Glitter and Gold
I am flesh and I am bone
Rise up, ting ting, like glitter and gold
I've got fire in my soul
Rise up, ting ting, like glitter
The two cars end up screeching to halts at the local supermarket, the tense atmosphere of the Dani's car breaking when Billy whistles lowly at the sight of Nancy swinging the car into park. He drawls about there being more to the Wheeler girl than he originally thought and Dani grins over her shoulder at him as she opens her door.
"I know. I totally have a girl crush on her."
Just as Max and Lucas scramble out from the back seat, glass shatters and everyone whirls around to see Nancy leading the group into the store through the now broken door.
Inside, Dani finds them down the aisle where all the first aide supplies are.
"Okay. Get her down," Nancy says. Jonathan and Mike, who'd been helping Eleven limp along, sit her on the floor. "Okay. Let me see."
Nancy squats down pushes Eleven's bloodied pant leg up, blood gushing from Eleven's wound as she whimpers in pain.
"Shit." Max's eyes widen. Nancy starts to open a gauze packet and a bottle of rubbing alcohol, but Max stops her. "Whoa, whoa, hey. What are you doing?"
"I'm cleaning the wound."
"No. First we need to stop the bleeding, then clean, then disinfect, then bandage." Nancy and Jonathan stare at the red head, not sure just how correct she is. Max glances around self consciously before she rolls her eyes. "I skateboard. Trust me."
Billy grunts. "She's right."
Max stares at him in surprise for backing her up before snapping out of it, she grabbing a piece of gauze herself and laying it on Eleven's wound. "Mike, hold this. Keep the pressure on it nice and firm, okay?" Then looking around at her other friends, she says, "We're gonna need water and soap."
"Yeah. Okay." Nancy and Jonathan get up, disappearing around the corner.
Lucas wiggles out of his backpack, he unzipping it and dumping out all it's contents. Max turns around at the sound, her brow furrowing. "Does any of this help?" He asks.
"No. Go get me wash cloths and a bowl."
"A bowl?"
"Lucas," she groans.
Will slaps Lucas' arm. "Come on."
"Okay. Okay."
Left alone with Billy, Dani squats down near Max and reaches for Eleven's hand to squeeze in comfort. "What do you need us to do?"
Max purses her lips before glancing up at Billy. "Uhh.. nothing. We have everything covered, I think." But apparently she doesn't because in the next moment she's standing up and running out of the aisle.
Rolling her eyes with a small smile, Dani sits next to Eleven and doesn't let go of her hand. Mike sits in front of them, keeping pressure on Eleven's wound, and Billy plops down next to Dani with a tired sigh.
"How are you holding up?" Dani asks her.
Eleven smiles tiredly. "Fine."
"How's the pain?" Mike then asks.
"Hmm, not bad."
"You're gonna have an awesome scar," he then says, smiling at her in reassurance. "You'll look even more bad ass."
"Bitchin'," she muses, grinning.
Dani laughs and Mike immediately nods. "Yeah. Bitchin'."
"Oh my god. You guys are so adorable," Dani coos. Mike grimaces and Eleven giggles.
The two avert their gazes, but eventually Mike looks at Dani. "Uh, can I have a moment alone with El, please?"
"Oh. Uh, yeah. Sure."
Dani stands, but Billy remains seated. His eyes narrow at Mike. "What do you need a moment alone with the kid for?"
Mike's eyes widen at Billy's sudden interest and Dani chuckles at the situation. "Leave them alone, idiot. Come on. Lets go steal some food. I'm hungry."
Billy continues to stare at Mike rather suspiciously until he relents, he standing up and walking out of the aisle before Dani. Just as Dani turns her back, however, one of their walkie talkies comes to life. It's mostly static, but there are some garbled words in there. Mike shrugs it off, so Dani leaves it be.
Turning the corner, Dani rushes down the aisle next to the one she'd just exited and keeps as quiet as possible. Billy sighs when he realizes what she's doing. She's eavesdropping.
