking at Dani, he says, "I like this one. Much better than the goofball drooling over you at the mall."
"Dad!"
Billy chuckles. "See, Dani, even your dad doesn't like Harrington."
"Shut up, Billy."
"Well as amusing as this is, I gotta head into work, kid."
"Yeah. You coming home or does Hop have you working late again?"
Nathan actually turns rather sheepish and Dani huffs at him. Her dad's never kept secrets from her, but ever since he bonded with Chief Hopper her dad's been kinda mum about work. "You got cash, right? I'll probably pick something up and eat at the station."
"Yeah I got cash. I'll see you later then."
"Later. Nice meetin' 'ya, Billy. You touch my daughter, I'll kill 'ya."
"Nice meeting you too, Mr. Lewis." With those parting words, Dani watches Billy keep up his most charming smile until her dad gets into his patrol cruiser and drives off. When he's out of sight, Billy immediately turns to her and his smile turns positively wicked. "What do you think he'd do if he knew I already touched you?" He asks, referring to the pool incident and the indecent swimsuit.
"Don't even joke about that. He'd rip that swimsuit to pieces and then take away my car."
"Mmm. I'd hate to see that swimsuit suddenly disappear."
"Of course you would." Dani goes back to the task at hand, she putting a funnel into one particular opening near her engine. She has to bend over to reach when pouring the new oil in, and momentarily tenses when she feels a presence press close to her side. Just as she feels like she can breathe, she jerks when she feels a hand run up the back of her thigh. She immediately kicks out. "Knock if off, asshole!"
Billy chuckles as he walks to the side of her car, he leaning just out of reach. "So when my car needs an oil change, do you think you can do it for me, Lewis?"
"So you can ogle my ass? Pass." As she's waiting for the oil to sink, she reaches into her pocket and tosses Billy her keys. "Make yourself useful and turn the car on. I need to check for leaks.
"So hot." Billy does as he's told and after checking up top and underneath, Dani finds no leaks.
They take a slow trip around the the block to get the oil flowing through where it needs to go and after checking the dipstick to see the oil level, a bit more oil is added and Dani is done. Then after disposing of what needs to be disposed of and seeing that Billy is in no rush to leave, she gestures him inside her home.
"What are the plans for today?" She asks, going to her refrigerator and pouring herself a glass of juice.
Leaning against the kitchen door jamb with his arms crossed over his chest, Billy shrugs. "Not much. Max is gone with some little girl that my dad actually approved of, so I'm off babysitting duty. My schedule is clear," he muses. Dani drains her glass and sets it aside with a hum. "Why? Did you have something in mind?"
"I have absolutely shit to do."
A moment of silence passes before Billy says, "Then lets just drive. You have cash, we'll take my car, and we'll just make it up as we go."
Dani hesitates briefly, she searching his expression for any type of ulterior motives. For once.. there's nothing. Billy seems at ease and hopeful which is why Dani finds herself agreeing. "Sure. Why the hell not. Just let me wash up." Billy's smile is one of the genuine ones he rarely displays and Dani's heart flutters. Mentally scolding herself, she then tells him, "Raid the fridge if you want while you wait. Or watch some TV. I'll be right back down."
As Billy remains downstairs, Dani rushes upstairs and grabs a towel before heading into her bathroom. She quickly washes up, scrubbing away any oil and the smell of it before jumping back out and wrapping herself up in a towel.
After finding another racerback tank top, this one in black, Dani quickly pulls it on over her head and finds another pair of cut-off shorts. She dons a pair of combat boots and then puts her damp hair back in a topknot that's less purposely messy and more styled to appear as if were messy. Then pocketing her cash and phone, Dani heads back downstairs to find Billy lounging in her dad's recliner and watching MTV.
"Where to first?"
Billy glances over at her, grinning. "You tell me. Lets go."
- X -
They end up taking Billy's car for their spur of the moment road trip, and the further they get from Hawkins the more Billy seems to be at genuine ease. The windows are rolled down, a cigarette dangles from between his lips, and Dani's socked feet find their way to his dash. The radio volume is cranked all the way up and Dani sips on a cherry slushee in between singing at the top of her lungs.
They pick up some Burger King some time after noon and Billy drives to a park that's located near a pond. Sitting in his car as they munch on their lunch, he reaches out and touches her forearm. She freezes.
"What's with the tat?"
Dani glances down at the 009 and she swallows down her bite of food, suddenly regretting that she chose to stop wearing the bracelet so much. "That's, uh, that's a part of my past that's better not brought up right now," she says. "Ask me again another time."
