The Paper Knight and the Killing Tree
Chapter Three: A Thousand Words
Steve held the cooling coffee mug, but unlike the coffee, his frustration simmered hot.
"Let me understand you completely, Neil Hargrove, tried to lynch my little girl and his own son, but he didn't. And not only that, he has been killed and now you can't find either my daughter or his son? What in the hell is going on?!" Vivian Sinclair's finger pointed like a gun between Susan Hargrove and Hopper. This was exactly why Steve didn't want to get on her bad side; he could easily imagine a real gun in her hand.
"Vivia—"
"That is Mrs. Sinclair to you! I can't believe you allowed a bigot murderer to live—"
"Neil is-was a patriot. He was sick an—"Susan Hargrove interrupted Vivian Sinclair. 'Wrong move, Max's mom.' Vivian Sinclair burst to her feet, veins and tendons in her neck bulging. Her husband put his hand on her arm, but she flung it off and he didn't try again.
Not even her husband wanted on her bad side.
Dr. Sinclair made good money as the only optometrist (or was it the other fancier title oph… something?) in the hospital, but aside from that, he didn't really know much else about him, or come to think of it Vivian Sinclair.
"You DARE defend your husband when he tried to murder your son?! My daughter!? Let me get my hands on you!" Steve was about to witness Vivian Sinclair throw down.
"Dear—"
"Don't dear me, Howard or I swear I'll divorce you." Vivian Sinclair bit out.
Three Thanksgivings ago, Steve's mother disclosed to his father that she had him followed around by a PI, which of course unveiled an affair. She threatened to show the photos and divorce as she coolly sipped her glass of French Savennieres (which cost as much as his father's good suit).
That was a nice holiday.
It was just a power play (Steve knew those) but Vivian Sinclair definitely wasn't playing one.
Steve debated with a tapping of his right heel how to exactly deal with his cresting temper, and get what he wanted at the same time.
Steve needed control this situation since Hopper couldn't.
It was a bit of a joke around town that Hopper could never stay on a woman's good side. He looked ready to tap out against Susan Hargrove and Vivian Sinclair.
Sandpaper grated the back of Steve's throat. He couldn't allow this whole situation to flip and sink like a capsized sailboat. The air in the room spun like a cyclone from the tension and he had to find the right line, tack, and get everyone focused.
He eyed the mostly full mugs of coffee held by everyone and the box of donuts and fruit in the middle of the worn wooden table.
Losing his temper would escalate everything like if he had gone major leagues with his bat back at the crime scene.
From when Steve was gifted his first shiny tricycle, Steve learned to pick his battles. He polished and smoothed any rough edges of his feelings. His mother dispensed hugs like currency and his father would only ruffle his hair if introducing him to someone else who did the same to his own son.
'If you don't have anything nice, don't say anything at all.'- Father
'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.' – Mother
'You'll barely even know we will be gone, Steven. We will bring you back something nice.' – Father
'Behave yourself for Nana while we are gone. You're the man of the house and we are counting on you.' – Mother
Steve slipped up when he lost his temper and flushed the keys to his mother's Mercedes to make them stay home. He was sent to Wilton Academy (third best mixed gender boarding school in Massachusetts) to be his 'home away from home.'
Bullshit.
To this day, Steve didn't know if they did it as a punishment, if they thought that physical distance would make everything easier, or if they just someone else to carrot and stick him into being son they could brag about.
It backfired.
His father got stuck with a son who he couldn't even bribe admissions to get into college! Eh, he'd probably just lie and say he got into Northwestern to his golf buddies anyway.
At Wilton Academy, Steve received tons of letters all telling him about their business trips and what Nana was up to, but never much in the way of questions about him. His sixth birthday card was postmarked three days past his birthday, and Steve wished he hadn't noticed. He did receive a lot of money into his own student account, so, that had to count for something.
He remembered telling Davie (a boy with white blonde hair and freckles like a golf ball had dimples) that he left his parents, not other way around.
"Same Stevie. My dad says 'time is money'. My parents have a lot of money, but no time for me, so I just made no time for them." Davie jumped from brick to brick on the walk, concentrating too hard for such easy hops, but Steve got it. "Wanna go play boules?!" Davie exclaimed. Steve knew from that day that Davie from Wilmington Delaware would be his absolute best friend. Davie and Stevie.
Well, until Memorial Day weekend 1978. Eighth grade.
"Just try to hit my mom, you'll see what happens! She didn't know what was going on, she wasn't even here! She was in Indianapolis!" Max hissed, blue eyes blazing that reminded him of Billy. Sorta.
Billy's gaze on him always tilted on that edge of hunger and repulsion.
"Don't talk to my mom that way!" Lucas' temper flared. Their own mother's kept them from lunging at each other. This was a shitshow.
"Indianapolis? That's where Billy said he was going when I saw him Saturday afternoon." Jonathan murmured sporting a real bright shiner. Steve had wondered why Jonathan had bothered showing up here with the rest of them, and now it fell into place, he ran into Billy, and he hit him.
"You mean when you tried to help him, and he punched you in the face and threatened to burn your house to the ground with you in it." Nancy's voice slapped the room. That made almost, almost made Steve snort in laughter.
That sounded like Billy alright.
But seriously, Nancy called him bullshit? Who was the one bitching about what Billy did over thirty hours ago when his dad tried to murder him and he's been stuck in the Upside-Down for past seven and a half hours?
Jonathan wasn't made of glass. He knew first hand.
Steve, unnoticed, slowly rose from the table and collected an old cafeteria tray the police station used for its mismatched mugs. Complete opposite of his own house, they definitely owned more high-ball glasses than coffee mugs and everything matched.
His father almost dropped his favorite scotch tumbler when Steve requested to be sent back to Wilton for second grade.
Davie was right, leave before you're left.
A wide-eyed and smartly dressed Steve Harrington soon learned all the right northeastern slang words, wore the right brand sweater vests, and laughed (but not too hard) at all the right jokes. He glossed over tales to his basketball friends on the playground how his dad insured famous paintings and met Julius Erving at his mansion. He casually mentioned in the dugout that his mom knew everything there was to know about baseball cards, and even verified a Mickey Mantle.
He even told the boys on his sailing team that his mother and father always helped sponsor a team in the famous "Mac" sailing race on Lake Michigan.
They hung on his every word.
Steve's chest billowed with helium because his parents long, boring letters weren't boring to these boys! For once his parents were useful.
After jumping for joy in the middle of the outfield, causing weird look from his coach, a switch flipped and Steve embodied easy-breezy-lemon-squeezy. He lounged and bounced about Wilton, all slack angles, soft laughs ,and easy smiles and those stuck with him until Nancy. Yeah, sure, Steve missed being untouchable, unshakable, unflappable, but he didn't get why wanted it back now.
'You'll never get over Princess Wheeler with an attitude like that, King Steve.'
"Wait, Billy saw you Saturday!? It was you who called the house and talked to Billy?! Why?!" Max's hair whipped to the side. Oh, that's why she thought he talked to Billy on Saturday. She must have thought Billy had talked to him, not Jonathan. Because, yeah why would Jonathan call their house….well, come to think of it, why would he call their house either?
"Uh, well, Will told me he thought something bad was happening at your house. He kept egging me to check it out…so I went by Friday and… um… well, I guess I can say it now. I saw Mr har—your dad, um, almost kill Billy. I mean, it looked… bad. He had a big lamp…So, I took a photo with a flash to get your dad's attention, and it worked. Almost too well." Jonathan saved Billy?! Steve's stomach turned. Not that if he hadn't gone to the quarry, he would have gone to Billy's….but STILL.
