#Dustin Henderson Sister OC

[skyfallslayer]

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Masterlist

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Main Masterlist || OC Fan Art || Spotify Playlist

🎲Summary: On the night of November 6th, 1983, Stephanie Henderson decided to take her little brother’s friend, Will, back home. However… they never arrive. Now, Dustin, Mike and Lucas, and soon the exception of the girl’s ex-best friend, Steve, must band together to find out what happened. Meanwhile, Steph and Will must fight for their survival in this nightmarish version of Hawkins, Indiana.

🎲Pairings: Will x Platonic!OFC; Dustin x Sister!OC; Slow burn! Steve x Henderson!OFC (Ex-bestfriends to Lovers); Slow burn! Byler

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Warnings: At the beginning of each chapter.

🎲Word Count: 73,122 (So far)

🎲Start Date: 3/6/24

🎲 End Date: N/A

🎲 A/N: No Idea what possessed me to write this, but i saw everyone else doing something similar and I said to myself... "Hey, why not?". This can be read as reader-insert if like since OC's hair/eye color will only be mention here and there.

|| INDEX ||

Season One:

Prologue: The Pinky Promise

Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers & Stephanie Henderson

Chapter 2: The Weirdo On Maple Street

Chapter 3: Holly, Jolly Shotgun

Chapter 4: The Bodies

Chapter 5: The Flea & The Acrobat - Part 2

Chapter 6: The Monster

Chapter 7: The Bathtub & The Sacrifice

Chapter 8: The Upside Down

Epilogue 1: The End? The Beginning?

-Taglist is Open-

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

@mirkwoodshewolf @sadbitchfangirl @olivewisp

@emsownuniverse @unspecifiedvisitor @smaryamsstuff @kitty49646 @jinxeee @bookkeeperlove @prozacgooble @goth-baby98 @aainr @luca-random-stuff @catradorapotter @bailees-post

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Writing prompt: Dustin has a five foot tall older sister named Nina. Argyle nearly loses it when he meets her.

"I found her! I found the small Nina woman!"

I'm not sure why this popped into my head, but it did. 😆

[strangerficsxx]

Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?

story:Midnight Rain wc: with a sudden power outage, jennifer begins to suspect something bad is coming, suspecting the gate has been opened, things turn upside down when she go through a bought of depression -- hiding her feelings from steve.

[a/n: all characters, plot, etc. are not mine. The only thing I own is my original character. credit to gif owner.]

{ June 28, 1985 }

Coming back from the restroom, Jennifer puts on her Scoops Ahoy sailor hat as she enters the shop. She walk past Robin, leaning against the counter and sees a group of kids walking up to the counter of the ice cream parlor as she watches from afar. Jennifer recognizes the group of kids from the events of last year, smiling at Max who smiles back. Robin leans against the counter as a raven-haired kid rings the obnoxious bell that sits by the register.

"Hey, dingus. Your children are here." Robin calls.

"Again? Seriously?" Steve asks from the staff room.

Annoyed, Steve lets the kids through anyway as they trudge through the white vague corridor. Jennifer steps behind the counter, helping two teens select their ice cream before handing them the cones. They pay before walking out of the shop, looking back she watches her boyfriend bring the group of kids with him. He sneaks the group of kids in through the back of the mall, coming back into view as he smiles at his girlfriend.

"Wow, such a good mom," Jennifer jokes.

Steve rolls his eyes, annoyed.

"Well, when you've been doing it for the last two years, you get experience."

Smiling, Jennifer walks in the room and sits down, fumbling with her keys as her eyes well up with tears. Steve approaches and kneels in front of the brunette as they make eye contact.

"Are... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm-I'm fine."

"No, you're-"

"Dingus. Get out here, there's a group of girls that are annoying me,"

"Okay, just a second. I'm a little busy here."

"Making out with Jennifer? No. Hurry up, dingus."

Steve rolls his eyes as he looks back at Jennifer. The peck their li[s before rising, standing behind the counter. He takes another order, beginning to scoop ice cream when suddenly the lights flicker Jennifer glances down at her arm, seeing the scar that she got from her boyfriend's backyard in 1983. The lights then shut off completely. Looking up, she watches as Steve walks over to the light switch, flipping the knob up and down.

"That isn't gonna work, Dingus."

"Oh, really?" He asks, flipping the switch at an even faster pace.

Suddenly, the light turn on in the mall. A nautical tune plays from the radio as Steve glances at the lights above then looking at Robin and Jennifer.

"Let there be light,"

Even though Jennifer couldn't see Robin's face, she knew she was making some kind of expression toward Steve. The three employees get back to work as Jennifer counts down the hours of work before being able to go home and crash.

——

{ June 29, 1985 }

Jennifer suddenly awakes, looking over at the clock. She sees it sitting ten after eight as the realization sets in, she forgot to reset the clock the previous night due to the power outage. Not only that, but she's very late for work. Throwing the covers off, Jennifer stumbles out of bed and over to her closet where she throws on her Scoops Ahoy uniform and does some light makeup since she'll sweat the makeup off later that day.

Grabbing her keys off her shelf, she leaves without eating before exiting the house. Sliding in the driver's seat, Jennifer puts the key in the ignition as her vehicle starts. Pulling out of the car port and drives down the road and towards the mall, parking in an empty spot as she removes the keys from the ignition and her seatbelt from the latch as she hops out of her car. Striding towards the entrance the sweat forms on her hairline as well as her chest. She walks in and towards the entrance of Scoops Ahoy. Robin notices the sweaty brunette as she smiles, Jennifer smiles back. Steve enters from the back door and greets his girlfriend with a kiss. Pulling away, Jennifer smiles at him as the short haired girl stares at them in disgust.

"Alright, love birds break it up."

"What? It's not like we're making out, or having sex." Jennifer says.

"I don't care, you're abusing company policy."

"Fine, we'll just greet each other like two friends."

"Okay.."

Jennifer rolls her eyes, stepping behind the counter as she holds her keys as she watches as Robin slings a single scoop of ice cream into a cone, handing it to the person. Later, the brunette sits in the back as Robin straightens up and Steve is slinging ice cream in the front. Jennifer overhears his conversation with two girls.

"Alrighty, one scoop of chocolate. That's a buck-twenty-five." He says. "Ooh, Purdue. Fancy."

"Yeah, I'm excited,"

The girl chuckles.

"Yeah, you know, I considered it, Perdue, but I was like, you know what? I really think I need some real life experience, you know, before I hit college, and see what it feels like." He rambles, continuing on. "Kina, like uh, I don't know, see what it's like to earn a working man's wage."

The register beeps as Jennifer giggles, continuing to listen. Steve apologizes to both girls.

"I think that's really important."

"Yeah, totally."

"Yeah, anyway, its so fun. We should kind of like, you know, I don't know maybe hang out this weekend or-- oh, sorry about that. Uh.." The change clatters as it hits the counter.

Jennifer's smile begins to fade as she hears her boyfriend ask a girl out. The awkward male continues talking as the girl turns him down. Robin grabs the white board filled with tally marks and sets it on the counter top.

"Another bites the dust," She says. "You are 0 for 6, Popeye."

"Yeah, I -- I can count."

"It means you suck," Robin comments.

"Yep, I can read, too." Steve says.

Jennifer rises, standing next to Robin as Steve approaches them.

"It's this stupid hat. I am telling you, it's blowing my best feature."

"Yeah, company policy is a real drag." Jennifer responds.

"You know, it's a crazy idea, but have you considered... telling the truth?" Robin asks.

"Oh, you mean, that I couldn't even get into Tech and my douchebag dad's trying to teach me a lesson, I make three bucks an hour, and I have no future? That truth?" He asks.

Jennifer notifies them that a group of girls are approaching as Steve and Robin look towards the entrance. Steve turns to face the two brunettes again.

"You know what? Screw company policy." He says, taking his hat off and tossing it past Jennifer.

"Oh, my god, you're a whole new man."

He turns away and approaches the group of women. Jennifer begins to think about breaking up with Steve as she begins to feel sad, almost on the verge of tears as Jennifer turns away. A stray tear falls from her eye, wiping it immediately. However, Robin notices.

"You okay?"

"Oh, me? Yeah, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. What's going on? Are you... jealous?"

"What? Jealous? Me? No. No, I'm not. I've been... I've been struggling, wondering if I should even keep going with the relationship. I'm beginning to think about breaking up with... him."

"Oh, my God."

"Oh, please. Don't act like you care."

"I do care, or I wouldn't be asking if you were okay. And, wouldn't be standing here listening to you talk about how you want to leave the relationship."

"I mean... should I though? It's just we've been through so much, and that's something we have in common. But, the other part of me wants to end it and see what else is out there."

"You do what feels best to you, okay?"

Jennifer nods, tears streaming down her pale cheeks before wiping them away. Steve notices and rushes toward her, wrapping Jennifer into a hug.

"Steve, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah,"

"Okay, I just wanted to comfort you."

"I know, but this... this really isn't a good time. I.. just need sometime to think." Jennifer says, pulling away from Steve and rushing out of the shop and into a nearby Girls bathroom.

——

That night, Jennifer finishes up for the night as she makes her way out towards out of Scoops Ahoy, pulling the cap off her head. She walks toward the entrance of Starcourt Mall as Steve catches up to her, stopping Jennifer in her tracks.

"What is it Steve?"

"Earlier... you seemed upset, and I wanted to make sure everything's fine."

"Everything is.. is okay. I promise,"

"Okay,"

Jennifer walks out to her car and enters, closing the door beside her. She puts the key key in the ignition as the car starts, blowing out cold air. Jennifer turns the AC off as she sits and stares in the distance in front of her. Tears cloud her vision, the anxiety creeping up on her as she sobs into her hands as the radio begins playing the soft tune of 'I Wanna Know What Love Is' by Foreigner. With tear stained cheeks, Jennifer slides her seatbelt on and pulls out of the parking lot and drives to Roane Hill Cemetery.

Walking toward Wilhelmina's headstone, Jennifer sits in the dry grass and stares at the stone in front of her. Tears stream down her cheeks as a graduation cap sits atop the headstone, the tassel blows in the musty wind. Jennifer sniffles before clearing her throat. Though, she couldn't say another word, Jennifer lays down and cries to herself quietly before drifting off to sleep.

——

Jennifer stands in the bus with Wilhelmina and the kids as the doors on the bus opens and Steve steps off, wielding the bat. Metal creaks around him as he spins his bat before holding it close. He creeps through the junkyard, chittering continues. Steve swivels around and sees two creatures fanking him as they growl. Dustin opens the bus door, shouting for him to abort. Dart charges as Steve rolls across a car’s hood. One falls through the windshield as he hits another one with his bat. At the bus’s door, Jennifer, Max, Lucas and Dustin motion to steve as he scrambles inside, but Billies pushes past them and runs for her life but gets attacked by one of the demo-dogs.

Jennifer is still in shock and panic, not knowing what to do next until she sees Billie lying lifeless on the grass. She rushes toward her and sees the massive pool of blood forming under her body. Tears well up in Jennifer's eyes as they meet with Billie's.

"Je.. Jennifer?"

"I'm here, I'm here. I'm gonna get you to the hospital, just hold on."

"N-no, I... this is my time, Jennifer." She sniffles. "Don't wait for me, go. Save everyone I... I'll be... okay."

"Billie, don't say that. I'm getting you help." Jennifer cranes her neck. "Steve! Help me."

Steve rushes over, telling the kids to stay on the bus before dropping to his knees.

"Jennifer," He says.

"No, no. We... we have to save her. She's... she's gonna die. Steve, please?" Jennifer pleads, tears running down her cheeks as the air feels thicker with each breath she takes.

Jennifer picks Billie up and rests her body on hers, blood seeping into her shirt. She makes eye contact with the blonde.

"Jennifer... Jen... It's okay, let me fly with the angels. I... love you." Billie says, her head rolls to the side.

"Billie," Jennifer calls. "Billie. Wilhelmina, please, wake up. No!" Jennifer cries, holding a dead Wilhelmina close.

As Jennifer gently places Wilhelmina on the ground, she cries harder as Steve brings her into his embrace. The kids begin to approach as they feel saddened by the moment.

——

Suddenly Jennifer wakes up as she starles before looking around in the twilight. The moon is full and the heat is wet. Sweat forms on her forehead and her breathing is ragged. Craning her neck, Jennifer sees her boyfriend Steve down on one knee. She calms down a little as tears stained her cheeks.

"Steve?"

He brings Jennifer into his arms as she sobs silently in his chest. She wraps her arms around him.

"I'm here,"

"I-- I had -- I wasn't meaning to fall asleep. I was trying to say goodbye to B--Billie, but I slipped into a slumber."

"It's alright,"

"No, it's not. I-I wish she were still here."

"I know. but she's gone, and you couldn't help that."

"I know,"

Her and Steve stay there for a little bit longer before pulling away, helping Jennifer to her vehicle before she takes off down the road as she wipes away the tears that stream down her cheeks.

[goofily-moved]

people who have ocs who are related to canon character are so brave

[hoppers-babygirl]

Beat his ass

Author: Hoppers-babygirl

ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/hoppers_babygirl

Word count: 2316

There was still an awkward distance between Cassie and Steve but that didn’t stop her from riding along with Steve, Dustin and a couple of his friends. Everyone knew she had been seeing Billy once Steve and Nancy got together but no one ever quite spoke about it out loud. That was until Cassie asked Steve to drive her over to his house. Things had been uneasy between the unlikely couple but Cassie tried her best not to let it show. It had been two weeks since Billy last spoke to her, she was sick and tired of his silence so she took matters into her own hands. 

Steve stayed silent as he drove towards Billy’s house, his knee bounced anxiously on his free leg. It struck up a bit of anxiety in Cassie but she took a few deep breaths. After Steve dumped her for Nancy; Cassie and Billy started seeing one another, even though they were an unlikely couple, the pair enjoyed one another’s company. They dated six months before this air grew tense between them. Cassie never thought he would act this way toward her but she was wrong in the end. She assumed Billy heard that Nancy broke things off with Steve, maybe thinking that he would try to swoop in and take Cassie away from him but that wasn’t the case. 

The matter of the fact is that Cassie grew sick, some days worse than before. She assumed it was just a simple cold, nothing more than the flu. Only she was wrong, after taking a test the liquid in the tube turned blue. Her stomach knotted up at the sight, causing her to fall to her knees in front of the porcelain bowl as she grew sick. 

Eventually Steve pulled up to the all too familiar blue house, except he was pulled off on the side of the road, across from the house. Snapping from her thoughts she looked over, her brows pinched together. 

Steve spoke up. “I know you just wanted a ride but I don’t trust the guy. I’ll stay here for ten minutes and if you don’t come out then I’ll leave. Just for my sanity, okay?” He offered her a small smile. 

She took a shaky deep breath and nodded before slapping a fake smile on her lips. No one except Jonathan knew what was actually going on with Cass, which she was thankful for as she knew she could trust him with her life. Even now she felt guilty asking for this from Steve especially while her little brother rode shotgun but she had bigger worries to deal with right now and that’s what she was focused on. Taking another deep breath she actually opened the door and stepped out the car, her legs felt like jello but she couldn’t stop her movement. It was like she wasn’t even in control of her body as she walked up the little stairs and up to the door. 

Cassie knew Max was home as she could see her bike still outside. It helped her feel a little at ease but soon her knuckles rapped at the door. Moments later Billy opened the door, his usual smirk not prominent on his lips as he took in the sight before him. Steve's car in the distance, Cassie in front of him wringing her hands and the dark circles under her eyes. He snorted and walked back down to his room to which Cassie followed behind him. “Hello to you too, Billy. Do you know that I’ve tried calling you for the past two weeks only to have Max lie to me? Because I know it's a goddamn lie.” She started in on him soon after closing the front door. 

He began to puff on a cigarette and opened his bedroom door. “Listen little bird, it's over. Whatever you thought we had going on is over, you’re a waste of my time.” Cassie scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “You think?” She sassed back. He turned and blew the smoke in her face, making her turn away and let out a quiet cough. “I didn’t fucking invite you here. You showed up, princess.” His voice dripped with venom but when the smoke cleared Cassie could see the mark crossing his cheekbone but with his attitude he wasn’t going to talk about it. “Yeah well maybe if you knew how to pick up the phone then I wouldn’t have had to come here and tell you.” Her voice began to hush. “Tell me what? That you’re not gonna be my whore of the week anymore?” He replied as he began to slip a shirt on. 

She shook her head, “I guess you just forgot the past six months then huh? That surely doesn’t add up to a week.” She replied just as harshly. Billy huffed out a breath almost like an annoyed bull would. “Get to your point or get the fuck out.” His voice had risen. Cassie assumed he and his father had a fight which only added to his annoyed attitude. “Look this isn’t the easiest to fucking say, okay?!” She raised her voice to match his. Anger and hurt welling up in her chest. Max must’ve heard their yelling and slammed her door shut which on some level helped Cassie calm down. One less set of ears to share the news with right now. 

“I know we’ve been pretty careful about things but uhm… well it seems that we weren’t as careful as we thought. I’m pregnant Billy. I’m fucking pregnant and you’ve been ignoring me.” She finally let it out. Billy was the first and only person to know. Billy began to shake his head and pace his room. “I knew you were just like the rest. Just a stupid whore.” He muttered under his breath. Her heart fell to the floor. Sure she didn’t expect to be spun around in his arms and given a big kiss but to be called such harsh words as if this was her fault? 

“I don’t give a fuck, Princess. Tell whoever else you’ve fucked that it’s their problem because you’re not going to make it my problem.”  His teeth grit as he speaks. Tears formed in her eyes and her lip began to wobble. This caused Billy to laugh. “It isn’t a problem I made by myself. You know damn well that I’ve only been with you so there’s no need to try and deny that. Just because your father treats you like a piece of shit doesn’t-” Just like that she was on the ground on her ass. Cassie sat in shock on the floor for just a moment before the pain in her jaw really hit her. Her hands shook as she stood up on jelly like legs, one hand protecting her stomach. “Fuck you Billy.” She spat at him before she turned and began to walk out the house, Billy hot on her ass, wiping his face from her spit. 

“You’re a stuck up little bitch. You opened your legs and got knocked up and now I’m supposed to care?!” He yelled as he followed after her, grabbing her wrist harshly. “Get the fuck off me!” Cassie screamed, tugging her wrist back to her body as tears now spilled down her cheeks freely. “I’m not the dumbass who bought cheap condoms!” She replied, still tugging her wrist from his grip which only tightened causing her to whimper. “Don’t think you’re getting a fucking thing from me. You laid on your back and took what I gave you.” He sneered. 