"Oohh. So mysterious. Now I wanna know even more."
Cracking a grin, she shakes her head. "Not now. Ask me something else."
Billy bites into his burger. "You mentioned earlier that it's just you and your dad. Where'd your mom go?"
"Wow. You're just jumping in head first, aren't 'ya?" Billy shrugs and eats some more. And though most people usually get emotional over the mention of an absentee parent, Dani's rather indifferent to it. Maybe if she had had actually known her mother she'd feel some sort of other way. "She died. In childbirth."
"..oh."
"Relax, Hargrove. Don't look so panicked. It was a long time ago."
Billy snorts and changes the subject all together. "What do you want to do next?"
"I have no fuckin' idea. Just pick a direction and drive."
- X -
After lunch Billy finds a movie theater for them to stop at. The parking lot is mostly empty and Dani picks the only romance movie available just to annoy the hell out of him. But he seems to turn the tables on her the moment the lights go out, leaning over into her space and blowing air into her ear with teasing remarks. Dani tries her best not to show how much his actions are amusing her rather than annoying her, and she eventually has to punch his thigh when when his hand finds it way atop her own thigh and his fingers skim inward.
"You know you're the only girl I actually hang out with who doesn't put out?" He murmurs.
With a sickly sweet voice, Dani coos, "Don't pretend you don't enjoy my company without the sex, Billy. We both know that if sex was all you were after, you'd have pushed me aside without batting an eye for the next available piece of ass."
He sighs. "Fair enough." Billy then places his arm around the back of her shoulders, and after glaring suspiciously at him Dani settles under his arm.
They watch the rest of the movie, poking fun at it, and immediately leave the second the credits start to roll.
"What do you say we find a diner before heading back to that shithole we call home?"
"I'd say that sounds like a plan."
As Billy drives to their next destination, Dani texts her father to let him know where they're at and when she'll be home. And by the time they get to the diner, Nathan still hasn't texted back. It's a bit odd, but Dani pushes it to the back of her mind as they enter the diner. The two talk about anything and everything, some subjects being more touchy than others for Billy if the tightening of jaw or the clench of his fists were anything to go buy.
They're in the middle of eating their plates of meatloaf and mashed potatoes when a thunderstorm strikes out of nowhere, and Billy takes glee in the fact that Dani is not a fan of them. By the time they're able to leave, and Billy has soothed Dani's worries that the storm has truly passed, the roads are slick and the moon is high in the sky.
- X -
The volume is once again cranked, but this time Billy has his AC blasting since the thunderstorm went through Hawkins and turned the atmosphere rather muggy. The two are acting like fools, wasting their last bit of feel good energy before Billy has to drop off Dani when he suddenly curses, hands flying to the steering wheel as something heavy hits the windshield.
Billy curses again as the car spins and the last thing Dani sees is his panicked expression as her side of the car slams into a telephone pole.
The next time Dani's eyes flutter open.. it's dark. It's endless black, she has a killer headache, she's barefoot, and apparently the ground is covered in a couple inches of water.
"What the.." She stumbles in no particular direction, heart thudding in her chest as she gently touches the side of her head that's killing her. She's confused, tired, and scared, and though she's used to the dark.. this is something else entirely. "H-Hello?" She eventually calls out, her voice echoing. "Billy?"
Between one blink and the next, there's a scene in front of her that tries to take form. It's like a TV trying to catch a signal, the visual grainy and cutting out every other second. It's Eleven.
"El?" The young girl looks around, confusion evident in her expression as she walks off. "Eleven!"
She's not expecting anything to really happen, so Dani gasps when Eleven whirls around. "D.. ni? Where.. you?"
"El!" She shouts again, she swallowing thickly. "El, I'm right here!"
The younger girl seems frantic now, looking everywhere with a furrowed brow. She seems to be looking in Dani's direction, eyes squinting, so Dani gets as close as she can to Eleven without touching and wills the girl to see her. Seconds tick by and then Eleven jerks back in surprise, eyes widen. "Dani?"
Dani exhales in relief, tears pricking her eyes. "Y-Yeah." She suddenly has her arms full as Eleven throws herself at her and Dani squeezes her as tight as she can without hurting her. "What the hell is going? Where are we?"
"I call it the Void," Eleven tells her. "It's a place I go when I'm mentally searching for someone."
"Then how am I here? Where you looking for me?"
Stepping back, Eleven shakes her head. "No. I was looking for something else, but I ended up here. I heard your echo and.." the younger girl trails off, lips turning down into a frown as her gaze is drawn to one particular direction. "Dani, where are you?"