"I met up with Billy Saturday evening. I wanted to help, but he basically told me to stuff it. It was weird though. He hit me like he wanted a fight, but at the same time he wasn't surprised at all when I told him about my own shit dad. I should have told someone, you Nancy, yesterday…but Billy said he had a plan B. He said he was going to Indianapolis to 'unfuck this whole situation'." Jonathan continued, face grim.
Steve couldn't allow his own guilt to rock himself out of control. Steve knew he himself was obviously 'plan A' and it didn't take much of a genius to figure out Billy's 'plan B' was trying to find Max's mom.
But. None. Of this. Mattered. Anymore! Him keeping calm wasn't enough. He needed to pull a power play.
Steve, before the Demodogs and Nancy, had enjoyed and often relied on how he could use his mood to alter others' emotions around him. At Wilton he could spin a whole gaggle of students against a bully, help a teacher calm a hyped up class, or rally his basketball team within four heartbeats.
His placid attitude paired with his cute looks cemented a solid reputation at Wilton Acadamy as cool. The older boys didn't think of him as a threat to their status, and girls always liked that he said 'thank you, Kate, Sarah, Mary, Laura, Shannon, Elizabeth…' when they passed him cards with curly handwriting.
Girls only passed Steve cards because he was the only boy who didn't believe girls had cooties. Why would he when he liked holding hands with both girls and boys in circle time?
Sure, the other boys sometimes would say he had cooties, but Steve always remembered what his father told him: that only the weak minded let others get to them. Cool kids didn't let anything get to them. The others eventually stopped trying to pick on him when he just turned it on them and flippantly make fun of the bully's haircut, his mom, or his mismatched socks. God, he was such a bratty little shit.
"Susan, did Billy find you in Indianapolis?" Vivian Sinclair's voice could make a razor cut dull.
"Yes…. Oh God. But, I swear I had no idea something like this would happen. You must believe me, Billy was… manic! He wasn't making sense! He kicked a flower pot at me like a rocket! He kept going on mutants, and Neil, and he was so bruised up. I thought he was going to go crazy or get into more trouble so I went inside to call the police. When I came out, he was gone." Susan started crying again and Max hugged her tightly.
A wave of hot anger foamed in Steve's gut, he had enough.
"Your son was obviously terrified and was trying to bring you home and you, YOU failed him!" Vivian Sinclair had a point, but it was clear to even Steve that Susan was a hair away from another mental breakdown which was just getting Max defensive.
Steve placed his own half full mug on the tray, and next took Jonathan's full one from him, then Nancy's from her smooth hands. He was still being mostly ignored as he took Max's and Lucas' full milk cups too. He made sure to take Mrs. Sinclair's and Mrs. Hargrove's full, steaming mugs of coffee next.
"My mom didn't fail anyone! Billy is mean, and a criminal, and Billy isn't EVEN her son, you moron!" Max snarled and banged the table. Good thing he got the mugs.
"Don't call my mom a moron! This is all your family's fault! Your family messed up EVERYTHING and now my sister is demodog-food because of you!" Lucas hollered, slamming his fist on the table in response.
Steve now had to move fast to save their friendship… budding relationship thing. God, he was really the last guy who should be trying to salvage any relationship.
He pried Hopper's mug from his sweaty hands.
The familiar sensation of being the center of attention prickled up his pine as he kept his breathing even and his movements smooth. Steve nearly smirked. It worked.
King Steve: cover album edition.
When Steve was first crowned king in the fourth grade, he understood the immense sway he held on the people around him. He trounced Bart, a sixth grader with perfect teeth, the reigning king of sailing club, in the annual knot tying competition. Steve broke Wilton Acadamy's record by ten seconds by tying the eight most important boating knots perfectly.
He broke Bart's Wilton Academy record.
A small nostalgic part of Steve still prided himself on that. Steve knew he wasn't good at much, but he could still tie a bow line, reef knot, a sheet bend, a round turn and two half hitches, and others just as quick and knew when to use which one.
He had noticed right away the nooses Neil knotted were crude and knowing he could have tied a better noose than Neil caused Steve's hands to quiver slightly picking up the box of donuts and fruit, putting them also on the tray.
"Steve what are you doing?" Nancy squinted her eyes in that way. Steve continued to float evenly to the sink with a practiced ease that was really damn necessary right now.
"Yeah, bring back my coff… " Hoppers voice trailed off as Steve one by one dumped out each of the contents of the mugs into the sink, watching the steam rise as the hot coffee hit the metal of the sink.
Then, one by one he tossed away every donut and danish, and shelved the fruit.
Silence.
Everyone was looking at him as if he lost his mind, but they should all look in a mirror. Steve's anger burned deep and thick like a dormant volcano he couldn't allow becoming active.
"You are all Bullshit." Steve quietly smiled to people he had come to call friends. Some had tear tracks down their faces, some had dark bags under their eyes, some stank like B.O.
Steve was two for three. He needed sleep and a change of shirt, not Kleenex.
"Billy came to me Friday night. He told me he knew about the Demodogs and he asked me where Lucas was going to be all weekend. I thought Billy was a racist and was going to harass him, I was wrong. I was his plan A, and maybe if I had listened to him we wouldn't be here. Or maybe not. But. It. Doesn't. Matter." Steve continued, his voice rolling like a swift moving river. His tone and noise level wouldn't be out of place on a golf course.
"What matters is that Billy and Erica have been in the Upside-down for over seven and a half hours. It's back and possibly more dangerous than ever, and Neil was killed by one of the monsters living there. We need to work together to find them, not drain each other." He motioned to the sink like he planned that metaphor, which he didn't but whatever.
"We all want the same thing, to get them back. So, let's cut the bullshit and stop trying to be right, and try to be smart." Steve finished, purposefully leaning languidly against the counter, face soft and gaze purposefully not landing on anyone in particular.
"… " Nancy's wide eyes said it all.
"Steve's right. I'm sorry Max." Lucas murmured.
"I'm sorry, too." Max relented.
"I also owe you an apology, Susan. My emotions got the best of me, I should be more composed." Vivian Sinclair inhaled and exhaled deeply, shoulders lowering.
"It's alright. I… you're right about a few things, I am far from perfect and I should have…. It's just hard because Billy…." Hopper clamped down on Susan's arm and mouthed a secret 'thank you' to Steve.
Hopper totally owed him.
"Jim Hopper, you owe Susan and I, a full explanation about this… Upside-Down." Vivian Sinclair ordered and Hopper leaned back in his chair, fingers itching.
"I'll make another pot of coffee…. " Steve said to himself, it would keep him busy since that speech actually made his pulse race. That stupid duck metaphor, calm on the surface, freaking the FUCK out below really hit home. 'King Steve cover album edition' was rusty.
Off in the corner of the office a brand-new fax machine beeped and whirled. Steve reflexively wrinkled his nose in disgust. His own house had a personal fax that sent him instructions and notes from his parents. God forbid they call instead.
During drunken and sleepless nights, Steve would shred all their notes, only to do precisely what they wanted the next morning anyway. Man, he had become a pushover.
'Plant your feet, Harrington.'
"The US government made everyone here, along with others, sign a confidentiality agreement to keep from speaking about it. The—" Hopper was cut off by Lucas.
"It's another dimension where Demigorgons and Demodogs live. It's where Will got trapped and the Mind Flayer possessed him and tried to take over Hawkins before with Demodogs. It's… the worst. It's worse than hell and… Erica… " Lucas trailed off silently.