"I like that you and Max are friends now," she overhears Mike telling Eleven. "It's just.. I was jealous, at first, and angry. And that's why I said all that stupid stuff. And it's like I wanted you all to myself."
Quietly squealing, Dani jerks when Billy grabs her by the waist and pulls her flush against his chest. "What are you doing?" He murmurs right next to her ear.
"Shh. I think he's confessing his love for her. It's so fucking adorable."
She can practically hear Billy's eyes roll, but she figures he's not too upset about given his arms have snaked low around her waist. He's hugging her to him, his chin resting on her shoulder as they listen together.
"I'm sorry," they hear Mike say now. "I just- I never felt like this, you know, with anyone before. And.." he trails off, sighing. "They do say it makes you crazy."
"What makes you crazy?" Eleven wonders.
Dani gasps, slapping a hand over her mouth to keep her excitement at bay.
"You never- you never heard that term?" He stammers. "You know, that phrase blank makes you crazy? Like the word?"
"Girlfriends?" Billy snorts at such an innocent answer and Dani elbows him in retaliation.
"No, no, no. Not girlfriends."
"Boyfriend," she says, matter of factly.
"No! No, no. Not boyfriends either. It's like- it's like a feeling."
Mike stammers, trying to come up with a way to explain without actually saying the one word he's looking for. Billy sighs, Dani mentally groans, and she just- she can't take it anymore.
"Old people say it to each other sometimes."
"Old people?"
"Yeah! What I want to say is.. that I.. I just.. I know that I-"
"Oh for fuck's sake," Dani mumbles. "He LOVES you!" She then shouts.
"Dani!"
Billy barks out a sharp laugh, and before Mike can lecture them about privacy the walkie talkie comes to life once more. "Do.. you copy? I repeat.. co- red!"
Dani's smile slowly falls as she hears Mike frantically calls out to his friend. "Dustin? Dustin, this is Mike. Do you copy?"
"Who the fuck is Dustin?" Billy asks.
"He's the weird one my dad is oddly fond of," Dani says. "Come on."
Dani and Billy return to the previous aisle as the others come running up.
"Scoops.. underground.. ru.. another gate!"
"Did he just say there's another gate?!" Lucas freaks.
"..extraction now! Do.. copy?!"
"We copy," Mike replies. "Tell us where you are! I repeat, tell us where you are!"
Dustin tries to come through one more time, but his walkie completely cuts out. Mike attempts to reach him again, but it's no use.
Eleven's voice pierces the following the silence. "I can find him."
"Uh, you can find him after your leg is patched up," Dani tells her. Eleven glances at her in surprise, but offers her a small smile when she sees Dani narrowing her eyes. "I'm not joking. We're in the clear from the Mindflayer for now so long as you don't attempt to find it while looking for Dustin. Get that leg fixed and then find Henderson."
"Okay."
"And while she's getting patched up, you need to redo the bandages on your arm," Billy tells her, earning amused glances from all around when Dani scoffs at him. "They've bled through."
She glances at her arm and sighs. "Dammit. They must have opened up when I stopped, dropped, and rolled to save Johnny boy over there."
Jonathan tosses her a weak glare as Nancy muffles her giggles. They get to work on Eleven's leg as Dani starts removing her own bandages, Billy taking the lead on helping her. When he produces a bottle of rubbing alcohol and pours it on her claw marks before she can protest, Dani yelps and punches out at him, she blowing on her arm and trying to fan air on it to soothe the pain as her eyes water.
"You fuckin' asshole! You're supposed to warn me!"
Billy rolls his eyes and grabs her arm to drag her closer once more. "You're gonna have an awesome scar," he mocks, glancing at Mike. "You'll look even more bad ass."
The words sound familiar and Dani knows where she's heard them from when Mike sneers over at Billy. "I liked it better when you were an asshole and Dani wasn't trying to get into your pants."
"Hey!" She barks as Billy chuckles even more. "Uncalled for, man. And besides, it's the other way around. He's trying to get into mine."
"A few more minutes back at the cabin and I'd have succeeded."