She blinks. "I'm not sure. But wait, go back. Something? You're searching for something?!" A low growl resonates from somewhere behind her and Dani jumps, she placing herself in front of Eleven and shielding her. "What the hell was that?"
"I'll explain later." Eleven tugs on Dani's wrist, pulling her backwards as water sloshes off in the distance. "I don't like this place. It's bad. You need to leave."
"Well I would if I could, but I don't even know how I got here!"
There's a distant roar that momentarily freezes both girls in place and then Eleven's digging her nails into Dani's wrist and bringing the older girl down to her level. Hands grasping either side of Dani's face, Eleven tells her, "You need to wake. Wake up, Dani, and leave wherever you are."
"Wh-"
"Wake up!"
Dani gasps awake to someone shaking her, she blinking at a clearly shaken Billy who sighs in relief upon her eyes opening. He's bleeding from a wound near his hairline and as Dani tries to move her own head throbs in pain. Quickly assessing her whereabouts, she realizes they've crashed and that her head apparently made contact with the passenger window.
"You good?" He asks.
"Y-Yeah. You?"
"My fuckin' car is thrashed and I just had the weirdest hallucination ever."
As Billy exits through his side of the car, Dani slowly follows through the driver's side since her door is pinned shut. She shakily breathes in the muggy air, a sense of dread enveloping her as Eleven's words suddenly resonate through her mind. "Billy? I don't think we should be here. We need to leave."
"In a moment," he distractedly comments. "I need to find out what the hell I hit."
"No. You don't understand. We need to-"
A growl pierces the air, followed by a series of animalistic clicking noises that sends a shiver up and down Dani's spine. They both turns towards a seemingly abandoned building and Dani rushes to Billy's side, her hand gently wrapping around his wrist. "Don't," she pleads as he takes a step towards the noise.
He tries jerking his hand free, but Dani only grips him tighter. "Relax. I'm just going to see-"
The shadows shift and it's not of Dani's doing. Billy freezes. "I need you trust me right now," she murmurs.
"What?"
"I need you to trust me, Billy. Please say you trust me."
"What the hell are you talking about?" The shadows shift again, followed by a growl, and now Billy is backpedaling away from the mass of shadows that is anything but.
"We're about to be in deep shit, Hargrove. I can get us out of here within seconds, but I need you to say you trust me."
Billy scoffs, but then something steps out of the shadows and roars a deafening roar as it's entire face opens up. "Fuck!" As he pushes Dani back towards his car, he realizes that they won't be able to outrun whatever has set their sights on them. "Fine. I trust you. Get us the hell out of here!"
Dani whips around, hugging him chest to chest. "Hold tight."
As his arms go around her, she thinks about the safety and comfort of her home. The shadows seem to know she's in danger and wrap around almost immediately, but before they can be whisked away there's another deafening roar just white hot pain explodes in her right bicep.
Dani shouts, Billy swears, and then Billy is shoving Dani away in a fit of panic when the familiar surroundings of her home come into focus around them.
"What the fuck was that? What the fuck are you?!"
She falls to her knees, sobbing. "That was- I'm not.. they said they closed the gate. That wasn't supposed to be here."
"What the hell are you talking about, Lewis?!"
Dani looks up at, gaze unfocused. "The Upside Down. Where the monsters live."
"Monsters don't-"
"If you say don't exist," she warns, her posturing straightening and voice going eerily dangerous, "I'm going to punch you in the dick, Hargrove."
Billy starts to pace, fists clenched at his sides. "Whatever. That still doesn't explain how you got us here when we were just on the other side of town."
Dani's mouth opens to retort, but then her cell starts to ring from her back pocket. Quickly standing she pulls out her silver Razr flip phone and finds the call is coming from Chief Hopper's place. Answering it, she asks, "El?"
"Dani! You're okay!?"
"Yeah. I'm good, kid," she says. Her gaze catches that of Billy and she frowns at his too intense stare. "It was a close call. Really close."
"Where were you?"
"I don't- I'm not sure." She wracks her brain for any details of where they'd been, but she realizes she hadn't been paying attention. Not really. "Billy, do you know where we were?"
"BILLY?! He was with you!?"
Dani rolls her eyes just as Billy shakes his head. "Yes he was with me and yes I'm telling him everything. I don't want to hear any judgement coming from you little dillholes. Am I clear?" Numerous voices try to talk over one another, but Dani ignores it all. "I don't care! You weren't almost clawed to death. We were. I had to resort to drastic measures and now he knows what I can do. He gets brought in."