By now Max slipped out of her room and outside unbeknownst to Cassie and Billy. Finally she freed her arm from his grip causing her to stumble back and hit her hip into the table that was in the hallway. She yelped and began to move back to the front door. Only to tumble to which Billy used to his advantage, he pinned her hips down as he straddled her and grabbed both wrists to slam her down into the floor causing her to curse out. Her head rang, she hadn’t ever seen Billy act this way with her before but he figured that he wasn’t really fighting her but the things that angered him. She squirmed underneath him and tried to get out his hold but instead he was steadily screaming in her face, her head throbbed so badly that she wasn’t even sure what he was saying but she could hear the high pitched scream. Both Billy and Cassie looked up, Max stood in the front doorway screaming at the sight only to be replaced by Steve. 

There must’ve been blood as Cassie could see red streaks but they surprisingly hadn’t come from her head. Dustin helped her up with a devastated look on his sweet features. How the hell could he and Steve have known about the fight that was happening inside the house but she figured it was all due to Max’s scream.  

Meanwhile Max had gone out her window as Cassie and Billy had their scream fest. Max hadn’t realized that no one except Cassie and Billy knew about the baby. But everyone sat with a shocked expression. Steve gripped the steering wheel and questioned Max about what was going on inside but Cassie’s scream sounded through the house causing Max to run back to the house and the others to follow along. Upon opening the door and seeing Cassie on her back pinned under a screaming angry Billy, Max let out her screech alarming the rest of the group. Steve, Dustin and Lucas jumped from the car. 

Soon Steve had Billy by the shoulder pulling him off of Cassie. It was the first time Dustin had ever seen Cassie so scared, he ran over to her and helped her up off the ground. She looked sleepy but sad in a way. It scared Dustin to see his sister like this. Usually she was so sweet and funny, she had only ever seen her sad when they were younger. 

Cassie sat up and wiped her lip, it was split and she hadn’t even realized that the slap from earlier had caused her lip to split open. Dustin tugged her toward the kitchen to grab a rag to clean the blood. The house was loud as Billy and Steve wrestled together, Max yelling at BIlly to stop it and leave her friends alone and Lucas trying to calm her down. Cassie sighed and wiped her lip clean and gave Dustin a hug, her other cheek rested against his head. 

“I’m so sorry to have to see this bullshit.” She mumbled against his curls. 

“Why didn’t you tell me first?” He asked quietly. His question confused her at first but then the realization hit her. 

“Because he deserved to know. Or at least I thought he did.” She replied, his arms tightened around her as they hugged. 

“Come on, we gotta get Steve out of here before he and Billy get too fucked up.” She kissed his forehead and led him back out to where the guys were fighting. 

“Let's go Steve. It’s not even worth it. I just want to go home.” Steve shoved Billy away and threatened him which caused the other man to laugh. Max was in tears as Lucas ushered her out the door to which Cassie did the same with Dustin. 

Now stood Steve, Billy and Cassie. She sighed, “I’m sorry I ever met you and I’m glad our child never will.” Her lip quivered but she turned and walked out the door, Steve trailing behind her after a few moments. 

His hand on her back caused her to jump. “Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay? Is the- is everything okay?” He asked shyly. Great so everyone knew, Max must’ve heard their fight. 

“I’ll be fine. Thank you for stepping in, if you hadn’t then who knows what could’ve happened. But I’ll probably make up some lies and go to the doctors just to make sure.” She shrugged and gently tapped her lip to check and make sure the blood stopped. 

“You know, if you ever need anything, I’ll be there to help you. It’s the least I can do.” He gave her a small smile to which she returned. 

“Thanks Steve, I’m sure I’ll need all the help I can get.” He pulled her into a careful hug. A much needed hug. 

Eventually Steve took Cassie and Dustin home, but when Cassie climbed out the car Max followed. Lucas shrugged at Steve but he waited for the redhead. 

“Hey Cassie… I know you’re never going to go around Billy anymore and I’m not really related to you like Dustin is but..” The young girl trailed off. 

Cassie smiled and nodded. “You’re gonna be the best aunt ever, Max.” Cassie finished the girl's sentence which caused her to smile. She gave Cassie a quick hug and ran back to the car and got back in with Lucas before they drove off. Cassie went inside and cleaned up, making lunch for herself and for Dustin. Afterwards the siblings sat and talked and even watched a bit of television to try and make the day feel any bit normal. 

A few weeks later Cassie went to the doctors, thankful her tussle with Billy hadn’t affected anything seriously. She would have a little scar on her lip but she didn’t care much about that. She was just glad to hear that her little boy was doing just fine. Even after getting bumped and shook around she was beyond relieved to hear everything was doing good. Even if she was doing it on her own. But she wasn’t really alone was she? No. She had a family that she was lucky enough to have as her support. 

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

Prologue — 1979

Warnings: Implication of discrimination and discrimination by association

"Be a rebel. Be wild, child. Never settle. That's not your style."

Steve Harrington and Cassandra Henderson—best friends since diapers. Their fathers were friends in high school when Pan and Claudia Henderson still lived in Hawkins but not anymore because Steve's dad is an asshole. But they moved a few towns over when she was two until Dustin Henderson was born when she was four and then her parents got divorced... one would say because of differences but one could also say because they shared one specific similarity in which case they would then get a punch to the face if that said that to Cassandra's face. Cassandra moved back to Hawkins with her dad where she was reunited with Steve Harrington who was now five, but they acted as if there was no two-year time span of not seeing each other. When she was about eight, she started to get into a rebellious phase and when she was eleven, she gained the nickname "Cassie Dare" from how daring she was, as a play on "Cassandra", known by the school, most of the teenagers, the police, and pretty much anyone who happened to meet her because she usually left an impression. Despite this, most just called her Cassie as when people properly met her, they found that it was a bit awkward to say every time.

Her father knew she meant no trouble, in fact, he implored it as long as she kept her morals and the ones he taught her.

1) Never sell or betray out a friend or family

2) Never steal from small, independent businesses but from big chains (they can afford it, small chains cannot.)

3) Always show a man that you can be as sweet as candy and deadly as ice.

4) Be a rebel, not a criminal.

5) Do as much good as you can with your rebellion. Be like Robin Hood, angel.

6) Have fun and be happy.

And she did, she toed the line between "rebel and "criminal" despite many of the judgemental residents of Hawkins, decalring her to be a "criminal", a "born deviant" (to which she would point out meant she just deviated from social norms so she absolutely was that sometimes that wasn't what they were going for and Cassie was fully aware of this), a "miscreant", a "delinquent", a "hoodlum" or whatever word judgmental people for in or before the fifties threw around at those who acted out of what was considered normal, including Steve's parents after they "cut ties" with Pan Henderson, however this was only one reason she was heavily scuritnied by the older close-minded residents of Hawkins.

Some however, knew she was good at heart. She was always unwaveringly kind if you actually thought about her actions, she was selfless and always gave people a good story to tell after. She never tried to manipulate others into her rebellious acts, she looked out for what was best for other in their own self-interest.

Then she turned twelve and Steve Harrington had dared her to go into the mysterious Hawkins Lab on April thirteenth of 1979.

She just smirked at her thirteen-year-old best friend, "Is that really a challenge, Harrington?" She smirked, the mid-April wind blowing her auburn hair.

"Then impress me, Henderson." He smirked back.

Cassie scaled the fence, her feet just being small enough to fit into the holes in the fence before propping herself on top of the fence and looked back at Steve on that hill, giving him a thumbs up before dropping and landing on her feet, the force making her crouch down and touch her fingertips to the ground before swiftly standing up to her feet, her auburn locks bouncing before she pulled her black hoodie over her head and walking towards the wall to press herself against it and she disappeared from Steve's sight.

--

Steve Harrington didn't see her again for three weeks, no one saw her for three weeks. Three weeks of blaming himself.

Benny, an old school friend of Pan Henderson, took the trash out on May fourth when he heard a twig snap and he looked into the woods to see a shivering twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and hazel eyes he recognized as his old school friend, Pan Henderson's daughter despite how pale and sweaty she was.

"Cassandra?" He asked as she stared at him as if she were doped up, her skin was pale and she was layered in sweat, she was swaying as if she were unable to see straight, disorientated and lost her coordination, her sclerae were bright red and glazed over, her breathing was deep yet shallow as blood-tinted tears fell down her face; then she collapsed.

When she awoke a few minutes later, she was deeply hungry, digging into a hamburger despite her being a vegetarian. Though she abandoned it halfway through after realizing it and switched to French fries after running to the bathroom to vomit it up out of guilt.

"ANGEL!" Pan shouted when he burst through the door albeit more dramatically than what was needed, ignoring the deputies behind him, protesting that they go first, having given them the middle finger while screaming curses at them.

"Daddy!" Cassie sobbed out, speaking for the first, she got up and ran to her father, sobbing into his chest as they hugged.

"Shh, shh, shh..." Pan shushed his daughter, soothingly, caressing the back of her head as she sobbed, "it's okay. You're safe now."

"Ma'am, I am sorry but we need to ask you some questions." The chief said, prompting Pan to turn abruptly to him and shout dramatically at him.

"WE ARE HAVING A MOMENT HERE!"

--

The official story was that Hawkins Lab had been oblivious to Cassie's breaking and entering until she had been “violently and recklessly” exposed to a chemical that had endangered her life and they couldn't risk anyone breaking in to get her without it contaminating them or worsening her condition so they lied when they asked if she had been seen.

The recently transferred and depressed Hopper had thought was just a bunch of bullshit as he gave them a deadpan look but the chief bought it so Hopper couldn't make a big stink about it even with the sympathy he was given even though they had lied to federal officers and if she had been exposed to a chemical why was she still in the same clothes. And why was there blood on her clothes?

Pan Henderson also called bullshit as he narrowed his eyes as the representative of Hawkins Lab, Mister Brenner with his arms crossed, glaring daggers at him like nothing could give him greater pleasure than for his snake rings to come to life and squeeze the life out of him, right here in the hospital where she had been sent due to starvation and exhaustion.

"I hope we can put this matter to rest." Brenner told Pan.

"To rest? You kidnapped my child and kept her in your lab for three weeks!" He shouted with cold fury in his brown eyes. Pan Henderson may have looked silly with his silly walk, red hair, and constant sunglasses but messing with his kids was a sure-fire way to get an oncoming storm coming your way.

"She broke in, we could sue." Brenner said, flatly.

"I don't think you know who I am." Pan growled.

"I know exactly who you are, Pan Henderson. And you do not want me as your enemy." Brenner said.

"And you don't want me as yours." Pan challenged.

--

Pan showed a much softer side when Cassie woke up, her hazel eyes looking exhausted but relieved.

“Hey, angel,” He smiled, having nothing but fatherly love in his brown eyes.

“Daddy.” She sniffled, “Where… where am I?”

“Hospital. You fainted from exhaustion.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” He said, stroking her hair, gently, “But I’m going to find out even if it kills me.”

Steve Harrington burst into the hospital brought by his asshole father who was clearly not happy with how much his son cared for his female best friend.

When she thought back to the lab, she could just barely remember, she saw flashes of tiled walls and then flashes of a young girl around eight years old with a shaved head, and blood... lots and lots of blood, and then... pain. If she tried to remember too hard it hurt her head so badly that her vision would blur and would disorientate her.

Even though she had forgotten, she wasn't the same as she once was. Her smiles were no longer genuine, always hiding pain with jokes and smiles.

A few weeks later, her dad’s ambition to find out what happened got really serious to the point that she had gotten accustomed to waking him up because he had stayed up so late, trying to figure out what happened.

Then she had woken up in the middle of the night when the door slammed shut.

She ran out to see her father, sinking against the door, sobbing with his hands in his hair.

“Dad? Daddy?” She asked, running to him.

He looked up at her with illuminated brown eyes and he pulled her into a hug, tightly as if he were scared she’d disappear again.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” She asked.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you or Dusty,” He cried, “Never ever.”

“Daddy…”

He shook his head, holding her tightly as his body near racked with tears.

When her brother and mother moved back to Hawkins and her father moved to Indianapolis, she stayed with her brother. She felt she needed to be in Hawkins for him. And she was right, four years later.

*Get ready for many David Tennant gifs. I know he's usually a love interest on this show but he has a really good dad energy to me. Like a fun but protective dad type.*

[aroadcalledsobriety]

Here's to Us | A Stranger Things FanFiction

Chapter 3

First | Prev | Next

Flickering lights and a blonde with a nose bleed sends Joan Destiny back in time to 1985 as Joan Agatha, supposedly her aunt whose existence she had never heard about before. A fan of Back to the Future and Doctor Who, Joan knows how changing the course of the future could end for her, so she decides to act the part - no matter how hard it can be. Between Russians, drug dealers, and interdimensional monsters Joan is left with one question...

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴊᴏᴀɴ ᴀɢᴀᴛʜᴀ? ¿ɐɥʇɐɓ∀ uɐoſ oʇ pǝuǝddɐɥ ʇɐɥM

"Is this why uncle Steve is called uncle Steve?!" Joan hissed out loud in horror, the thought of having to kiss - or worse - her uncle being almost too much to bare. A groan escaped her lips as she plopped into her rickety wooden desk chair and tossed the picture back onto her desk. "Why him of all the Steve's?!"

"Are you still upset about your break up with Steve?" Dustin seemed to appear out of nowhere in her room, inevitability scaring the shit out of the older teen and sending her into panic. Her rather pitiful reaction was ignored by her brother. "Because me too. I wanted Steve to be my brother after you graduated by marriage so that he could never escape me, but you had to ruin it."

"Me?!"

Dustin rolled his eyes and it occurred to her sliver of amusement that everyone was right about her dad having toned down over the years with his mischief and teasing ways. "Yes, you." His hand waved up and down towards Joan in emphasis, as if her whole body was the problem. 

"Whatever you did for Steve to break up with you at the beginning of summer you should take it back. Immediately. I want my nieces and nephews to have glorious hair."

"Why are you in my room, twerp?" Joan decided to ignore the Steve problem for now. It was such a relief to find that no she was not dating her future-uncle, but still made her feel icky that she once did date her future-uncle. "Don't you have friends or something?"

Dustin had decided this was an invite to further invade her space - Joan was missing the beauty of being the only child with a door lock at this point - and plopped down onto her admittedly pretty floral bed. Unconsciously, her hand dove into her pocket to pull out her phone, but to her horror she realized that this was 1980-whatever, no cell phones much less smartphones until much much later.

"That's why I've come to invade your room." Dustin said seriously towards his sister. Joan crossed her arms and raised an eyebrows if saying go on. "I have a proposition worth your time and energy."

"Proposition?" God her dad was the same person even as a tiny little shit.

"Yes." Dustin snapped and pointed at his sister with both hands as if he were a salesman. Honestly, he could have been one.. or be one? "You drive me to Mike's house tonight and you can join us in our campaign, just like you used to. Will said you can be the cleric and since we're only a few sessions in, you can quickly reach our skill levels in no time-."

"Dustin, you don't have to bribe me to take you to your friends." Joan interrupted with a roll of her eyes. She eyed the kid with a smirk and crossed her arms over her chest at the look of incredulous on his face as he walked over and matched her arms over his own chest.

"...Who are you and what have you done to my sister?" Dustin said seriously with narrowed eyes. Joan's heart skipped a beat, definitely skipped a beat, at the accusation and swallowed thickly. "Why are you being so nice?" Was she not usually nice? 

Was that why they never talked about the Henderson sister in the future?

"Is it because of Steve?" Joan rolled her eyes and stood up form her chair, ignoring the child and left the bedroom, hoping her response was enough for Dustin. Dustin quickly followed beside the girl, not bothered by the attitude once again. "Do you feel upset about my older man friend breaking up with you, so you're hoping that by being on my good side I'll put a good word in for you so that you and Steve-o can become a thing once again? Because that would totally work and I have-!"

"Jesus, Dustin, do you ever shut up for more than 5 minutes?!" Joan moaned out, already finding the younger version of her father insufferable. Now back in the kitchen she turned towards Dustin and grabbed him by the shoulders firmly, Dustin wisely shut up now that hands made contact with his body. "Look, I-I'm over Steve, it's not a big deal, so stop bringing it up-."

"But, you guys were-!"

"-shut up or I won't drive you anywhere for the rest of the month." Joan hissed out and Dustin nodded his head quickly with wide eyes. She sighed, closing her eyes and counting to three. "I'm taking you to Mike's on one condition only."

When she was sure she had Dustin's attention, Joan backed away slowly and Dustin stayed nearly frozen in his spot waiting for whatever his sister wanted from him so he could get to his friend's house.

"Leave me in peace for the weekend."

"Deal." Dustin agreed quickly before scrambling to his room to get his things, calling out his wake, "I'll be ready in T minus five minutes!" Joan rolled her eyes and looked at the mirror on the hallway wall with a frown.

It was definitely her body staring back at her. From the tiny scar on her forehead from when she was 12 and thought she could jump from the roof of her house to the nearby tree, to the weird freckle below her chin, and down to the pimple she felt this morning on her temple... quickly, Joan made her way to her bedroom and hurriedly went through her closet for anything but what she had on currently.

"Dad! Watch how far I can jump!"

"How far you can what-? Oh shit!"

"I-is it okay if my leg bends this way?!"

"O-oh sweet Jesus..."

She looked in horror at the cheer outfits and bright colors littering here closet, trying find anything with a neutral tone or not made of jean to throw on, but none glance at her a photo next to her close of her wearing neon made Joan want to throw up. She settled with high waisted jeans and an atrociously yellow crop top before stepping out to find her, uh, mother. 

"Uh, mom?" The woman wasn't hard to find with her cats onto of her in front of the boxed television set and Joan tried to take in the scene around her. The home wasn't too different from her time, but there were significantly more photos of the mystery sister that was Joan Agatha Henderson. "I'm taking Dustin to uh, where am I taking you?!" Joan hollered out to Dustin, already forgetting where they were going.

"Jesus, woman. I'm right here." Dustin complained, rubbing his right ear where Joan and turned to yell. Joan rolled her eyes, gesturing to their mom. "We're going to Mike's house."

"Alright, sweeties. Keys on the counter. Drive safe and be home by 11:00, both of you!"