"Gross!" Max yelps. "Can you guys not do whatever this is in front of us?" She asks, her expression uncomfortable at the leer Billy is offering Dani.
Rolling his eyes, Billy slaps a bandage on Dani's arm, making her grumble as Will cautiously steps forward to tape it up. She flashes him a smile, which the kid returns, and then Dani glares at Billy as he winks at her. She eventually huffs a laugh and the two remain next to one another as the others help Eleven to her feet and lead her to another aisle.
Watching as Eleven sits in front of a bunch of freezers as Mike hurriedly opens all the doors, Dani quickly realizes what's going on as Will hands the girl an American flag blindfold.
As everyone else finds a seat nearby, Billy sits on a crate and drags Dani to sit on his knee. She goes without a fight and drapes her arm around his shoulders to better get comfortable. "Is this normal?" He mumbles.
"Yeah. The buzzing of the freezers help her concentrate to get in whatever mind space she needs to find someone."
It's eerily quiet as Eleven goes under, the sound of a soda can cracking open shattering the silence.
Lucas has opened a can of Coke and Max glares at him. "Quiet!"
"Oh. Sorry." He slurps his first sip and his friends look on in mild annoyance.
"How do you even drink that?" Mike then asks.
Lucas shrugs, attempting to keep his voice low. "Because it's delicious."
Dani nods. "Agreed."
"What?" Mike and Max look equally disgusted.
"It's like Carpenter's The Thing. The original is a classic, no question about it. But the remake?" Lucas grins, slurping his drink once again. He sighs in contentment once he's done, smacking his lips. "Sweeter. Bolder. Better."
Mike shakes his head. "You're insane."
"So you prefer the original Thing?"
"What? No, I'm not talking about The Thing," Mike retorts. "I'm talking about new Coke."
"It's the same concept, dude."
"Uh, actually it's not the same concept."
"It is!"
"Are these two serious right now?" Billy deadpans.
Dani sighs. "I'm afraid so."
Mike and Lucas get a little more heated in their back and forth, and Eleven finally snaps. "Hey!" She pulls off her blindfold, blood trickling out of her nose. "I found them. Lets go."
"Them?" Nancy asks. "Who's them?"
"Dustin, Steve, and two girls I don't know. They're in trouble."
Billy tenses. "Please tell me she's not talking about Harrington?"
"Sorry, hot shot, but I'm pretty sure she is. He knows all about the Upside Down stuff too," Dani tells him.
Billy sighs, but doesn't say anything else on it. He taps her on the butt and Dani takes the hint to stand, but before they can even head for the exit Lucas stalls them. He and Will rush out of the aisle, only to return a few moments later with a cart loaded with the largest fireworks they could find.
"Just.. trust us," Lucas grins. "You'll be glad we're taking these if we end up needing them for the Mindflayer."
No one argues and then all too soon everyone is rushing back for their vehicles.
"Starcourt mall," Eleven says just as Dani and Billy split for her car. "That's where Dustin is."
"Got it, kid. Be careful."
Max and Lucas opt to go with the others this time which doesn't bother Billy or Dani in the slightest. Both vehicles peel out of the vacant parking lot and Billy pulls ahead fairly quickly. The roads are all eerily empty and none of this is sitting right with Dani.
"How the hell is this town not evacuating?" She wonders. Billy's hands tighten on the steering wheel as he presses a little harder on the gas. "Surely someone's seen that damn monster walking around. It's huge!"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Billy says. "I said it once and I'll say it again- this place is a shithole. Of course the locals are all fuckin' clueless."
"I wish I'd have known that beforehand," Dani grumbles. "Maybe then I'd be somewhere else living a normal life."
"Full offense, sweetheart, but you're a child experiment. There is no normal life for you." Dani sighs, knowing he's right. "And besides, if you hadn't come here I'd be bored to tears and sleeping with Mrs. Wheeler."
Dani snorts, she reaching out and swatting his arm as he grins. "You're terrible. Now drive faster."
"Yes, ma'am."
Billy drives even faster, losing Nancy's station wagon in the rear view mirror. Soon enough they're pulling into the vacant parking lot of the mall. They stay in Dani's car, waiting for the others, and only when they pull up do they finally exit.
