The Paper Knight and The Killing Tree
Chapter Five: A Rising Tide
"And you're sure this is the only place we can open the gate again?" Hopper asked El, well more like begged out of exasperation. Steve didn't want to be back here anymore than Hop did. Somehow, standing next to Neil's old Chevy pickup prickled the sides of his neck more than before.
Maybe it was because his limbs hung heavy like cement blocks due to fatigue. Maybe all the adrenaline had washed out of him and a pit of anxiety churned deep within him instead.
Maybe it was because of the conversation he had earlier with Max about Billy just…he didn't know…put the pressure on? Like the whole basketball game rode on his shoulders, but with a bit more at stake this time.
Thirty-ish minutes ago
Steve audibly groaned when he saw a blur of red hair in the passenger seat of his BMW. Susan had gone out and after several minutes came back in, saying that Max wouldn't come out.
She didn't say what had happened between them after Max had stormed out, but the utterly lost look on her face kinda told Steve that maybe she didn't know herself.
So.
Here he was doing the job that Nance should really be doing, but not doing because she had apparently had chosen his car to lock herself into. And this, of course, was some sort of signal that she wanted to talk to him, and not anyone else.
Personally, Steve thought she just chose his car because it was closest to the door. But Nancy had that 'don't argue with me' look carved on her face, and Steve just gritted his teeth and trudged out to what was sure to be a stupid conversation.
Not even Lucas came out. He froze stiff. Some Dungeons and Dragons partner he turned out to be. Traitor. Leaving him to Max all by himself.
Steve shoved the key into the driver's side lock and twisted. Max didn't move an inch. No acknowledgment of his existence. He could have been invisible or as imaginary as the monsters he once thought were just spooky stories.
The bitter shards of anger roiled up inside him again as he slid behind the steering wheel and locked themselves in again.
He gripped the steering wheel tight with his left hand, white knuckles, but left his right unassumingly relaxed on the center console. Half of him tense with the urge to punch the horn, the other half relaxed, guard down to not set Max off.
Silence.
Max wordlessly wiped her eye that faced the passenger side window, face tipped towards the scenery.
"I hate him." She muttered thickly and lowly. "I hate him. He's so selfish, and mean, and…violent. He can't just do anything right, or good, or NICE." Max hissed like air from a slashed tire. Steve leaned his head back against the head rest.
"Yup." He couldn't argue with much of that. Billy checked all those boxes. The anger spiked in him again. God, Billy really fucked up this time. "A real piece of work." Steve added for no other reason than instinct.
"You don't even know him, Steve, so don't act so smug." Max twisted her body over to him, blue eyes scratching into his skin. He could care less if she was mad at him though.
Steve wasn't the best at reading people, but this wasn't THAT hard. She needed someone to talk to about Billy. Why him? He didn't know. He wished she chose Nancy. She'd be way better at this…we'll whatever this was.
"I think I know him pretty well. He doesn't sound that deep, Max. Sort of a… 'what you see is what you get' guy." Now, Steve swallowed knowing he was being unfair because it was a bald-faced lie. Steve didn't try to lie too often. He didn't like it, but it came in handy here.
Steve knew from day one Billy definitely NOT that kind of guy. He practically reeked of that 'You'll never figure me out' vibe.
Max snorted.
"Yeah, well maybe he is. Maybe he is just the… the worst. The worst everything." Max crossed her arms and stared down at the floor.
Steve sighed.
"Definitely the worst classmate I've had. And I've had class with guys who bragged about owning more than two yachts." Steve decided he may as well keep poking the bear, see when Max would either snap and go off about Billy or defend him. "Even worse than this one guy who would lift up girl's skirts, or this other guy who would steal purses and wallets out of gym lockers while we were in gy—"
"He almost got me killed back In L.A., so yeah, worse." Max snapped back and Steve's eyebrows furrowed. Yeah, that would definitely explain a lot.
"We could start a club, the 'Billy almost killed us, and he's the worst' fan club. We could make T-shirts." Steve smirked out and dryly chuckled. He heard some sort of noise from Max and turned to see her face scrunched.
"Like I'd be caught dead wearing a matching T-shirt with you." She wrinkled her nose, but Steve didn't follow up with anything.
Pause.
"Mei, the crazy girl, lied on the phone." Max propped her head in her hands, slumping over.
"Really, huh?" Steve didn't read her as a liar, but what did he know?
"She said Billy had two families. She's wrong, Billy doesn't sees me as a sister." Max's voice fired up hot.
Steve made a face.
"Last summer Billy taught me how to drive. We used to bet on this game, two lies and a truth. He usually won because I think he somehow cheated, but once he lost and he had to teach me to drive. Well, of course Mei found us on our last lesson, and told him to drop everything and stop Sang Hoon from doing something stupid. She told Billy that Bayani, the insane-o one that saw sounds, found 'the three' whoever 'the three' were. Well, we go to this shady house, and Billy told us to stay in the Camaro. But he grabbed his knife and I knew he was gonna do something dumb and illegal. I heard Billy scream even from inside the car, so I got out and went to go see… but I got grabbed by some guy and he dragged me into the house. The guy had a gun on me, and Billy had a knife to some guy's throat and Sang Hoon had a gun on some other one." Max stopped short and swallowed.
OK. So, that was like a hundred more words than he ever thought Max would say.
"Billy…was bleeding a lot from his right side, Sang Hoon's eye was messed up too. Billy could be so STUPID. One of the guys asked them if finding these guys was worth losing a sister over. Billy hissed back 'Fuck you, like I care.' It was then when Mei snuck up from behind and hit the guy who had me over the head with something. I got hit in the head too and everything got really blurry and nuts. Next thing I knew Marcus was driving Mei and I to the hospital. I didn't see Billy for eight days." Max murmured and Steve inwardly groaned. Think Steve, what would Nancy do here?
"He's not my brother. I don't care if he comes back." Max muttered; face scrunched up tight. It knotted Steve's gut.
Anger. Steve felt anger burn again, but it was…all wrong and unfocused. Before his anger pulsed because Billy messed up…but that had annoyingly faded.
He gripped the steering wheel vice-tight.
"You don't mean that." Steve said automatically and Max rose up in the seat. Steve thought for a second she was going to smack him.
"You don—" Max reared up, but Steve cut her off. He shifted and the paper crinkled in his back pocket. The three….
"Billy warned me about Lucas. He went to Indianapolis to bring back your mom to stop Neil. Billy… cares in his own twisted, ass-backwards way. I know he's a selfish, angry asshole, but maybe he might not've cared as much if Lucas wasn't close to you." Steve didn't really know where that came from.
Max pursed her lips and looked away.
Pause.
"I'm bringing Billy back. I still gotta punch his face in." Steve smirked, but it was mostly for show.
Max snorted.
"Whatever. Like I care." Max parroted Billy. "But…don't make promises you can't keep, Fishface." Max locked her eyes on his, and despite the nickname he could tell she was serious.
Maybe Max and Billy didn't think they were siblings, Steve didn't know much about that, but they kinda acted like it anyway.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Max. Just don't call me that when Billy gets back, he'll be even more of a pain in my ass." Steve sighed, and with that Max opened the car door and paused.
"Not making that promise...when you see Billy tell him… nevermind." Max changed her mind and closed the car door leaving Steve slumped back into the car seat, lax.
He could do it. Steve rubbed the pendant in his pocket. He would bring Billy and Erica back. Will had been stuck for a week, and he came back.
He looked out the car window and saw a puddle of water. Pool. Barb.
He shifted again and paper crinkled, he almost forgot. Steve pulled out the faxed photo again and looked at the six people in it.
Sure enough, though it was dark and hard to make out, Billy's right side was all dark and splotchy and Sang Hoon's eye was a swollen plum. If Billy could survive a life like that, he could suck it up another hour before they got there.
It had to have been the same day Max got hurt.
Billy owed it to Max to explain all this nonsense. He'd wrap the stupid bandages around his stupid wound himself, then drag him back by his stupid gold, curly mullet if he had to.