The brother and sister rushed out after their goodbyes and Joan slowed down to watch which car Dustin would go to and followed him to the older one of the two. Unlocking the old metal car, Joan quickly wished a black hole would swallow her whole.

Stick shift.

She could do this, right?

"Break, ignition, clutch.."

"You got your license a month ago and you already forgot how to drive?!" Dustin called out incredulously as the car stalled and he watched his sister whisper the instructions to herself as she tried again.

"Shut up, dork!" Joan snapped with a red face. "I-I know how to drive, okay!?"

"Then why aren't you clutch to floorboard?!" Dustin snapped back, pointing down at her feet in emphasis. There was a tense silence between the two before Dustin let out a huff of air and sat back in his seat. "Press the clutch to the floorboard."

"What?"

"Clutch to floorboard! Jesus, woman! Are you deaf?!"

"Tiny little shit..."

"Turn the key... break... shift the gear, no no, shit, no, like that! Are you trying to kill us?!"

The irony of this was that here she was being taught how to drive by her dad for the second time and he was just as stressful half the size as he was full size. But, just like when she first started driving, Joan was quick to pick it up, both Hendersons throwing their arms up in excitement with a matching whoop! 

With a grin, Joan peeled out of the driveway and followed Dustin's instructions to Mike's houses, ignoring his jabs at how could she forget how to drive and his friend's house? She paused at the familiar two story home.

She had been here only a few time for birthday parties and a sleep over or two, but indeed there it was. Ryan and Harry Wheeler's grandparents had lived here all their lives and since her dad and their dad were childhood best friends, it wasn't an abnormal thing for her to be over here on the occasional Fourth of July or birthday party.

"Are you going to come in?" Dustin popped up at her open window, sending her heart to beat sporadic once again. "Seriously dude? You're going to get scared every time you see me from now on? That hurts."

"Oh shut up, you dork." Joan snapped out, turning off the car and getting out. There was such much more she hadn't seen and didn't know... the house was so much nicer than the decades that would come after it. "Who's, uh, DMing for you guys?"

"Will, duh." Dustin replied with a roll of his eyes and knocking the secret knock. "We're going to finish this before I go off to camp next month so that there's no long break in between campaigns. That's not fun for anyone."

"You're telling me." Joan snorted, thinking back to the last time they kept a campaign throughout the Christmas break before the club discovered and her notes were terrible. It was a disaster and they had to scrap the whole play and start over again with the same world build, much to everyone's annoyance.

"What would you know? You haven't played since you decided you were too cool for the nerd shit." His hands did a mocking form of quotations even though he had his arms full.

"Just, uh, sympathy, I guess."

"Yeah, whatever, it's-."

The door opened and Dustin wasted no time shoving himself inside towards the basement with shouts of, "I brought the goods, I repeat, I brought the goods!" leaving Joan to blink with wide eyes as a mess of raven hair quickly followed Dustin down the stairs. The teen closed the front door slowly before making her way down the basement stairs as if she was on auto pilot.

It was surreal.

Chattering around the table were all of her dad's friends minus a few and she stared with wide eyes at her own friend's parents acting like children. It wasn't the attitude that through her off guard, they always acted childish, but the looks of them that made it so unsettling.

"Shut up, Lucas! You got the corner piece last time, it's my turn!"

"They're brownies! They're should be like four corner pieces!"

"Yeah, well, my mom and bitch of a sister already ate three of them. I'm pretty sure she was high."

"Joan got high?!"

"No way, dude."

"Yeah." Dustin nodded rapidly with a look of seriousness on his face and brownie crumbs littering his chin. "Mom's like, super pissed. I think she's addicted to cocaine."

"Nah, she's a cheerleader, man! There's no way, I think it would be weed."

Joan felt her eye twitch from her spot on the stairs, staring down at the group of four and tried to use Kaleigh's powers to flip tables and choke the shit out of her brother. But alas, she was not special.

Brynnyn looked just like her father, Joan mused at the miniature Uncle Lucas arguing about whether or not she did cocaine or weed. The army definitely gave him some muscles over the years and he still had that confrontational, offense attitude that was passed onto his daughter.

"She doesn't even smoke cigarettes, guys." Mike Wheeler interrupted with a roll of his eyes and a scoff. "There's no way that Aniza the Good would even touch a blunt or powder."

If she ever got out of here, she was giving Mr. Wheeler a huge hug and birthday card.

"She hasn't played in, like, three years. She's probably changed a lot." Will said matter-of-factly, yet quietly. The statement was fair, Joan supposed, but it still bothered her that these group of boys who would soon be family thought that she was a drug addict.

"I'm telling you assholes. I watched her wipe her nose and everything! I'm pretty sure there was a little bit of white dust there too and I don't think it was from powdered donuts, if you know what I mean."

"No, Dust-bin. I don't understand." Joan stepped down the stairs, making herself known and relishing in the unmasked horror on the little twerps' faces. Arms crossed, she towered over the boys with narrowed eyes, landing on the other Henderson. "Please do tell me what your bitch of a sister did?"

"Oh shit."

[foreverinourfavor]

Life was supposed to be simple: focus on tennis, take care of Dustin, and keep her personal life separate from her popularity. But for Lacy Henderson, nothing has ever been as easy as she makes it seem. Between Billy Hargrove crasing into her world - cocky smirk, dangerous edge, and a connection neither one can ignore - and her brother bringing home a creature from another dimension, Lacy's carefully crafted life starts to unravel at the seams.

As the Upside Down threatens everything Lacy holds dear, she'll have to decide what she's willing to risk to protect the people she loves.

[strangerficsx]

Full Stranger Things Series Masterlist

Midnight Rain

Genre: Sci-Fi; Drama; Horror; Mystery; Drama; Romance Warnings: Violence; Fear; Anxiety; Swearing; Gore; Substance use; Drug use

Jennifer henderson's biography Phoebe cromwell's biography

cassatt tape (one | two | three | four | five) style (S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5) relationship timeline (season 1 ~ 4)

SEASON ONE

prologue i

chapter one : the vanishing of will byers

chapter two : the weirdo on maple street

chapter three : holly, jolly

chapter four : the body

chapter five : the flea and the acrobat

chapter six : the monster

chapter seven : the bathtub

chapter eight : the upside down

SEASON TWO

prologue ii

chapter one : mad max

chapter two : trick or treat, freak

chapter three : the pollywog

chapter four : will the wise -

chapter five : dig dug - as the henderson siblings frantically clean and attempt to trap dart, dustin decides to leave and get help as jennifer stays behind on look out when phoebe suddenly arrives at her place. she tells the other female what's going on in hopes of having her believe jennifer and make sure she's not crazy.

chapter six : the spy - believing it is some halloween prank, steve indulges in the search for dart, learning that it was for a girl jennifer's brother likes as they lead a trail of meat to capture the dog at the junkyard. however, the yard needed some cleaning up and protection as they all wait the night out and are sitting ducks while awaiting the arrival of dart... until things go wrong when more demodogs show up to terrorize them and the kids.

chapter seven : the lost sister - after the death of someone she cares deeply about and getting to know max, jennifer offers to be a big sister / role model to her since billy is a huge jerk and isn't willing to do that since he holds a lot of anger.

chapter eight : the mind flayer - after reuniting with nancy and jonathan, the teen and children meet hopper, joyce and will as they regroup at the byers' residence to make a plan on how to close the gate.

chapter nine : the gate - after eleven reunites with everyone, she plans on closing the gate as her and hopper escape to hawkins lab. secondly joyce, jonathan and nancy take will and try to fight the mind flayer within as jennifer and steve babysit her brother and his friends until trouble shows up.

SEASON THREE

prologue iii - jennifer comes home from visiting her aunt in michigan, leading her to the newly built starcourt mall where she starts working at an ice cream parlor to keep herself busy from thinking about the death of her best friend.

chapter one : suzie, do you copy? - with a sudden power outage, jennifer begins to suspect something bad is coming, suspecting the gate has been opened, things turn upside down when she go through a bought of depression -- hiding her feelings from steve.

chapter two : the mall rats - jennifer's brother comes home from camp nowhere, revealing that he intercepted a russian code the night before as he asks for help from her, steve and robin.

chapter three : the case of the missing lifeguard - jennifer, steve, and dustin keep a look out for russian spies in the mall as she begins to feel somewhat better.

chapter four : the sauna test - after robin finds a useful map of starcourt mall, her, jennifer, steve and dustin bribe erica with 'free ice cream for life' as she crawls through startcourt's ventilation system. later, she opens the lynx transportation door, and the small group comes down from the roof to join her.

chapter five : the flayed - after falling down the elevator shaft, the scoops troop make their way through the russian base as they come across the gate being reopened.

chapter six : e pluribus unum - with robin and steve trapped by russians, jennifer, her brother and erica stage a daring rescue.

chapter seven : the bite - the teens and kids prepare for war as they regroup with joyce, hopper and newcomer murray bauman.

chapter eight : the battle of starcourt - terror reigns in starcourt mall when the mind flayer comes to collect. However down below, in the dark, the future of the world is at stake.

SEASON FOUR

prologue iv - with jennifer's relationship on the rocks, she meets metalhead eddie munson at a lone picnic bench behind hawkins high school as soon become friends.

chapter one : the hellfire club - jennifer begins working at family video alongside steve and robin when she gets invited to eddie's trailer, only to be a witness to a crime by an unknown entity.

chapter two : vecna's curse - while jennifer tries to tell her friends what happened, they don't believe her and begin searching for eddie. that night, he reveals to the gang what happened.

chapter three : the monster and the superhero - jennifer, steve and dustin take max to talk to ms. kelley before traveling to the high school to retrieve answers on her condition.

chapter four : dear billy - max is in grave danger... and is running out of time as jennifer, lucas, dustin, and steve accompany the teen as she writes and hand delivers goodbye letters for family and loved ones.

chapter five : the nina project - while the hawkins kids comb a crumbling house for clues, billie is in danger when she becomes vecna's next target.

chapter six : the dive - while searching for another gate to the upside down, the police catch dustin, lucas, and max as the young adults dive into lover's lake to rescue steve.

chapter seven : the massacre at hawkins lab - jennifer, steve, nancy, robin, and eddie are trapped in the upside down. jennifer later learns from nancy that the day is stuck in november 6, 1983 -- the day will byers went missing.

chapter eight : papa - after getting back to the real world, the gang gather supplies and prepares for battle.

chapter nine : the piggyback - from russia to california to hawkins, heroes fight to save hawkins -- and the world itself.

Crazy For You

Genre: lgbtq; sci-fi; horror Warnings: violence, past trauma, swearing, fear, gore, alcohol consumption, light smut

kathryn harrington's biography phoebe hopper's biography

THREE

001. missing keys - after arriving at starcourt mall, kat finds her brother's keys as he returns them to where he works, coming in contact with his co-worker robin buckley.

002. the mall rat - kathryn begins to develop feelings for a fellow classmate, coming to scoops ahoy all the time just to talk to robin.

003. the stakeout - kathryn gets dragged away from her crush to have a stakeout with her brother and dustin in starcourt mall, almost revealing too much information.

004. test - kathryn follows robin to a nearby store to retreive a map of the mall's ventilation system, and begin to get to know one another.

005. flayed - kathryn, robin, steve, dustin and erica get trapped beneath the mall in a russian base.

006. the rescue - steve, erica and dustin come to kathryn and robin's rescue, saving them from the russians.

007. war - after running off, kathryn and robin are enticed by the mall's lights before purging the truth serum out of them, later coming to terms on how they feel about each other.

008. starcourt - everyone regroups to plan out how they can fight the mind flayer and close the gate once and for all.

009. is this love? - kathryn and robin give the relationship between them time as kat mourns the loss of her best friend.

010. trauma - the grieving process is hard cause there's a lot of feelings to uncover, however, a dark entity begins taking over students of hawkins high.... unfortunately, kathryn is one of them.

011. cursed -

012. hawkins past - kathryn, nancy and robin venture out and delve into hawkins past demons.

013. running out of time - the gang uncovers the symptoms that vecna's victims suffer from before eventually dying as kathryn worried for her future.

014. the creel house - the gang investigate clues in the creel residence to try and find something to save kathryn.

015. the dive - after kathryn, dustin, max, and lucas get caught being out after curfew, they eventually figure out a way to communicate with them from nancy's bedroom before escaping to rescue the gang.

016. vecna's motive - nancy reveals vecna's past to the others as everyone fears for kathryn's safety.

017. prepping - the gang prepare for battle as robin commemorates her love for kathryn one last time.

018. the fight - being a prime target, kathryn sacrifices herself long enough for the gang to fight vecna

epilogue - what come next for kathryn now that she's saved?

[stranger-masters]

Eddie Munson Masterlist

I'll Even Tell The Stars About You - Max has a nightmare and so Eddie comforts her. Basically the Eddie version of Steve's Cry To The Sky. Warnings: nightmares; Billy is mentioned, along with Vecna; blood; gore; Steve's mentioned; Eddie being a great brother.

See The Red Again - Eddie has a nightmare about the bats and Vecna killing Steve. Steve, who is staying with Max, hears Eddie screaming, and him and Max help out.

I Will Make You Believe (You Are Lovely) (Steddie) - Steve is feeling insecure. Eddie doesn't think this is allowed.

My Hero (E.M) (Part One) (Part 2) MORE TO BE ADDED!!!

[harringtonstilinski]

Always The Babysitter - Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers

Author:@harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) (eventually) Word Count: 3,008 Warnings: lil' bit of angst, lil' bit of fluff, not proofread Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! Another rewrite series is upon us!! I'm so excited for y'all to read this one, and I hope y'all are just as excited!! If you are, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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season masterlist

series masterlist

series playlist

November 6, 1983. A normal fall night in Hawkins, Indiana. A Sunday night spent in the basement at my little brother’s best friend’s house. My brother is Dustin Henderson. His best friend is Mike Wheeler. They’re both here with their other best friends, Will Byers and Lucas Sinclair. 

I’m Olivia Henderson, and I do not want to be here. You see, Mike has an older sister named Nancy. She and I used to be the best of friends… before she started dating my other best friend, but we’ll get to that later.

“Something is coming,” Mike said. “Something hungry for blood. A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here.”

I watched as all four boys playing a board game called Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D for short. They were all so immersed, I seriously think they all thought I left.

“What is it?” Will asked, almost excitedly.

I smiled at him, so happy to see him excited and happy about something, even if it was just a board game. He’d been through so much with his parents splitting and fighting all the time.

“What if it’s the Demogorgon?” Dustin asked.

I stood up from where I sat on the couch, moving towards the group.

“Oh, Jesus. We’re so screwed if it’s the Demogorgon.”

“It’s not the Demogorgon,” Lucas said, completely sure of his answer.

“It’s definitely the Demogorgon,” I whispered, face scrunched.

“Shut up, Liv,” Dustin said.

Slamming a gaming piece on the board, Mike said, “An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!”

Lucas pointed at the board like he was right as my brother said, “Troglodytes?” with a smile on his face.

“Told ya,” Lucas chuckled.

Mike went serious as the rest of the group chuckled a little. “Wait a minute.”

I walked slowly around the table, as Mike thought for a moment. “Something is coming. Something hungry for blood.”

“Did you hear that?” Mike said, looking to his left. “That… that sound? Boom… boom… BOOM!” He slammed his hands on the table, the other three young boys jumping a little in their chairs.

“That didn’t come from the troglodytes,” I whispered, now standing behind Dustin. “That… that came from something else.”

Slamming another gaming piece on the board, Mike yelled, “The Demogorgon!”

The boys groaned as I chuckled.

“We’re in deep shit,” Dustin said, to which I smacked his hat off his head.

“Will, your action!” Mike said.

“I don’t know,” the young Byers boy exclaimed.

“Fireball him!” Lucas exclaimed.

“I’d have to roll a 13 or higher!”

Looking at Will, Dustin said, “It’s too risky. Cast a Protection spell.”

“Don’t be a pussy,” Lucas said. “Fireball him!”

“Cast Protection.”

Slamming his hands on the table yet again, Mike exclaimed, “The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps towards you. Boom!”

“Fireball him!” Lucas said.

“Another stomp! Boom!”

“Cast Protection!” Dustin said.

Looking up at me, Will asked, “Liv, what should I do?”

Shrugging, I answered, “I say cast Protection, but Fireballing sounds fun.”

“He roars in anger!” Mike yelled.

Everyone at the table started talking over each other before Will decided to roll the dice and yell out, “Fireball!” as the dice flew across the table and onto the floor.

The four of them quickly got up and started looking for the dice, wanting to see what numbers Will rolled. Dustin paced while saying, “Oh, my god,” over and over again.

“Mike!” Mrs. Wheeler yelled.

“Mom, we’re in the middle of a campaign!” the middle Wheeler said.

“You mean the end? Fifteen after.”

I looked at my watch with wide eyes, mouth agape after a second. “Shit. Dustin, we gotta go.”

“Why do we have to go?” Will asked.

“Because it’s a school night, Will,” I said, putting my jacket on. I looked at Dustin, watching as he put on his jacket as Will said, “Does a seven count?”

“Did Mike see it?” Lucas asked. “Then it doesn’t count.”

Not totally understanding the meaning behind that, I said, “Come on, boys. I can bring you back over next weekend for another 2 hour game.”

“It was 10,” Dustin said, picking up a box of pizza.

“You been playing for ten hours?”

Ignoring my question, my brother said, “Anyone want this?”

“No,” Will and Lucas said.

“Liv?”

I looked at the ceiling, thinking for a minute. “See if Nance wants it.”

“I thought you were mad at her,” Lucas said.

“Mad? No. Upset? Yes.”

“What’s the–”

“Don��t get involved,” Dustin said. “It’s complicated. Come on, Liv.”

Dustin and I walked up the stairs, and I immediately wished I hadn’t because what I heard made me want to rip my own ears off.

“Yeah, he’s cute,” Nancy said. “Barb, no. I don’t think so.”

Dustin waved at her, trying to get her attention. “Hey, Nancy. There’s a slice left if you want it. Sausage and pepperoni!”

I watched as Nancy rolled her eyes and told Barb to hold on before putting the phone down and walking over to her bedroom door… closing it in our faces.

“Do not let her bother you,” I said, the two of us walking down the stairs and to the garage door. “She’s just being a bitch.”

“There’s something wrong with your sister,” Dustin said as I closed the door behind us.

“What are you talking about?” Mike asked.

Will, Lucas, Dustin and myself all got on our bikes as Dustin said, “She’s got a stick up her butt.”