"There's bad men with guns," is the first thing Eleven says. "We need to surprise them from upstairs, but-"
"But the bad men are all downstairs, I take it?" At Eleven's nod, Dani sighs. "Okay. I'm on it. We're lucky I've visited this place a few times already."
The group all jog over to the side of the mall where it's the darkest and Dani shakes her arms out at her sides. They're running short on time, so Dani concentrates particularly hard and ignores the headache that instantly blooms. The shadows easily form a small portal big enough for one person, but as Dani's eyes snap open.. the shadowed portal grows outward.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Billy grabs Dani by the chin even as she never lets her eyes leave the wall before them. "Stop. You're bleeding."
"Not yet. Take my hand." Billy reluctantly does as he's told and then Dani grabs Eleven's hand with her free one. "Everyone hold hands. Make one chain with me in the middle."
Hands are quickly clasped and then when Dani tells them to 'go', they walk into the side wall and come out in the Foot Locker that was located on the second floor. Hands drops immediately and everyone's following after Eleven.
Lagging behind, Dani wipes her nose with the back of her hand. She takes a step, stumbles, and Billy catches her with a glare. "I told you."
"Shut up. I had to do it. Lets just go."
Billy holds most of her weight as they take their leave and a car alarm suddenly blaring has them speeding up. They stop with the others as they stand back, Eleven standing near the railing that overlooks the bottom floor. Her arm is held out as she concentrates on something below, and then with a shout she pulls her arm in towards her before thrusting it out quickly. There's a loud crash before all noise ceases and as Eleven stands a little taller the rest of the group joins her.
Down below, a car's been thrown and there are several dead men scattered about. In one of the fast food joints are four faces peering over the counter, three of them familiar to Dani who huffs a quiet laugh as she smiles down at them.
It's a mad dash to get downstairs, Billy still helping Dani and Mike helping Eleven. Then when they're all on the bottom floor, Dustin rushes up to his friends with a toothy smile.
"You flung that thing like hot wheel!" He laughs, hugging Eleven and Mike.
"Lucas?!" A really young black girl exclaims.
Lucas' eyes widen. "What are you doing here?!"
"Ask them," she says, gesturing to Steve and Robin. "It's their fault."
"True." Steve doesn't even deny it. "It's absolutely our fault."
"Of course it is," Billy drawls. Steve frowns at him, but doesn't rise to the bait. He does, however, frown at the closeness between him and Dani.
"I don't understand what happened to that car," Robin suddenly muses.
Dustin gestures to his friend. "El has superpowers. Dani too," he then amends when he notices her. "Hey, Dani."
"Dustin," she chuckles softly. "Nice to see you're still alive. And Steve.. what the fuck happened to you? You were totally prettier before." Billy grunts and tightens his hold on her.
"Wait, that's El?" Erica, Lucas' apparent sister asks, eyes bright.
Robin glances around in confusion. "Wait, who's El?"
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Nancy asks, a little suspiciously.
"That's Robin," Dani smiles. "She's totally cool. Works with Steve."
"She even cracked the top secret code," Dustin tells them.
"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place?"
"Russians?" Jonathan asks, flabbergasted. "What Russians?"
"The Russians!" Steve gestures to the dead men.
Max scoffs. "Those were Russians?"
Dani glances around at the group, lips down turning. "I'm too tired for this shit." She leans further into Billy, letting her eyes droop shut. "Nudge me awake when we figure out our next plan of action."
Everyone's still talking in a circle, arguing almost, and Dani is just done. She hears them mention the Russian's again, code reds, and low batteries. But the thing that makes her jolt back awake is Mike suddenly yelling for Eleven.
Eleven has collapsed, and she looks extremely pale and is sweating profusely. She's reaching for her leg while whimpering in pain and Jonathan, who's near her legs, lifts her pant leg. Underneath the bandage is an infection.. an infection that suddenly has something moving beneath her flesh.
