Rise

When, when the fire's at my feet again
And the vultures all start circling
They're whispering, you're out of time
But still, I rise
This is no mistake, no accident
When you think the final nail is in, think again
Don't be surprised, I will still rise

. .

After enduring test after test and being propped up, Dani then had to endure the doctors accessing her mental wellness and whether or not she remembered what had happened to her. She was well enough to remember to lie, but even then some things were fuzzy. Mostly her time after the explosion and before she woke in the hospital.

Dani then had to do it all over again with one of her dad's coworkers since Nathan was too close to the case himself, and then a third time with one particular government official that had been a friend of Jim Hopper. Unfortunately, however, she had to lie some more and keep her powers hidden since that's what her dad and Billy did when they were questioned.

There were a lot of questions, a lot of I can't remembers, and a lot of the hospital staff in and out of her room that Dani didn't get the time she wanted with her dad, Billy, and Eleven. On the other hand, she did get a brace wrapped around her chest that helped alleviate some of the pain in her rib area, a small meal, and lots of water before being offered some type of medication that put her back to sleep.

The following morning, she then wakes up groggy and with an urgent need to pee. She blinks against the harsh lighting of the fluorescent light bar above the head of her bed that had been left on and then grunts in pain as she sits up to swing her feet over the side of the bed. And though she's rather agitated this early in the morning, Dani can't help but smile when she sees Nathan and Eleven both sleeping soundly in reclining chairs by the windows of her room.

It takes a few minutes before she feels she has enough strength to stand and walk, and Dani grabs her IV stand on wheels before walking over to Eleven to gently shake her awake. The young girl jolts awake and Dani quickly shushes her when she sees Eleven's eyes widen.

"I know this is embarrassing, but I need help in the bathroom."

Eleven doesn't even bat an eye as she shoves aside her blanket. "Okay," she murmurs, smiling softly.

Dani enters the private bathroom after Eleven opens the door for her, and then sheepishly stands in front of the toilet. She's thankful she's in one of the ugly hospital gowns so she doesn't flash poor Eleven and easily slides her underwear down while still being covered. Eleven then has to grasp Dani's hands to ease her slowly down onto the toilet, and after finishing her business Dani embarrassingly has Eleven lift her back up and then turn around so she can wipe.

Eleven ends up giggling when her back is turned, followed by Dani who grunts with pain directly afterward. "Shut up. Don't make me laugh."

But the younger girl only giggles harder.

After finishing up and then washing her hands, both girls exit the bathroom. And the second they're out, Eleven turns around and hugs Dani as if her life depended on it. She returns the embrace even though her ribs are screaming in protest, eyes watering, but the tears never fall. Moments later Dani is then returning to her bed. Lifting her arm, she then beckons Eleven to join her and the younger girl wastes no time in curling up next to her sister.

"I'm happy you're home," Eleven murmurs.

"Same. Being gone, but not gone was weird."

Eleven angles her face upward, frowning. "Gone, but not gone?"

"Yeah. I'll explain later. Dad will want to hear and I'm sure Billy will too."

"Okay." Eleven settles back in, silence settling over them before she says, "Billy was really mad. He tried to hide it, but we still saw."

"Did he hang around a lot?"

"Mhm. His dad is a bad man. Nathan lets him and Max stay when it gets really bad."

Dani frowns. Billy never said much about his personal life, but she picked up on some things here and there. She had just wished what she thought was going on wasn't, but apparently it was. "That's good. Dad's a good person like that."

"The best."

There's a sad note in Eleven's voice and Dani squeezes her just a little tighter, a memory from the previous night floating to the forefront of her mind. "I'm sorry about Jim. He was a good guy."

Eleven sniffles and clings tighter, but doesn't say anything. The two end up drifting off to sleep, holding each other and only waking when it's time for breakfast.

-X-

Nathan watches with a fond smile as Dani and Eleven sit up in bed, the younger of the two being dared by the oldest to try some questionable food the hospital had deemed a nutritious breakfast. So far only the juice proved good enough to drink and all three were craving something filling, but Nathan wasn't about to leave his little girl's side.

So when Billy and Max enter the room half an hour later with stacked Tupperware containers, the three hungry individuals cheer.

Billy smirks and Max laughs. "Sorry we're late. My mom wouldn't let us leave until Neil left and he took forever to do so."