"You're telling me a…demon dog dragged Erica into another dimension? Lucas Michael Sinclair this Dungeons and Dragon business has gone too far." Vivian Sinclair's voice didn't blaze with heat it once did.
"It's real Mrs. Sinclair." Nancy spoke up, voice wooden. "I've been there…So has Hopper and Mrs. Byers. One of the monsters there killed Barbara. She didn't die from the lab chemicals. It's…awful, all decay and death." Nancy said softly.
For the first time Vivian Sinclair's face slacked vulnerable. Steve looked away to mess with the coffee filters.
"Billy is with her though. You know Billy's tough, if anyone could survive there it'd be him." Max reassured.
"Yeah, I was there when he beat Steve to a pulp, but that doesn't take much an IQ." Lucas quipped. "No offense." Lucas directed at Steve.
"Jonathan's probably more offended." Steve's grin was all humor.
"Billy isn't stupid….Friday night after I got back from Mike's, I found a lot of papers in our living room about the Upside-Down. Billy figured out about it all on his own. I didn't tell him anything. He even figured out some about El too." Max continued and Steve nodded when Lucas locked eyes with him.
"Wait, Billy found out about El?" Lucas asked.
Hopper remained silent, but his eyes shifted to his office. Great, had she been in his office listening the whole time?
"Not… exactly. He researched some articles, and Mike's parents saying she was a Soviet spy." Max murmured.
"… oh, that is probably what triggered Neil." Susan whispered. "If he found that a spy… he…sometimes still thinks-thought he was fighting in the war. He got confused, paranoid and…" Susan was about to break down again. Steve logically got it. She lost her husband (a bigoted murderous one), who was also the stepfather to her daughter, but Steve couldn't churn out any extra sympathy for her.
Steve plunged his hand in his pocket and rubbed Billy's silver pendant between his thumb and forefinger.
"Who's Elle?" Vivian Sinclair asked and on cue El wordlessly exited Hopper's office. Her big, searching brown eyes were smudged with eyeliner and she pointed her herself.
"Damnit, Jane we talked about this. You stay in my office until I give my say. Fine. Everyone, this is my daughter, adopted, Jane or El whichever you prefer. She isn't a spy, but she is gifted. She can help us find Erica and Billy in the Upside-down." Hopper rubbed his temple with his right hand and El nodded.
"Hi." She greeted simply. Vivian Sinclair raised an eyebrow in skepticism.
"Mom, she has super powers. She can find Erica. All she needs is a photo. A picture." Lucas insisted and Hopper shot him and El a sharp look.
"Jane. No. Just a search, not anything else, for now." Hopper's voice found its strength again. About time Hop.
Vivian Sinclair opened her pocketbook and took out her wallet and a small photo of Erica with big poofy pigtails in a Girl Scout uniform.
"My little girl is named Erica Diana Sinclair. She's ten years old, and a girl scout. She's top of her class and she's street smart too. Please, help me find out where she is so I can bring her home." Vivian Sinclair patted the semi-matte wallet sized photo of Erica. Her hand wavered but her voice didn't. Definitely a 'Joyce Byers' of a parent. Before today, envy would have snaked in Steve's kidneys since his own mother wouldn't go to Wilton, much less the Upside-down, for him.
But this wasn't about King Steve's mommy issues.
"I will find her. Friends help friends." El took the photo and studied it innocently.
"Picture of Billy. Please." El held out her hand. Max and Susan looked at each other. 'Oh you have got to be kidding me. They had to have one, ONE picture of Billy, right?'
"I don't have a photo of Billy on me. We don't…even have a good one in the house. Billy hates photos and Neil is-was very particular…" Susan frowned and that dormant pilot light of anger within Steve flickered to life again. No matter how many times his parents forgot to check in, they at least had photos of him up in the house. They had proof they were a family. Billy…Billy didn't.
The coffee machine finally began to drip.
"How do you not have a single good photo of Billy in your whole house?" Steve asked, still leaning against the countertop, he couldn't help it. Steve wanted to be a jerk. He wished he could channel his inner jackass like Billy and really let loose once in a while. Consequences be damned.
"Why do you care anyway? It's none of your business." Max bristled.
"I knew I should have kept at least one copy of mine." Jonathan mumbled.
"I need both. It's stronger. It's planning. It's learning." El turned, unblinking at Steve and he wondered why she chose to stare at him.
And what was stronger? The whole Upside-down? The hair on the back of Steve's arms rose up in anxiety. What if… No.
Billy was so strong he could dent the hood of his e23 with his fists. He could plan well too, (his idea of bringing Susan back wasn't a bad one), and he learned a lot all on his own.
"Max, were you serious about Billy having a record? I'll call Santa Barbara precinct to send us up a mug shot…we just got this new fax… thing." Hopper's chest rose out like he wanted an outlet for his anger. Steve hoped Hopper wouldn't crack and get physical. He couldn't stop him if he did. Jonathan was too busy moping to notice Hop.
Steve always had excelled at other tactics aside from fist-fights, especially at Wilton where he could get expelled easily for it. He got Bart expelled for it. Kinda.
Bart's reputation had been dragged behind a truck after the sailing competition. Figuring Bart would beat him up for humiliating him, Steve made it a point to avoid him. He knew in the marrow of his bones he didn't stand a chance against the older boy.
'You're lucky you can tie knots well because you're too dumb for anything else you stupid pussy!' Bart had yelled at him across the quad at lunch in front of everyone.
Steve naively, thought 'that was it' and let it roll off his back. He wouldn't give attention to it because it was true.
But ignoring Bart caused something drastic and unexpected.
Davie showed up to his room with a ripped sweater and a bloody nose. It dawned on Steve that if you were going to be cool, going to be King, your friends became targets. He didn't stew long on how to get Bart back because he learned from his parents how to win. He sent Davie to the nurse and then got all the basketball and baseball boys together.
"Um. Duh. He acted like he was a big deal for stealing cars and beating up people. There was even this one time with…" Max caught herself. "He never did anything in Santa Barbara where we lived. He mostly hung out with his creepy friends where he grew up in South Central." Steve knew she was protecting Billy from something.
Steve doubted Max hated Billy as much as she swore she did.
"Mom, he's a psycho and he just going to leave Erica to the Demodogs and she—" Vivian Sinclair cut Lucas off mid sentence with shove to his head. Hopper began to thumb through a book and dial a number.
"Lucas. Not. Another. Word." Vivian Sinclair's diamond hard stare sliced up to Steve, expecting something.
Steve thumbed the necklace in his pocket.
"Lucas… I don't think he'd just leave her. He was pretty mad about me letting Max play with the Demodogs." Steve sighed and Lucas reeled.
"Play!? You were protecting us!" Lucas shouted, but Hoppers voice took command.
"Yes, hello I'm Jim Hopper, Chief of police of Hawkins, Indiana." Hopper began. El's eyes could melt the plastic phone with her intensity. Everyone fell silent.
"My badge number is 511. I need to speak to your records department. It's urgent." Hopper pressed with a hiss.
Pause.
"No. Chief Jim Hopper. HAWKINS Indiana. Outside of INDIANAPOLIS. Just patch me through to records." Hopper's face reddened with 'if he was face to face with this prick he'd...'
Pause.
"No, I can't hold! I need to speak to records NOW." Hopper rubbed his eyes. "About time, Hello Carol, this is Jim—"
An unseen force pressed the speakerphone button on the phone. El.
The coffee sputtered to a stop, brewing finished.
"Yeah I know, the deputy from Indianapolis. What do you want?" Hopper barely restrained himself from correcting her.