“Yeah. It’s because she’s been dating that douche bag, Steve Harrington,” Lucas said.

“Watch it, Sinclair,” I said.

“Yeah, don’t talk about Steve like that around Olivia,” Dustin defended. “Douche Bag was her best friend before Nance came along and she started becoming a real jerk.”

“She’s always been a real jerk,” Mike and I answered.

“She used to be cool. Like that time she dressed up as an elf for our Elder Tree campaign.”

“That was me,” I said, riding off with two of the younger boys. I stopped pedaling when I heard Will say, “It was a seven. The roll, it was a seven. The Demogorgon, it got me. See ya tomorrow.”

As soon as Will met me at the end of the driveway, I pedaled behind him after waving bye to Mike. When we made it to Lucas' house, he turned to us and said, “Goodnight, ladies and Liv!”

“Kiss your mom ‘night for me,” Dustin teased. He looked at Will and said, “Race back to our place? Winner gets a comic.”

“Any comic?” Will asked.

“Yeah.”

My chuckle turned into a laugh as Will started pedaling faster towards mine and Dustin’s house. Unintentionally, Dustin yelled, “I’m gonna kill you!”

“I’ll take your X-Men 134!” Will yelled, passing by our mailbox.

Dustin stopped, putting his feet flat on the ground. “Son of a bitch.”

I stopped beside Dustin, laughing, as I heard our mom yell out, “Livvie! Phone call!”

“I really wish she would stop calling me Livvie.”

Dustin chuckled as we made our way up the driveway, parking our bikes before heading inside, where I took my phone call in my bedroom.

“Yeah, hello?”

“Did you do the homework for Click’s class?”

“Hello to you, too.”

“Did you?”

I sighed, and hung my head. “Yes. But I’m not doing it for you?” I heard yelling on the other end of line. “Go before you get even more trouble for something you probably didn’t do.”

~~~

Since our mom works part time, she lets me take her car to school… but not on this Monday morning. I didn’t mind riding my bike, though. It was good exercise. When the boys and I made it to the high school, I stopped my bike and put it on the bike rack before bidding Lucas, Dustin and Mike a good day at school.

Right as I started walking up the school doors, I watched as Nancy Wheeler did the same. We smiled at each other a little, almost walking together like we used to. She went to say something before her friend Barbra Holland walked up.

“So, did he call?” Barb asked.

“Did who call?” I asked, acting oblivious. I knew exactly who she was talking about.

“Keep your voice down,” Nancy said, almost whining in her tone.

“Did he?” Barb inquired.

“Okay, someone has to fill me in,” I said.

“Barb, I told you, it’s not like that,” Nancy said. “Okay, I mean, yes, he likes me, but not like that. We just…” Nancy stopped at her locker, as did I. Our lockers were next to each other. “Made out a couple times.”

Barb mimicked her as I poked my head from behind Nancy, and said, “Will one of you please quit ignoring me and tell me who the hell she’s talking about?”

“Nance, seriously, you’re gonna be so cool now, it’s ridiculous,” Barb said.

“No, I’m not,” Nancy said.

“Hey, Olivia,” a random girl said.

“Hey, queen Liv,” another girl said.

I sighed, and closed my eyes. “Really wish they wouldn’t call me that.”

“Why?” Barb asked. “Because you got the nickname by association with Steve and now you two aren’t friends anymore?”

I held a finger out to her. “We never said we weren’t friends anymore. We just… drifted apart, is all. Happens all the time.” I looked at the back of Nancy’s head, gesturing to the younger girl. “Back to the task at hand.”

“You better still hang out with us, that’s all I’m saying,” Barb said.

“Us?”

“Yes. Us. I’m declaring you two friends again. But, Nance, if you become friends with Tommy H. and Carol–”

“Gross,” I mumbled. 

“It was a one-time– two-time thing,” Nancy said, opening her locker.

I chuckled as Nancy put stuff in her locker before she grabbed a piece of paper in handwriting that I knew all too well.

Barb and I looked at each other before we said in unison, “You were saying?”

Nancy put the note back in her locker before closing it. She turned to face me, asking with her eyes if I’d meet her at the bathroom, to which I nodded my head and silently told her yes.

The only thing I heard before she walked out of the bathroom was the words to study in a stern, but almost playful voice by Nancy. When Steve opened the door a couple minutes after Nancy walked out, he and I locked eyes. 

“I really hope you’re being careful with her,” I said. “She doesn’t need to have the reputation like all of your other cohorts. She isn’t like that.”

“Liv, I’m not–”

“You better not be. Don’t forget, I know where you sleep.”

He smiled a little, knowing I was right. I guess he decided to have some weird lame-ass comeback ‘cause he said, “Clothes get a little darker there, Henderson?”

When he looked over my head, I realized why he said that. Tommy H. and Carol.

“Yeah, well, I’d rather dress in dark clothing than dress like the ultimate geek,” I said. Turning to face Tommy H and Carol, I really didn’t want to waste my breath on them, so I just rolled my eyes and walked away.

“That’s right,” Carol said. “Walk away.”

Turning to walk backwards, I said, “Hey, Carol. Why don’t you stop being a bitch? Maybe then you wouldn’t have to beg for friendships from people that dress like nerds.” I walked straight to class, not thinking about them for the rest of the morning.

~~~

Third period. Not my favorite, but then again it was my favorite because that meant that lunch was next and all I wanted was to sit on the hood of Steve’s car and eat my lunch without him knowing.

When the Principal and Chief Hopper showed up at the door, knocking on it, my nerves went up about 100%. My first thought was Dustin, that something had happened to him. When the Principal called my name and had me follow the Chief to the Middle School, I kept quiet, not wanting to ask too many questions.

When we got to the AV room and I saw that Dustin was perfectly okay, I sighed in relief, hugging him when they entered the hall. The four of us followed Hopper to the Principal’s office, who joked that he never thought he’d see me in his office again.

Once the boys and I were sitting down on the couch, Hopper started asking his questions, and the boys started talking over each other.

“One at a time, alright?” Hopper said. He looked at Mike and asked, “You said he takes what?” “Mirkwood,” Mike answered. 

“Mirkwood?”

“Yeah.”

Turning to Officer Callahan, Hopper asked, “Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?”

“I have not,” Callahan answered. “Sounds made up to me.” “No, it’s from Lord of the Rings,” Lucas said.

“Well, The Hobbit,” Dustin corrected.

“Here we go,” I sighed. 

As Lucas and Dustin started their bickering, Hopper leaned forward saying, “What did I just say? One at a damn time.” Looking at Mike again, he said, “You.”

“Mirkwood, it’s a real road,” Mike said, before looking up at me.

I sighed and said, “It’s just the name that’s made up. It’s where Cornwallis and Kerley meet.”

Leaning back, Hopper said, “Yeah, alright, I think I know that–”

“We can show you, if you want,” Mike said.

“I said that I know it!”

“We can help.”

As the boys agreed, Hopper disagreed. “After school, you are all to go home. Immediately.” He looked at me and continued, “Make sure they don’t go biking around looking for their friend. No investigating, no nonsense. This isn’t some Lord of the Rings book.”

“The Hobbit,” Dustin said.

“Dustin, shut the hell up,” I said.

As the boys bickered, once again, Hopper looked at me and asked, “Do I make myself clear?”

“Inescapably clear.”

He stood up and looked at the boys, asking, “Do I make myself… clear?”

Once they all agreed, we were let go and Hopper walked me back to the high school, where his car was parked.

Before I walked back into the building, I turned and said, “Hey, Hop?”

He looked at me, pointedly, telling me to correct myself.

I sighed. “Chief.”

At his look of almost relaxation, I asked, “Do you think Will’s in danger or do you think something happened to him?”

He sighed, brushing his hand over his face. “I don’t know, kid. If he went home and then vanished, maybe his dad–”

“That piece of shit wouldn’t come back for his son,” I said, almost angry. 

Hop sighed again. “Look, I’m just not sure. I’ll keep you updated. Get back to class.”

~~~

I looked at my phone, confused, as it rang. I picked the receiver, putting the earpiece to my ear. “Hello?”

“Can you come help me study?”

I sighed into the mouthpiece. “Nance. There’s a curfew in place because of Will missing.”

“Please?”

“Nance, I can’t. I can’t break the curfew.”

She sighed on her end. “You used to sneak out all the time.”

“Yeah. With Steve because we were both little shits,” I chuckled. I sighed, thinking it over for a moment. “Okay. I’ll come over–”

“Nevermind,” she said. “Steve’s here.”

“Don’t get caught,” I said, hanging up the phone. Dustin burst through my door a few seconds later, jacket and backpack on. “What are you doing and where are you going?”

“Looking for Will. You’re coming.”

~~~

Neither boy gave me a chance to try and explain why I didn’t want to go out looking for Will, but alas! Here I am. In the cold. Standing the barriers the police put up. Nice.

Getting off my bike, I mumbled, “You three are going to get me into some deep shit with the police.”

“Like you haven’t been in enough trouble with them already,” Lucas mumbled back.

“Watch it, Sinclair.”

“You feel that?” Dustin asked, a few seconds after a low rumble came from the sky.

I felt a raindrop on the top of my head, so I put my jacket’s hood on to protect my hair. 

“I think maybe we should go back.”

“For once, I agree,” I said.

“No,” Mike said. “We’re not going back. Just stay close.” He and Lucas started going under the barrier while Dustin and I looked at each other, deciding that since we were both here and bound to get in trouble, we might as well just follow the other two.

I’m following three 12 year olds? Gross. 

“Just stay on Channel Six. Don’t do anything stupid,” Mike continued.

The four of us started our hike into the woods in the torrential downpour happening, yelling out Will’s name, in the hope that he’d answer back.

“Will!” I yelled. “This isn’t funny! WILL!”

“I’ve got your X-Men 134!” Dustin yelled. “I really think we should turn back.”

“Seriously, Dustin?” Lucas said. “You wanna be a baby, then go home already!”

I walked up to Lucas and grabbed his jacket, pulling him  back. “Would you quit being a damn bully? Look, we’re all scared! Dustin’s just not that great at hiding it. We’re going to stay searching for Will, even though Hopper told us to stay at home.”

“Did you ever think Will went missing ‘cause he ran into something bad?” Dustin asked. “And we’re going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons, or anything?” “Dustin, shut up,” Mike said, more calmly than Lucas.

“I’m just saying, does that seem smart to you?”

Putting his hand back to stop my brother in his tracks, Mike said, “Shut up, shut up.”

That’s when I heard rustling and went to stand in front of the three pre-teens. We all turned to our left, not seeing anything. We, then, turned to our right, seeing what looked like a little boy in a yellow shirt, drenched in the rain. 

Upon further inspection, the little boy turned out to be a little girl, and my big sister instinct kicked in like crazy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~

A/N 2:  hi, friends! i hope y’all liked this, and it got y’all excited for always the babysitter. i’m working as hard as i can on it. again, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.

Additional Note: i know that some of y’all are waiting to see your requests, and i promise i’ll get to them. the writer’s block hit really bad with them. atb is the only thing i have motivation to write for at the moment. once i receive my ged, i’ll have more time to sit down and write them.

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24​​ @stixnstripesworld​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​​​ @quanticobae​​​ @mischiefandi​​​ @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak​​​​

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If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

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Posted on November 6, 2023 *Happy Stranger Things Day!*

[skyfallslayer]

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Chapter Two

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist

🎲Summary: On the night of November 6th, 1983, Stephanie Henderson decided to walk her little brother’s friend, Will, back home. However… they never arrive. Now, Dustin, Mike and Lucas, and soon the exception of the girl’s ex-best friend, Steve, must band together to find out what happened. Meanwhile, Steph and Will must fight for their survival in this nightmarish version of Hawkins, Indiana.

🎲Chapter Summary: Lucas, Mike and Dustin try to talk to the girl they found in the woods; And Hopper questions an anxious Joyce about an unsettling phone call; Steph and Will must continue to survive; And Steve’s eyes get opened in a way he never saw coming.

🎲Pairings: Will x Platonic!OFC; Dustin x Sister!OC; Slow burn! Steve x Henderson!OFC (Ex-bestfriends to Lovers); Slow burn! Byler

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 11,024 (Oh, my lord)

🎲Date: 5/16/24

🎲Warnings: Angst; Swearing; Implied Broken Friendship; Talks of Kidnapping; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Implying Sex; Lying; Implied Suicide; Death/Killing; Talks of Corpses; Blood; Gun Use; Steve's 'Asshole Era. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: Jesus. This was a tough one to write and edit (Hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes). But, geez. Writing different POVs, everyone's thought was a tough one. But hopefully y'all can understand 😅. Also, I am NOT a D&D player, so some of lore just comes straight from the wiki. Hopefully that's reliable enough. Anyway, sorry for the delay. Enjoy!

|| THE NIGHT BEFORE || 

“What the fuck are you?!” Will heard her scream as the creature tried to outmatch her. The light above them grew brighter and brighter, and he squeezed his eyes shut while gripping her jacket tighter. He prayed this was just another nightmare. Maybe… Maybe he’s getting his wish when he hears the silence. Does he dare open his eyes and see the truth?

He’s scared, trembling, and it heightens when he hears the girl heaving for air. So much so he clenches his grip on the fabric tighter, the strange smelling air going through his nostrils causing him to gasp himself. When his eyes snapped open is when his coughing fit started.

He hears his name being called, and hands coming around his shoulders. He almost jerks away, afraid, until his orbs settle on the silhouette before him. 

“S-Steph?” He croaked, a sense of relief flooding his veins. “What just happened?” He could see the confusion on her face, looking around for clues. He followed her eyes, nose crinkling at the sight. “We’re still in the shed. But it’s… gross.”

She swallows. “Stay behind me.” She tells him, and guides herself through the door. They both shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. “Jesus, It’s freezing.”

Will and her looked around, the outside world seemed to be encased in a blue hue, the places around seemed to be tangled with vines and covered in something sticky. There was also a white powder that looked like snow, raining down from the dark skies above. A sky that didn’t even have moonlight like it did a few minutes ago.

“Did you hit your head when we crashed?” She asked after getting his attention away from the sky. 

He shakes his head, almost sadly. If that had both just hit their heads, would the situation have been better? He frowns, worriedly thinking away as the older girl tries to stay calm.

“Come on.” She says, gesturing to him to follow. “Let’s go inside. I want to see something.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT || 

The rain was coming down more intensely than before, followed by the grumbling of thunder and lightning. Somehow, miraculously, the boys, mostly Wheeler, managed to convince the strange girl they found in the woods to return home with them, and hid her in the basement.

“Is there a number we can call for your parents?” Mike asked, worriedly as the girl looked between the three boys, all scared and confused.

“Where’s your hair? Do you have cancer?” Dustin spitted out, genuinely curious.

“Did you run away?” Lucas asked, skeptical. 

“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Mike says, just as his friend questions a red sustain on her shirt. He slaps his hand away quickly. “Stop it! You’re freaking her out!”

“She’s freaking me out!”

“I bet she’s deaf.” Dustin suggested, before taking a quick half step and smacking his hands together. The sound makes the girl flinch, and he frowns apologetically. “Not deaf.”

“That’s enough, all right? She’s just scared and cold.” Mike said, silencing the two before running over to the laundry basket and grabbing some clothes. “Here, these are clean. Okay?”

The girl takes them, taking a second to be grateful before she starts stripping– The boys freak out, Mike running up to stop her while the other two look away. 

“See over there?” He points. “Th-That’s the bathroom. Privacy. Get it?” She nods and he shows her inside. Just when he was about to shut it behind him, she grabs it forcibly. “You don’t want it closed?”

“No.” She finally says, surprising him.

“Oh, so you can speak. Okay, well… Um, how about we just keep the door…” He slowly moves it until there’s about three inches of space. “Just like this. Is that better?”

“Yes.”

Mike smiles and leaves her be, rejoining the group who were having a conversation of their own.

“This is mental.” Dustin said, freaking out.

“At least she can talk.” Mike points out, with Lucas shaking his head, replying,

“She said ‘no’ and ‘yes’. Your three-year-old sister says more.”

“She tried to get naked.” Dustin adds.

“There’s something seriously wrong with her.” Lucas said, touching his temple. “Like, wrong in the head.”

“She just went like…” The Henderson boy makes a motion of taking off shirt (and even knocked his own hat off his head).

“I bet she escaped from Pennhurst.”

“From where?” Mike said, eyebrow raised.

“The nuthouse in Kerley County.” 

“You got a lot of family there?” Dustin teased, getting a dirty look. 

“Bite me. Seriously though, think about it. That would explain her shaved hair and why she’s so crazy.”

“Why she went like…” He does the shirt motion again. In his mind this was helping him and Lucas’ case.

“‘She’s an escapee’ is the point. She’s probably a psycho.”

“Like Michael Myers.”

“Exactly! We should’ve never brought her here.”

“So you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?” Mike asks, irritated. 

“Yes! We went out to find Will–” 

“And Phanie.” Dustin pressures. 

“And Steph – not another problem!” Lucas agrees.

“I think we should tell your mom.”

“I second that.”

Mike holds his hand up. “Who’s crazy now?” 

“How is that crazy?” Lucas scoffed.

“‘Cause, we weren’t supposed to be out tonight, remember?”

“So?”

“So if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your mom–”

Dustin’s eyes widened. “Oh, man.”

“Our houses become Alcatraz.” Lucas frowns.

“Exactly. We’ll never find Will, or Steph.” Mike says, seeing Dustin make the shirt motion once more, silently asking the question about the girl. “All right, here’s the plan. She sleeps here tonight.”

Henderson perked up again. “You’re letting a girl–” 

“Just listen! In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She’ll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she comes from. We’ll be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Will and Stephanie.”

Lucas and Dustin share a look, until one of them finally shrugged. “I guess that works.”  

“Great. We’ll start again tomorrow. Goodnight, guys.” Mike bid them as he went off to start making the mysterious girl a place to rest.

“This is crazy, man.” Lucas said, once they had snuck back out. “What the hell is Mike even thinking?”

“I don’t know. Do you think his plan will really work?” Dustin asked, as they headed over to where their bikes were hidden.

“I’m giving it less than a fifty percent chance of success.” He sighs. “I better get home.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Hey, don’t look so sad.” He pats his curly haired friend on the back. “We’ll find them.”