"Oh I think I'm going to be sick." Dani immediately drops above Eleven's head, she moving the girl's head onto her knees while grabbing her hands. The thing in her leg moves again and suddenly Eleven is screaming.
"Jesus Christ," Dustin mumbles.
Whatever is in her leg keeps squirming around, Eleven's screaming in agony, and Jonathan suddenly climbs to her feet. "Keep her talking. Keep her awake!"
"Where are you going?" Erica calls after him, but he pays her no mind.
"Okay, okay. Shhh." Dani tells Eleven. She lets go of her hands, smoothing Eleven's hair from her sweaty face. "We're going to get this thing out and it'll be fine. Just hang in there a little bit longer, El. Just a little bit longer."
"Sister," she whimpers. "It hurts."
"I know, I know." Dani's eyes tear up. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this."
Jonathan quickly returns with a knife and wooden spoon in hand. "Hey, El, this is going to hurt like hell. Okay?"
Dani blanches as everyone else grimaces. Things were about to get really bloody.
"Okay," she cries.
Jonathan puts on some gloves before offering her the wooden spoon. "You're gonna wanna bite down on this."
Once Eleven has the wooden handle situated between her teeth, Jonathan grabs her leg in his hand and hovers the tip of the blade over Eleven's infected leg. The thing is still moving underneath.. and he hesitates.
"Don't be a pussy, Byers. Do it!" Billy snaps.
Jonathan grimaces as the blade then penetrates flesh, he cutting slowly as Eleven's muffled screams pierce the air. He reopens the gash since it had started to close, and then sets the blade down. Closing his eyes, he inhales deeply before he digs into the wound with his fingers.
Eleven screams again as he he continues to dig to catch whatever creature was in her leg, but she can't take it. Spitting the spoon out of her mouth, she screams, "Stop it! Stop! Stop!"
Billy pushes Jonathan by the shoulder and shakes his head when Jonathan stares at him in surprise. "Stop, man."
"I'll do it," Eleven whimpers.
Dani helps her sit up and Eleven holds her hand above her leg. Fingers tensed, Eleven grunts and groans and screams. The creature in her leg moves around some more before the gash on her leg opens up even wider, she then screaming even louder as a slug-like creature pops it's heads up. The lights flicker and glass shatters all around them, and then Eleven flings the creature as far away from her as she can. It starts to crawl away and the group look on dejectedly, but then a boot's stomping on it and splattering it.
The adults have finally arrived.
Joyce Byers, Nathan Lewis, Jim Hopper, and another male individual stare at the children with varying expressions.
"Dad," Dani sighs in relief. She's quick to scramble to her feet, she rushing for her dad and wrapping him up in the tightest embrace she's capable of. It's like all the fight in her drains instantly and she starts crying against his chest as he mumbles words of comfort in her ear.
Right next to them Joyce is being hugged by her son and Hopper's gone to pick up Eleven and check her over himself.
"You okay, kid?"
"Yeah, dad. It's just been a crazy couple of days."
Nathan pulls back and smiles down at his daughter. "Tell me about it."
The group quickly gathers together in a loose circle, everyone explaining what's been going on and what they've found out. It turns out the adults knew about the Russians and their town Mayor was a total traitor. They speak of a gate in some underground lair and the keys they need to off some energy beam that's keeping the gate open.
Dustin, Steve, Erica, and Robin then mention they've been in said underground lair and they quickly create a map for the adults to explain it much more easier. Erica, and the man they've come know as Murray, get into a brief heated argument that has Dani snorting and her dad chuckling quietly.
The adults make it their mission to head into the Russian base, but Dustin is hearing none of it. It's mentioned that they've been trapped down there for the entire day so they know it better than anyone else, but the adults argue that this is their fight and the kids need to be kept safe. Erica then, not so kindly, informs them they'll need walkie talkies to keep in contact so the kids can direct the adults where to go. Robin mentions that it won't work because radio signals are cut off down there- that they'll need a really strong radio tower- and Dustin lights up. He knows of a tower that will work perfectly, they just need to get there to be able to coordinate communications to guide the adults through the bunker.