Steve, amused and feeling merciful; poured Hopper another coffee and handed it to him. Guess he was that 'nice guy'.
"I'm going to need a shot and rap sheet for Hargrove, William." Hopper continued.
"Birthdate."
"Uhhh…I think he's seventeen. So…1966… " Hopper looked to Susan and Max. Max made the number four, then the number ten with her fingers. "April 10th, 1966."
Susan Hargrove smiled lightly at Max. Steve wondered absently if they celebrated Billy's birthday. Something told him no. At least Steve's parents usually remembered his on the right date.
"NIF. No record of a Hargrove, William with that birthdate." They could hear Carol finish typing.
Susan held up a finger and Hopper pressed down his hand on the speaker.
"Try Loga. L-o-g-a. First name Luc with a 'c', middle name William." Susan softly suggested and Steve's eyes went wide. Billy's name hadn't always been Hargrove? What did that mean?
Hoppers eyes went dark like he had just realized something vital to a case.
"Try Loga L-o-g-a, Luc with a c, middle name William. Same birthdate."
"Loga. Luc Loga…got it. Erm, his records are sealed pending to be expunged by the California Juvenile Court when he turns eighteen. No dice, Deputy Chopper." Carol clipped out.
"Sealed?!" Hop was so confused he didn't even care about Carol saying his name wrong.
Shuffle.
"—Luc Loga? That kid isn't dead?! That pain-in-the-ass was one Detective Freenan's and Xi's Seven Snoops, Carol. Why are you looking Freeman's kid up? She sealed his file. After what happened to Freeman, Xi forced us to cease using those seve-six kids as inform-" A man's voice cut in the background. Of course Billy would be infamous at a police station for being a pain-in-the-ass.
"Alright, I get it Barnsley." Carol responded, sounding embarrassed.
"I think I got what's going on here." Hopper's eyes sparked to life, thinking. "Look, forget the rap sheet, can you just send me a mug shot? He's missing and we just need a photo to circulate to bring him home."
"Isn't that what photo albums are for?" Carol asked skeptically.
"Tell me about it." Hopper sighed deep, purposely avoiding eye contact with Max and Susan.
A male and female murmured, Carol and Barnsley.
"Look, officially I can't give you sand in a desert. Off the record, if you were to call this number, 213-555-7448, and talk to a retired second class detective, Jerry Xi, he knows him, he might help you out." Carol sounded weary.
"Jerry She? S-h-e?" Hop began to furiously scribble.
"Xi with an X-I, guess you don't have any Chinese out that way. Remember, officially, I didn't say anything. Bye, Deputy." Carol hung up as if already regretting her decision.
Hopper hung up the phone with a finger and Steve smell the smoke from Hopper's brain.
"Loga. Adopted?" El asked, almost hopeful. Maybe she hoped she wasn't the only one.
"No, Neil changed Billy's name legally when we moved out here. Loga was his mother's last name. Neil didn't even know he had a son until he got back from his third tour and, well, social services showed up with him one day almost two years ago." Susan admitted, and Max gave her a hug. Steve crossed his arms. He bet there was more to it than just that, and Hopper looked like he agreed.
But it really wasn't any of his business. Really.
"That detective said his files were sealed. You have to jump though some serious hoops to get juvenile records sealed, and more to expunge them in California." Vivian Sinclair spoke up. "My younger sister, Marion, was a real hellion when we were kids. Still is a bit. She couldn't get her record sealed or expunged and damn we tried. It's a good thing you did that for Billy, Susan." Vivian laced her fingers on the table with a tight smile.
"Aunt Marion in Oakland?! The one that Erica goes to and visits every summer used to be a criminal?!" Lucas' eyes got big. Vivian nodded simply. So, Erica and Billy both spent time in California. At least they had something in common besides Neil trying to kill them. Steve thumbed the necklace in his pocket.
"We didn't. I don't know anything about that, it must have been that woman detective who did that." Susan admitted and Vivian Sinclair leaned back and looked at her husband.
"We can gossip about Luc Billy Loga Hargrove later." Hopper spoke up like he knew something. Steve wished he picked up what Hopper figured out.
Steve tapped his foot, irritated. Everyone here was digging into Billy's life like it was a mystery to solve. Didn't they get that prying into Billy's past was the last thing he would want? It would be the last thing Steve would want. He'd never want people here in Hawkins to know about Wilton, and what happened with Davie.
"Weeeiii Ni haaaaao." A girl answered, voice slurred. Was this Chinese?
"Um. Hello, I'm trying to reach detective, po-lice-man Jerry Xi. I'm chief Jim Hop-per with Hawkins, In-di-ana police—" Hopper spoke like his father did to his golf-caddies who had even a slip of an accent.
"I can speak English too, cop, I'm not stupid. Look, Jerry is re-ti-red." The girl mimicked Hopper condescendingly. "The 77th precinct's number is… Sang Hoon, stop!" The girl on the other end suggestively giggled. Steve lifted an eyebrow and caught Nancy's eyes. He had definitely made her giggle like that before.
Max's face lit up in recognition of something else though.
"Fine, bilingual brainiac, I'm short on time. The precinct told me to call him at this number about a case. The faster you can hand him the phone, the faster you and your little boyfriend can go back to your extra-curricular activities." Hopper steamed up. Steve bit out a quiet laugh as did Jonathan. Nancy even managed a smile.
"Any pig who wants to talk to Jerry goes through me first." Her voice turned from feathers to steel. "I told those worthless cops to leave Jerry be! What case is this?"
"I am not going to discuss the details of this with you, this is a poli…" Max gestured wildly with her hands and mouthed: 'Tell her!' 'Say his name, now!'
Steve eyed Max, she was definitely hiding a lot about Billy.
"It's in regards to a Billy Har—Loga. Luc William Loga."
Silence. Then two voices furiously chatted back and forth in a different language. Steve didn't understand a word, but after listening to the girl, he knew she'd win the argument. Next came a muffled "My house, My phone!".
Girls like her and Nance didn't lose arguments.
"You said Hawkins right? Spelled like the bird? And Indiana? Like Indiana Jones?" Her words now rushed over the phone. Worried?
"Yeah." Hopper relaxed a bit.
"Jim Hopper, right?" The girl insisted and Steve was impressed she got his name and place right when she was clearly distracted before.
"Yes, look I ge—" the line went dead.
"Damnit to hell. Max, who was that on the phone? I am TIRED of all this secrecy around your damn step-brother." Hopper slammed the phone down.
"That was this crazy Chinese bitch, Mei, and her crazier Korean boyfriend, Sang Hoon. Billy treated those dipshits like siblings. Billy would do drugs and other illegal stuff with them. I met Mei a few times. I think Billy thought we'd get along but we didn't!" Max admitted; eyes glacial. Steve didn't have to be a psychic to tell there was history there.
"Max, were they there that day?" Susan led and Max just curtly nodded. Steve had a lot of questions, and didn't like it.
"This doesn't make any sense. Why were they at this detective's house if they're criminals?!" Nancy piped up and it didn't make any sense to Steve either, especially with how protective Mei was being.
"Max, we are going to call them back and—"
The phone rang.
"Chief of Police, Jim Hopper." Hop picked up, phone on speaker.
"This is a collect call from Los Angeles, California, would you like to accept the charges?"
"Goddamnit. Sure." Hopper chuckled to himself, sounding impressed. "That girl is a brainiac. She just used outbound verification on me." Was she protecting the detective or Billy? Both?
"Hey there Brain, this is THE chief of Hawkins police, Jim Hopper." Hopper sounded a touch smug.