“I just want my sister back. You have no idea.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

In the following morning, in the Byers house, the eldest seemingly was keeping it together, making the morning meal like he always does and hoping his worrying mother would have just a bite. 

“All right, Mom. Breakfast is ready.” Jonathan said, while placing the plate down in front of her, her thoughts being interrupted. 

“What?” His mother said, before moving some papers. “No, be careful of the poster.”

“Yeah, okay. All right–”

“I can’t eat.”

“I just need you to eat, Mom.”

“Listen, listen. The Xerox place opens in, like…” She looks down at her watch. “30 minutes–”

“Mom–”

“And I don’t want you to go alone–”

“No, I know. I told you, I got it.”

“So I’m gonna have Karen take you, ‘cause I should be here.” She gestures around, all jittery. “Claudia will meet you there, b-but if she’s not, she’ll reimburse us for the copies of Stephanie, I–”

He shakes his head with understanding. “Okay.”

“We need to make, what, 200, 300 copies?” He nods again. “How much is a copy?”

“Mom?”

“Ten cents?”

“Mom?” 

“If we– ten cents”

“Mom, Mom!” Jonathan stops her from counting the cash she had laid out, and squeezes her shoulder with her other hang to calm her. “Y-You can’t get like this, okay?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Joyce replies, taking a shaky inhale of nicotine. 

“No, it’s okay.” He reassures her softly, just before someone comes knocking on their door. The mother rushed over with her son on her tail, busting the door wide open for the exhausted police officer. 

“We’ve been waiting six hours.” 

“I know, I came as soon as I could.” Hopper replies, nearly dead on his feet.

“Six hours.”

“A little bit of trust here, all right?” He slides his hat off. “We’ve been searching all night, went all the way to Cartersville.”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

Joyce made a choking sound and looked away. “God…”

Hopper frowns, sadly. “Flo says you got a phone call?”

“Oh, yeah.” Joyce nods and shows him their phone. 

He picks it, examining the speaker part of it which was charded black. “Storm barbecued this pretty good.”

She took a step back in surprise. “The storm?”

Hopper looked at her like she had two heads. “What else?”

“You’re saying that that’s not weird?”

“No, it’s weird.”

“Can we, like, trace who made the call? Contact the–”

“No, it doesn’t work like that.” He shakes his head, and then looks at her with all seriousness. “Now, uh, you’re sure it was Will? Because Flo said you just heard some breathing.”

“No. It was him, it was Will... and h-he was scared. And then something–”

“It was probably just a prank call. It was somebody trying to scare you.”

“Who would do that?” Joyce questioned, face full of confusion and sickness.

“Well, this thing’s been on TV. It brings out all the crazies, you know. False leads, prank calls, uh–”

“No, Hopper, it was not a prank. It was him.”

“Joyce.” He begins, as she denies him again

“Come on, how about a little trust here?” She laughs dryly. “What, you think I’m– I’m making this up?”

“I’m not saying that you’re making it up.” Hopper looks at her with concern again. “All I’m saying is it’s an emotional time for you.”

“And you think I don’t know my own son’s breathing?”

“Joyce–”

“Hopper, my son’s missing. A-And not only that, someone else’s daughter is missing.” She nervously takes a puff of her cigarette. “And you know what the mess up part about that is? Stephanie didn’t have to! She didn’t have to be the sweetheart she is and take my son home. She could have just drove past him, but she didn’t! She didn’t, Hop. And now I have to live with the thought that I made someone else’s kid go missing because I. Was. Working!” 

She ends with an emotional sigh, tightening the heavy tension it the room. Jonathan worriedly looking at his mother before, locking eyes with the police chief who was trying to find the right words to say.

“You hear from, uh, Lonnie yet?” Hopper asked after the small silence.

“No.”

“It’s been long enough.” He puts his hat back on. “I’m having him checked out.”

“Oh, come on!” She sighs loudly, watching him leave. “You’re wasting your time.” Then the door shuts, and rubs her temple. “Jesus. He never listens!”

Jonathan ponders for a moment, before asking, “Mom, how likely is it that Will would actually go to Lonnie’s?”

“I…” Joyce runs a hand through her messy locks. “It’s possible, but he lives a long, long way. Especially on foot. But… I don’t– maybe he would! I…” She sighs again, overwhelmed. “However, I don’t think he would have gone with Stephanie. He’s… W-Will knows your father’s not the best man, and Will, you know, has that heart of gold.”

That got a chuckle out of both of them. “Yeah.”

“I don’t think Will would have risked Stephanie like that.” She shakes her head. “No. She’s an older kid, and older sister. As much as this sounds messed up, she would have done anything to make sure Will was safe. I know it. So… my question is…” She locks eyes with her son. “What would a girl her age think is a safe place for a young boy?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| TWO NIGHTS AGO ||

Stephanie flipped the lightswitch on in the kitchen out of curiosity, but finds herself still submerged in darkness. “Just what I thought. There’s no light.” She says with a frown.

“The flash of light we saw–” Will looks up at her. “Do you think it was a power outage?” 

“I don’t think there’s light here, I mean-” She starts walking around, rubbing her shaking hands together. “Look at this place. I don’t think we’re in Hawkins anymore.” She shivers just a smidge. “At least it’s a little warmer inside here.” Then she hears a distressful sound. “Will?”

The boy was pale, pupils blown wide and had a small tremble. “W-What do you m-mean we’re not in Hawkins anymore?” He asked, lip quivering with a slight pant. “B-But th-this looks like my house. D-Did w-we get taken somewhere else? Can we even g-go home? I–”

“Shit… Will–” She rushes over, hands coming up to his shoulders while she gets on one knee. “Will? Hey, bud, listen– hey.” She makes sure his gaze meets hers. “Don’t freak out. I know it’s scary, but we’re going to figure this out. Once we do, I’m going to get us home, I promise.”

The boy sniffles into his shoulder, fighting back tears. “You promise?”

“I promise.” She says it without realizing the fate of those words.

He swallows and extends out a certain finger. “Pinky promise?”

Her breath was nearly taken away by that certain question, taking her far back into a distant memory. But… like hell she’s going to let that memory change her judgment. She interlocks hers with his and repeats, “Pinky promise.”

That got him to crack a smile. “So, what next?” He asks, making her rack her brain for a plan.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT DAY ||

He woke up again to his cat’s crying. The young Henderson frowns, heart clenching at how Mews was wondering where his sister was at. For the urban legend of how cats had no emotions, he’s certainly not seeing it. He rubbed his eyes and wandered aimlessly around, the thought of calling sick into school was still fresh in his mind. Should he? I mean it made sense, and it wasn’t like the school won’t understand, so….

Was that a yes?

He walked through the hallway, curls in his eyes as slows in front of his sister’s bedroom. His cat locked eyes with him, sadness and confusion filled the slitted pupils. Mews meows again.

“She’s not back yet.” Dustin says, getting a chirp. “We’re trying. She’ll be back soon.” He starts walking away, hearing him make a sad sound once more. 

“Dusty-bun, I’m going to make some posters.” Claudia said, who were gathering her belongings by the door. “I left you breakfast on the stove.”

His nervous fingers gripped his t-shirt as he tried not to sound so down. “Hey, Mom?” Her eyes meet his gaze. “Is it okay if I… stay home today?”

Claudia’s face softens bittersweetly. “Of course you can, sweety. If you leave the house for whatever reason, just leave me a note where you’re going, that’s all I ask.” She gives him a kiss on his hairline, and is one foot out the door before adding, “Oh! And be back before dark. Okay? Your Mama doesn’t need to worry about another kid.”

“Can do.”

He watches her smile and closes the door, locking it. He frowns at that action, I mean they’ve never locked their door before, and now it was becoming second nature. He was even surprised she told him he could leave the house. Or… did she not expect him to leave this place in the state he’s in? Sounds like something she would do.

He sighs and heads for the kitchen to make himself a plate. He didn’t have much of an appetite, really, but he didn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings or make her beg for him to eat – he didn’t want to call ‘pot kettle black’ since he was the one that had to convince his mourning mother to eat last night. But it was hard, his fork just picking at the food, cutting it into smaller pieces to stare at before dropping his utensil onto the plate.

Steph… His fingers dug into his pocket and pulled the gold chain out, letting it sprawl out in his palm. He stares at it intensely, thinking. Come on, Sis, give me a sign. What happened to you and Will? What caused you to go off road and run? Run with Will’s shotgun out of all things?

What had got her so scared that they needed a weapon to protect themselves? Both her and Will were the last two people that would resort in violence, so the fact that they decided to arm themselves with a weapon tells him that something sinister was up.

But what? Dustin lays the necklace down next to him, pretending that she was here to eat with him like she always does, before deciding it was time to munch on what was left on his plate.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper struggles to keep his mind clear after that conversation with Joyce. His thought always going back to this particular moment:

.

““Stephanie didn’t have to! She didn’t have to be the sweetheart she is and take my son home. She could have just drove past him, but she didn’t! She didn’t, Hop. And now I have to live with the thought that I made someone else’s kid go missing because I. Was. Working!””

.

Of course the woman felt guilty about everything. I mean, your kid goes missing, who else are you going to blame other than yourself? But she also was chipping away at the idea it was her fault that that poor girl was missing too. Blames herself for working later than usual, and wasn’t the one to come across her own son on the road and pick him up. That’s a lot of guilt for someone who’s holding the family together on her own.

He listens to the volunteers shout the children’s names, hoping that they would shout back. Hopper wishes that too. He prays that one of them would yell back for help and get this nightmare over with.

“Hey!” He shouts at the two officers. “Anything?”

Callahan shakes his head. “You?”

“No, nothing but a dead phone.”

“Joyce?”

Hopper nods. “About one step from falling off the edge.”

“She’s been a few steps for a while now, hasn’t she?” Powell asked, as he’s met with a stern glare. 

“Kid’s missing, man. Show a little class.” Hopper snaps, making them avert their eyes.

“All right…”

He exhales and takes off with the rest of the group, shouting, “Come on, let’s go! We got a lot of ground to cover.” He keeps his fingers crossed that this would be it. That this would be the search that brings them home.

For their mothers' sake.

For his sake.

For every goddamn person out of here’s sake. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE NIGHT BEFORE ||

Stephanie shifted through the last cabinet and frowns. “Well, we can’t cook anything because there’s no electricity. But we can eat the dry goods. Unless we can figure out how to start a fire” She sighs, and wrinkles her nose. I mean, they can go a few days without eating if they didn’t want to touch the box of crackers covered in goo. But water? How were they supposed to have water if the faucet comes out with something they probably shouldn’t drink.

She rubs her temples, thinking. “I guess we’re going to have to look for some bottled stuff to drink.” She makes contact with the boy who just entered the room. “How you feeling?”

“Fine. I got a bit of a chill, but we can still grab clothes out of the closets if we need it.” Will replies, hugging his walkie talkie close.

“And the call?”

“Nothing. I mean I could hardly ever get reception over here anyway, so maybe we can try finding a different spot.”

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea." She says with a sigh. “Where’s the shotgun?”

“Oh, uh– Mom’s room.” He points behind him.

“Alright, maybe I’ll take a peek outside. If it seems clear, maybe we can try to find some reception.” 

Stephanie leaves the room with Will looking back at his walkie. He had to remain strong, hopeful. He has to get through to someone. His friends, his family, one of them has to be able–

Wait.

Was he hearing things? Was his mind playing tricks?

His eyes trail to his living room where he swears he heard someone talking. It was faint, but you can’t miss it. 

It sounds like… His chest tightens at a thought, his brown orbs blown wide as he looks at the yellow phone on the wall. It was probably hopeless, stupid even, I mean… the damn thing didn’t work when Stephanie tried to call for help when they were being chased. But that was the real world, this was… fake? Maybe it different, maybe it’s—

Oh, shit.

Maybe he’s just grasping at straws at this point and hopes it turns out okay.

His fingers latch around the phone, pulling it off the receiver and dials his home’s number, praying with all his might that this ridiculous idea would actually work. 

Come on, come on, come on, come on, com–

Oh, he felt like crying when someone picked up.

[ ‘Hello?’ ]

His mother’s voice broke through and poke him in the heart. He couldn’t breath as relief washed over him like a storm.

[ ‘Hello? Lonnie? Hopper? Who is this?’ ]

Say something, say something, say something– His lip quivers as he swallows. “M-Mom?” He can’t wait till Steph hears about this. “M-Mom, I-It’s me.” 

She can hear me right? She has to. 

[ ‘Will? Will? It’s Will!’ ]

[ ‘Mom, it’s Will?’ ]

He could cry upon hearing the second voice. “J-Jonathan? Mom? M-Me and Stephanie are tr-trap in some weird place! I-I don’t know what t-to–”

Then he was cut off by the dreadful sound of the monster. Will watched as its claws wrapped around the corner, almost like it was pulling itself into the kitchen. He doesn’t even know where it came from. He didn’t even hear it freaking come in! 

He froze on sight, his mother shouting something he couldn’t make out as the beast with no eyes looked directly at him. He wanted to scream but it was stuck in his throat. Is this how he was going to die? Die by listening to his mother’s pleas to answer her?

It shrieked and seemed to get bigger, ready to strike him down before it took a bullet to the face. The shot made it fall against the wall, and Will drops the fried phone and backs himself away. Stephanie looked half scared to death too as she cocks the shotgun again and fires one more when it stands up, sending it flying to the living room. As quickly as her buckling knees could hold her, she rushes over to Will, pulling him behind her as she aims the barrel into the direction the beast was. Shaking intensely, she carefully peeks around the corner to find that it had completely vanished like it did earlier. She gasps in shock before sliding to the ground herself, mentally drained.

“Steph!!” Will calls out with worry. He could see her eyes glassing over, her skin becoming paler as she shouts, 

“Where the fuck are we?!” 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT DAY || 

Steve strolls into school, head in the clouds, and an aching feeling in the pit of his stomach. His sleep went to complete shit after the conversation with his girlfriend last night. He still doesn’t understand why it was affecting him so much. It’s not like him and Steph hung out anymore. So why is he losing sleep over this?

You’re not even friends anymore, Harrington. He mentally slaps himself. Get your shit together– 

“Boo!” Tommy yelled, jumping out from behind the corner, startling him.

“Jesus, Hagan.” Steve said, holding his chest while the other teen laughed.

“That was so easy.”

“So–” Carol’s arm snakes around him with a grin. “Did you tell your little girlfriend about your party?” 

“I-I… not yet.” 

“What? You didn’t tell her at her house yesterday?” 

“N-No. Never got the chance to.”

“What?!” Tommy scoffs. “Stealthy Stevie didn’t get to use his skills last night?” Him and his girlfriend laughed, but then grew quiet seeing how distant the King was being. “What the fuck’s going on with you, man?”

“Um…” Steve’s gaze gets caught onto someone else, spotting a certain person posting a certain flier up on the bulletin board. He swallows, and masks a fake smile. “You guys go ahead to class. I got to grab something out of my locker.”

“Oh, we can go with you.” Carol begins, trying to follow him but he shakes them off.

“No, no. Go ahead. I’ll meet you there.” Steve ignores the strange looks they gave him before walking away. Deciding this was the ‘only’ way, he rushes over to the oldest Byers kid, ‘accidently’ pushing his shoulder into his, knocking the papers out of his hand while he was leaving. He scoffs, while saying, “Watch where you’re going!” 

Jonathan says nothing as he bends over to collect the rest, oblivious to the other teenager sliding a paper away with his foot. Once he leaves, Steve retrieves the flier from under his shoe, reading it over.  

  HAVE YOU SEEN ME? Stephanie Henderson Age 16, 5’4” Brown Hair, Blue Eyes, 110lbs. Last seen wearing a brown work uniform, black jacket, white sneakers, and a baseball cap. Reach out to Claudia Henderson or Joyce Byers at #### or #### 

Steve stares with a distant look in his eyes, thumb brushing over her picture. Such a gentle smile for a gentle person. God… why did they have to use that picture? It was right before he–

He frowns, throwing his head back. 

Fuck… 

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Back at the Wheeler’s house, Mike decided to stay home, his parents totally unaware of him doing so. He showed the new girl around his place, acting a bit giggly when they finally got to his room. He was so excited to show off his action figures, and comic books, and anything else that he holds close to his heart. He didn’t even realize she was starting to wander off to where a collection of trophies were. Her brown eyes grew with fascination by them.

“Oh, these are all my science fair trophies. We got first every year.” Mike’s smile drops just a tad. “Except for last year when we got third. Mr. Clarke said it was totally political.”

Yeah, it totally was that. He expected some kind of reaction from her, except for the one where her eyes widened and she slowly pointed to the picture of Will in their fair picture together.

Mike perked up, hopeful. “You know Will? Did you see him? Last Night? On the road? Did–” He pauses. “Hang on a sec.” Maybe he’s getting his hopes up as he grabs another photo after shifting around in his drawer. It was a picture of his friends’ families at the lake, posing nicely for the camera. 

He points to the girl in the right hand corner. “This is Stephanie. She’s his sister.” He points to Dustin who’s hanging out behind her. “She supposedly gave Will a ride the night he disappeared, and we can’t find her either. Did you see her too?”

The girl studies Steph’s face, slowly the same reaction she had from seeing Will returned as she pointed again. “I–”

Her answer was cut short when they heard something from outside. Mike gets up quickly, peeking through his curtains to see his mother’s car pulling into the driveway. He pales.

“Shit.” He rushes to grab her by the hand and strings her along. “We gotta hide!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

Of course the eldest stayed awake for most of the night, the two of them tucked away in the far corner of Will’s room, her eyes trained on the door just in case that wretched monster appeared again. She kept a good grip on the shotgun, one foot planted on the ground for a quick pop up if needed. Adrenaline was pumping in her blood, she was fighting off her exhaustion and hunger, while a tune played on her dry lips.

“♪ Here we stand

Worlds apart, hearts broken in two. Two. Two

Sleepless nights.

Losing ground, I’m reaching for you. You. You

Feeling that it’s gone

Can’t change your mind

If we can’t go on

To survive–♪”

Will stirred beside her, his head resting on her shoulder that was starting to fall asleep, but she refused to jostle the kid. God knows he needs his rest. Well… so does she, but she’ll get around to that. 

Her mind wanders back to the conversation they had last night, the one where Will admitted he spoke to his mother on the phone. Shock wasn’t the right word, especially when she examined the phone that had been burnt black, and when asking again if he heard that right, the youngest Byers swears he did. 