"Well then lets go. I'm driving," Steve says. Hopper tosses him a set of keys and Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Erica all leave together.
Hopper, Murray, and Nathan make plans to head underground, and Joyce bullies her way onto the team. With nothing to do but wait until Dustin radios in, the group splinters off. Joyce is reassuring Will that everything is going to be fine, Murray is speaking with Jonathan and Nancy to make sure the children don't touch anything in his hideout they're going to, and Dani and Eleven join Jim and Nathan- the two fathers sitting their girls in between them. Billy isn't far off, he giving Dani a moment with her dad.
"I really wish you guys would let me go. I can't fight like El, but I can get you out of hairy situations should one pop up."
Nathan wraps an arm around his daughter. "Sorry, kid. No can do."
"My battery's low, but it will recharge," Eleven quietly muses.
"I know it will, kid. I know," Hopper assures her.
"I can fight."
"Better than any of us, but right now I need you safe," he tells her. "I need you both safe," he then amends while staring at Dani.
"This thing is after you," Nathan says. "It's not after us. Do you understand?"
Eleven doesn't say anything, so Hopper reaches in and moves her hair behind her ear. "Hey, I need you to understand." She finally nods, albeit reluctantly.
"Hey," Mike interrupts. "We should probably go."
Hopper sighs and Eleven turns to hug him. Smiling sadly, Dani turns to hug her father as well.
"Be safe," Nathan murmurs.
"I'll do my best."
As the daughters release their fathers, Dani and Eleven stand and clasp hands. Hopper watches on, faintly smiling. "You don't know just how relieved I am to know that El has got you in her corner," he tells Dani. "Thank you for watching out for her."
"I would say it was no problem, but this pain in the ass attracts trouble left and right."
Hopper huffs a laugh and then the girls are turning to face their friends. Mike is immediately on Eleven's other side as Dani moves her arm underneath one of El's, the two of them helping her walk.
"Mike," Hopper then calls out. The boy in questions whirls around. "Be careful."
Mike nods and starts walking, and Dani grins over at him. "In case you didn't know, that was Papa Hopper giving you his blessing to corrupt his daughter."
"Ew! Don't be gross," he hisses.
Everyone chuckles as they head for the front doors, the adults quickly making their own departure. It's a slow journey outside and to Nancy's car, but they get there in one piece.
Max is the one to notice that Eleven's bleeding from her nose without even using her powers, but she reassures them she's fine. Then after helping her into the car, Dani jogs to the other side where Billy's at glancing around the parking lot.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Where the fuck is your car?" He asks. "I parked it right here."
Nancy attempts to start her own car, but the engine only turns over and over. Billy glances at the station wagon with a frown, he then hollering for her to pop the hood. Dani is still wondering where the hell her car is, anger slowly building that some dipshit took it, when Billy curses.
"The ignition cable is gone."
"What?" Jonathan mutters. "No way."
"Take a look, dumb ass. It's gone!" Billy snaps at him.
An engine suddenly revs and everyone startles, headlights off in the distance clicking on.
"Motherfucker," Dani seethes. It's her car and whoever's in it is revving the engine as an intimidation tactic. "I'm gonna murder whoever the hell that is." She's glaring at the faint silhouette she can see, hands fisted at her sides. Her anger doubles and her head starts to ache, and she's only brought out of her inner rambling when there's a shove to her shoulder.
"Knock that shit off now," Billy tells her angrily. "We need to come up with another plan."
Blinking her head clear, she frowns at him. "What shit? I wasn't doing anything."
"Dani," Jonathan says. "The, uh, the shadows were swirling around you. It started around your ankles and then traveled upward. It was like you were in a trance."
"And you're bleeding again, dumb ass."
The Firebird's engine revs once more and Nancy quickly slaps her hands against the back passenger window. "Lets go! Back in the mall. Go, go, go."
Lucas, Max, and Will scurry out of the back door while Jonathan quickly helps Mike get Eleven out from the very back. Billy has to drag Dani away, she still worked up and extremely pissed off over her stolen car.
