~Sierra~

What in the actual hell was Hawkins anymore?

It was the only thing going on in my head as I stood, still and stunned, watching as the kids ran to the girl who I presumed saved our asses from a load of bloodthirsty demodogs. Hawkins had gone from a quaint town to an underworld of sinister, unearthly beings. Our biggest news piece before all of the disappearances had been that whole owl debacle with Eleanor Gillepsie. Hell, my own life had changed completely within mere days. I'd gone from a mundane routine of waking, getting Zack to school, downing several coffees to get through the day and minding my own business to fighting off demons alongside a load of D&D loving kids I babysat, quitting the cheerleading squad, getting involved with Hawkins local bad boy, and my asshole of a father getting arrested for public intoxication. How in the ever loving fuck had this happened? Sure, being with Billy and getting away from the toxicity of the squad was great, but demons and now a girl with superpowers? Come on now…

I snapped out of my thoughts, suddenly realizing everyone was staring at me and I was obviously reciprocating their bemused looks. Giving my head a quick shake, I grabbed some paper towels by the sink and jogged over. As I crouched down by the girl, I felt extremely awkward under her fixed gaze. All the kids were asking where the hell she had been, but she remained silent and stared down at me as I dabbed her bleeding nose. Thick blood seeped through the thin material onto my fingertips. Memo noted: don't wear white during a supernatural showdown.

"Pretty" the girl breathed. My head snagged up to look at her, finally locking eyes with that intense stare. I raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Her voice was soft, even making her forwardness seem completely innocuous. "You're pretty" I managed to settle my facial muscles. God, I was so tense from everything. "Sorry"

"No, no" I started, shaking my head and sighing. "Thank you. That's…kind of you. I'm just… in shock, I guess" My hand wafted towards the many dead and gutted demodogs surrounding us, as if this was the most casual thing in the world.

"Sorry" the girl gently repeated.

Images of myself as a child, running around with my dark curls bundled in a jade green ribbon, flooded into my mind. Patches of mud stained my dress, Dad stood by the front door.

"Folk don't want to see my kid running around with mud" All my nerves stood on edge. Tight, agonizing pressure clenched around my arm. My feet faltered as I tried to keep up with his quick pace, falling under my body as he dragged me up the spiral staircase. "They want to see a pretty little girl" His glare made me desperately want to cry. Burning tears forced themselves to stay hidden. Those nerves stood to attention with every step he took towards me. "You're not that pretty little girl, are you?"

I lowered my head. I was not a pretty girl. I was worthless.

"Sorry"

"You don't have to be sorry" I whispered and squeezed the girls hand. Her eyes, so full of tension and worry, softened. This kid had seen so much. "Are you hurt?"

"No" the girl said, shaking her head slowly. "Thank you"

"You're very welcome. What do you say we get you inside and cleaned up?" The girl nodded, smiling slightly. I have no idea why, but I felt this deep sympathy for her. I hoped my facial expression conveyed that she had a shoulder to cry on if she needed it. There was something about her screaming for someone to help her instead of being the one to help. She may have been wearing this badass outfit, but there was a vulnerability eating away at her core. "Let's go"

We all went inside. Firstly, I made the kids some hot cocoa to keep them occupied, despite Dustin's initial refusal and disbelief that I could think of hot cocoa at a time like this. We all needed something to recharge us though and as soon as it was in front of him, he shut his mouth faster than a crooked politician when they got caught out in a scandal. The girl, who I'd remembered was called El once the fog surrounding my brain had lifted, was insistent on being with the other kids. It was unsurprising and I didn't blame her for not wanting to be alone. Hell, even I felt safer amongst the kids than on my own, and I was nearly a legal adult. We all sipped hot cocoa near the TV. Max sat next to me, El on my other side. Dustin had finished asking where El had been. She murmured one word. More like, one name.

Hopper.