Present time
He had this though. He was King Steve and he would fight and do what it took to get them home. To get Billy back from hell…then give him his own version of hell.
God he was tired. And wired.
"Yes. It's softest here. Weakened." El pointed into the forest, of course in the direction of the Killing Tree and subsequent crime scene. Steve had hoped by now they had cataloged all the evidence and moved Neil's body. He turned around to see a stony faced Vivian Sinclair with her hands on her hips, shotgun slung around her shoulder.
Apparently her sister, Marion, had given it to her as a gift a while back and it was finally getting some use. Who the hell gives someone a gun as a present?
And Erica visits this Aunt regularly? Maybe there was more to the Sinclairs than he thought. His own dad had only touched guns in photo ops.
"We don't have all day, Hopper. You're the chief, just tell them to take a break from bagging up that bigot's body." Vivian gestured into the woods. Steve sighed, he didn't think bossing around Hop would work here.
Steve knew more about Hop through the geek patrol than anything first hand. He had, up until now, said like four different sentences to Mrs. Sinclair, and well, it's not like he and El hung out on weekends.
This was going to be such a pain.
"Hey now Vivian, I've been patient. I've been flexible, but you agreed when I let you come along that I would call the shots. I've been there, I helped get Will back, I'm in charge. If you can't follow my lead then you will be left behind. That goes for you too, kid," He shifted. "and you Jane." Hopper finally found his backbone and Steve put up his free hand and shrugged.
In his other hand he swung his nailbat loosely.
Mrs. Sinclair stiffened and nodded.
"I apologize, I got ahead of myself. You are the expert with this….Upside-down." Mrs. Sinclair admitted evenly. Steve knew she was having a hard time not pulling rank, but it was a relief to know she could shelf it for Erica.
"I don't know about expert, but we will get them back. We just gotta do this all together, and stick to the plan." Hopper started into the woods and Jane followed close behind.
The plan had already derailed when they accidentally left the box of masks behind. Then derailed again when they couldn't open a gate at the hospital or closer to it, but Steve wasn't about to point that out.
Steve yawned and trudged forward. He downed more coffee but it wasn't a cure-all from a night of no sleep and stress that shredded his focus and gut.
He could hear the snick of a lighter and see the way Billy looked away from him at the quarry.
'Yeah, might just be that way.' Billy just don't be an ass for once, and hang in there.
He heard Mrs. Sinclair behind him. She had ordered her husband to take Lucas, Max, and Susan to Indianapolis to Max's Uncle Ted's house under threat of 'A long and painful divorce'.
Steve was just glad he didn't have to babysit.
"You're a brave boy, very few people would risk their lives to save a friend." It was the first time she had really talked to him since the phone call.
"I couldn't live with myself if I let Erica be in the Upside-down and not try to get her back, Mrs. Sinclair." Steve replied and he heard a click, like a car door closing. He turned back as did Vivian, but they saw nothing. Steve was more on edge. It was definitely a mechanical click, not a branch snapping.
"Mmmhmmm. It has nothing to do with that boy, Billy, then? You said you cared when you spoke with his friends." She led and Steve bit out a harsh laugh.
"Because I had to, you heard how crazy his friends are. Billy and I are not friends, think the opposite. He hates me, mocks my entire existence, and I can't stand the pric—jerk either. He doesn't deserve to die in the Upside-down, but I'm not doing this for him, Mrs. Sinclair." Steve knew that Max wouldn't have blabbed their conversation.
"Mhmm, well I'm thankful you're doing this just for Erica then. And call me Vivian. Saves time." Mrs. Sinclair's voice had that tone in it that Steve didn't like. She said it with the skepticism that she saw right though him. She also had that knowing stare his mother could get when he would lie about his grades.
It also really grinded his gears because he knew wasn't doing this just for Erica, but he couldn't say anything about that now.
He rubbed the pendant in his pocket. Billy and him friends? When hell froze over.
Steve knew he was so fucked up that he wanted Billy back so much when everyone else, save maybe Max, didn't care at all. Was this him being a pushover? Caring about someone when they clearly hated your guts?
No. Back that up.
He cared only because no one deserved to be stranded in the Upside-down. Not because of his messed up past, or whatever happened to his boyfriend, or his screwed up stoner friends, or the way he deflated when he told him to die in a fire.
He didn't care that he made Billy give up on him and drive all the way to Indianapolis. It didn't matter anymore. It didn't.
He rubbed the pendant between his thumb and middle and index fingers anyway.
They walked a fair ways behind Hop, and he told them to stay put as he talked to the other two officers Steve didn't really know. Steve breathed a sigh of relief that Neil's body had already been moved.
His eyes caught on the dark and large Killing Tree. He remembered the slurping, stringy tunnel that had closed up right before Hop got to it.
If he had told Hop about Neil at Byers, would he have made it through in time?
Didn't matter anymore, he guessed.
Steve heard something like a stick snap behind him and he whipped around and again saw nothing. He needed to cool it; he'd be useless in the Upside-down if the hair on the back of his neck never went down.
"Steve." El quietly called him over and he shuffled through the dead leaves.
"Yeah?" Steve asked and she pointed to her chest.
"Be King Steve." Uhhh…ok El. Thanks?
"Trying. Trying." Steve gave a practiced smile. El smiled back, satisfied about something.
Wait. How did she know about that?
"OK, Jane, let's do this. Everyone remember the plan? I go in first and when I give the go ahead signal then you guys can come through. Don't forget, this is a stealth mission. Quiet." Hopper pointed a dirty finger at all of them. Steve rolled his eyes. Like Steve would just sit on the other side of the gate and let Hop get eaten like Neil.
He commanded them like some sort of misfit SWAT team. Steve put a bandana over his mouth; he felt more like a kid playing Cowboys and Indians.
Steve figured if El said they would be alright, maybe the air wasn't as bad as Hop thought.
El put her arm out straight and furrowed her eyebrows. Her thin arm quaked and soon a football shaped opening parted. Steve immediately thought of one of those car crashes you couldn't look away from as the slimy strings stretched, parted and wheezed open.
Hopper got on his hands and knees and army crawled through the gooey, breathing tunnel. Mrs. Sinclair had her mouth in a tense line. Her stare could probably shatter marble.
"My baby went though that. Dear Lord." Vivian adjusted her grip on the shotgun as Hop disappeared into the Upside-Down. Steve held his breath.
Pause.
"Eggos!" That was the signal. Steve sighed through his nose. Here went something.
Mrs. Sinclair slung her shotgun over her shoulder and crawled through the tunnel like she had done it a few times before. Steve followed suit, he knew his hair was beyond salvaging at this point but he still winced when the top of his head touched whatever-the-fuck goo that oozed down. He heard El behind him shuffling right at his heels.
Steve got through and stood up, brushing his hands off on the denim of his now soiled jeans. He'd just burn these clothes later anyway.
The chill got to him first. It needled through his jacket, and he rubbed his hands on instinct. The cold wasn't a normal chill, Steve didn't really know how to describe it but it set him on edge.
Steve's breath caught in his lungs on instinct. Fluff puffed everywhere like those dandelions in the tunnels. Steve could taste the chalky mold though his red bandana, just how did Erica and Billy breathe this shit?!
Were they really as 'OK' as El said they were?
Steve then looked around. Grey. Nothing but bleak, grey death. Every nerve sprung to high alert and he couldn't think of a time he was more relieved to have his bat. Hopper had his gun and so did Mrs Sinclair….
Wait.
Wait just a damn minute.
Billy and Erica weren't prepared when they got taken, did they even HAVE weapons?
Steve's pulse jacked up double time. FUCK. He didn't even think about that!
"What is that?" He turned around, mouth dry to see Mrs. Sinclair poke a….carved apart Demodog. Damn. The thing was practically shredded apart.
"One of the creatures that lives here. Kids call em Demodogs…" Steve answered and wrinkled his nose. It smelled awful, like rotten apples and rancid meatloaf.