Is there actually a way to communicate to… well… ‘our world’, I guess. She ponders on that thought, wondering if it’s possible to do so without frying your phone to death. Not to mention Will swears he heard people talking before calling his mother. Can we only communicate to the people we ‘hear’? 

She scolds herself. This hurts my head too much.

“♪ –The tide

Love divides

Someday, love will find you

Break those chains that bind you

One night will remind you

How we touched and went our separate ways

If he ever hurts you

True love won’t desert you

You know I still love you

Though we touched and went our separate ways– ♪”

Will stirred again, this time waking up slowly with a groan. “Was it a dream…?” He whispers, his eyes opening at a snail pace.

“I wish.” Steph says, sadly.

“Did you sleep okay?” He asks, rubbing his face.

Her heart skips a beat and a lie slips out. “Uh, yeah. It was fine.”

“That’s good.”

“We shouldn’t stay here.” She says, surprising him. “We should probably move around, maybe lose that monster for a while. And you’re probably hungry too, I know my mom keeps cans and bottled water down in our basement for emergencies. That should tie us over for a little while.”

“Is it even safe to go out?” He wonders, yet intrigued. He’ll admit… he is a bit famished. 

“I don’t know. But we got to try. Right?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Whoa, whoa. Careful, careful.” Hopper says as he snags his partner by the collar. “I need you alive for the next few days, at least.”

Callahan smirked and scoffed as he gestures to the Quarry below. “Oh, hell, I could survive that.” He said, making his superior laugh. “What? George Burness made the jump. And he was drunk as a skunk. He did it on a $10 bet.”

“George is a liar. You make that jump from this height, that water turns into cement. Hits you like a ton of bricks.” Hopper smacks his hands together. “Break every damn bone in your body.”

The youngster pondered on that for a second before shaking his head. “Nah.”

[ ‘Chief, you copy?’ ] 

Hopper grabs his walkie from his belt. “Yeah, Flo, talk to me.”

[ ‘Hey, Chief, we got a call from over at Benny’s. I think you need to get there right away.’ ]

And those were words he didn’t want to hear. So he and his team rushed over there as quickly as they could, and the first they were met with was the smell of a rotting corpse. 

“Ugh, Jesus!” Callahan said, covering his nose.

“Suicide?” Powell asked, after a moment of silence. 

Hopper hummed and stared in disbelief at the man laying on the table, pistol in hand and a bullet wound straight through the temple. There’s no way this can be real.

“Missing kid, suicide.” Callahan frowns. “You must feel like a big city cop again, huh, Chief? 

“Well, I mostly dealt with strangers back then.” Hopper replies, this particular moment he almost broke down. “Benny was my friend.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

Stephanie peeked outside before gesturing to Will to follow. The two of them had backpacks on that they found lying around, going to use them to fill up with anything they could find – But the task that lay ahead was going to be hard. The task was…

Walking back through Mirkwood to the Henderson home. 

No lights, just a few bullets to spare, and their pure will to survive (Or maybe it’s the fear that’s fueling that will).

“I don’t like this.” Will mutters, only a few minutes after they left the Byers’ driveway and down a few feet on the road. “What if that thing spawns in front of us again?”

“Then we shoot it and book it again. That’s all we can do now.” Steph replies, carefully looking around. But what if he’s right? What if thing actually just spawns out of thin air? Then there’s not telling where and when not to go.

He stays silent, shaking a tad as they make it further down the road. It took a hot minute for the older girl to notice this and stop briefly, the twelve year old’s eyes confused just as she held out her hand. Without missing a beat, his clammy hand takes it, squeezing it tight. She smiles just a tad, reminding her of Dustin before they started walking again.

She felt him hang on to dear life as they strolled into the darkest part of Mirkwood, the eeriness that was silence was making their hearts race. She came to a conclusion after facing the monster last night that she had to be the strong one here. She has to act like the older sister again, and remain calm, and to keep him safe.

I made a promise. I don’t know how to fulfill it just yet, but I’m going to get him out of here. Steph casts a glance down at him, the poor boy’s face looked so cold. Does hers look like that too?

She grins after a quick thought. “Hey–” His eyes locked with hers. “What does a ‘Ranger’ do in D&D? That one sounds intriguing to me.”

His face lights up. “You actually want to play D&D?”

“Hey, you suggested it, I might as well. So, the Ranger? What’s that like? The lore?”

“Well, Rangers are warriors that explore different civilizations, and they hunt down the deadliest of monsters. They’re trained in many different combat techniques, survival skills, and even some magic.”

“Magic? I like the sound of that.”

“They mostly reside in the forest, or anything ‘nature-y’.” 

She chuckles. “I don’t like the sound of that. What else? Aren’t there like… classes… or different types?

“Oh, yeah.” He nods. “I guess it depends on what you prefer. Do you want me to tell you?”

“I’m all ears.” Steph said, making a motion. I’m just glad he’s stopped shaking.

“Well, there’s a lot. The most common ones are ‘Beast Masters’, which are accompanied with an animal companion. Then there’s ‘Hunters’, which are mainly just professional assassins that take down monsters of all sorts. Now, even though all Rangers have the capability of taking monsters down, Hunters are strictly made just to do that.”

She hums. “Interesting.”

“Then there’s ‘Gloom Stalkers’, who live mostly in dark realms, and take down the shadowy beasts roaming the territory. They’re pretty good at ambushing their opponents.” He smiles. “Personally, I find that the coolest.”

“Well, I can see why. What else? Do Rangers get weapons?” 

“Of course! The most common is a two-blade or archery.”

“Archery sounds cool.”

“See, I agree. But I know Lucas always says it’s ‘stupid’, so–”

Steph shakes her head with a sigh. “Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to prove him wrong when I play.”

“So you are going to play with us!” Will said, joyfully, like you just told him Christmas was coming early.

“If that’s how I prove Lucas wrong, then so be it. So how does one newbie play D&D?” She asked, hopefully this will keep him occupied. At least I can keep him distracted until we get there.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT ||

“Are you out of your mind?” Lucas said, as soon as Mike was done with his explanation for them being here. 

“Just listen to me.” Mike pleads.

“You are out of your mind–”

“She knows about Will and Steph.”

Dustin perks up after being the silent one here. “What do you mean she knows about them?”

Mike grabs the pictures from earlier and holds them up. “She pointed at them, at their picture. She knew they were missing. I could tell.”

“You could tell?” Lucas asked, looking between the pictures and the girl who was on the bed.

“Just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place where they disappeared?”

Dustin nodded, agreeing. “That is weird.”

“And she said bad people are after her.” Mike said, with a frown. “I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will and Steph. I think she knows what happened to them.”

“Then why doesn’t she tell us?” Lucas asked, glaring at her direction before stomping over. “Do you know where they are?” He grabs her by the shoulder. “Do you know where Will and Stephanie are?!” 

“Stop it, you’re scaring her!” Mike pulls him away, as his friend brushes him off.

“She should be scared! If you know where they are, tell us! This is nuts. We have to take her to your mom.”

“No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger.”

“What kind of danger?” Dustin asked, his thoughts from earlier about his sister and Will taking a shotgun with them crossed his mind.

Lucas gives him a weird look. “Her name is Eleven?” 

“El for short.” Mike clarifies.

“Mike! What kind of danger?” Dustin pushes, his stomach turning.

“Danger danger!” The brunette makes a finger gun and points it between Henderson’s eyes before moving over towards Lucas who demises quickly.

“No, no, no!” Sinclair snaps, rushing for the door. “We’re going back to plan A. We’re telling your mom.”

He pulls open the door only for it to slam shut automatically. Not even batting an eye at that, he tries again, for it to not only to shut with more force but to even lock itself. The boys look back at the only explanation, and they see El standing on her feet with a drop of blood coming out of her nose.

“No.” She said, with a tone that told them not to push it.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Back at the station, Hopper was questioning an anxious friend of Benny’s. Earl was his name, and he was sitting in a chair, eyes full of disbelief as he lit a cigarette.

“Just doesn’t make any sense, Chief.”

“You, uh, notice anything odd about him the last few weeks?” Hopper asked, trying to keep it professional (even though this case was hurting him the most). 

Earl shakes his head. “No, we’re fixin’ to go fishing down the Etowah next Sunday. I mean, he was lookin’ forward to it. I know that.”

“He got any enemies you might know about? I mean, people who might not want him around?”

“The exes didn’t like him much. That’s for sure, but… nah.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Yesterday. Lunch, same as always.”

“Just you and the boys?”

“Yep. Me and Henry and…” He pauses. “Well, there was this, uh, this kid. No kid did this.”

“Kid?” Hopper nearly perked up hope. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah. At lunch, uh, there was this boy that, uh I mean, he was trying to steal food out of Benny’s kitchen. Can you imagine that?”

Hopper locked eyes with Callahan who got the silent message. “This kid what’d he look like?”

“Well, he was about yea high.” Earl raises his arm up and out. “You know, tiny like. I didn’t get a good look at him, though. He was back in the kitchen.”

“He look like this?” Callahan asked, coming back with a missing kid poster of Will. 

He takes the flier, and immediately shakes his head. “Oh, no, that’s… that’s Lonnie’s missin’ kid. No. This was a different kid. This one had really short hair. I mean, it was buzzed nearly down to the scalp.”

Hopper tries not to let his composure break, and continues to hold on to the slimmer of hope. “Yeah, well, let’s… You know, let’s forget about the haircut. I mean, if this kid had a buzz cut… could it be Lonnie’s kid?”

“Well, I-I… didn’t get a good look at him. About the right height, though. I mean, could’ve been. Yeah, that’s… Could’ve been.”

Hopper frowns, taking the poster back from him. “And, you only saw the boy right? No girl? Teenager? Dark hair?”

“No.” Earl shakes his head once more. “No. I didn’t see a girl.”

The Chief mentally sighs. This is not good.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

[ ‘A party?’ ]

Finally! Steve thought, pumping his fist. She finally sounded intrigued. He was hoping this would make up for his weird behavior at school. 

And, no, no, no, It wasn’t because of– well… ‘you know who’. Totally not because of her. Totally, totally, totally not–

[ ‘Steve?’ ]

Nancy’s voice broke through his totally not clouded mind. “Uh, yeah, sorry. Yeah, a party. Well… kind of. It’s just going to be me, Tommy H. and Carol. No parents for the whole weekend, so we wouldn’t have to worry about them coming in and ruining the mo-jo.”

Just my friends and my girlfriend. Just having fun, no worries about–

[ ‘Not much of a party with just four people.’ ]

He laughs. “Okay, I’ll admit, it’s a little sad. But you know, it’s better this way. And, you know, if you want to, you can invite Barbara. If it makes you feel more comfortable. Or not. Or you don’t have to come–”

[ ‘Steve.’ ]

“Yeah?”

[ ‘I’ll totally come. But I’m going to try to convince Barb first if that’s alright.’ ]

“Yeah, Yeah. Totally. It starts at seven.”

[ ‘Starts at seven. Got it. I’ll see you then.’ ]

He smiles. “See you then. Bye.”

[ ‘Bye.’ ] 

“Yes!” He said, once he hung up the phone. “Finally.” He feels his spirits get lifted again. “This is going to be perfect.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

“Welcome to Mi Casa.” Stephanie said, upon entering her home. Just as gross and dark as Will’s. 

“You said the basement, right?” Will asked, the thought of eating something sounded nice.

“Yep.” 

They thought navigating below “sunlight” was going to be hard, but I guess living in darkness for nearly twenty-four hours had its perks. Finding the tote where the emergency supplies were easier than they thought, their stomachs growing when they saw the cans of food. 

“Hang on second.” Steph said, disappearing back up the stairs for a sec, and then coming back with some forks and a can opener. She uses her shirt to wipe it clean the best she could before using. “Pineapple or Peaches?”

“Pineapple, please.” Will said, drooling as she placed the open can in his hands. The two of them plop down criss-cross applesauce, sighing with relief that they could finally take a rest.

“We’ll have to take what we can, but don’t make your bag too heavy in case we need to run again. Got it?” She replies, sliding over a bottle of water to him too. He nods, and takes a second to chug some liquid too.

One can was enough for now, since none of them had any clue how long they’ll be here, they’ll need to ration what they can find. Food, water, a first aid kit, some mittens and hats, an extra jacket, socks (And Will was proud to find a half box of matches laying around).

“Do we need anything else?” He asked, making her think.

She hums, and feels around her pockets. “We need more ammo. Or another gun at least.”

“Do you have any?” 

“No. I don’t.” She closes her eyes. Now where could we get more nearby? 

But the more she thought about it, the more she dreaded. She does know one place they have a gun, and hopefully still does since it’s been so long. 

She sighs. “I know… one place that has a gun. It’s far though. Really far. It’ll take us a couple hours to get there on foot. But it’s closer than going to town.” 

“If that’s what we have to do, then let’s do it.” Will said, sliding his backpack back on, ready to start their journey again. He flashes her a goofy grin. “I hope I can count this as PE for school.”

If that was a joke to cheer her up then it totally worked. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Now that they might have a lead, the police and its volunteers spread out in the woods behind Benny’s diner, hoping to find some good news (For Hopper’s sake he really hopes so). 

“Hey, you think Earl really saw Will?” Callahan asked, trying to keep up with his Boss’ speed. “I mean, what’s he doin’ with a shaved head? And stealing food from Benny?”

“Tell you what, when we find him, we’ll ask.” Hopper replies, with an attitude. 

“Can’t ask a corpse questions.” Powell said, getting a glare. Suddenly, one of the volunteers blew a whistle. 

“Hold up! You got something?” Hopper shouted and broke into a sprint. “Hey, what do you got?”

“Not sure.” The person said, crouching down next to a drain. “Maybe nothing. I found this. In there.”

Hopper takes a piece of fabric from his hand, before shining his flashlight through the drain, still hopeful that maybe he was lying in there, scared but safe. 

“No way a kid crawls through there.” Powell said, in denial.

“I don’t know… a scared enough one might. His brother said he was good at hiding.”

“Yeah, but, just Will?” Callahan asked, conflicted. “What happened to Stephanie? ‘Cause there ain’t no way a teenager’s going to fit through this drain pipe.”

“Maybe they separated?” Powell questioned. 

“I’m not so sure about that. Claudia said her daughter would never leave anyone behind.”

“Willingly that is.”

“Come on, you two.” Hopper said, jogging again.

This time, they decided to follow the drain pipe that led them further into the forest. Just as their knees were about to give out, they’re met with an electric fence and a keep out sign for the one and only…

.

.

.

Hawkins Lab.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“El?” Mike announces his arrival into the basement. He had just finished having dinner with his family, and even convinced his mom to let his friends stay the night. All part of his plan to figure out what was happening to his missing family.

“No adults. Just us and some meatloaf.” He continues, placing a tray down in front of the makeshift fort, letting her know to come out. Her eyes trail to him and then to the two boys falling behind. “Don’t worry. They won’t tell anyone about you. They promise. Right?”

“We never would’ve upset you if we knew you had superpowers.” Dustin said, before getting hit in the leg by Mike. “Ow!”

“What Dustin is trying to say is that they were just scared… earlier. That’s all.”

“We just wanted to find our friends.” Lucas admitted, feeling a tad guilty for his actions. 

“‘Friends’?” El asked, confused by that word. It was so foreign to her. What does it even mean? 

“Yeah, friends. Will? Steph?”

“What are ‘friends’?” 

Lucas gave her a weird look. “Is she serious?” Henderson shrugged. “Um, a friend–”

“Is someone that you’d do anything for.” Mike cuts in. 

“You lend them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards.” Dustin adds.

“And they never break a promise.”

“Especially when there’s spit.” Lucas also puts in, making sure she was getting it.

“Spit?” El said, tilting her head.

“A spit swear means–” He spits into his palm. “You never break your word.” He holds his hand out for Dustin to take and shake. “It’s a bond.”

Mike nods in agreement. “That’s super important, because friends… they tell each other things. Things that parents don’t know.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Barbara finally pulls the car over to the side after her friend insisted they stop here. She looks over at the brunette with a strange look. “What are we doing here? His house is three blocks away.”

“We can’t park in the driveway.” Nancy said, making the ginger roll her eyes.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, the neighbors might see.”

“This is so stupid.” Barb shakes her head. “I’m just gonna drop you off.”

“Calm down, Barb. Come on. You promised that you’d go.” Nancy pleaded with her ‘baby doe’ face. “You’re coming. We’re gonna have a great time.”

“He just wants to get in your pants.”

Nancy chuckles with disbelief. “No, he doesn’t.”

“Nance… seriously. He invited you to his house. His parents aren’t home. Come on, you are not this stupid.”

“Tommy H. and Carol are gonna be there.”

“Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade.” Barb cringes at the thought. “It’ll probably just be, like, a big orgy.”

“Gross.”

“I’m serious!”

“All right, well…” Nancy takes her seat belt off and starts unbuttoning her sweater. “You can be, like, my guardian. All right? Make sure I don’t get drunk and do anything stupid.”

“Ugh.” Barb said, shaking her head. She watches as her friend takes her top off and starts fiddling around in her purse for another one. “Is that a new bra?”

Nancy pauses. “No.”

“So, obvious, Nancy…”

“Hey.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•° 

“What’s the weirdo doing?” Lucas asked, watching her sit at their D&D table and close her eyes. 

“El?” Mike said, as they gathered around, waiting.

When she opens her eyes, she slowly gravitates to one of the pieces and picks it up. “Will.” She replies, showing it was the Wizard piece, the one that the boy always plays as.

“Superpowers.” Dustin said, as Lucas rolled his eyes, still not convinced about this whole thing. 

“Did you see him? On Mirkwood? Do you know where he is?” Mike asks, just before she brushes the rest of the figures off the board and flips it over. She places the wizard piece on the board. “I don’t understand.”

“Hiding.” She replies, the boys looking at one another. She then places another figure down, surprising them.

“Who is that supposed to be?” Lucas asked, as Dustin perked up.

“The Ranger. Is that Stephanie?” He asked, as she nodded. “Are they hiding?” She nods again. “Together.” Another nod.

“From the bad men?” Mike asked, but she shakes her head in disappointment. “Then from who?”

And without saying another word she places another figure down.

It was a beast with two heads.

.

.

.

The Demogorgon.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW ||

It took a while like she said, and luckily they had no trouble getting there, but what was troubling the young boy was that she wouldn’t tell him where they were going. Was she embarrassed by this place? Did something happen? He doesn’t know, but it’s gnawing at him.