"Fine," Eleven finally relents. "He can know, but he can't tell a soul."
"I really doubt Billy is going to go around town telling anyone and everyone that we have powers, kid. Have a little faith in me," Dani huffs. "And we don't know where we were, but we'll find out tomorrow. We left Billy's car behind and need to pick it up, but not tonight. Not after that."
Then after assuring Eleven and the rest of the party that she's fine and she'll be fine for the rest of the night, Dani hangs up with the kids and meets Billy's gaze.
"We're not getting my car tonight?"
"Hell no," she scoffs. "Unless you want to risk that monster still being there and making a snack out of us."
"Can't you just.. teleport us away or whatever the fuck it is you do?"
"It's not that simple."
"Then how is it?" He asks, gritting his teeth.
Dani's mind momentarily blanks before she sighs, she rubbing at her temples. Forgetting she had hit her head, she winces at the pain and then drops her hand. Taking a seat, she gestures for Billy to do the same. He does, but he sits as far away as possible from her. "Remember earlier you asked about my tattoo?" She asks of him, showing him the numbers once more. He nods. "That was my name up until I was fourteen years of age. Nine. I was experimented on as a child," she says.
She goes on to tell him everything about her past, including that of Eleven's and how monsters came to be in Hawkins. Billy sits in disbelief and anger, his anger more so directed at Max for willingly being roped into such dangerous events and putting her life in danger. After all if something were to happen to her, it was likely to be all his fault in the eyes of his dad and Susan.
"When I get my hands on that little shit head," he seethes.
Dani yawns, stretching, and then winces when the wounds on her bicep pull. "Relax. She hangs out with El and El is the most powerful, most kickass kid I've ever seen. Your step-sister will be fine."
"That's not the point, Dani!" He yells. Upon seeing her struggle to see the wounds on her arm, Billy seems to deflate some. Mentally groaning at himself, he stalks forward and starts herding her towards the kitchen. Then forcefully pushing her into a chair at the kitchen table, he starts opening and slamming cabinets. "Where the hell is your First Aid?"
"Really? That's it? You're not going to ask more about what I can do?"
"I would have if I hadn't seen that.. thing with my own two eyes."
"Fair enough." Dani then stands up with a sigh. "Follow me. First Aid is in my bathroom."
Upstairs in her bathroom, Dani grabs the First Aid kit from beneath her sink and sets it on the counter. Since Billy towers over her, she climbs up on the counter to sit so he can access her arm a little bit easier.
"It's mostly stopped bleeding," he mutters. "He grabs some disinfectant and then holds her arm over the sink, he pouring the solution over the cuts. Dani bits her tongue to keep from cursing his name and watches as he closely inspects it. "Do you want to shower now or later?"
"Now. I'm not sleeping in my blood or sweat." He nods once and then steps back, she then saying, "You're sleeping here tonight. I can grab a pair of my dad's sweats if you want to shower."
"Yeah."
Dani and Billy shower in different bathrooms at the same time, she then finding it hard not to stare when he re-enters her room with water still beading down his chest. When he finds her staring he smirks, and Dani rolls her eyes with a huff. "Don't say anything. And help patch me up."
There's not much they can do and Dani's lucky she doesn't need stitches. After disinfecting it once more, Dani holds a gauze pad over the claw marks and lets Billy wrap an ace bandage around it before pinning it closed.
As Dani moves to get ready for bed, her eyes narrow at Billy as he moves to the opposite side of said bed. "What are you doing?"
"Do you really think I'm going to sleep alone knowing there are monsters out there? Or sleep on the floor?" He asks, smirk slowly forming. "Not a chance, sweetheart."
"Whatever."
"Look at it this way- if that thing comes back at least we'll right next to one another and you can teleport us out again."
"It's not teleporting, it's-"
"I don't care. Get in the damn bed."
"God you're so pushy."
Luckily her bed is big enough for two people, with a little room to spare, and Dani settles under her blanket comfortably. Billy settles in behind her, without touching, and Dani closes her eyes. Suddenly a hand glides over her hip and she kicks out on reflex.
"Goddamn it! Knock it off." Billy chuckles and Dani rolls over, glaring at him. "And to think I thought you were going to be a judgmental asshole after you found out my secret."
"You might be a freak, but you're a hot freak."
"Of course you'd think that." Moving around so the blanket is more secure around her, Dani closes her eyes once more. "Go to sleep, Billy. Your life just got ten times more complicated."
He sighs, but for the rest of the night there's not a single peep from his side of the bed.