"You don't get to boast for being who you say you are. I have two questions for you first." Mei led; her voice dark and quick. Scheming. Steve began to have a weird sense of deja-vu (or maybe that wasn't the right word for this feeling either).
It oddly reminded him of himself when he got revenge against Bart.
After he rallied the basketball team, Steve got a permanent marker and ducked inside the girl's bathroom when Elizabeth (the girl who gave him the most notes) gave him the 'all clear' sign. Steve knew he couldn't beat up Bart, and he knew that Davie would NEVER snitch. But, Steve wouldn't let Bart get away with it. He was definitely going to make him pay, but in the smart, grown-up way.
Steve thought for a moment and then scribbled a sentence in what he hoped looked like 'big kid' handwriting across the mirror. He wrote the most genius thing he could think of to get Bart in BIG trouble.
'Steve Harrington is a stupid pussy.'
Steve didn't really know what a pussy was, but he knew that it meant coward and it was bad. He wrote one more insult on the other mirror, remembering phrases his father once used against a business partner over the taxes.
'Steve Harrington smells like shit and eats it too.'
Steve told the rest of the basketball team and Elizabeth, to spread the rumor that they all saw Bart come out of the girl's bathroom with the marker.
No one believed Bart when he said he didn't write it because everyone heard what he yelled across the quad. Steve also suspected that his teachers didn't expect him to be that clever. His report cards said his 'performance is borderline satisfactory' which Steve knew really meant 'Your kid's pretty stupid' but they couldn't actually write that.
When headmaster Lewis asked Steve if it was true that Bart wrote it, Steve kept his cool, tapped his foot, and responded:
"I thought dogs only went around smelling people."
And with that, Steve completely dethroned Bart. King Steve wore the Sailing Club crown proudly and won the respect of the basketball and baseball team too. Bart transferred schools because only 'Bark' echoed down the mahogany and marble halls, and never his actual name. Davie thanked him by taking him with him on vacation every Memorial Day weekend to go sailing.
"Fair enough, fine but make it quick. We are on the clock." Hopper clipped out. Steve knew Hopper hated being told what to do. Yet, Hopper was giving Mei a lot of rope, being really patient like he was with Joyce. He really sucked with women.
"How badly hurt is Loga?" Mei kept it short and sweet.
"He got roughed up, but we don't know how badly because we can't find him." Hopper returned short and sweet.
A string of words clipped out that Steve assumed were Chinese curses.
"What kind of trouble is he in?" Mei asked and in the background he heard Sang Hoon say something like the word 'Paya' or maybe 'Baya'.
"We think he got uh… kidnapped. Taken. You're a friend of his right? I'm not dense. We need help finding him and a girl who were taken by the same people. I just need a photo of him before…well it's too late. It might be already." Hopper gritted out, fisting and unfisting his hand.
"Taken by bad people? Like a gang? The Crips don't take people, and my brother isn't dead. We would know." Mei, leery as a stray cat, was beginning to catch on that Hop wasn't being completely truthful. But, how would they know if he was dead or not? She stated it with attitude.
"It wasn't a gang…we think that it could have been…" Hopper shifted his eyes over between Vivian and Max. "Sex traffickers." Hopper winced as he said it but Vivian and Max didn't.
"Ayyyooo, Liar, liar police car on fire. Loga's too old for the kiddie trade, and too smart to be turned out." Mei's voice took on a dark turn. Hopper scrutinized the Phone. Mei's mind, like Nancy's, could cut though bullshit easy.
"I can't give you any more details of this investigation." Hopper chipped into the phone
"I know when a pig is trying to use me get info for their own personal gain, this isn't new to me. I'm going to find where this Hawkins is and–" Mei's voice cut out.
"Shut up, you can't threaten any more cops!" Sang Hoon tersely whispered. More?! Max was right; she definitely had a short fuse.
Vivian Sinclair cleared her throat.
"My little girl, Erica, is ten years old. She and your friend were taken by monsters. Please, we really need your help." Vivian Sinclair's voice sounded like Billy's did when he told him to wait on Friday.
"I am on the speakerphone." Mei said, and Sang Hoon in the background interjected. "It's speakerphone, not the speakerphone. Are you sure you know English?"
Steve rolled his eyes as they bickered again in probably both languages. They were worse than he and Stacy that dated freshman year when they argued over who got to choose the music in his car, the driver, or to alternate songs. Driver. Duh.
"Hey, Mei, bicker with your boyfriend later. We have a little girl to find, and your brother might be the only hope she has." Hopper raised his voice.
Pause.
"How do you know my name?!" Mei's voice was a high shriek.
Hopper winced. Hopper screwed up.
"No one knows….Oh, oh, oh! If the little girl's family is there, then Loga's new sister, Max, is too." Mei paused. "She probably told you all sorts of things and…I get it! Loga's NOTHING to you but a bastard! You all only care about the little girl! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT GETTING HIM BACK!" Mei screamed venomously, voice cracking. Steve's chest cracked open a little, because hidden in her fury was anxiety he felt too.
"I care." Steve announced like a thunderclap.
All eyes in the room crystallized on him and he didn't care about any of the looks anyone gave him because it was true. He did care. No one deserved to be stuck in the Upside-Down, not even Billy, the prick who beat his face in.
"Who are you? Prove it." Mei's voice still cracked.
Steve could see where Billy got being so difficult from.
"Steve Harrington, and uh, we're on the same basketball team. He makes my life hell, but he is in serious trouble." Steve found his rhythm. He knew better than to lie to her. Hopper gave him a thumbs-up.
A burbling or bubbling of something came through over the phone.
"Herring. Like the fish." Mei had calmed down significantly. Like the what? "Fish are auspicious animals…." Mei mused, voice stifled and high. Steve had no idea what to do with that information. "OK, I will talk to you, only you Herring-tin."
"Whatever gets your engine going." Steve served back some attitude.
Shuffle.
"Hey, Fishface, don't flirt with my girlfriend. So, who gets smeared on the court, you or Loga?" Sang Hoon's voice came though high and slightly breathless over the phone. Fishface? REALLY? Was he ever going to catch a break?!
Lucas stifled a laugh, so did Max and Nancy. Great.
Another bubbling of something… were they taking bong rips?! Steve met Jonathan's eyes and they came to the same conclusion. Who were these people? They just told them their friend, brother, was missing and they were getting ripped?
"Me." Steve sighed, might as well answer truthfully. "He makes it a point to smear me in particular, he's an ass. Always telling me, and only me, to 'plant my feet' and—"
An explosion of Chinese, Korean, and coughing cut off Steve. The languages sounded a little different now that Steve listened.
"Herring-tin, Loga tells you, and only you, to 'plant your feet'?!" Mei echoed sounding oddly excited. What did that have to do with anything? "Oooh, you are good friends then!" Mei's voice carried that high wheeze still from after her bong rip, but also suggested she knew something he didn't. 'Per usual, Harrington, you're left out of some weird inside joke.' He thought of all the ones the Dustin and the others said behind his back.
"If that's what you call being friends, I think I'll pass on all of California." Steve attempted humor and this time another burble.
Shuffle.
"Loga is family, Herring-tin." Mei called from the background. "He has two families." Max sat up a little straighter, as if about to bite something out when Hopper made the cut motion with his flat hand.
"So, how's this, Fishstick, I'll send some photos that Loga left with us for safe keeping." Sang Hoon whistled out a long breath. "Loga is such a sap!"
"Billy's a sap? You're the one calling me pet names, and we haven't even been on one date." Steve retorted, in which dimension was Billy a sap?! Not this one and probably not the Upside-Down either.