"They found a knife belt on Neil, guess we know who has the knife." Hop scratched the back of his head. Steve sighed deep, and his shoulders sagged (were they really that tense before?). Billy had the knife; he was armed.
Small miracles.
"Jane, let's close up that gate and move, we don't have a lot of time." Hop pointed back towards the street where his e23 and Hop's police SUV hopefully still sat parked. El put her hand out just like she did before.
Nothing.
In fact…Steve could hear the rustling and scraping of leaves and the slopping sound of goo. Something had started to scramble THROUGH it. They all tensed. Could one of the Demodogs had been stalking them from the street and followed them in?
Hop had his revolver pointed at the slurping entrance.
"Jane, dear…" Mrs. Sinclair motioned for her Jane to step back, shotgun still pointed at the ground. El didn't move, but her nose began to bleed.
'Plant your feet Harrington' Steve arced his trusty bat behind his right shoulder. King Steve wasn't just for show damnit.
"Gross, Gah!" No. No. NO. NO. Steve paused. He knew that voice and it made his blood run cold.
"DUSTIN!?" It was official, Steve Harrington was about to lose his goddamn mind. He dropped the bat at the same moment Hop lowered his gun and exhaled a shaky word that sounded suspiciously like fuck.
"Whew. I made it. Steve! You guys couldn't go alone, you need at least a six person party for this, and Lucas gave me his slingshot which he made me—" Dustin coughed "—call Wrist Rocket." Dustin was coughing on the toxic fluff floating around in the air and Steve's grip on the bat could probably choke a horse.
"DUSTIN! You're going back. This isn't some Dungeons and Dragons adventure! You can't be here. You're going back if El has to throw you back!" Steve dropped the bat to the ground. He was gonna shove and then kick his butt back through that tunnel. Just when he thought this day couldn't possibly get worse….
"STEVE! It's ok, my mom thinks I'm spending the night at you—" Mrs. Sinclair marched out and grabbed Dustin's ear like a Lioness would a cub.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow! STEVE!"
"Do you know how worried SICK your mother would be if she thought you were in this…HELL?! How worried sick I am over my Erica, and even over that other boy, who is hurt?! This is not a game, and you should be ashamed of yourself!" Vivian Sinlair's glare could probably broil a man to death. Poor Dustin. He messed with the one mother who could rival Joyce in a fight.
"Jane…Jane, Stop! We gotta get him back through!" Steve, Dustin, and Mrs. Sinclair all turned to see the gate shrink and pucker close again. Mrs. Sinclair hesitated in wrenching careless, stupid, dumbass Dustin back towards it because it was closing so fast!
"It's not me! It's closing it. Not me!" El sounded panicked and Steve sprang into action. Maybe he could brace it open with the bat? Worth a try. He scrambled to the oozing tunnel and jammed one end of the bat into the tunnel and right as he was about to brace the other end a bone rattling noise ripped through the air.
The hair on the back of Steve's neck pricked up and he probably did something pretty stupid. He yanked the bat back out and took a stance Mike Schmidt from the Phillies would be proud of. He sensed it behind him before he heard the beat of four legs on the ground, a Demodog. He pivoted sharp and swung hard.
He heard the whoop of someone behind him (Mrs Sinclair?) and he gritted his teeth as his nail bat connected and dug into something solid, thick, and heavy. He finally caught sight of it, a Demodog. Big. It sailed through the air and hit the ground a couple yards from him. Adrenaline and terror spiked in his system. What if there were more of them?!
Steve readied himself to swing again at it when Mrs. Sinclair nudged him aside, cocked her shotgun and blew a hole in its head with a blaring, echoing crack of her shotgun. His ears rang from the proximity of the shot.
Half its head exploded in a sloppy mess that almost got on his shoes. So much for stealth mission.
Sure it was gross, but… still. He was glad Mrs. Sinclair demanded she come with them. His own mother wouldn't have even made it to the gate, much less take point in pushing him out of the way to kill a Demodog.
"I got more where that came from, mutt." Vivian Sinclair muttered as she put two more shells in her shotgun.
"Whoa Mrs. Sinclair that was totally cool. I can't wait to tell Luc—" Dustin stopped when Hop loomed over him and pointed to the gate that had now sewn itself closed.
"Happy?! ARE YOU HAPPY?! Now we have to worry about keeping you safe. NONE! None of this went according to plan. How did you even end up out here?!" Hop had put his gun away and ripped the bandana from his own face in rage. Steve bet he had his jaw set by the vein pulsing in his temple.
"Max called us on the walkie Steve took and left in his car." Oh, so THAT was the real reason Max chose HIS car. "Mike and I rolled a d20 and I got the higher roll, so here I am. Look. You need me, I know the most about the Demodogs, I have my notebook! Mike was freaking out about El going with just adults. Not that you're an adult Steve, that was Mike being Mike. I won't be in the way, you'll hardly know I'm here. Unless you nee—"
"STOP DAMNIT. Just…Stop. Jane can you open the gate back up again?" Hopper asked and Steve had gone through basically every calming exercise he could name, but he still wanted to shake Dustin like a maraca. Steve looked to El and the blood seeping out her left nostril.
"No. It knows. It…wanted us here." El pursed her lips and finally dropped her hands down to her sides, eyes cast downward.
"We're stuck here too?" Dustin asked, and Steve shrugged a bit.
"So much for the rescue plan." Steve muttered. Billy was dying, and they couldn't do anything to get him out.
What if Billy really did die here?
A chill settled in the base of Steve's gut.
Billy was certainly going to die here, and maybe he would too.
No. They'd figure something out.
"Oh no, we aren't. I came here to bring my baby back home and that's exactly what I am going to do. We are going to go get Erica and Billy, and we will find a way home." Mrs. Sinclair turned back to them, and Steve wanted to believe her. He really did, but out of all of them, she knew what they were going up against the least.
Pause.
"Vivian is right. We gotta go get Erica and Billy. We will figure out what to do from there. Let's get a move on, c'mon." Hopper gestured forward and Mrs. Sinclair rummaged through her pack and got a purple polka dotted hankie for Dustin who had begun to cough.
Steve caught El's stupid big, soft eyes. She looked like she could actually burst into tears. Probably tears of frustration. He got it, trying your best and your best just not being good enough.
It was practically his life.
"This isn't on you. If anything, it's on me. Alright? We got this." Steve whispered lowly, walking over to her.
She didn't reply.
Together they trudged through the nasty, creepy forest, all senses on high alert. El lagged a bit behind, clearly she was spent trying to open the gate again.
Steve just hoped the cars would be on the street.
His BMW and Hop's SUV sat there, but Steve grimaced. They looked like they had been sitting abandoned for years. It'd be a true miracle if the e23 started. It was due for a new ignition cylinder.
"Neil Hargrove's pickup is missing and there's broken glass over here. I'm guessing Billy busted into it and took off with it." Hopper announced and Steve pushed his hand into his pocket, feeling the pendant.
"More dead Demodogs!" Dustin tugged on Steve's jacket sleeve. Sure enough, what was left of two Demodogs lay like gutted in the street.
Dustin, of course, ran over to investigate. That kid was gonna grow up with issues. He hoped he didn't try to be something weird, like those people who stuff dead animals for people who went on safari. Davie's parents had a bunch of those African Savanna animals stuffed, like a zebra and a jaguar.
"Geez, Steve you're lucky he just hit you with a plate. These are all carved up and stabbed like, a million times. He better be on our side when we find him." Dustin pulled out his Dungeons and Dragons notebook and wrote something down. What, Steve didn't want to know.
Steve definitely wasn't impressed and weirded out that Billy managed to take out three Demodogs, maybe even two at once.
"He better be ALIVE when we find him." Steve huffed, opening his filthy driver's side door with his key.
He heard Dustin mutter something that probably wasn't something he wanted to deal with.
Steve wiped off the window and windshield with his sleeve as he heard Hop try starting his SUV.
Nothing.
"Son of a…the hospital is a good six miles from here!" Hop cursed and Steve heard him hit something. Steering wheel?