"Yeah. I would have left sooner, but Susan promised a meal for you guys so I stuck around. We come bearing some scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and biscuits."

Dani tiredly grins. "You guys are literal angels."

Max hands over her containers to Nathan and she's the first to delicately hug Dani. "Glad to finally have you back," she whispers. "Billy was turning into an even being dick than before."

Max gets cuffed on the back of her head and Dani snorts as she lets the redhead go. "It's good to see you too, Max." Then looking at Billy who's now shoved his empty hands into the pockets of his jeans, Dani raises an eyebrow at him. "If I have to ask you to hug me, I'm gonna kick your ass, Hargrove."

Billy shuffles closer before leaning down and gently wrapping his arms around her, and Dani readily wraps her arms around his neck. She hugs tight, pulling him in closer and shoving her face in the side of his neck. She breathes in deeply and exhales shakily, and her eyes tear up as Billy tightens his hold on her. After what seems like the longest minute of their life, Dani and Billy let go of one another and Dani laughingly wipes her tears away with a sniffle as Billy takes a seat in the chair Eleven has slid over for him.

"Okay, so.. dish out the food, dad. I'm starving."

The trio eat as Billy and Max excuse themselves briefly, only to return to Eleven and Dani cuddling in bed and Nathan sitting in his chair to the right of her bed. Dani waves them in and as Billy takes a seat in the only other available chair, Max curls up on the foot of the hospital bed.

"So did we miss the explanations?" Max wonders.

"No. I didn't want to start unless Billy was here because I knew I'd have to go through it all over again if he wasn't."

"Okay, soo.." Max drawls, eager to know everything.

"Why did you do it?" Billy asks. "Why did you sacrifice yourself like that?"

Dani grimaces at his deadpan tone. "I.. the monster was too strong and were no match for it," she says. "I saw the chance to give you guys a head start and I took it."

Max huffs. "It wouldn't have done us any good. Billy fought both Steve and Jonathan to get back to the mall. There was a lot of yelling before- before the mall exploded." She then trails off, gaze downcast.

"What happened after?" Nathan asks softly, taking note of the angry expression Billy wears. "Where did you go?"

"Honestly? I'm not even sure. I heard the explosion and had a few seconds to throw myself behind a counter, and then the heat was so intense until- until it wasn't." She frowns, staring at each individual to see their confused expressions. "The best I can come up with is that the shadows whisked me away. I was stuck in between or something."

"I saw you," Billy quietly admits. "Do you remember that? I heard you calling my name and then you appeared in the middle of the road. You said you wanted to come home and you- you were just gone again."

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I don't remember that."

Billy gives a terse nod, defeated, and sinks back into his chair with a sigh. Nathan, Eleven, and Max glance between the two sad teens, and then Nathan clears his throat. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna head home and shower, and then pick up some lunch. Let's go girls. Let Dani and Billy have a moment to themselves."

Eleven and Max are quick to hop off the bed, grinning as they follow Nathan. As Nathan passes by Billy's chair, he squeezes the boys shoulder in sympathy before escorting the two younger girls out.

As soon as the door is shut behind them, Billy leans forward in his seat and says, "I'm so pissed at you right now, but I'm also relieved that you're back."

"I know. I'm sorry." Dani's voice cracks and she quickly wipes at the tears stinging her eyes. "But if I had to do it all over again, I'd make the same call."

"Goddammit, Dani." Billy shoves himself out of his seat and immediately starts to pace in front of her bed. "That's not- you're not.."

"I'm fine," she says in a calm manner as her eyes follow him. "I'm home again and I'm going to be fine. I'm sorry it was a sucky situation, but I needed the kids safe. I needed you safe, Billy, and you were."

"Yeah," he scoffs, "at the expense of what would have been your life."

Dani's heart aches at how hurt and angry he appears to be, but as she said.. she'd do it all over again if she had to. "Come sit with me. You're making me dizzy." He scoffs and continues pacing. "Billy."

Stopping, Billy turns to face her as his hands move to grip the foot of her bed. "I don't want to hurt you," he mutters.

"You won't. Now come cuddle me. I'm sleepy again, but I missed your stupid cologne."