Earnest laughter from the other end.
"You're not too bad Fishfood. I can see why you and… guess now, Billy, are good friends. Mei wants to ask you something stupid. Humor her, for your sake." Sang Hoon's didn't sound like such a bad guy. Wait, what did he just think?
This whole conversation was probably more surreal than the Upside-Down. Two of Billy's old stoner buddies thought he and Billy shared lunches and swapped chemistry notes, when all Billy did was beat the piss out of him and drive him up a fucking wall. Steve tried to muster an ember of indignation like he did Friday night, but none came. Steve really just needed a nap, and to make everyone swear they didn't call him Fishface.
Shuffle.
They squabbled in both languages. AGAIN. How did Billy get along with these guys if they didn't speak English to each other?
"Herring-tin. We need the police fax machine number." Mei was back on and he heard something that sounded like a slap and a giggle.
Hopper scrambled to the fax machine and found the paper and recited the number to the phone.
"Mmmm that wasn't Herring-tin… but I'll allow it. Herring-tin, what are you good at besides basketball? Impress me." OK, that was not the question he thought he was going to get. He thought she was going to ask him questions that mattered about Billy or what the fuck was going on. He wasn't really used to people asking him questions about himself.
"Seriously?" Steve answered. Sang Hoon wasn't wrong, how did he get himself into these fucked-up situations?
"Tick Tock, Herring-tin." Mei clicked her tongue.
'I guess she is being serious. I am going to punch Billy in the mouth for dealing with Mei's interrogation.' Steve sighed.
"Uh… honestly not much. Babysitting. I'm a good babysitter." Steve wanted to punch himself in the mouth. He had to come up with something more thrilling than that. He wasn't really good at cars, yet.
"and I'm…good at tying knots. I can sail a boat pretty well." Steve rambled and scratched the back of his neck. That was the best he got which was pretty pathetic. God, he really was a joke.
Wait, he couldn't really care about impressing Billy's stoned, crazy, criminal friends, could he?!
Nancy tilted his head at him. He hadn't shared his time at Wilton with Nancy, much less anyone else except a little with Tommy and Carol. After all, it ended on a really bad note.
"You're a babysitter and a boat driver—"
"Sailor! God, Mei your English is SHIT." Sang Hoon yelled. More bickering. They were worse than his parents. "Remember that one Kwanzaa at Antoine's place where Marcus left his little sis with Loga and she drew on the TV screen while they watching-" Sang Hoon adruptly stopped.
"Kwanzaa?" Vivian Sinclair exclaimed in extreme confusion. Steve knew he had heard the word 'Kwanzaa' before but couldn't place it. Nancy across the room also furrowed her eyebrows, she probably knew.
"Sang Hoon you said that in English you Sha bi!" Steve had no idea that the last word was, but it probably wasn't a compliment.
Lucas sprung to his feet so suddenly it reminded Steve of a jack-in-the-box. Lucas did sort of have a big head…
"My sister is getting eaten by monsters and you guys are messing around! And I got my own questions! You guys say you're his crazy criminal family or whatever so answer me. He's big and strong, but also scary and psycho. Will he help protect my little sister or not?!" Lucas backhanded air as he shouted at the phone.
"Are you messing around? He is less than one hundred seventy six centimeters tall and even Sang Hoon can punch harder—" Mei was cut off by Sang Hoon sounding far away, "—Kicks. Remember he broke that banger's jaw with just one kick." Steve's mind flashed to the star shaped chip on his windshield. Maybe Billy should have tried out for soccer.
Steve subconsciously touched his face. At least Billy didn't kick him, a broken jaw would have been a real treat.
"Loga is too impulsive and aggressive for his own good, he always needed the protecting. Reckless Sha bi." Mei reinforced with a word that Steve now knew had to be a good insult if she used it against Billy. Unease seeped into Steve's gut, Billy wouldn't actually provoke the demodogs, would he?
"My little sister is doomed. I knew it." Lucas put his head in his hands.
Mei tsked into the phone.
"Loga will pick a fight with almost anyone, which means if anyone is doomed, it's him. Herring-tin, these monsters, explain them." Mei's voice hardened to a steel edge again.
There was no way she'd believe the truth, but they had tried everything else…so here went nothing.
Hopper gave the nod.
"They're real monsters, with teeth and claws and live on the other side of a gate." Lucas and Max motioned to the lights and made fire motions with their hands.
Ok, he got it, he wasn't slow.
"They like the cold and dark, and hate fire and light…" Nancy made a wave motion with her hand.
He was just about to get to that. Jesus, everyone thought he was fucking simple.
"and they stay away from water." Steve hoped the phone wasn't still tapped by the government. Hopper didn't make any more to stop him.
"Mmmm, So Yaoguai, Demons, like from Journey to the West." What? Was she so stoned she actually believed him? "It is a good thing Loga is so fiery then. It is also good he has you, the fish, you know water, as a friend. In another famous Chinese tale, there is a brave fish that swims upstream through a gate other fish are too scared to pass through. His determination is rewarded and he transforms into a mighty, golden dragon." Super, this chick was more baked than an apple pie; she was talking like all the other kids did about Dungeons and Dragons.
Exhaustion settled in his bones, Billy and Erica could be running for their lives and he was stuck placating Billy's stoner friends.
Per usual, Billy Hargrove had literally fucked his life sideways. Steve was going to kick his ASS.
"Sounds like someone swallowed some bong water." Steve found a kernel of sarcasm. She had to be fucking with him.
"Fuck off, that prick cop upset her and she needed to calm down. Plus, she believes you even though I don't, Fishnets. She and Javier are into all that superstitious shit. Don't even get me started with Bayani." Sang Hoon defended. Damnit, Fishnets?! "Special Delivery, coming in hot!"
"Finally." Hopper sighed heavily.
"We have to make another call, now. Call us when you find him, Herring-tin! Bye sailor boy!" Mei cooed.
Steve hated his life.
Hopper cursed as he had to pick up the charge for the collect call.
"See. I told you, they're crazy." Max huffed as the fax machine went off.
"Not crazy. Different. Like sister." El peered at Max ominously. Steve could never figure out why El didn't warm up to Max. He thought they'd get along. Apparently, though, Billy thought the same with Max and Mei, maybe they didn't know Max as well as they should.
The fax chirped and Steve for once, actually wanted to look at the message.
Everyone crowded around it like a basketball huddle.
"This better had been worth it." Lucas muttered as Hop picked up the first page. One of three.
The black and white faxed photo was of …Billy and his mom?
A much younger Billy, maybe a little younger than Erica, sat next his mom on some busted up cement steps. His curly blonde hair reached his collar bone. Even in black and white, Billy's skin glowed much more tan than Steve had ever seen it. A worn out Lakers T-shirt too sizes too big (hand-me-down?) drowned his thin frame.
It was obscene thinking Billy could be so young, and look so little.
Both Billy and his mother had their tongues stuck out at the camera, and not in the cutesy way girls do to keep their eyes big. They squinted their faces up all goofy, like they were making fun of the person behind the camera.
Steve's mother wouldn't be caught dead making that sort of face at a camera, let alone let the film get developed and saved. All the photos in his house were carefully chosen portraits or required a tripod.
Billy's mom was also holding some white book with some moon on it and a French title. She had on a ruffly dress, the same silver necklace he had in his pocket, and….
Hold the phone.