Back in the mall, the adults are long gone and the kids rush far back away from the doors as possible. Eleven is situated on the floor before Mike's pulling out his walkie.
"Scoops Troop, do you copy?" He asks over and over. There's no reply and Dani sighs as the younger boy starts pacing. "Scoops Troop, I repeat, do you copy? We're trapped in the mall in need of emergency transportation."
As Mike goes on and on, informing Scoops Troop- Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica- that Heather's found them, Nancy goes about stripping one of the Russian's of his handgun. Billy shrugs, he doing the same to another and tucking it in the back of his jeans.
"You're gonna kill her, aren't you?" Dani asks.
Nancy shrugs. "It's only a precaution."
"It's not just against Heather," Will says. "If she knows we're here, so does the Mindflayer."
Not knowing exactly how to feel, Dani goes back to watching Mike pace. As he passes the car Eleven had flung earlier, an idea comes to her. "There's no chance that will drive, right?"
She meant it as a joke, but as the others look over at the overturned car, Jonathan perks up. "We don't need it to drive. We just need the ignition cable."
"Finally a good idea!" Billy rushes over to the car with the kids hot on his trail.
Billy and Jonathan situate themselves on either end of the car, Dani, Nancy, Lucas, Mike, and Max situating themselves in the middle. On three they push with all their might, but the car only budges so much. It's a strain to keep it up only a few seconds, and the car falls back down.
"Goddammit!" Billy barks. "Lets go again."
Eleven climbs to her feet and limps forward. "Wait. Let me try." Mike sighs, but she nods over at him. "I can do it."
Glancing around, everyone shrugs and then climbs out from behind the car to stand behind Eleven. With one arm raised and held out, Eleven concentrates on moving the car with just her mind. The metal of it creaks and groans, but it doesn't move. Even as she screams, she collapses. Something's wrong with her powers.
"El?" Dani walks up to her and kneels. "It's okay. We'll figure something else out."
Eleven quietly cries as Dani kneels next to her to offer some silent support, and then Mike's reappearing with thick metal rods. One by one they situate the rods beneath the car and Mike tells them that adding weight on the rods will lift the car.
As Dani watches with a grin, they manage to get the car on it's side. Then with one final push from everyone, the car is back on it's own four wheels.
The hood is quickly opened as Nancy and Jonathan scour for the ignition cable, but Dani's attention is elsewhere. Eleven's walked off and is now digging through the trash, she producing an empty soda can and placing it atop the trash can.
"What's she doing?" Billy wonders.
They watch as she stares intensely at the can and Dani frowns. "Something's wrong. With her powers I mean."
Moments pass as Mike and Max join them, and then they make their way towards the clearly distressed girl.
"You okay?" Mike asks her. But Eleven merely stares at him, nose bleeding and panting.
Max's eyebrows suddenly furrow, she glancing around in confusion. The glass ceiling above them suddenly rattles and it's then everyone notices the thundering footsteps approaching.
The glass rattles even more, creaking, and Mike starts panting heavily. "Nancy!"
They all look up in time to see a dark shadow loom over the glass ceiling and then the remaining group is split in two as the Mindflayer drops in.
Mike and Max have a hold on Eleven, and Billy has his hand wrapped tightly around Dani's. Mike and Max lead them to a bunch of barrels that have been pressed together, a sheet of wood sitting atop of it and giving them some coverage. They hunker down and Dani quietly curses when she hears their abandoned walkie come to life.
"Griswald family, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy?" The Mindflayer roars in agitation. "Griswald family, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy? Do you copy?!"
"What do we do? What do we do?!" Dani quietly panics.
"Quiet!" Billy hisses.
Since she's known him, Billy's never quite gotten after her as much as he had today. Normally she'd be sassing him up and down for daring to speak to her in the manner he has, but then again they are fighting for their lives. So for the mean time, she'll grant him a pass.
The Mindflayer continues to roar and stomp around, seeking them out in hopes of finding Eleven.
"Can you get to the others?" Max asks. "Lucas is over there."
Dani nods. "I can try."