His lips twitch, but after a moment of lingering he moves to the side of the bed. Dani scoots over, grimacing slightly in pain, and moves the blanket so Billy can sit next to her. The top half of the bed is angled upward, and as Billy reclines back Dani wastes no time in burrowing herself into his side. He huffs a small laugh, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and keeping her close. "Better?"

"Much." Her right hand is laying on his stomach and Billy reaches over with his left to tangle their fingers together. She grins against him, settling comfortably until a silver ring on his index finger catches her attention. She untangles her fingers from his, tracing what appears to be tiny waves etched into the band. "When did you get this?" Dani wonders.

Billy doesn't answer right away, but when he does she finds herself softening towards the boy she's cuddling. "It belonged to my mom. I had it hidden because if Neil saw it he'd probably take it away, but after your dad had a long talk with him he doesn't bother me as much anymore."

Dani chuckles softly. "I'm sorry your dad is an asshole, but I'm glad my dad could help you out."

"Yeah. Me too."

Dani continues to play with his ring and fingers, and neither have anything else to say as silence envelops them. Slowly but surely her hand goes limp tangled with his and Billy smiles down at her to find her sleeping. He settles in, leaning his head atop of hers and closes his eyes.

Later, when Nathan and the girls finally reappear, all three of them stumble to a stop as they take in the scene before them.

"Oh my god. They're so cute," Max murmurs.

"So cute," Eleven agrees, smiling up at Nathan who's watching his daughter with a knowing smile.

"Come on, girls," Nathan then says. "We'll take our lunch down to the cafeteria while these two catch up on their sleep."

Max and Eleven linger to watch for a few more seconds before turning back around, and Nathan can't help but smile at the sight that's on the hospital bed. Though he's always been wary for this particular time- for when his daughter started dating- he's not that wary anymore. At least not when it comes to Billy- the boy who'd been distraught as he was when Dani went missing, though he did a lot better at hiding his emotions than Nathan did. And with one last lingering look, he sighs softly and readily accepts the fact that Billy Hargrove was going to be a permanent fixture in their lives until his daughter sent him away.

But by the way she is cuddled up to him, Nathan figures it won't be anytime soon.


Dani spends two more days in the hospital with Eleven and Max as fixated presences in her room. Nathan and Billy both had work, even though they did their best to take off, but Dani wouldn't let them. She claimed they would see each other after work and made them see reason that Nathan had bills to pay while Billy had a father to keep off his back. They didn't like it, but Dani never had a moment alone so they were more than okay leaving her in the hands of the others. Because if Max and Eleven, plus all their little friends weren't there, then Nancy, Steve, or Robin dropped in for a brief visit. She even got a call from Joyce Byers, Jonathan, and Will, and by the time her stay was over she was more than ready to go home.

On her first day back home, Dani has to deal with a hovering father. She and Eleven eventually kick him out, and the two girls settle in front of the TV for a day of lazing about. But eventually Eleven is lured away by her boyfriend Mike, and Dani dozes on the couch.

She doesn't know how long she's been asleep until someone is continuously poking her left shoulder.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up."

"Dustin, can you not?" Someone who sounds suspiciously like Steve sighs. "She's been through a lot."

"We brought dinner, Harrington. The least she can do is wake her ass up to eat it."

Grinning softly, Dani cracks open an eye. "God I missed your attitude, Dusty. It's so nice to see you're back to your old self." Both eyes open now, Dani sits up and nods at his companion. "Hey, Steve. Welcome to my humble abode."

He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I tried to tell Dustin to knock first, but he just barged right on in."

"Don't worry about it. We're used to it. Dustin even has his own shelf in our kitchen."

Steve laughs. "Of course he does." Then glancing towards the direction Dustin disappeared to, he says, "We, uh, we brought KFC. I hope you can eat that."

"I can actually. Help me up?"

Steve gently helps Dani stand on her own two feet. Once she's settled, he asks, "How are the ribs?"

"Better. They still hurt, but only if I make sudden movements."

Dani leads the way to the kitchen, smiling fondly at how Dustin seems to know his way around already. Steve hesitantly lingers until he sees Dustin so at ease and then the three are sitting down and dishing out food.

The three are laughing and eating, and talking about what Steve's going to do now that the mall is closed down.

"Uh, nothing," he huffs. "Schools just around the corner."

"If I were you, I'd have just lounged around the pool all summer."