"Dustin will ya quit screwing around and get in my car? Hop hold up, I might know what's wrong." Steve needed everyone to not act like the world was ending.
Steve jogged over to the SUV and heard Hop crank it again. Clicking. It had to be one of two things, corrosion on the battery leads or the starter.
"Pop the hood. Hop, I think I can help." Steve didn't even realize he still had his bat until he propped it up against the wheel and lifted the hood when he heard it pop open.
The engine was surprisingly clean. Not the battery. Starter. Maybe he could give it a good whack and something would finally go their way today.
Steve closed the hood carefully, not to make any extra sound, which was probably useless at this point. He heard some heavy footsteps. Hop.
"Got a hammer or a big wrench? It's probably the starter." Steve squatted down to the sticky asphalt. He might just have to buzz his hair off after this. His mother would probably cry. He pushed the bandana over his face to cover his hair instead. Better than nothing.
Hop handed him his police flashlight. That could do. Steve wrinkled his nose as he went on his back and shimmied up the tacky pavement towards the cylinder shaped starter.
Steve gave it a couple good hard whacks. He wished he had taken his bat with him up underneath the car with him, even if it wouldn't do him much good.
"Try her now Hop!" Steve hollered and immediately regretted it. What if there were more Demodogs out there?
Steve jumped and banged his head on the undercarriage when the v8 rumbled to life. Maybe he was getting the hang of cars after all, everyone banged their head after fixing a car.
Steve began to wriggle out from under the SUV when something quick caught the corner of his eye.
Steve dropped the flashlight and edged his hand towards the side of the SUV to where his bat stood propped upright. C'mon… almost...
"HYYSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHAA. " A snarling pit of razors sprung at him and sliced him up his left forearm, shredding through his jacket. Steve fisted his hand on instinct and wrenched it back.
"Shiiiiiiit!" Steve shouted, banging his wrist into the strut of the wheel. That fucking hurt. JESUS.
He was SO fucked. He was bleeding straight through his ruined jacket already. The pain jolted up his arm as he wriggled away from the claws scrabbling at him.
Some rescuer he was turning out to be….DUSTIN!
Steve heard the crack of a gun. The Demodog backed off and Steve made his move to edge out from under the running SUV and grabbed the bat with his right hand.
His left arm was throbbing, but he could swing just fine with just his right. He saw El leaning up against the SUV, struggling to throw back the Demodog launching itself against his BMW. Dustin was curled up in the passenger seat, trembling, fumbling with Lucas' slingshot.
They couldn't rely on her mind powers all the time, she was gonna tire out. Steve broke into a sprint. He couldn't let the Demodog get to Dustin.
Batting practice.
Steve moved fast and low. Right as the Demodog whipped around, Steve cracked the bat across its peeling head.
Grand Slam!
The adrenaline pumped through his veins and he gripped the bat with both hands this time. He clubbed it over and over, aiming for its head. His fear and fury almost made his teeth pierce through his bottom lip.
It made a gurgling, squealing noise that almost made Steve feel bad for it if it didn't slice his arm to hell.
Blood ran down his hand onto the bat making it red, sticky, and something even more out of a horror movie. Steve's whole body shook by the time he realized that two Demodogs had attacked them, not just one, and he pulped the one that didn't slice him up.
Good teamwork, he supposed.
"Steve you gotta teach me how to do that. Whoa your arm! Steve you're all cut up and we just got here!" Dustin exclaimed, climbing over the seats, probably getting them all gooey and filthy.
"NO, and how about a thank you? Huh? Ingrate." Steve rolled his eyes, Dustin may be his worst critic. Well, next to Billy.
He checked his pocket, he still had the necklace. He rubbed it.
"Steven, thank you for getting the car started. We need to bandage your arm, and I may as well put my rusty nursing skills to good use." Mrs. Sinclair slung the shotgun over her shoulder. Wouldn't the barrel be too hot? Guess she didn't care.
"You're a nurse?" Steve asked out of curiosity making his way to his own car and tossed the keys to Dustin. "Try the engine, just don't drive it." Steve pointed. He doubted the e23 would start, which is why he gave the keys to Dustin: to occupy him.
"Studied Nursing for a semester or so at Oakland University, but dropped out and moved to Hawkins with Howard when his parents took a turn. Then I had Lucas and Erica and the rest is ancient history." Vivian Sinclair explained, Hop was studying El, probably making sure she didn't have a real brain bleed or something.
"Yeah, thanks kid for your help with the truck, you're not too bad with cars." Steve pushed down a small sense of pride. It felt weird to get praise from Hop like he was a father figure. His own father would just shake his head in disbelief that he was doing manual labor, which was for people beneath him.
"Just call me 'mechani—" the e23 actually started, Steve stared at it in shock. Of course that stupid, haywire car starts here, everything is backwards. Upside-down. Dustin better not even think about trying to drive it…
Mrs. Sinclair came up to him with the first aid kit and grabbed his wrist. Steve winced when she pushed up the jacket sleeve.
His arm looked thrashed.
"It looks worse than it is. It got you across the arm, you're lucky." Mrs. Sinclair began to wipe down his arm with the disinfectant that STUNG. Steve pulled back his arm and motioned to his car.
"Billy needs the help right now. Not me. We've got to get going." Steve reminded them. Mrs. Sinclair sighed and smiled in a way that confused Steve. Hop nodded and Mrs. Sinclair, El, and Hop all made their way to the Chevy. Steve made a face at Dustin and he scrambled over to the passenger seat.
Steve got in, arm still stinging and throbbing, but at least he wouldn't get some sort of toxic infection. Like gangrene…or whatever people got when they got cut. Scurvy? No, that was the pirate one. Tetanus.
Steve waited for the Chevy to pull out and followed it, running over one of the dead Demodogs for good measure.
Steve's mind itched with guilt as blood slowly dripped from his arm onto the seat of his car. Had they wasted too much time?
Nothing had gone the way it was supposed to. When El rested up, could they even get out of here?
They had driven a ways, maybe five or so miles, and so far nothing crazy. Steve doubted they had seen the last of what the Upside-down had in store for them. This was the calm before the storm.
Steve couldn't hear anything beyond the rumble of the BMW's engine and the Chevy cruising equally fast in front of them. Oh, and Dustin (completely uninvited guest) squirming in the passenger seat.
"You know those things can smell blood right, so your arm is totally a liability. I told everyone that I'd make sure you wouldn't get eaten, or beat up by Billy again and you're making my job harder." Dustin finally spoke up just to sass him. The nerve.
"Don't even start with me, Dustin. If you think I'm not pissed at you for the stunt you and Max pulled, and somehow sneaking into the Upside-down you're… well you're goddamn out of your mind. Just do me a favor, FOR ONCE, and keep a look out…it's too quiet." Steve cautioned, gripping the steering wheel.
"Max told me you promised to bring Billy back. She doesn't believe you can, and I don't get why you would. He's a total jerk jock-brain, and not worth you coming HERE. Mrs. Sinclair, Hop, and El could have brought back Erica on their own." Dustin muttered, clearly sulking. Was that was this whole thing was about? Why he conspired with Max and hid in his car?
Fucking hell.
"Well, you're both probably right. He's most likely dead if he is bad off as El says, and because of much time we've wasted. Groovy right?" Steve bit out, exhausted and irritated. He didn't get why everyone was so up in his business.
"… you think so?"
Oh, he actually got that heavy didn't he?
He remembered the punch he threw at his ribs back at the quarry, and how Billy winced and backed off. He was already real banged up real bad by Neil before he even got to this hell.
'Go die in a fire' His stomach churned even trying to wrap his head around Billy being devoured just like Neil.
"…It honestly wouldn't surprise me." Steve murmured softly.
Then something up ahead caught his eye, mountains of asphalt punched up out of road. Did Billy drive through this?
Steve swerved by one, wooden spikes like massive thorns grew out of the asphalt. Roots, maybe just like the tunnels he and the runts had crawled through.
An icy sense of dread drenched his whole body, and numbed him despite the lancing pain in his arm.