But just as Dani closes her eyes, Billy nudges her. "Don't even think about. You need to save your energy for emergencies, not because Max is worried about her goddamn boyfriend."
"You're such a hypocrite!" Max seethes. "If it were Dani over there, you'd be asking someone to portal her to you."
"But it's not."
Mike swats at everyone just as the Mindflayer growls from somewhere above them and the group falls silence once more, holding their breath.
The sound of the Mindflayer's footsteps get further away and Dani allows herself a chance to finally breathe properly.
Mike chances a look over their temporary shelter and then quickly ducks down. "It's turned away. If we make a run for it, I think we can make it."
"No way. Not with El's leg the way it is," Max says.
"We have to try."
"There's another way to get out," Eleven suddenly informs them. "Through the GAP."
Mike checks the location of the Mindflayer before agreeing. "Okay."
"You guys run," Billy tells them. "I'll take El."
Mike stares at him briefly before agreeing. "Okay." Another moment passes. "Now."
Billy scoops up Eleven into his arms with barely any trouble at all and he quickly follows after Dani. They've barely cleared the store's entrance when Dani trips, she knocking over some metal rods and breaking glass. She yelps.
The Mindflayer roars and Mike quickly finds them another hiding spot as it starts stomping in their direction.
Hunkering down and huddling together, Dani whimpers out an apology. Billy wraps an arm around her shoulders and the other around Max to hold them close when she lets loose her own whimper. Dani can see Max's surprised expression, but then it quickly morphs into fear as the Mindflayer's clicks and squeals can be heard entirely too close for comfort.
The Mindflayer suddenly roars again, tossing a mannequin into the wall that lands right next to Mike. The mannequin is wearing the exact same shirt as Eleven and Dani gulps in fear.
Dani slips her hand into Eleven's, dragging the girl and Mike closer to her. The seconds seem to drag and Dani starts to silently cry. She doesn't want to die- not now and definitely not like this. She wonders how her dad's doing and how he'll react to the news of her death, and her mind is swirling with such dark thoughts that she doesn't realize the tentacle from the Mindflayer is right next to Mike's face until it's snapping back to it's host as the sound of a pop resonates throughout the mall.
The Mindflayer roars and starts stomping off in another direction. Now's their chance to make a move.
"Lets go."
Mike leads them through a back door, winding through the halls of what Dani guesses are the emergency exits of the mall. They can hear the Mindflayer roaring in the distance, relief flooding them as they finally exit the mall and hear it's thundering footsteps getting further and further. Just as they round the side of the mall, however, they're treated to the sight of Dani's wrecked and smoking car.
"Son of a bitch," she growls.
The driver's side door opens and Heather falls out, she groggily getting up and then meeting their gazes with a sneer.
"Shit, shit, shit," Max chants.
"Back inside," Billy urges.
They rush back the way they'd come, winding through the halls once more. Dani and Max keep looking over their shoulder, hearts pounding just as Mike finds an elevator. But the elevator is taking entirely too long and a door banging open just down the hall has Billy lowering Eleven and leaving Max in charge of her.
Rounding the corner with Billy, he and Dani come face to face with a dirt-smeared Heather who has a million black veins appearing all over her body.
"Heather," he calmly calls out. She shows no signs of recognition. "Come on, sweetheart, you don't wanna do this." She keeps stomping in their direction, eyes blazing with anger. Billy pulls out the gun from the waistband of his jeans and takes aim. "Heather. Your name is Heather. You work at Hawkins pool with me and the other shit for brains we call friends," he grits out now.
"Heather, please," Dani pleads. "Snap out of-"
Her head painfully snaps to the side, she hitting the wall and sliding down with a groan. Her vision swims, but she can still hear Billy and Mike shouting, fighting back with all their might. A gunshot rings out, Billy shouts and then falls silent as Max screams for him. Eleven suddenly screams, the noise of her fighting making Dani whimper and try to sit up to help. She sees Heather easily pluck up an unconscious Eleven and drape her over her shoulder, and the last thing Dani sees is the bottom of Heather's shoe as her foot collides with her face.