Now, Steve knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and the photo was in black and white, but this woman was…really really tan. Like…maybe 'not all the way white' tan (was that wrong to think, or even the right term?). She had billowing, curly, sorta dark hair (way more curly than Nancy's), a button nose, and full lips. Her eyes though, were like Billy's, light and bright.
'I'm not the racist!'
There was NO way….
Howard Sinclair pointed to Billy's mother.
"Mixed raced people can still have light colored eyes. It's more common than you might think. It could explain Kwanzaa. It's a holiday started to celebrate African culture." Eye expert Howard Sinclair finally decided to say something and he said THAT?
Did that really JUST happen?
"So that's how Billy gets the highest scores on French tests while skipping almost every class. That book she has is 'Le Petit Prince'." Nancy revealed and Steve balked. He had no idea Nancy and Billy were in the same AP French class, much less Billy took Advanced French. The only French Steve knew was from wine his mother bragged about.
"I only knew her name was Laurette Loga and that she was a…ahem, dancer." Susan's face had no blood in it. "Neil must not he must not have thought she was mixed... My God..." Well, that much was obvious Susan, thanks for the news update.
Max kept her lips pursed, not revealing anything. Max could be trusted with nuclear launch codes.
"Too young." El spoke up.
The second page fed though.
This one was one of a group of seven people, all young around Billy's signature z28 Camaro.
Seven Snoops...
An Asian girl with long dark hair, tall spindly high heeled shoes, shorts and a dark crop top poised herself just like Teri Peterson did on November cover of Playboy 1981(Steve wasn't creepy, it was one of his favorites). That had to be Mei. She could put almost all the Hawkins girls to shame with her body, especially her legs. She was blowing a kiss at the camera, lips dark.
Squatting beneath her on the pavement was another, toned Asian guy (had to be Sang Hoon) with a short Mohawk, studded vest, and baggy pants with some crazy pattern on them. Punk. He could make out either a scar or a tattoo on his neck. He had a cigarette in his hand and smiling bright, looking at guy on the far right in the photo.
Sang Hoon was looking at a tall, overweight black guy at the trunk. He hulked roughly as big as Hop, and had styled his hair into a big fluffy afro. He had on a Jiminy Hendrix T-shirt and a large, heavy chain around his neck. In one hand he held a leash with a Doberman sitting alert beside him. The camera caught him in a full, hearty laugh.
Next to him, near the rear triangular window of the Camaro, stood a young guy so tall and jacked he could probably lift the Camaro. He looked Hispanic and had short, neat black hair and a crisp goatee, no mustache. and a giant cross pendant around his neck. He smiled proudly at the camera.
A guy who could have been a stunt double in Ranbo 'First Blood', perched himself in a handstand on top of the Camaro. His long braided hair fell down to the roof. The photo cut him off at the pecs but Steve could tell he was tan, and toned. Tribal tattoos ran jagged across his shoulder blades. His smile curled wildly upside down, lips dark like Mei's.
So that's where Billy got his crazy from.
In front of the driver's side door, were Billy and another guy, his arm slung snugly around Billy's shoulders.
The muscular black guy with his arm around Billy beamed down at him. The camera caught him mid-word, but even in the awkward facial expression he could tell he was handsome. He had a shorter afro than the guy on the far right and it had a flat top. He wore baggy pants, high top sneakers, no shirt (abs like washboard), and about a half dozen chains over his chest.
Billy looked back up at him too, his face slightly tilted back and up.
Billy looked about the same as he did in Hawkins, except for three distinct differences. One was that he was tanner like the first photo. Second, his hair tumbled all the way down to his collarbone, just like in the first picture. Third, necklaces and at least two pairs of earrings dangled from him, glinting like Fourth of July sparklers. Steve's mother would call all the jewelry gaudy, but Billy wore it all well.
Well, there was one more difference, the sunshine-bright smile that lit up his whole face. That smile turned his soft eyes into crescents and filled his cheeks out. Billy looked so… happy. At ease, nothing like he was in Hawkins. Steve couldn't help but feel cheated a bit. Why couldn't he know this Billy?
Steve's pulse raced and something rare coiled in his stomach. He noticed a fourth difference. Billy had his right arm around the other guy's waist…like he and his girlfri…
Holy SHIT.
They were together!
Billy really was gay.
'If you're going to keep looking at my dick, might as well blow it, King Steve.'
"A picture is worth a thousand words." Jonathan murmured. No Shit. This was awkward.
"You're gawking, Steve." Nancy said. Steve hadn't realized his jaw dropped until he closed it.
"That's them, Mei and Sang Hoon." Max pointed. "The one on the far right with the dog is Marcus, the big one is Javier. I never met the crazy one on the roof but he must be Bayani. Billy's boyfriend was named Antoine. I think this was the day they bought the Camaro, I recognize Billy's outfit." Max continued, only sounding half annoyed.
"Huh, Billy is a shorty." Vivian Sinclair mused.
No one commented on the past tense 'was named'. Steve could only imagine. Didn't that police officer correct the seven to six?
"Bitchin'." El took the photo. Steve almost forgot why they got the photos in the first place.
The third page followed and while Hopper and the others stood to watch El at the table, Steve collected the last page.
The photo was of Billy, Sang Hoon, and Bayani, and three other unfortunate souls.
Steve's breath caught in his throat, this was the Billy he knew. He, Sang Hoon, and Bayani's glares alone could gut a shark and cook it.
Billy's feral, ravenous eyes had always intimidated him, but the grim, flat look in his eyes in this photo made Steve's blood pump in reverse.
Billy frowned deep, nostrils flared. Something dark, blood, ran down his forehead and seeped into his right eyebrow. He had a man who looked a lot larger than him in front of him, a sword-sized knife at the man's throat, chin up.
Next to him Sang Hoon's sneer could stop someone in freefall. He had a swollen eye and blood dripped out his nose. Steve could tell now that it was a burn scar across his neck, not a tattoo. He stood over his man, in his right hand he held a handgun at the base of another man's head. In his other hand he had a…staple gun? Huh?
Bayani, up close, sorta looked like this one kid from Thailand, Parvati, in the Sailing club at Wilton. His dark eyes reminded him of El's, and he smiled softly with dark lips even through a busted lip. He had a knife at his man's throat just like Billy had.
Steve didn't get his smile.
Deciphering this photo, the one of all of them in front of the z28, his mother, and the Billy he knew, was giving Steve a headache. Why did Sang Hoon send these photos? Was he trying to get them to know Billy better? The whole picture of Loga turned Hargrove?
Steve then studied the men they had by gun and knife-point.
A sign was stapled to each man's chest (chest not shirt, christ). Together they all read:
"Special delivery LAPD,"
"Justice served hot for"
"Det Jerry Xi and Det Maya Freeman"
Steve knew that these signs were about the same Jerry Xi Hop tried to talk to. Maya Freeman must be the woman detective who helped Billy. The other guy at the police station with Carol also mentioned both the detectives were together. So, Jerry Xi and Maya Freeman had to have been partners.
Why had the records lady only given them Jerry Xi's number? Why didn't they give them Maya Freeman's number too? They should have if they said Billy was her kid, especially if she was the one who helped Billy seal his file!
And like the 'snick' of a lighter, it all clicked again.
'After what happened to Freeman...'
Something bad happened to her, and to Jerry Xi too.
Maybe Jerry Xi didn't retire because of old age. Maybe he was forced into 'early retirement'. The same probably happened to Maya Freeman, and if they didn't get her phone number...maybe she was a 'was' like Antoine.
Just what in the fuck was Billy into in LA?