Steve spotted dark skidmarks across the pavement… Billy had been avoiding these like they were chasing him. Steve didn't know how he could have possibly navigated between them while they were coming. He could barely manage when they were already there.
Then he saw it ahead. A crumpled heap of twisted metal and the SUV came to a screeching halt.
El scrambled out of the passenger seat of the SUV to what was left of the pick up and Steve put his car into park and grabbed his bat.
"Stay. Put. Don't fucking argue with me." Steve glared and didn't bother waiting for Dustin to protest as he got out of his car and slammed the door.
Steve's senses were heightened as he approached the truck. It looked like a smashed can, except for a huge chunk taken out of the engine.
Something had crushed or maybe even cut, straight through the engine block. Not much could do something like that.
"Steve. It did this." El had her hand out as if feeling for something in the air. Beside him Mrs. Sinclair picked up something. A shoe. Small. Probably Erica's.
"What is it El? What can it do?" Steve plunged his hand in his pocket and fumbled with the necklace. Damn nervous habit.
"It's the Master. It… can do what I do. He's… stopping me." El pursed her lips.
That was a game changer. Steve swallowed.
"We're close to the hospital, they… yeah there's a blood trail over here. They must have walked through the woods." Hop's flashlight landed on a bloody boot print. Then another, another, then a puddle.
Jesus.
Steve muttered something, couldn't say what because he was done wasting time. He rushed back to his car, heart pounding in his chest. His thoughts ran wild.
Billy had fought against a telekinetic Demigorgon, and lost too much blood. A telekinetic Demigorgon that could slice through a car engine block! Erica somehow got knocked out of her sneakers, and Billy was dying and he just couldn't be too little too late again.
'You're a Paper Knight, Harrington.' NO he WASN'T.
He was gonna keep his promise. King Steve delivered when he said he would.
Steve ignored Dustin's yammering questions, which he didn't feel too guilty about, and gunned the accelerator around the wrecked pick-up making a hard right down the road that led to the hospital.
"Steve! SLOW DOWN." Dustin pointed at something, but Steve didn't care. Steve braked hard and parked the BMW crooked beside an ambulance. He got out of the car and then saw what Dustin was pointing at.
Or rather who.
A shock of curly blond hair caught his attention next to the hood of the ambulance. Billy stood leaning against it, denim jacket open, revealing what was left of his shirt tied up in a knot right under his pecs.
Instead of his normal jeans, Billy was wearing hospital scrubs that were cut off around the ankles.
Billy flicked his wrist in a singular wave of acknowledgement like did when they were forced to be on the same team for basketball practice.
He wasn't too late!
He wasn't too late, and Billy looked good.
He had no idea what to think.
Steve got out of his car as he heard the rumble of the SUV park behind him.
Billy looked ten thousand percent OK. All pissed glances, six pack abs, and devil-may-care body language.
"Welcome to hell, Harrington. Would you and your fanboy like a table for two?" Billy jutted his chin at Dustin who had just gotten out of the car.
Steve didn't realize his jaw was slack open till he closed it.
"Really, you're cracking jokes you dick!? Here's one, I'm gonna take your one dollar ass and make change with it. El told us you were dying, the blood… wait was that actually Erica's?!" Steve didn't think those were her footprints and they found one of her shoes.
A look flashed across Billy's face before it turned into a dark grimace.
"No. She's fine, Harrington, she's asleep on one of the beds. Go see for yourselves, I got something important to do." Billy set his jaw and shoulders and turned around to the front of the ambulance.
"ERICA?! Baby, Mama's here!" Mrs. Sinclair called out and ran into the hospital with Hopper on her heels.
Steve, again against his better judgment, followed Billy out and around the ambulance.
"Hey, Hargrove—" In a flash Billy darted into his path, blue eyes like lasers.
"Don't CALL me THAT." Billy snapped, nostrils flared, knife glinting in his hand. "Not anymore. Got it, amigo?" He put the knife back in some sort of makshift holster made from gauze.
"OK, amigo." Steve didn't mean to rile him up and remind him of Neil. Wait. "We saw the blood on the road, and all your bruises… they're all gone. What exact—"
"Are you fucking kidding me?! Are you seriously telling me you wanted me to be all fucked up? Harrington, I know you told me to DIE in a FIRE but the gall to actually be disappointed that I didn't? You're fucked up." Billy reacted by shoving Steve into the side of the ambulance. Steve winced and hissed not because of the shove, but his injured arm hit the wheel well.
A dark guilt festered in him, he never wanted that, and that's not what he meant.
Out of nowhere a pebble hit Billy square in the chest.
Dustin had the slingshot in one hand, and a bigger rock in the other.
"Leave Steve alone! You're wrong about Steve, he's awesome! You're the screwed up one." Steve groaned, he didn't need Dustin defending him or saving him from Billy. He could handle him on his own.
"Stay out of this Cabbage Patch, the adults are talking." Billy had that look in his eyes like he was holding back, but still looking for a fight. "Babysitter extraordinaire brings his teacher's pet with him to hell. Good fucking job, A plus grade work there, King Steve."
Steve sneered and shoved Billy right back, leaving a bloody handprint on his dirty denim jacket.
Billy's eyes widened.
"And you're already sliced up. Shit in a fight with those Cujos too I guess." Billy's gaze lingered on Steve's bloodied arm a fraction too long.
Steve's temper hit a boiling point and he rocked back and cracked Billy across the jaw.
Yes!
"You're such an intolerable, ungrateful prick. But you know, this is on me, I don't know what else I should have expected. I can't…" Steve shook out his fist.
'Believe I'm here for you, I gave a shit, I raced here thinking you could be dying, got called Fishnets by your loser friends….no…'
"… can't believe you were right. I should listen more. Listen to what everyone else says about you." Steve knew his point hit home when he saw Billy pause in nursing his jaw.
"Nice one, Steve!" Dustin pointed and smiled and Steve wanted the ground to eat him up. He really didn't need a cheerleader.
"I'm usually right, Harrington. Get used to it." Billy quipped back, but it lacked a lot of heat. Steve then saw El come up.
"You were hurt, someone helped you?" El pointed to a spot on Billy's exposed torso. El always kinda had that 'space cadet' facial expression, but her brows were furrowed in intense confusion. Like when Mike tried to explain the school cafeteria, or if someone told her Eggos didn't exist anymore.
"Don't know what you're talking about." Billy clipped back.
"Friends don't lie." El immediately responded.
"Let's set the record straight, Redrum, none of your three ring carnies are my friends." Billy winked mean and walked back behind him and picked up a heavy box.
'Yeah, your friends are a real treasure, ass.' Steve thought, and almost said, but then remembered he wasn't supposed to know them.
"Hey, don't talk to her that way, and what you doing with all that, son?" Hop came striding over, full cop mode. Mrs. Sinclair had Erica's hand in hers. Erica looked like she was still waking up, and her hair was all messed up. She looked sort of out of it and roughed up, but otherwise totally fine.
Billy really had made sure she was alright.
"Unfinished business." Billy replied cryptically and walked around with the box on one hip to the passenger side of the ambulance and opened the door and put the box in. The ancient, baggy nursing scrubs didn't flatter him, not that he was really looking that hard.
"That's not going to cut it. We stick together. I don't want to hear a bunch of attitude, and lies. Erica here says you both managed to bring down two of those… man shaped creatures on your own. What really happened here?" Hop's exhaustion was starting to show, but Steve rocked back on his heels. Three demodogs, ok, Steve could see Billy taking those out.
But that creature he fought in Jonathan's house?
Steve remembered Nancy shooting it, they caught it on fire in a bear trap and it STILL didn't die. Steve remembered hitting it over and over and it reacted like he had patted it on the back. The dark, cold terror of facing one of those things again still kept him up at night.
No way Billy could kill two with just a KNIFE.
"Wait, Billy and Erica killed two Demigorgons?! NO WAY." Dustin asked and Steve studied Billy's reaction.