“We’ve arrived.” She said, as they were coming up to it.

It was… a pretty big house, much bigger than his and even his friends’ houses. He wonders if this was one of the rich neighbourhoods or something like that. And sure enough… his questions would be answered when he happened to catch the name on the mailbox. 

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Now he understands why she didn’t say anything. 

“So this is the…” Was he choosing his words correctly? “The King’s house?”

“Yep.” Stephanie said, hand on the doorknob which miraculously opened. She rolls her blue eyes. “They still keep it unlocked.” They stepped inside, still gloomy and covered in vines and goo like the last two. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Will follows behind, observing everything that seemed a bit foreign for him. “I knew they were rich but I didn’t know they were that rich.” He said after observing art piece after art piece that he knows isn’t locally made.

“Yeah, they got crazy money.” She said, and her pace seemed to quicken without her noticing. She hustles into the parents room, opening the closet to find a safe. “Shit.” She forgot about the lock. “Where did that bastard put the key?”

Stephanie starts running around the bedroom, pulling open drawers, looking through trinkets, his wife’s jewelry box too – A curse word after every failed attempt.

“Steph?” Will said, worriedly.

“Just give me a second.” She snapped, and left the room. She starts opening the drawers from the tables in the hallway, visibly getting more annoyed with each second. “For fuck sakes–”

“Stephanie!”

“What?!” She slammed it shut, rattling everything that was on. The force and her tone seemed to shock him, and even take a small step back. She grips the table, closing her eyes to calm herself. “Fuck. I just…”

And when she opens them she finds herself staring at the boy she wanted to forget about. It was a picture of him on his swim team, the frame saying: Championship 1981. She just stares at with emotions the youngest Byers couldn’t figure out what they were.

“Steph?” He asked, slowly.

“Yeah?”

“What happened to you and Steve?”

She continues to stare at the photo for another minute before pushing herself to stand. “I think he still keeps that knife in his room.” Was what she muttered before heading in the opposite direction to another room. 

Will could only wonder what really happened to them…

.

.

.

Just as the lights started to flicker.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•° 

|| PRESENT ||

Inside the most “fabulous” party of the year, Barb laid back in one of the pool chairs, listening to the terrible music that’s blasting in her ear as her best friend watches her boyfriend slice a hole into a beer can and start drinking it all in one go.

“Is that supposed to impress me?” Nancy asked, as he sat down and lit a cigarette. 

“You’re not?” Steve asked, genuinely surprised. 

“You are a cliche, you do realize that?”

“You are a cliche. What with your– your grades and your band practice.”

“I’m so not in band.”

“Okay, party girl. Why don’t you just, uh, show us how it’s done, then?” He hands her the knife and a can.

“Okay.” She says, all giggly.

“You gotta make a little hole right in–”

“I got it.”

“Yeah, she’s smart, you douche!” Tommy said, as he crushes his own can on his forehead. 

Soon, everyone was chanting “Chug” as Nancy down a whole beer in under thirty seconds. Everyone cheered and laughed, proud at the achievement. 

“Barb, you wanna try?” Nancy asked, holding the blade up.

“What? No. No, I don’t want to. Thanks.” She said, shaking her head. But after a quick back and forth badgering she finally gave in. She rips the items out of the girl’s hand, clearly upset. It wasn’t long before her judgment was clouding her mind and accidentally nicks herself. 

“Whoa, Gnarly.” Tommy said, impressed by the deep cut.

“Are you okay?” Nancy asked, worriedly.

“Yeah.” Barb said, trying to push her away. 

“Barb, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine. Where’s your bathroom?”

“Oh, it’s– Steve stands up, and starts taking her over to the sliding door. “It’s, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left.” He frowns. Shit of course.

But before he could say anything, Tommy had pushed Carol into the pool and then jumped in after her. Steve then shrugs, and lets a smirk play on his face as he does the same to Nancy before doing a cannonball.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW ||

Steph tries to contain herself as she enters his room. It was taking a lot of strength not to just start flipping things over, and tear those stupid pendants off the wall.

Stupid fucking house. Stupid fucking room. Stupid fucking Harrington. She grits her teeth, fighting back the tears in her eyes as she desperately tries to remember where he hid the blade.

She lets out a groan. “For fuck sake’s, man! Where did you put it?!” She yells, and kicks whatever was near her. She swears something must have fallen out from it, but she doesn’t even want to look. 

God damn you, Harrington. She scolds, and rubs her face. How can he–

That’s when the light in his room flickered on and off scaring her half to death. “What the–”

“Stephanie!” Will’s voice shouted, kicking her into high gear.

“Fuck.” She mumbles, and races to find that blade.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT || 

As soon as Barb comes out of the bathroom, she immediately spots a certain someone heading up the stairs. “Nance! Nancy.” She shouts, getting her to stop. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. Just… upstairs. To change. I… fell in the pool.” Nancy said, feeling like she was on cloud nine. “Why don’t you go ahead and go home. I’ll just… I’ll get a ride or something.”

“Nance–”

“Barb, I’m fine.”

“This isn’t you.”

“I’m fine. Just go ahead and go home, okay?” 

And then Nancy leaves her all alone, confused and heartbroken by her friend’s actions. But despite being hurt, she couldn’t just up and leave her drunken buddy like this. So… 

She decides to wait.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Steve had found her some clothes she could change in, and he was grinning like a kid upon the thought of seeing his girlfriend in his clothes. 

I’m such a dork. He tells himself as she calls out his name. “Yeah?” There was a look in her eyes that he’s never seen before, and honestly was turned on by it.

But ‘Fuck that’, says the universe, and the home phone starts to ring.

He groans, irritated. “Hang on a second–” He proceeds to run out of the room, and shouts, “Hey! Turn the music down in case it’s my parents.”

Nancy chuckles, cheeks flush because she was ready to lose her– wait. Did something just touch her leg? She looks down to find that a box was tipped over and had opened, and wonders when that happened. Did she accidently kick it without realizing? Or was it already like that? Frankly, curiosity got the best of her as she crouched down to try to fix it. But then, her actions slowed when she saw something.

The Wheeler picks up a paper – a flier – to her surprise was the missing poster of Stephanie Henderson. 

“What?” She says, quietly, confusedly. Why was he keeping this? And that’s when she puts two and two together. She starts shifting through the small pile which was made up of photos, movie tickets, receipts from a record store, arcade tokens and– “Oh, my god.”

Suddenly, Steve comes jogging back in, relief on his face. “False alarm. It was just–”

“So who is she to you?” Nancy asked, standing up and flashing the memorabilia at him.

His face falls immediately. “Hey, that’s–”

“Is she the person that was rumored you pushed away?”

“It’s nothing.” Steve replies, trying to take the stuff away from her, but she ain’t budging.

“It’s nothing, or she’s nothing?”

“It’s– W-What? You jealous?” He asked, trying to play this thing off cool, but his girlfriend wasn’t stupid.

“I’m not jealous. I’m just curious.” Nancy replies, honestly. She takes another look at the photos in her hand before looking back at him. “I mean, if she isn’t your friend anymore, then why do you hang on to all this stuff? Or better question–”

“Nancy, stop, it’s just–”

“Why did you break it off?”

His brain short circuits again. “What?”

“I said, ‘Why did you break it off?’ I mean…” She flips through some of the photos he has, memorized. “From what I see, you two remind me of Barb and I. You two look like you were tied at the hip. So why break it off?”

“I…” Why couldn’t he fucking talk all of a sudden? “I didn’t, I–”

“So, she broke it off?” She said, eyebrow raised. 

“No. I-I broke it off, she didn’t do anything–”

“So… why did you?”

“Nancy–”

“Look, I just want to understand you. I mean, every time I think I have you figured out you throw me through a loop.” She gives him a reassuring look as she picks up the box, shuffling whatever was remaining around. “I mean, from what I see, you seem like a completely different person then. I just wonder if it’s a good thing or a bad–” 

Now it was her turn to look lost (and for Steve to lose all the color in his face). She frowns, slowly pulling out a small casing. “Is this a… bullet?”

“That’s nothing!” He manages to snag at least that away.

“Why do you have a bullet in the box?!” She asks, eyes blown wide.

He swallows. “Nancy–”

“Did you shoot her or something?”

“What?!” He scoffs. “No! Why would I shoot her?!”

“Well did she shoot you?”

“No! Nobody shot anybody, it was just–”

“Then why do you have a stray bullet cas–”

“‘CAUSE IT WAS MY FAULT!! OKAY?!” Steve snaps, startling them both (He can’t believe he just lost his cool like that). He swallows again, head spinning at the memories (Why did he fucking leave the box right there?). “I just… there was an incident and… it… shaped my decision, okay? But it didn’t involve me or her with a gun, it was… s-someone else. Someone I know. I don’t know why I’m holding onto it, I…” He sighs and grabs the box, holding it out for her to put the stuff away.

It takes her a moment to process it all, and she does put all the stuff in her hands away, but she remains silent the whole time. She’s never seen him act this way before.

It honestly concerned her.

Nancy breaks eye contact, and only reverses it when she gathers the right words. “Look, Steve, I’m sorry I intruded, I probably shouldn’t have but… I’m just trying to understand you.”

Steve shakes his head, still confused. “I-I…” He shrugs, and crosses his arms defensibly. “What’s there to understand?”

Nancy gestures to him and says, “Well, for starters, you’re an airhead and–”

“So?” He cuts in, as she holds her tongue and continues. 

“And you’re arrogant, snarky, and sweet–”

“Sweet’s fine.”

“Of course. Sweet’s fine. I love how nice you are to me, Steve.” She then frowns for him. “However, that gets overshadowed by your… insecurities.”

He pauses, now it was his turn to take in those words (What the hell did she mean by that? He’s not… no). “I don’t… I don’t have any… any–”

“Steve.” Nancy takes a step closer. “I don’t know why the kid in these pictures decided to change into the one I’m seeing before me, but if that doesn’t have to do with any insecurities, then I’m not sure why you decided to make that change willingly.”

“I… W-Willingly?” He scoffs again. “What do you mean? I never change willingly? What are you even getting at, Nance?” He hasn’t changed. He’s never changed. What is she even getting at?

But Nancy looked at him with eyes full of pity and took another step closer. “I don’t know what the reason was for you two to stop being friends, but all I know, from what I gathered, she wasn’t the one to end it.” She places Steph’s flier on his chest that he subconsciously grabbed, and said one last thing before leaving his room. And that was,

“Maybe there was a good reason for you to end it, but that’s not an excuse for you to stop being who you really are.”

And Steve’s left with an epiphany he’s not sure he can decipher. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW || 

As soon as the lock was broken, she retrieved the gun from the safe and frantically told her companion to get down the stairs. Will and Steph’s hearts were in their ears, and it sped up when the light above the front door flickered.

“Shit–” She pulls the boy to a halt, and redirects them to the back door. “Go, go, go, go, go.” 

She throws open the sliding door, and out into the backyard, but as soon as they step foot onto the ground, the lights around the empty pool start to flicker. The two of them stopped immediately and held their breaths. They weren’t sure where the beast was at, but it was definitely nearby ready to snatch them up.

They were afraid to even breathe or twitch. What if this thing really does appear out of thin air?

They both jolted when a loud growl came from somewhere inside the pool. Wasting no time, Steph taps Will on the arm and makes a shushing gesture, then waves him to follow her. The boy understood completely, and the two of them move slowly, so carefully that there’s not way–

The both of them screamed when two human hands grabbed onto the top of the pool ladder. 

A girl’s head poked up, face battered and covered in grime, her glasses shattered and splattered with blood. The girl looked so fam–

“Nancy!!” She shouts, as something growls behind her, scaring all of them to their core. And when her eyes landed on the two of them, she desperately yelled for help just seconds before the beast’s claws wrapped around her head and pulled her back. 

Will and Steph matched the girl’s scream, and the beast roared in delight that his prey was just right in front of it. Its claws could be seen grabbing the ladder, like it was trying to crawl out and feast.

That’s when the two of them booked it. 

The guns rattled in their hands.

The tears in their eyes.

Whatever this place was, they knew…

.

.

.

This couldn’t get compared to hell itself.

(TBC)

-Taglist is Open-

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

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[dwobbitfromtheshire]

A/N: Writing this mostly for me as a comfort since my dog just died, but I'm letting you guys enjoy it as well. It is mostly just a love letter to Steddie and miscommunications. You're going to see a little bit of my weirdness in this. Also, a little bit of a love letter to Trans people, too. I love trans!Eddie.

Leah Henderson stood in the mirror as she stared at her reflection. It was strange how she loved the way she looked, but at the same time, she's always doubted that anyone but her would ever find this attractive. She was wider than she was tall with boobs bigger than. . . Well, actually, she didn't think there was anything bigger than her boobs. Boobs. Boobs. Boobs! Leah giggled. What a funny word. She twirled around, her skirt flaring out and grabbed her boobs in her hands. Gah! Why were they so goddamn big? She flipped her curly auburn hair over her chest and boinged one of her curls before putting it over her lip like she had a mustache. Leah nearly screamed when there came a knock on her bedroom door.

"Leah?" Her brother's voice floated through the door. "You've been in there for a while. Are you sad because you knocked something over with your boobs again?"

Leah sighed but smiled fondly anyway. Dustin could be a nosy pain in the ass but he meant well. She opened the door, being reminded again that she was the same height as her much younger brother when they came face to face.

"No, butthead, that's not it," Leah said and pouted. "I miss Steve and Eddie. I kind of wish I went with them."

"Look, I miss them too, but we hang out with them enough as it is, especially you," Dustin said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked with a scowl. "Aren't you the one who's always up their asses?"

"And you're the one who always interrupts their date night," Dustin said.

"I do not! They just started dating! They don't have an official date night yet!" Leah said. "They're the ones inviting me to hangout!"

"Leah, why do you think they went away on vacation? If you were there, you'd just make things worse for them and for yourself," Dustin said.

"You mean like I always do, apparently? They were so goddamn tired of me that they had to run away to fucking California to get away from like Joyce did, their own personal monster from the Upside Down?!" Leah exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

"Leah, that's not what I meant!"

Leah slammed the door in his face, locked it, and threw herself on her bed as she broke down in tears. Maybe Dustin was right. Maybe she always makes things worse. It's why Steve and Eddie left. It's why their father had left. It was all her fault. She ignored the knocking on her door and proceeded to cry into her pillow until she fell asleep. She continued to ignore Dustin for several days, and even on the day that Steve was supposed to return with Eddie. She had spent days agonizing in her room over it. She did spend too much time with Steve and Eddie, hoping for something that clearly would never happen. She decided to change that. She was almost out the door to leave for her date when Dustin stopped her.

"I'm so sorry, you know that's not what I meant. I was just trying to give Eddie and Steve the privacy that they deserve after all of the attention Eddie got," Dustin said, his lip quivering.

"I know, Dusty, I know you didn't mean it," Leah said with a sigh. "Look, we'll talk later. My date is waiting for me. I just need to move on. Just move forward from Steve and Eddie. They do deserve privacy."

"Why are you making it sound like they're your ex? Or maybe you're in love with them," Dustin chuckled, and Leah bit her lip as his face fell in realization. "Holy shit. You're in love with them."

Suddenly, the door burst open. Eddie strolled in with open arms, a wide grin on his face.

"We probably should have gone straight home first, but we wanted to stop by and see our favorite Hendersons. . . Well, don't everyone come running to greet us all at once," Eddie said. "What's going on here?"

Leah rolled her eyes and brushed by Steve as he was coming in.

"Jesus, what's her problem?" Steve asked.

"Who's that guy, and why is she getting into his car?" Eddie scowled, his face pressed right up against the window.

"That's her date," Dustin replied.

"Her what?" Steve and Eddie asked as they watched her drive off.

Steve whirled around, shutting the door, and placed his hands on his hips.

"Why was your sister so upset?" He asked, and Dustin winced.

"It's kind of my fault," he replied.

"What did you do, you little shit?" Eddie asked as he turned on him.

"It wasn't what I was implying at all, but it kind of sounded like I was implying that you ran away to California to get away from her but really it was the assholes in this town. And I might have said that it would only make things worse if she were there, but only like as a third wheel scenario. Those situations suck!" Dustin exclaimed.

Eddie shrieked, took off Dustin's hat, and began hitting him with it.

"It's the complete opposite, you asshole!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Stop! Stop!" Dustin yelled, and finally Eddie gave him back his hat.

"We're completely in love with her, but we thought it would freak her out if we asked her to join our relationship," Steve sighed.

"Oh shit! Oh. Shit, I fucked up big this time!" Dustin exclaimed.

"You sure did," Eddie glared.

"Look, she's going on a date with another guy thinking that you two want to be as far from her as possible, but the truth is that you two love her and she loves the both of you! I made her think that it was the worst thing in the world, but I swear, I didn't mean to hurt her," Dustin cried.

"We know you didn't, buddy," Steve said. "You need to calm down and tell us where they're going."

"She didn't say," Dustin said meekly.

"Okay. So, we either look all over town or we wait here," Eddie said as he paced the living room.

"There is a third option," Dustin said.

"Which is?" Steve asked.

"Call El and have her look for Leah," Dustin said.

"Nope! Not only would that be a violation of her privacy, but it would also be using El's powers for our own personal gain. Not very wise," Eddie sighed. "As much as I don't like it, we're just going to have to see what she decides when the date is over."

"And if she falls head over heels for this guy?" Steve asked.

Eddie sighed and placed his hands on Steve’s hips.

"There's no way she'd choose some stranger over Steve Harrington," Eddie replied. "No fucking way."

Leah sobbed as she walked home, shoes in hand. She should have known it was too good to be true. He was so nice to her, so understanding. He had been the first guy she had liked since Steve and Eddie, but she should have known that he didn't really want her. She prayed for rain to wash it all away, but it was a clear night, not a dark cloud in the sky. When she got home, her mother's car wasn't there reminding her that she was working the night shift. Eddie's van was still there, which meant Steve and Eddie were still there. Leah cursed her rotten luck. She couldn't let them see her like this, and she also couldn't go into the house like this either. She walked around the back of the house towards the garden hose, wincing when she bumped into the patio table. Leah wiggled out of her dress. She turned on the water and started spraying down the piece of clothing that was soaked in pigs' blood. Suddenly, the back door flew open, and Steve came out wielding a bat while Eddie held out a chair.

"Leah?!" Eddie and Steve yelled, immediately dropping their weapons.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Eddie asked.