Steve, suddenly nauseous, wasn't sure if he wanted to know. This was too much. He just wanted this to be some sick, twisted nightmare like usual. He didn't want to know ANY this about Billy. He couldn't even PROCESS it.
Steve folded and pocketed the last page just in time for El to start shaking violently.
Immediately he swooped behind Lucas.
The air in the room noosed his throat. Steve thumbed Billy's pendant in his pocket. He hoped he wasn't developing a nervous habit.
"What's happening?!" Susan exclaimed and just as quickly as El shook, she stopped. Blood seeped from her ears and nose. Hopper had to hold her upright. As if her arm was weighted down, she weakly pointed to the photo of Erica.
No one dared to even breathe wrong.
"Ok. Not gone." El croaked out as she tapped Erica's face.
"Thank you Jesus. Thank you, don't worry baby, mama is coming for you." Vivian Sinclair's entire presence lit up and she picked up the photo and kissed it. Howard Sinclair held her tight.
"I knew she'd be fine." Lucas announced and Max rolled her eyes.
"Oh thank heaven! They're going to be alright." Susan collapsed back into her chair.
El hadn't smiled yet. Steve only caught it because he was the only one not celebrating, yet. She moved her trembling hand to the other photo, her finger hovering over Billy's chest.
El's deep eyes, now glassy and a bit bloodshot, locked onto Steve's. His lips parted to say something but he couldn't force air down his windpipe.
No. Don't say it.
He still had to kick Billy's ass for his friend calling him 'Fishface', and his windshield, and all snide comments he made about his whole life that Billy didn't even know! Not to mention, now Billy owed him answers, SO MANY answers about all this nonsense.
Steve's thumb rubbed over Billy's silver pendant furiously.
"Not OK." El leveled at Steve.
DAMNIT.
His pulse stopped.
Gravity stopped.
All of his organs shoved themselves up into the gluey base of his throat.
He still had to prove Billy wrong. Show him Steve Harrington wasn't shit in a fight. He wasn't a shit babysitter. He wasn't a useless 'Paper Knight' whatever that really meant. Steve Harrington protected the people who needed it. He protected the people he cared about damn well. He wasn't…he couldn't be too little, too late again.
His hand has a death grip on Billy's mother's necklace that he still had to give back to Billy.
"Tick tock, Almost gone." El mimicked Mei and took her hand and fisted it to her stomach, and opened it. Her fingers lifted up, spreading out. Blood. Then her fingers danced. Fire.
Max bolted from the room out the front door, chair toppling over to smack the floor with a bang. Susan called out something, maybe someone else too, but they didn't register in the storm of his mind.
'Go die in a fire, Hargrove, and leave Max, Lucas, and the rest of us alone.' Steve didn't actually mean it. Well he did, but not LITERALLY! It was just an expression.
He remembered the 'snick' of the lighter, and the way Billy gave up.
'Yeah…might just happen that way.' Billy hadn't looked at Steve when he said it. That dumbass looked away as if he thought that was what Steve really and literally wanted. It was just a FUCKING expression!
How could Billy let this happen?! Did he give up?!
No, Mei had pegged Billy as reckless, not suicidal. Billy would NEVER give up. He just screwed up.
Screwed up BIG.
Steve's dormant anger boiled and flared into his throat, drying it out.
All that stupid 'Shabi' Billy had to do was hold his own for a few hours, but NO! He just had to get himself gutted by some Demi-whatever! Now Steve had to track him down, clean up his mess, and drag him home to KILL him for all trouble he put him through.
He was going to make Billy 'sloppy-as-fuck' 'two-stupid-last-names', PAY.
"Where is he, Billy?" The unflappable King Steve's calmly asked, storing his anger for Billy.
Billy nude, laughing, eyes bright in all that dancing fire.
"Hospital." At least Billy fucked up somewhere convenient.
Notes:
OK. So. Bear with me. It's a lot. I know. It's supposed to be a lot. You're not supposed to get his backstory yet. Either of theirs.
I honestly have a plan a really really good one. Bear with me.
I understand if Billy's mom being mixed race is problematic. (she is at least half caucasian) I expect to get a lot of hate/flames from it but I really wanted to try my hand at representing mixed race people, and well I'm not going to change my mind. But, if you notice anything offensive please let me know because I want to be as respectful as possible obviously.
Also, keep in mind that I am trying to write all these characters as pretty flawed.
Steve isn't really angry or blaming Billy for getting hurt, he just doesn't process guilt well (as seen in the show), and is guilty of putting people on pedestals to some degree. He and Max both think that Billy is the toughest thing ever (which is proven false with the photos and getting to know who he was) and that if anyone could be fine in the upside down, it'd be Billy. So when that vision of Billy being more force of nature, rather than human is shattered, Steve has a problem with processing it and get angry, but we will soon see how Steve really feels once he calms down.
Steve is also being pretty manipulative to get what he wants, and doesn't always think clearly (he definitely should have told hop in the first chapter). Steve in the show is seen as a pretty emotionally aloof (except with Nancy) selfish guy turned more selfless. This is more a blend of confident King Steve, and selfless 'less of a dick' Steve hence "King Steve: cover album" Also, later you'll see how Steve went from being pretty passive about fighting and fist fights, to being more assertive (a la wanting to murder Neil) as a child in his backstory.
also remember, most of the characters are teenagers. their decision making skills arent fully developed yet :P
Mei is smart, cares deeply for people, and protective, but she is easily worked up, uses weed as a crutch for her anxiety, and prioritizes gossip about Billy having a crush over getting them photos (but even she doesn't understand the urgency, she thinks that whatever it is, it's not as serious as dangerous as growing up in south central LA).
Sang Hoon doesn't believe anything Hop and Steve have to say about monsters or Billy being 'missing' (that's what he and Mei are bickering about actually [not couples stuff]. He thinks its all lies and she is trying to get more information) and thinks the photos are a joke so he sends them ones he wants them to see. Sang Hoon has his own opinions for what he REALLY thinks is going on, that are hidden for now, along with what he wants to do about it.
Vivian Sinclair is having some issues as well, blaming susan for things way beyond her control and not being more of a mother figure for billy, who as we can tell is super difficult. Vivian doesn't really understand their family dynamic and unfairly goes after susan. Vivan is used to being the responsible mother who looks after two children and projects that onto Susan unfairly.
Susan is an unstable mess with very low self esteem after being in a somewhat emotionally draining and abusive marriage, who finds it easier to defend others (especially her abuser) rather than herself, except when it comes to Billy. Susan is understandably a wreck, but she cant rectify her husband being murdered by monsters and defending who he was when he wasn't mentally ill.
Max has her reasons for being so pent up with Billy. Billy obviously hasn't always been nice to her, and vice versa. You'll see why Max and Mei don't get along later and how much exactly Max knows, and why she has the opinions she has. Something happened in LA that caused their relationship to sour. Though we will soon see what Max really thinks about Billy and him being trapped in the upside down.
El is still being unfairly mean to Max. I haven't reconciled their friendship yet. El likes Billy's friends because they remind her of Kali's crew (as they are supposed to, they're supposed to be sort of the same, but more grounded in reality)
Also this fic will take on a lot more mythology, superstitions, and symbolism than Dungeons and Dragons. The Chinese myths and stories and the Colombian myths and stories I am using are all accurate and real (this is why El says different, not crazy).
Symbolism is everything in this fic, so be on the look out. (for example, Steve 'fish' crossing into the gate, some variation of transformation 'into dragon' may happen to his character)
Also, get ready for some craziness. I'm going to bread crumb it a bit, but the Upside Down is deadlier than ever, and they are going to need more than El's powers to stop it.