"Uhhh, YES WAY loudmouth. Billy and I killed both of the El Caimans by ourselves. I'm not gonna waste my time lying to my momma, cuz she always knows when I do." Erica snapped awake instantly, all over Dustin. Mrs. Sinclair made no move to correct her, did her mother really believe her after seeing those things?
"They're called Demigorgons, not Caimans. They're not even reptiles! See, Steve this is exactly why you need me here." Dustin and Erica were definitely not going to get along. And no, Steve didn't care what they called them, he just knew he didn't want to see more of them.
"Cool it Dustin, How did you kill two of them, and where are you going Billy?" Steve moved to in front of the drivers' seat of the ambulance and El shadowed him. Steve wasn't about to let Billy drive off on some suicide run.
"What do you care, huh?" Billy turned, eyes wild. He locked his gaze onto Steve's like he wanted to burn him. "You came to get Erica home, right? Then go. DO IT." As quick as Billy amped up his glare he turned it to Steve's arm, then to Hop. "Hey, Chief of Bumfuck, Patch up King Steve while you're at it before he passes out, and get lost. Get back to your simple hick lives in your little hick town, and leave me be." Billy made a move for the ambulance door, but was stopped when Steve posted up in front of him.
'Plant your feet, Harrington.' Oh he was planting them alright.
"This isn't adding up, jackass. What's making you want to STAY here?!" Steve snapped and set his stance and balled his fist ready for another swing.
Billy tongued out his bottom lip, as if trying to think of something to prevent him from laying Steve out.
"You're going after it. The Master?" El asked.
Billy's blue eyes flashed like sparks.
"Payback's a bitch, and I'm the one holding the leash. The Kingpin's mine." Billy grinned one of his typical crazy grins at El, but she didn't seem phased.
"You're not going without me. We're partners. You need me for back up." Erica piped up, putting her hands on her hips. Partners?
"This was always the plan, Erica. Your mom, and these circus freaks are here to take you home." Billy's voice notably softened in tone when he talked to Erica… wait. Were they friends?
And Billy thought they only came for her… was that what he was so bent out of shape over!?
"Son, you're coming with us back to Hawkins. No debate." Hop definitely had his 'I'm through with this bullshit' expression on.
"Oh, you gonna cuff and book me, Johnny Law? I'd like to see you catch me. When was the last time you ran somewhere? To get the last pack of Ding-Dongs from the Seven Eleven?" Billy taunted. Why did he always have to look for a fight?
Erica stifled a laugh, and her mother bapped her on the head lightly.
"Billy get serious. This thing is strong enough to stop El. You can't—" Steve paused because Hop's face was flushed purple with rage.
His hand twitched like he wanted to reach for his gun.
"I know you think you're tough son, but you're NOT as tough as you think. You can't possibly know what's out there and I am not letting a punk like you endanger us any longer. You're getting in the car if I have to force you." Hop's voice sounded like a boulder hitting a brick wall.
Billy tensed then laughed.
"Punk like me…because you know me soooo well by now, huh, five-oh? Sure, come on, hit me. I know you want to. Here, right where Harrington slapped me. Knock me down, drag me into your car. Wouldn't even be the first time for me this week. BUT, against you, I'll put up a fight. You aren't my old man and nothing about you, SCARES me. It won't be over quick, and by then those Cujos and El Caiman will be back. So, instead, how about you stop wasting time, and stay out of my way." Billy had lost his goddamn mind, his eyes had gone bright and he had his jaw high and out like he was asking to be knocked out.
"Billy, you need help, and you're gonna get it if I have to drag you back to Hawkins to get it." Hop squared up and Steve got in between them.
Steve wasn't sure how he could talk this one down, he just knew he wasn't on either side.
"The both of you stop this nonsense." Mrs. Sinclair's voice pierced the tension. "Billy, thank you for keeping my Erica safe." OK Steve didn't see that one coming. "Erica has vowed to not eat my casseroles again unless you come over to our house. Your macho-man attitude is not going to make my cooking go to waste, so you're coming back with us." Did Mrs. Sinclair just invite Billy over to her house for dinner while they were stuck in the Upside-down?!
Billy opened his mouth but instead froze and closed it again. Did he hear something?
He slowly put out a hand, eyes darting almost back behind him, towards the street. In a few long strides Billy had crossed to the faded double yellow line in the middle of the street, Steve followed him out, matching his gait.
No one said a word or moved for what seemed like months. Steve itched for his bat but it was in the e23. So much for backing Billy up.
A hiss and what Steve thought was a whisper of something he didn't understand sounded from across the road, deep in the woods.
"Fuck you, too." Billy growled out mostly to himself.
"Are you talking to it?" Steve asked and Billy turned back to him, eyes dark and pressed something into his hand. Billy's fingers burned into his, like he had a fever. Unnatural, the cold had chilled Steve's fingers to the bone.
"Back the fuck up, Harrington." Billy pushed him, but Steve had planted his feet.
Steve recognized what he had in his hand, a syringe of something.
The forest whispered something else.
"Neowa ssauneungeoya!" OK, Billy just spat the weirdest French he had ever heard.
The voice from the forest laughed then the woods lightened, as if they had been shrouded in some sort of dark, foggy shadow the whole time.
"Should I get my bat?" Steve suggested and Billy shook his head, and slowly, steadily drew his knife.
"The Master is planning. We should stay. Plan too." El spoke up, he had no idea she had gotten so close.
"You want us to stay, in the hospital?!" Hop hollered half a basketball court back, gun drawn.
"Well, where else should we go Hop? El needs to rest to open a new gate, you look like hell, and if this…Master is just watching us what's the harm in resting up?" Steve angled, honestly he was dead on his feet from everything. He to get some sleep, bandage his shredded, throbbing arm, and get away from both Billy and Hop.
"Fine. Damnit. But just until Jane gets strong enough to open a new gate, then we are out of here." Steve pitied Hop a little. It's not like all of this was in his job description.
"Steve I'll go get us beds. We need to discuss tactics." Dustin set off inside clumsily, making too much damn noise.
He followed Dustin in, needing space. And almost immediately Mrs. Sinclair took to fixing up his arm.
The whole time Erica just watched, as if trying to figure him out like a puzzle. She and Lucas had a bit more in common than he realized.
"So you're Steve, the high school senior that hangs out with my brother and his geek friends. I don't get you. Guess your hair's ok." Erica crossed her arms in front of her as if he somehow just offended her by existing.
"In the flesh. High school senior by day, babysitter by night, good hair always." Steve joked, but she just scrunched her face up.
"I don't see what he sees in you." Erica cocked her head to the side and Steve shrugged.
"I think your brother sees me as a ride, and maybe a good swing, other than that, not much." Steve knew that Lucas didn't really like him as much as Dustin or Will did. He liked him better than Mike though, but he did call Mike, Nancy once.
"Wooooow. You're slow." Erica rolled her eyes and walked away. Um…what did he miss?
"Good as you're going to get. You're lucky it didn't hit an artery. You should go talk some sense into Billy and get him back inside." Mrs. Sinclair did a damn good job. It made him wonder if she could still be a nurse.
Steve looked for an out, but Dustin, of course, was already passed out asleep on one of the beds. Maybe the kids had been up all night too. Damnit. Why did he have to be peacekeeper?
"Easier said than done, thanks." Steve replied tiredly and used the scissors to cut off the shredded part of his green jacket. He trudged out the front doors of the ER, past the two destroyed Demigorgons.
They really had killed both of them. They were both scorched, blistered, and completely carved up. How did Billy come out unscathed?! How did Erica?!
He put his hand in his jacket pocket on instinct, the syringe…
Billy was leaning up against the ambulance again, not smoking, which surprised Steve. For some reason, nervousness tingled at his sides.
"Fuck off, Harrington. Go get your damn beauty sleep." Billy flat-lined, not bothering to look Steve's way. He still studied the treeline across the road, knife still death-gripped his hand.
Whatever the Kingpin was, it was obviously still out there.