"And be the prime target for Hargrove? No thanks."

Dani chuckles. "Billy's not even that bad."

"Uh, what?!" Steve and Dustin scoff.

"Of course he is. Or was." Steve frowns. "You know, he was actually pretty decent after he sets his sights on you and you gave him the time of day."

"Still weird," Dustin grumbles. "You should have been with someone like Steve. Now Steve's a good guy, Dani. Totally better than Billy Hargrove."

"Ha. Ha. Shut up, man," Steve nervously muses, cheeks heating up. "Not cool."

But while Steve seems rather embarrassed, Dani finds it rather amusing. "Well now that I'm kind of with Billy, I find it safe to mention that Steve almost had a chance."

His eyes widen. "What?! When?"

"When we first met, idiot. I thought you were cute, but it just wasn't meant to be. You were constantly working and I stayed in town a majority of the time, and I just spent more time with Billy. He saw his chance and took it, and I- well I really like him."

"Way to go, dumbass." Dustin slaps Steve upside the head. "You cockblocked yourself!"

"Hey!" Dani barks, giggling. "Don't say cock. You're too young for that type of language."

Steve snorts and Dustin rolls his eyes, hiding his smile. "Whatever. If Billy steps out of line, we're kicking his ass," Dustin then says.

"Yeah, yeah."


When Nancy shows up, Dani is more than happy for some girl time where she doesn't have to censor her thoughts. She greets the Wheeler girl with a brief hug and lets her in.

"My mom sent these," Nancy says, holding a container of brownies a little higher. "She's been worried about you, but she was hesitant to visit because she's old and you're not. Her words, not mine."

"Karen?" Dani smiles, taking the brownies. "Tell her she's more than welcomed to stop by whenever. Seriously, I miss our girl talk."

"You and my mom have girl talk?" Nancy then muses, chuckling. "How did that start?"

"I'll tell you all about it, but first, are you sticking around? We can take snacks into the living room."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure." As Nancy follows Dani into the kitchen to round up some more snacks and drinks, the two then walk back to the living room where MTV is playing. "How are you holding up, by the way."

"I'm good. Just been more tired than usual and my ribs are sore, but I'm fine."

"Good. That's good."

"Yeah." Dani situates herself on the recliner while Nancy settles on the couch. "So back to your first question, I actually met your mom at the pool. I fell asleep while tanning and she woke me up in time to turn over."

Nancy smiles softly. "That sounds like her."

"I also noticed that she and the other ladies primped around a certain time, and made sure that their tits were on proper display."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes," Dani laughs. "There was one lifeguard in particular that took the ladies by storm."

"Please tell me it isn't who I think it is?"

"Billy Hargrove." Nancy grimaces and Dani waggles her eyebrows. "We bonded over ogling Billy in his swim trunks. I also might have mentioned to your mother that Billy was cute, but he seemed like a one time ride."

Nancy chokes. "You didn't!?"

"I totally did." Dani and Nancy laugh, and then both girls take a moment to take a bite out of their brownies and a sip of their Cokes. "I was so sure she was going to scold me, but she just laughed. She was there when the teasing started between Billy and I."

"That's too funny. The girls at Hawkins High are gonna be pissed you have him on lockdown, just so you know."

"Nothing's set in stone, Wheeler," Dani says, her amusement faltering. "But I guess we'll see."

"You must be joking. That boy is either already in love with you or on the verge of falling in love."

Dani can't help the blush that stains her cheeks, so she's quick to take the spotlight off of her. "Speaking of boys, how are things with you and Jonathan? I spoke to him and Will the other day. They sound great."

Nancy smiles shyly and nods, all too willing to let the subject change. "We're still good. I thought the distance would make things sizzle out, but I still very much like him."

"Good. I'm happy for you," Dani tells her honestly. They continue to snack some more, watching a bit of TV before she says, "Hey, Nance? When my car's finally fixed, do you think you'd be willing to go shopping with me? There's a mall two towns over we can hit up."

"Oh. Yeah! I'd like that."

"Thank god," Dani chuckles in relief. "I wasn't looking forward to shopping with Billy. I need a girl's opinion and I had a feeling he'd only have good things to say about the underwear portion of the trip."

Nancy laughs, cheeks rosy and eyes shiny with happiness. "Don't worry. I got you."