So, the mystery deepened. Honestly, my head was trying to draw the dots. How had Hopper become involved in this? Did everyone else in Hawkins know about all this otherworldly stuff? God, of course they didn't know. Otherwise they would run, screaming and scared shitless. I was still in shock how I hadn't done the same after being in the bus with that thing snarling at us. But, I had chosen to stay. I didn't want to see the kids getting hurt and we were all in too deep at this point to go anywhere else. To both my disbelief and disdain, I believed we had a lot more coming our way than possible.

"So, you have powers?" Max asked in disbelief like we hadn't just seen this scrap of a teen make a whole army of demodogs implode.

"Yes" El replied quietly and kept her gaze on Max before moving onto me. "Do you have a name too?"

"Yeah, sorry" I gently laughed and gave a little wave. I'd been so immersed in the chaos of tonight that I'd forgotten to introduce myself. Jesus, I wasn't even sure if I'd remembered my own name after everything. "Sierra. I'm called Sierra"

"Sierra" El repeated before nodding her head at Max. "Max"

"Mad Max" Lucas chimed in and slumped down next to us with a cheeky grin on his lips.

"Why is she mad?" El knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, edging away ever so slightly.

"No, not like that!" Lucas defended, throwing an arm around Max. Both Dustin and I shared an equal look of astonishment. Max's lip curled up in some form of disgust but she didn't contest Lucas' arm being around her. "It's what she called herself when playing Dig Dug!"

"Dig Dug?" El inquired. Wait, where the hell had this kid been not to know about arcade games? This was the '80s, for Christ's sake! Even I knew about the game and I virtually live under a rock when it comes to stuff like that.

"It's just a nickname, El" Max reassured and turned her head to Lucas with a smirk on her lips. "Like Lucas' is Stalker"

Dustin choked on his hot cocoa, spluttering it everywhere on the cream carpet. I wasn't sure what Steve's parents were going to be more freaked out over - the dead demonic creatures casually lying by their pool or the hot cocoa stain.

"That totally was her fault" Dustin stated accusingly.

"Ugh, whatever, Henderson" Max scoffed and stood up to put her cup on the side, budging past him in the process. Dustin gaped at her, utterly shocked at her audacity.

"Not you too! Shit, I have you, Nightingale and Henderson on my back now!" Dustin exclaimed and let out his most dramatic sigh. I started clapping my hands, instigating a sarcastic round of applause. Max grinned at me, giggling under her breath.

"What are we clapping about?" El asked innocently, trading confused looks with us all.

"Dustin's Oscar winning performance" I whispered back. "He's a drama king"

"I am not!" Dustin protested, stomping over to the sink where Max was in absolute hysterics.

"You kinda are, man" Lucas conceded, shrugging at his offended friend. "Dustin's nickname is Drama King"

"So, Dustin's nickname is also Your Highness?" El suggested. She sweetly smiled and clasped her hands together, seemingly proud of her contribution. It was adorable to say the least.

"Yes!" Dustin yelled in approval. "Now that's more like it!"

"Don't flatter yourself, Henderson" I groaned, grinning widely.

It amazed me how we could be like this despite everything going on in the background. It took real strength to be able to find even the slightest bit of mirth when everything was going downhill, or seemingly was. I supposed we quite literally had our lives on the line considering demodogs were on our case. It was surreal to say the least, but I really savored this moment with the kids. I'd known them since they were in elementary school and seeing them now - swearing like soldiers and trying to save the world - filled me with this maternal pride. Wow, I'd been hanging around Momma Steve too much. As much as I shot my best sarcastic remarks at Henderson, there was a friendship built on it. Honestly, I couldn't be without it. Sure, I babysat the kids for money but it was also some of the best times I'd had.

"Guys, are you there, over?" The panicked voice of Mike chimed up from a misplaced walkie-talkie.

Each of us sprung into action, flinging cushions from the couch in every direction possible to locate Mike's crackling voice.

"Pick up, shitbirds! We've got a situation here!"

Grocery shopping, my ass. I'd be seriously disappointed if Hargrove came up with that lame excuse. It definitely screamed Harrington's idea.

"You have to say over!" Mike snapped in a hushed voice.