"Someone as pretty as me can wait. The syringe. What's it filled with?" Steve plunged his hand in his pocket and pulled out the syringe. He put it in the same pocket as the necklace.
Billy glanced his way, almost cautiously.
"Ketamine. Horse tranquilizer and 'party' drug. Guess who gave me that idea." Billy gestured injecting a syringe into his neck.
"…that night, those Demodogs came for the kids. You were mixed up in it, and pounded my face in, a real 'party' drug." Steve made a face.
"I kinda put that together, Harrington. You weren't playing 'voodoo rituals', you were trying to protect the geeks and my…Max." Billy shifted, still avoiding Steve's eyes.
Whoa, now that would probably be as close to a 'Billy Har—Loga apology' he'd ever get.
"I promised her I'd bring you back home. Even if just to kick your ass as payback." Steve chuckled a bit, but Billy stilled.
Billy's eyes widened to globes then narrowed venomously.
"You're in trouble, don't let her near your nail-bat. She takes promises seriously." Billy muttered. Steve rolled his eyes, Billy was going to make this promise hard, wasn't he? Steve shivered. He didn't know how Billy wasn't shivering like he was. He itched his exposed bandage. He also wished he didn't have to trash his clothes because of the blood…wait.
The scrubs. The bloody footprint. The blood would have totaled his jeans if it got that much on the asphalt. Billy had to change his pants.
"You owe me some answers this time. I busted my ass all the way here, and you did deck Jonathan in the face when he saved you." Steve turned to face him and Billy narrowed his eyes in challenge.
Pause.
"Byers is a voyeuristic stalker with daddy issues who got what he deserved….You get two questions. Make 'em count, your majesty." Billy tongued out his bottom lip. That was easier than he thought.
"You were definitely hurt, how did you get better?" Steve asked suddenly, maybe he should have thought the first one through better.
"Voodoo Priest sang me a song about butterflies and used rainbow magic to heal me. One left." Billy grinned like this was a fucking game. Oh, this is probably what it was to him, just some game. Ugh. He did play that game with Max: one truth, two lies.
Figures he would ask a pretty straight forward question and get some bullshit as an answer…then again, they were in the Upside-Down. Maybe good things were possible here too. But still voodoo?
Wait, Didn't Billy say the drawings in the Byers' house looked like voodoo? If the Upside-Down could be like Dustin's Dungeons and Dragons game, maybe it could be like voodoo too? Could be possible… he supposed.
Nah. Billy was just being Billy.
"Someone got high on his own supply…. I'll phrase this one better. What did you say to that shadow thing in the woods?" Steve crossed his arms this time, hopefully enforcing how serious he was.
"I've never touched," Billy slapped the inside of his elbow with two fingers. "Not. Once." Billy paused, scrutinizing Steve for what Steve didn't know. "I told the Kingpin that his fight was with me."
"You're literally picking fights with a shadow-god. And people call me stupid...Jesus, Billy. It can throw a Car with its mind." Steve turned around, completely dumbfounded. His friend Mei had him pegged to a T. What a completely reckless moron provoking what was the God of this place.
"Yeah, I know Harrington, I was THERE, It can eat them too. It's still a fight I can win if I play it just right." Billy wrinkled his nose. "'sides why do you care anyway?" Billy lowered his gaze to a pebble beside him and kicked it well into the street. This mirrored what happened at the quarry, only that time he hit his windshield.
He stepped up to Billy to as close as they had been next to the ambulance, but the anger had faded to just a tired, weak ash in Steve's chest.
Billy was either delusional or suicidal, and Steve didn't get it. Did he really believe that no one wanted him back? Even if he thought that about the Hawkins people, his friends in LA (despite how they argued) legitimately cared about him.
Mei's shrieking into the phone was branded into his eardrums.
Well, guess he'd have to be the one to prove someone cared. And he could too. He just didn't get why HE had to do ALL work all the TIME.
He slipped the syringe back into his jacket pocket and pulled out the pendant.
"Picked this up from around the Killing Tree this morning before the cops rolled in. I figured you'd want it back." Steve held it out by its chain and Billy's eyes flew too wide and too blue.
Steve didn't know how he held his gaze as he stared right back at him. Steve's throat kind of swelled up, but he wasn't gonna back down and say anything. It was Billy's turn to say shit.
Billy pursed his lips, Steve could smell the smoke from his brain going into overdrive.
"Taking evidence from a crime scene is a crime, King Steve. Should I tell our good friend Chief Junkfood?" Billy's joke and voice sounded thick and swollen. Steve jingled the chain.
"It's important to you, right? I mean I could just sell it, or give it to a girl." Steve waggled an eyebrow, bit Billy didn't really register it. At least Steve didn't think so because he had zoned out on his arm.
"Like you would, but…Keep it for now. You'll need it." Billy recovered with a slight smirk.
"Unlike you, I don't need jewelry to round-out my look." Steve fired back.
"Ha, it's not hard to look good in Hawkins, Steve, not that you can even do that right." Steve's eyebrows must have hit his hairline. Did Billy just call him by his first name? Steve decided to let the insult slide (because it's not like he always lived in Hawkins, and he knew he looked good in Massachusetts) as he looked at the pendant.
It was old and worn down, which made sense it was his mother's (Which he wasn't supposed to know). It had some person on it, (maybe it was an angel?) stabbing something on the ground. The words around the top and bottom had faded but he could still make out:
'Saint Michael the Archangel, Defend us in the Battle'
"It was my grandmother's then my mother's. St Michael is the Patron Saint of Warriors. Cela vous protégera." Billy snorted and from the accent, Steve guessed he said something in French.
"You don't have to say something in French to sound smart. I know you're in AP French, Nance told me." Steve recovered, thinking of the photo in his head. It still blew his mind how small Billy was, and how much fun his mother looked. What happened to her? She had to be dead for Billy to be shipped off to Neil. A chill ripped up Steve's spine.
"Slipped. The class is an easy A. Teacher's a drunk." Billy tried to shrug it off, but Steve could tell he was uneasy, like he didn't like being called out on it.
"Not for Nance, she HAS to study hard for that class." Steve really took in Billy. He was bouncing on his toes like he wanted to escape. Uneasy. Billy threw up more walls to him than his parents did to each other.
"I don't cheat if that's what you're getting at. Maybe I'm just good at it, that so much of a surprise for you? Or maybe your perfect princess Wheeler isn't as smart as you, or she thinks she is. Pick your poison, Harrington." Billy bit back, angry as a snake. What in the hell!? It was meant as a compliment, sorta.
Steve huffed. What was he even DOING?!
"Fuck you, man. I'm a moron for thinking you could have a decent conversation without getting pissy and defensive. Shoulda listened like you said." Steve pointed at him and slipped his hand in his back jeans pocket and felt paper. That photo of Billy, Bayani, and Sang Hoon. He still had it! Fuck! He definitely couldn't let anyone see it. Especially Billy. Especially Dustin. He'd have to think of a way to throw it away, except he kind of didn't want to.
Billy tensed, and Steve half expected him to swing, guess the half-assed conversation was over. Suddenly he felt like his body got hit by a pillowcase filled with bricks. He fought a big yawn.
"Stop." Billy suddenly snatched the necklace from Steve.
"Don't lose this, King Steve, I'll take it back later." Billy maneuvered like a rolling wave off the ambulance to be within mere inches of Steve's face.
Steve and Billy had technically been this close before, like when they guarded each other in basketball. BUT. This was different because this was the Upside-down and time stood still.
Steve, dumbstruck, just stood there as Billy widened the silver chain.
The eye contact they had made his gut clench heavy and his mouth dry out light. He envied Billy's poker face because he didn't show any emotion at all and he was sure he looked like a deer in the headlights of a car.
Steve didn't move a muscle, he could have been made of stone like in a museum. He could make out a faded, jagged scar across Billy's forehead, and another along his jaw. Steve didn't even breathe because Billy, smooth as silk, just looped the long, strong chain around the crown of his head and dropped it around his neck.
The pendant thumped warm right in the center of his chest.
Steve glanced down at it for a split second then back up to the unreadable Billy. Steve licked his lips.
"I'm good at them. Languages. Freebie." Billy cleared his throat, and Steve pretended not to watch his adams apple bob up and down.
"Yeah, ok." NICE. Way to be articulate Steve!
Steve's heart rate revved up like the tachometer in his e23 when he floored it out of the Byers' driveway. The skin between his ears and his collarbone burned hot, intense. His gut swam warm and tingly, and…
HOLY SHIT he was not turned on!
He was not fucking AROUSED by Billy putting some old necklace around his neck. No, he was exhausted, that's ALL this was.
Besides…friends did this. Friends put jewelry on each other all the time.
He helped Tommy find that lost cufflink for junior prom.
He helped Davie once…no Davie was different….he wasn't going to think of him right now.
Wait.
SHIT were Billy and him friends now?! Why, just WHY, did Billy do THAT?! Did he do it just to mess with him? Is this what his friends did out in Cali? Was this a California thing?
Steve's throat sewn itself shut so couldn't say anything. Good call. If he said anything now, he'd probably say the wrong thing, and Billy would probably pulverize him and he really just didn't want that.
No... one intense, super close gesture didn't mean they were friends much less mean anything MORE.
This didn't mean anything, and Billy couldn't have meant anything by it. Could he? FUCK. No, he misread something. Billy hated him, thought he was useless, weak, Paper Knight.
'You soft, pretty preppy shit.' Billy's exact words. He obviously didn't take him seriously.
Besides, he looked and probably acted nothing like Antoine.
HOLY HELL.
Steve. Stop. Comparing. Yourself. To. Billy's Ex-Boyfriend.
God, maybe he did need Billy to beat the shit out of him again to get these thoughts out of it.
"Now fuck off, and get some sleep. King Steve needs to be on his A-game when The Kingpin makes his move." Billy finally found his voice, and it sounded normal enough. Steve didn't say anything, but his eyes shifted to the drivers' seat of the ambulance.
"I'm not gonna take off chasing it if it's lurking right out there, Dumbfuck." Billy sniped and that pulled Steve from his stupid trance. Steve shook his head as if to shake the stupid fucking feelings from it.
"Get inside the hospital then, jackass, it's why I'm out here, Mrs. Sinclair sent me to get you." Steve managed to sound a lot more aloof and composed than he actually was. He couldn't let Billy unnerve him anymore. He took what he hoped was a nonchalant step back.
Billy stepped back too, looking away, and for a second Steve almost would have said Billy looked… bummed.
"I'm keeping watch, shit for brains." Billy hissed, eyes poisonous. "GO, GET LOST!" Billy yelled out, a hair shrill and Steve rolled his eyes.
Steve turned on Billy with his middle finger high in the air.
Sorry Mrs. Sinclair, he gave it his best shot. He went right first to get his bat from his BMW then turned to go back into the hospital, avoiding looking anywhere Billy's direction.
Steve swore he heard a bang of something against metal, like a kick against an ambulance as he went back into the hospital.
He spotted El fast asleep next to Hop, snoring loudly on a sofa.
He stared in utter disbelief that Hop allowed himself to fall this heavily.
"He's only asleep because I convinced him I would have first watch, and I'd make you sleep." Mrs. Sinclair read his mind. Erica had fallen back asleep, and Mrs. Sinclair was absently combing through her hair.
"You're too smart for Hop, that's for sure. Billy won't come in. Says he's keeping watch too." Steve didn't want to interrupt their family moment any more than he had. He had pegged Mrs. Sinclair as pretty no-nonsense but she definitely doted on her kids. A less frantic Joyce Byers.
"You should tuck that necklace away. Could get caught on something." Mrs. Sinclair tugged a hidden chain around her neck and Steve flushed and immediately stuffed the pendant down his shirt.
"Good call, thanks Mrs. Sinclair." Steve coughed. How much had she heard? He had to appear cool.
"Vivian, and you're welcome Steven."
"Steve's fine." Steve couldn't call her by her first name yet.
Dustin, thankfully, was still asleep when he went in their side room. His notebook was half tucked under him. He spotted some doodles and scribbled notes across it, mostly stick figures and bullet points.
He didn't have the knack for art like Will did, but Steve still thought the doodles were pretty cool. He could see one that that was probably Dart, and one that was definitely himself and Dustin. Dustin drooled in his sleep like basset hound. He couldn't believe that Billy called him cabbage patch…but maybe… nah. He'd never admit the resemblance. It would make him look bad by association.
Carefully Steve got on the bed and pulled out the crinkled, folded faxed photo. He still couldn't see Billy look like this in real life. He then looked at Bayani, smiling kinda like El did. Bayani looked like a lunatic, but also looked like someone who could handle Billy's mood swings. Sang Hoon and Billy definitely fed off each other's energy.
'Slipped…Easy A.'
'I'm good at them. Languages.'
No. there was no way Billy spoke Korean and Chinese. That was too much.
Carefully and silently, Steve folded the photo and put it back. He'd figure it all out when he brought Billy back to Hawkins…and kick his ass.
The punch across his jaw, even though Billy called it a slap (yeah right), brought a grin to his face. It wasn't everyday he could catch Billy off-guard.
He took the syringe out of his pocket and put it on the table. Then, Steve closed his eyes and slept like the dead.
Notes:
Heyoooooo I'm back!
Thank you all who have kept up with this story!
And yes, St Michael has a lot of symbolism for Steve!
The Archangel Michael is patron saint of warriors and protection, and chivalry (hahahahaha)! the Archangel Michael is also the leader of the army of Heaven against evil and the forces of Hell. In scripture the Archangel Michael also defeats Satan.
However, equally as important in Catholicism, the Archangel Michael is also the Angel of Death, and appears at death to allow a soul to redeem itself and ascend into Heaven, which is why he is depicted carrying scales. He weighs the souls to see if they should ascend into heaven, or descend into Hell.
The common St Michael's medallion also has that exact inscription on it. It is to be implied here that Billy's mother and at least grandmother were Catholic, which is prominent in France.
You may interpret Mei's prediction of Steve's transformation, from a fish into a dragon, as coming to fruition since the Archangel Michael leads the forces of Heaven into and against Hell. However, you have not seen the extent of Steve's transformation of course. He has only just put on the necklace.
Not much else in terms of symbolism in this chapter, there will be more in the next when things start to get WEIRD. (queue the negative consequences of Billy and Erica getting mind reaped) :( :( :(
And yes, poor, poor El. Don't worry, I do NOT intend for her to be useless. The Upside-down just happens to know what she is capable of and is sort of containing her for the moment, but she will not be completely sidelined. She is important, however she is not, and will not be a MAIN character of this fic. So, if you're an El 'fuck everything up totally' fan, this might not be the fic for you, but she will definitely kick some butt.
Also, this couldn't be a fic without Dustin. I hope I'm doing his character justice. I couldn't help but have his character show up and poor Steve, babysitter again.
Expect more tension between Erica and Dustin btw. In my opinion, they are perfect opposites of each other, but don't think they are going to hate each other.
Also, haven't exactly made up my mind about how Erica and El will interact, but it definitely will happen and it definitely will be fun.
Hop and Mrs. Sinclair are definitely also very important and don't expect either of them to fade out of the spotlight anytime soon. Mrs Sinclair is definitely my sage in this fic, she has been around the block too many times, but her temper and control issues still get the best of her at times.
Expect some serious Vivian/Billy bonding a la Joyce/Steve bonding next chapter.
I'm going to try to do a better balance of action and character development, but it's never been my strong suit.
OH, and speaking of that. the ANGST with our BOYS. I'm so silly. I couldn't help it. I didn't mean to rush it so quickly, but I just HAD to for the SYMBOLISM. And I think I managed to keep them both pretty in character for the most part, but then again this fic is far from canon sooooooo its hard to tell. Let me know if you thought it read well, or it was too rushed.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. This was a bit Steve/Billy heavy, next chapter will incorporate more interactions across the other major characters!
-TL