"Pick the fuck up, shitbirds - over!" Billy harshly whispered. "There, you happy, kid?"

Finally, Lucas retrieved the walkie-talkie that had been sat on the TV unit. We all rolled our eyes in annoyance at one another. Of course, it had been hidden in plain sight!

"Ranger to Keg King, where the hell are you, over?" Lucas asked in exacerbation.

"Ranger? Who the fuck - Sinclair, is that you?" Billy replied, frustration shining despite his quiet voice.

"Say over!" Trust Mike to keep to the rule book when people are presumably in a dangerous situation.

"Goddamn it, Wheeler…" Billy grumbled. I knew at this very moment Billy was probably desperate for a smoke.

"Affirmative. Now where the hell are you? What happened to grocery shopping? Over!" Lucas snapped. We all stood huddled around the walkie-talkie, awaiting the news of their location.

"Byers House. Look, there's some serious weird shit going on here and…" Billy let out a long, infuriated groan. "Christ, I need a smoke" Predictable as always, Hargrove.

"We need all the memories you guys have of Will. The Mind Flayer… he's got him. Got him real bad. We're trying to bring him back with memories" Mike explained. His voice was shaking. What was going on in that house?

"Is Hopper there?" El asked quietly right as Lucas was about to answer.

A wave of silence permeated the room, a wave so great it reached the Byers House. Collectively, we all felt its rippling effects - shock, relief, fear. It was a tsunami of emotions without the devastation, but the impact was just as profound.

"El?" Mike breathed. "Is that you?"

"You forgot to say 'over'" Billy blandly pointed out. I could see the smirk penciled on his lips from here.

"Not now, Hargrove!" Mike hissed.

"Yes, it's me" El replied, a sweet smile rising on the corners of her mouth. "I've missed you, Mike"

"I've missed you too" Mike whispered. His voice was no longer shaking. Instead, it was defined by a heartfelt relief. "Yeah, Hopper is here"

"We're coming over - over and out" El declared.

She seemed like an absolute sweetheart, but the look I shot her was met with the same amount of concern. The kid genuinely seemed worried about my own worries. It was my duty - not just as their babysitter, but as a friend and actual human being - to keep them safe from whatever was lurking out there. Going full speed into the eye of the storm was not an option here.

"Nope, not happening" I voiced. This was met with loud objections from all the kids. Mostly in the form of curses, particularly Dustin. "Hey! Enough of the cursing. Look, El, I'm sorry but whatever is going on at the Byers house is not safe. I don't want any of you guys getting hurt"

"Sierra, even if we don't go over there, El needs to" Lucas intervened. "She has the power to close the gate. She's done it before"

"The gate?" I asked. Surely the bewilderment etched on my face must be showing. "Sorry, I'm new to all of this. What gate?"

"The opening to the Upside Down. It needs to be closed otherwise shit is going to get a hell of a lot… shittier" Dustin stated, his voice foreboding as if he was reciting some tale from Dungeons and Dragons. One glance at Lucas, El and Dustin informed me of one thing: they were telling the truth. "We need to close it - right now"

Seeking a moment of solace, I closed my eyes and released a deep exhaling, letting go of all the pressure I'd kept imprisoned in my lungs. There was no choice here other than either go to the Byers or let Hawkins be devoured by whatever else was hiding in the Upside Down. I was wasting time. My eyes snapped open and I stood up, readying myself for the unknown action to come.

"Okay" I sighed. God, my heart felt like it was trying to worm its way up my throat. The beat of it was so hard, so fast. I fumbled around for my car keys and nodded to the door. Instantly the kids rushed out.

I took one final glance around the house and my eyes landed on that hot cocoa stain. A blemish in what seemed like a perfect home. Nothing was perfect and nothing was ever what it seemed. As I locked the door behind me, I just prayed there would be some form of normality waiting for us after the unknown made itself known.

~Billy~

Now it was my turn to pace and chunter to myself as Harrington and Nancy watched on. I was on my third cigarette in the space of five minutes and the twentieth lap of encircling the porch. I'd known for some time that my life wasn't exactly the epitome of peace, but this was a whole 'nother fucking level. My brain must be well and truly fried because I wasn't sure what had gotten to me the most - seeing this Byers kid be virtually exorcized or babysitting with Steve goddamn Harrington. Round 21 and my third cigarette was running out. I went to grab another one from Marlborough's box on the wooden bench when Harrington snagged it away from my reach.

"Dude, you look like you're about to have a heart attack" Harrington stated, knitting his brow together like a real concerned fucking citizen.

"I wonder why that is, Harrington" I muttered and snatched the box out of his hands.

Christ, my hands were trembling. After getting the last cigarette out, I crushed the box and catapulted it into the distance. As much as I despised myself for admitting it, Harrington was probably right. I was going to have a heart attack. The moment we'd walked into this godforsaken place I felt an invisible barbed wire tighten itself around my heart. The entire atmosphere felt off. Then we heard a bloodcurdling scream. All of us rushed to the kids room, despite my own instincts commanding me to run in the other direction. I nearly fell over my feet. I was so goddamn happy I didn't otherwise I was going to be landing directly onto the bed where this scrap of a kid was strapped to. It was a scene even The Exorcist would never have been able to perfect. This kid was convulsing, screaming to be let go when all of a sudden, he just stopped. Honestly, from the way his skin paled, I thought he'd died. Right there and then, I shit you not, I thought I'd witnessed someone die. There had been so many times I'd imagined Him dying right in front of my eyes, but this was another ball game entirely. My heart felt like it has ceased to exist and my legs felt like they wanted to collapse underneath me but sheer adrenaline kept me upright. I remember thinking to myself: this has to be a conspiracy theory. Here we had the Chief of Pigs, a mother and three high schoolers surrounding a dead kid. But just as I thought we were all going to move an inch, the kid blanched. As his eyes snapped open, we blanched alongside him. They were pure black. Evil, they were absolute evil. Yet, they were looking right at me. I couldn't look away. It was like I was under a spell. But in those few seconds, I felt something inside me bristle.

It felt like I was looking right at Death.

Slowly, a toothy grin spread on the kids lips. I heard a whisper - the twin. He was back. He was back and he was tapping on my shoulder, leaning into my ear to whisper something.

But he said nothing.

I heard something though.

A clock.

Ticking away.

Something about looking in those pure black eyes made me hear things.

By the time they sedated the kid, I'd gotten the hell out of there.

My lungs were drowning in panic. I threw off my leather jacket. Christ, I was suffocating. I lit a cigarette. Somehow I managed to seize Wheeler's walkie talkie and sound like my usual dickhead self before heading straight back onto the porch. Hopper had joined us now and was watching me in amusement. His arrogant pose - arms folded across his bulging stomach and smirk - served to further piss me off.

"I don't have anymore smokes, man" I muttered, breathing in the smoke twirling around. The nicotine from this one wasn't enough.

"You gotta calm down, kid" he blandly stated.

Calm down? The Pig had to be joking. At least that's how I perceived it as a sharp laugh involuntarily let itself out of my throat. How the hell was I supposed to calm down?

"I am calm, asshole" I murmured and stopped pacing, slouching against the wall of the house. I felt the texture of it as I pressed my fingers against the cracked paint - rough, old. I wondered how much this house had seen.

"You don't have to be brave here, kid" A flash of anger coursed through my veins - seething hot, burning away at the tissue and muscle until utter hell was unleashed.

"Don't fucking call me that" I growled.

"Then don't fucking swear at me like you're above me" The Pig snapped. His voice was angry, but his whole demeanor was the polar opposite as he leaned against the wall, bringing out a lighter and setting the end of my cigarette aflame. "I'm just saying, you can be scared"

"I'm fine" I stated, leisurely blowing smoke in front of me.

"Look, I get how you feel. I - "

"You don't get how I goddamn feel"

The Pig breathed in. I'd heard that slow inhale before. But this wasn't the kind where a fist would land in my nose seconds later. It was one of infuriation, but he was trying to cool it down.

"You're the kind of ki - " I shot him a venomous look. Fuck, I swore to God if he called me kid again I was going to make him pay for it. The Pig rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. "...the kind of guy who wants to put on a front for everyone. I know because I was the same. After my daughter died and my wife left me, I put on a front, acted like an asshole. Because that way no one could hurt me. Then I somehow got involved in all of this. Do you know how I felt when I saw that fucking demogorgon for the first time? I felt afraid. Not just afraid, goddamn terrified. Because I honestly felt like I was going to die. I was afraid Will was going to die. Do you wanna know how I am now?"

"Not really, but I have a feeling you're gonna tell me anyway" I sighed and ran my back against the house as I slouched down. The Pig mirrored me.

"I'm still an asshole" A few beats elapsed and I felt a smirk crawl on my lips. Again, The Pig mirrored me. Hopper, I should say, mirrored me. "But I know it's okay to feel things like being scared, upset. Hell, even love, man" I was nearly done with my cigarette. Instead of looking at Hopper, I passed him my cigarette. He took it, generously taking a drag before throwing it over the porch. "You can feel however you want towards this situation. It's not normal, it's fucking terrifying" Both our eyes drifted over to the sight of Harrington's burgundy BMW racing down the dirt track and harshly brake. Sierra was at the front wheel. I furrowed my brows, concerned to see her here. But Christ, I was relieved that she was okay. "Now, how about you put all that pride aside and go give your girl a hug"

Hopper extended his hand, offering a handshake to end the enlightening conversation. I obliged and stood up, making my way over to see Sierra. I opened the door for her. She looked tired, but those green eyes that had made me feel more than I had in years sparkled.

"How was grocery shopping?" she joked, smirking at me.

"Slightly delayed" I chuckled, shuffling my feet slightly. We both looked at each other for a moment before I felt my arms twitch. I hauled her in for a hug, pulling her close to me. She was so warm, her hair as it tangled in my fists silky.

I never thought I'd admit this, feel this way. But as a mellow sense of calm flooded over me from her touch, I knew I had desperately needed a hug. Not just from anyone, but from her. My eyes slipped to a close and I felt myself getting lost in another world. The one with the house, the lavender growing in the garden, waves sloshing gently in the distance. Her smiling up at me, green eyes twinkling. There and then, I pledged to myself that we would survive this. But we weren't there yet. There was still more to come. I opened my eyes and peered over the top of Sierra's head to see Max smirking at me. I eased mine and Sierra's embrace, brushing my hands up and down her arms and returned the smirk. Before I could say anything to her, Hopper shot up from the porch and ran over, dropping down to his knees in front of a girl dressed in all black. Shit, she looked badass. Hopper clutched onto the kids arms, tears pooling in his eyes.

"You can have the TV back" he whispered, wiping away the stray tear falling down the girl's cheek. He pulled her into a hug, tightly embracing her and placed a heartfelt kiss on her head. "You can watch all the cartoons you want, kid"

I looked around, observing everything in front of me. Max and Lucas smiling at one another, Harrington fist bumping Henderson, Hopper and this girl swaying in a tight embrace, Nightingale wrapping her arms around me, her head pressed against my chest. A rush of something foreign, something toasty as if I was relaxing in front of a fire, came over me. I could remember feeling this before. A 7 feet wave. My lips against Nightingale's for the first time. Max telling me I wasn't a bad person. A symptom not a cause.

I had time to turn things around, to make amends.

The Pig was right.

I was allowed to feel.

And right now, I felt nothing but love.


A/N: Okay, so I was going to start writing the end of Season 2 in this chapter but honestly those last final sentences felt like a great way to end this one. I promise, there will be action in the next chapter! I listened mainly to Heroes by Peter Gabriel and Love by Lana del Rey for Billy's section. Apologies if there's some grammatical errors, I edited this after doing a 15 hour shift and couldn't get past my own excitement to update. Hope everyone is doing okay and thank you for the follows and favourites :)