"Okay, so, this looks bad," Leah said. "But this is isn't my blood."

"I don't think that makes us feel any better!" Steve exclaimed.

"Well, she's not hurt," Eddie said.

"It's pigs' blood," Leah said, rolling her eyes as she wrung out her dress. "Yeah, I think this is ruined. Probably my underwear, too. Can you guys fetch me my robe?"

Eddie and Steve sighed before sharing an angry look with each other.

"Carrie," they said together.

"Was it your date who did this?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, turns out the whole thing was a joke," Leah laughed darkly.

"Name. What's his name?" Steve asked.

"It's - I'm not going to tell you," she replied and sighed. "It was just a prank. Can someone please fetch me a towel and a robe?"

"It was assault!" Steve exclaimed.

"Look, I just want to rinse myself off so I don't drip all of this blood all over the house, go inside, take a shower, crawl into bed, and have a good fucking cry! Okay?!" Leah snapped.

"Of course, baby," Eddie said softly. "I'll go get you those things."

Leah rolled her eyes and started taking off the rest of her clothes. She sprayed herself down and flipped her hair over to get that, too. Steve quickly turned around. When Eddie came back, he quickly yelped and put his hands over his eyes.

"Do I look that ugly naked?" Leah asked.

"No!" Steve and Eddie exclaimed.

"I want to bite your thighs," Eddie blurted out.

Leah blushed, having witnessed Eddie in action biting the things that he liked.

"Yeah, okay," Leah said awkwardly, unsure of what to do with that information. "Towel?"

Eddie blindly started to walk over to her. Leah sighed before walking over to him and slapped his hand away from his eyes. He yelped but handed her the towel. She dried herself off, and once she was finished, she handed Steve the towel. Leah turned around to find Eddie holding the robe open for her. She turned around and put her arms through. She felt Eddie's arm wrap around her waist, his fingers brushing against the skin of her belly, and he closed the robe before tying it off. He pulled her closed her hugged her tightly, brushing his lips against her ear.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. They're going to burn in hell for what they did," Eddie whispered.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"I'll dispose of your clothes," Steve said, kissing her cheek.

"Thank you," Leah said.

Eddie wrapped an arm around her and led her inside. Dustin caused them both to yell when he jumped out at them. He was holding out Tews. Leah held a hand to her chest, glaring at her brother.

"You know very well, Dusty, that Tews is NOT an attack cat," Leah replied.

"What happened?" Dustin asked.

"Ask Steve when he comes back inside," she said. "I'm going to go take a shower."

Eddie followed her to her bedroom, where she started pulling out a large black and yellow night shirt. Just then, they both heard the sound of Steve explaining what happened to Dustin.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Dustin yelled.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Steve asked.

"TO COMMIT MURDER! HE WANTS TO SEE BLOOD?! I'LL SHOW HIM BLOOD!" Dustin yelled.

"I guess you don't want hot chocolate then, Conan," Steve said sarcastically.

"With the little marshmallows, please," Dustin said.

Leah bent over laughing as Eddie did the same. She walked into her ensuite bathroom before popping her head back out again.

"Could you come with me?" She asked Eddie.

"Into the bathroom or into the shower?" Eddie asked.

"Whatever you want to do," she shrugged.

Eddie followed her into the restroom and watched as she took off her robe before hopping into the shower. He stood outside the shower awkwardly for a moment, trying to decide what to do before he heard her sniffling. Eddie immediately stripped down and stepped into the shower. He turned her around and pulled her into her arms, cradling her against his chest. She cried for a while as he held her before she pulled back and looked at the scars on his chest.

"Do you miss them sometimes?" She asked.

"My breasts? Nope, not at all," Eddie grinned. "Why are you asking?"

"I don't know because sometimes I hate mine," she replied.

"May I?" He asked, motioning towards her breasts.

"Yeah."

He cupped them gently, holding them up.

"When you hold them, do they feel like yours?" Eddie asked.

"As mad as I get at them, I also love them, so yeah, they feel like mine," Leah replied.

"Whenever I held mine, they never felt like mine. I didn't hate them. It just felt like they didn't belong there, you know," Eddie said.

"Maybe they're somewhere out there helping a woman who's in a similar situation," Leah said.

"That's a nice thought," Eddie grinned softly. "I fucking hope so."

"After you told me and Steve, I kind of questioned myself for a while. I still am, and while I don't believe I'm like you, it's nice to question it, to not feel like you're just one thing, and maybe I'm not. There's just this fluidity to it, I guess, and when I look at you, I question myself, but in a very good way. I think it's so beautiful, and so are you," Leah said. "I'm really glad you're a part of my life, and I really hope that I didn't scare you and Steve off."

"You didn't, sweetheart, you could never," Eddie replied.

He leaned his forehead against hers and let the water wash over them, the conversation with it. Suddenly, Eddie leaned back again to look at her.

"You broke a glass with your boobs again, didn't you?" He asked.

"Eddie!" She snapped before sighing. "Yes."

Once they got out of the shower, they dressed and wrapped their hair up into a towel. Eddie winked and hip checked her on the way out of the bathroom. Steve was coming in with a tray of snacks and drinks as they were leaving the bathroom.

"I made hot chocolate and popcorn. I also got you those big marshmallows that you like," Steve said, placing them on the nightstand. "I grabbed some pretzels, too."

"Thanks, Stevie," Leah said.

"Do you want us to stay?" Steve asked.

"Do you want to go?" She asked.

"We always want you around, I just thought you knew that," Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah?" She asked, biting her lip.

Eddie plopped onto the bed and pulled her in between his legs.

"What our boy here is trying to say. . .do you want to be our girlfriend?" Eddie asked.

"You both want me?" She asked and he yanked her fully in to his lap.

"Hell yes," Eddie said.

Steve sat down on his other side, resting his head on Eddie's shoulder. Leah smiled when Steve pouted and widened his eyes.

"Please?"

"You don't have to beg. . . Unless you want to," Leah laughed. "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend."

Leah cupped Steve’s chin and gave him a kiss. She smiled as she leaned back, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Excuse me? Don't I get a kiss? I'm the one who asked?" Eddie asked.

"Hmm. . . Let me think about it. . . ," Leah giggled.

Eddie growled and pushed her back onto the bed as he began tickling her sides.

"You little minx," Eddie said and moved to kiss her but caught her cheek instead. "Leah!"

Leah giggled before pulling Eddie into a hard kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. He broke the kiss and brushed her nose with his while Steve collapsed on her other side.

"I like your shirt. You look like a cute bumblebee," Steve said and kissed her cheek.

"It's new. I got it because it reminded me of you and Steve," she blushed.

"Do you hear that, Eddie? We have our own shirt," Steve said, his eyes lighting up.

"I heard," Eddie said, his own eyes twinkling.

"I love you both," Leah said fondly.

"I know," Eddie said seriously.

"Eddie Munson! You did not just Han Solo Me!" Leah gasped and pushed him off the back. "Take it back and tell me you love me!"

"I did tell you, baby," Eddie cackled from the floor.

"I love you!" She said furiously as she looked over the side of the bed.

"I know!"

"Eddie! Damn it!"

Leah grabbed her pillow and began hitting Eddie with it.

"You know, he did the same damn thing with me!" Steve exclaimed as he looked over the side with her. "Eddie, if you don't be honest with her, she's the only one who will ever get to see my bare ass!"

"I'll be good!" Eddie said, sitting up and cupping her face. "Sweetheart, you make everything so much better. You make us better, and we are so maddenly in love with you. . . I love you."

Leah smiled and cupped his face right back. She leaned forward like she was going to kiss him but paused right before his lips.

"I know," she whispered and Eddie pouted.

"I love you!" Steve laughed.

"You know, our hot chocolate is going to become cold chocolate," Eddie said, rolling his eyes.

So, now here they were, sitting on her bed drinking cocoa and tossing marshmallows into Eddie's mouth.

"I have to ask. When did you realize that you loved both of us?" Steve asked.

"Oh, that's easy," she said softly. "When my dog died a few months ago, and you guys never left my side. I don't think that I would have gotten through it without you. You only made it better."

"I came late into her life, but Shadow was a great dog," Eddie said fondly.

"We're never leaving your side again. . .I mean, within reason," Steve said.

"We have to go to the bathroom at some point," Eddie said, and Leah giggled.

And later that night, she fell asleep between the two men that she loved, her heart lighter than air and feeling like she could whatever horrors the world threw at her with them by her side.

[strangerficsxx]

Chapter Nine: The Gate

story: Midnight Rain wc: 4.8k after eleven reunites with everyone, she plans on closing the gate as her and hopper escape to hawkins lab. secondly joyce, jonathan and nancy take will and try to fight the mind flayer within as jennifer and steve babysit her brother and his friends until trouble shows up.

[a/n: all characters, plot, etc. are not mine. The only thing I own is my original character. credit to gif owner.]

{ November 4-5, 1984 }

Mike's lips part as he stood there, inching a step closer to Eleven.

"Eleven," He spoke softly.

"Mike,"

She grabbed him as the two kids started crying.

“Is that?” Max asked. Lucas and Dustin nodded in response.

“I never gave up on you.” Mike said. “I called you every night. Every night for-“

“Three-hundred, fifty-three days”. Eleven smiled. “I heard.” Jennifer watches, her smile delicate as she held onto Steve’s hand.

“Why did you tell me that you were there? That you were okay?”

“Because I wouldn’t let her.” Hopper spoke, causing Mike to turn and look at him.

He stepped forward to pull El into a hug. “What the hell is this? Where have you been?”

“Where have you been?” She asked, agitated.

“You’ve been hiding her.” Mike spoke, putting the pieces together. “You’ve been hiding her this whole time!” He shoved at the chief.

“Hey!” Hopper turned and grabbed Mike’s jacket. “Let’s talk. Alone.” He and Mike went down the hall to Will’s room.

Jennifer heard the door close, staying in her spot before looking back at everyone greeting Eleven. She hugs Dustin and Lucas. Eleven studies Dustin, reaching out and touching his front teeth but he pulls back quickly, grinning wide as a quick purr slips out. The blood soaked brunette was still holding onto Steve's hand, and rolled her eyes at her younger brother. Max steps forward, extending one hand as the other holds her skateboard under her arm. But Eleven ignores the friendly gesture, brushing past as she enters Jennifer’s embrace, hugging her tightly. She hugs Eleven back. 

“Hey, Kiddo.” Jennifer says before they pull apart, resting her hand on the child's head, ruffling her hair in a playful way as she giggles. "I missed you like crazy."

"Me too," She responded.

Eleven and Jennifer smile warmly at each other before the girl eyes Jennifer's clothes closely, sadness forming on her face.

"Blood? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine, just got caught in something that's all."

Eleven nods, bringing Jennifer in for another hug before she begins walking towards Joyce. She wraps her arms around Eleven, greeting the child.

——

In the kitchen, everyone huddled around the kitchen like earlier. Out of habit, she stood beside her boyfriend and Jonathan as he leaned on the chair below them.

“It’s not like it was before. It’s grown.” Hopper sighs. “A lot. That’s considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs. 

“Demo-dogs,” Dustin corrects. 

“I’m sorry, what?” 

“I said, Demo-dogs. Like demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass—”

“How is this important right now?” 

“It’s not. I’m sorry.” 

On the opposite end, Elven spoke. “I can do it.” 

“You're not hearing me.” 

“I’m hearing you. I can do it.”

“Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies. But if we’re right about this… I mean if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer’s army…” 

“Will’s a part of that army.” 

“Closing the gate will kill him.” 

As the other’s wore discouraged looks, a pensive expression washes over Joyce’s face. Now, she leads everyone to Will who is laid on Jonathan’s bed. The curtains flutter in front of the open window, She closes the window,

“We keep giving it what it wants.”

“If this is a virus, and Will’s the host, then…” Nancy trails off.

“Then we need to make the host inhabitable.” 

They look at Will’s unconscious body. 

“If he likes it cold,” Jennifer begins. 

“We need to burn it out of him.” Joyce finishes. 

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time.” 

“Somewhere far away.”

In the backyard, Jennifer, Steve, and Nancy rummage through the pile with flashlights. She stayed silent, searching the pile of junk that was once in Joyce's shed, overhearing Steve clear his throat as he begins speaking to Nancy.

“You should go with him.” 

"What?"

“With Jonathan.” 

“No, I’m… I’m not just gonna leave Mike.” 

“No one’s leaving anyone,” Jennifer says, attempting to reassure Nancy.

Jennifer lifts a fan as Steve retrieves a space heater, shining his light on it as they make eye contact before looking at Nancy, offering the heater. She takes it with reluctance and gazes at Steve contritely. Steve and Jennifer leave as Nancy stares at him, leaving her in the foggy backyard. The moonlight shines over, reflecting on the vehicles in front of them. Jennifer and Steve stood beside the children, staring at Eleven, Hopper, and Jonathan.

Nervous, Jennifer unconsciously grabs Steve's hand, hoping the plan works. Max, Lucas and Dustin stand in front of the two older teens as Nancy says goodbye to her younger brother before he steps onto the shaded front porch. Eleven climbs into Hopper’s SUV as headlights blaze from Jonathan’s car as Nancy enters the passenger seat. Joyce sits in the backseat with Will, pulling out as Hopper follows behind. Standing on the porch Steve and Jennifer stand with the kids as they view the receding cars, helplessly staring at the vehicles. 

They go back inside. Jennifer kneels down and has a sheet in her hands as she grabs the dead demo-dog and wraps it up, pulling it towards the kitchen and grunts with each step. Steve walks toward his girlfriend and helps her hold it, waiting impatiently for Dustin to hurry. The younger male makes a clearing as he tosses the fridges' contents aside, making room for the creature as Steve scoops it in his arms, walking toward the kitchen. “Alright. It should fit now.”

“Is this really necessary?”

“Yes it is! Okay! This is a ground-breaking, scientific discovery. We can’t just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It’s not a dog!”

“Alright. Alright. But you’re explaining this to Mrs. Byers.”

He shoves the dog in but struggles. Jennifer steps in and grapples the body, pushing half the monster inside as the backend hangs in Steve's arms. The head of the demodog head falls to the side as Jennifer swears under her breath. They slam the door shut, earning a glance from him as he mouths a silent thank you. She smiles back at him before enter the living room.

In the living room, Mike paces as Lucas cleans up broken glass, arguing about the laboratory and the roaming demodogs.

“You weren’t in there- okay Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs.”

“Demodogs!” Dustin yelled.

"Oh, my god, Dustin. Give it up, OK?!" She shouted.

“The Chief will take care of her!” Lucas shouted.

“Like she needs protection.” Max shook her head.

Steve walked up to Mike. “Listen dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line: you execute it. Alright?” He says, wiping his hands off with a hand towel. 

"Why the hell are you using sports analogies, Steve? They are not going to understand."

Steve ignored Jennifer, staring toward Mike.

"Okay, first of all, this isn’t some stupid sports game. And second, we’re not even in the game -- we’re on the bench.” Mike rolled his eyes.

Steve stammers. “So my point is… Right, yeah, we’re on the bench, so there’s nothing we can do.” 

He sighed, handing Jennifer the hand towel as she wiped her hands.

“That's not entirely true.” Dustin says, the other’s looking back at him. “I mean, these Demodogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away. “

“If we get their attention…” 

“Maybe we can draw them from the lab.” Jennifer spoke.

“And clear them from the gate.”

“Then we all die!” Steve said, his tone was a little louder. "Jennifer, who's side are you on? Don't encourage them."

Jennifer rolled her eyes, taking a step back as she kept her eyes on Steve.

“No, that's not a point of view, man, that's a fact.” 

Mike rushes past them. "I got it!" He shouted, pointing to a spot on the map drawing. "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnels. So here, right here, this is like a hub."

He walked to where all the drawings led to one big circle on the floor. “So you’ve got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire--"

"Oh yeah, that's a no!" Jennifer stared at them, attempting to gain their attention.

They ignored her.

“The Mind Flayer would call away his army.” Dustin said.

“They’d all come to stop us!” Lucas spoke.

“Hey!” Steve said.

“Then we circle back to the exit.” Mike rambled on.

“Guys!” He grew louder.

“By the time they realize we’re gone-“

“El would be at the gate.” Max finished.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Steve clapped at them. “This is not happening.”

“But--"

“No, no, no, no, no. No “buts”! I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe and that’s exactly what we plan on doing."

"Were staying here. On the bench. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job? Does everybody understand?" Jennifer spoke, now folding her arms across her chest.

“This isn’t a stupid sports game!” Mike yelled back.

“I said, does everybody understand?” She waved the dish towel at them. “I need a yes!”

A sigh escapes her lips as she feels herself getting emotional before exiting the house. Her voice breaking. "I need some air, Steve. I'll be right back."

They make eye contact as Jennifer walks over to the front door, opening it then closes it behind her. Tears well up as she takes a seat on one of the chairs, sitting on Joyce's front porch. She leans down, cupping her face, sobbing. The cold breeze hitting her ever so lightly whilst chills ran up her spine. She tried keeping her sobs quiet, unaware that Steve had slipped out the door. Jennifer cranes her neck up, seeing her boyfriend as her face was turning the brightest shade of red. The tip of her nose was pink from her tears along with the cold, but she didn't care.

Steve knelt in front of her, holding her hands in his, staring into her eyes sadly but lovingly. Jennifer sniffles.

"Jen, I hate seeing you upset. What's wrong?" He questions with soft eyes.

"I just... I miss Wilhelmina. She should be here with us, not dead in the junkyard somewhere." She choked through her tears. "I just need to know why she did what she did."

"I know, I know." He lets her lay her head on his shoulder as she begins sobbing once more. Steve rests a soothing hand on her back, rubbing circles.

The silence between them was short-lived as the sound of a loud engine roared, inching closer with each passing second. They pull apart, staring at each other. Jennifer furrowed her brows, leaning to the side as headlights shined brightly in front of her and down the Byers' driveway. The vehicle stopped precipitously, turned off the lights as the door swings open. Stepping out was none other than Billy Hargrove. Jennifer sighed, not wanting to deal with the man who basically cheated on her at Tina's Halloween party a few days ago. He stood beside his vehicle as Steve turned to look, almost annoyed.

Billy took a drag of his cigarette then smiled. "Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?"

Steve stood, standing in his spot with his arms crossed as he stared Billy down. “Yeah it’s me don’t cream your pants.”

"And Jennifer, you still crying over me?"

"No," She denies. "I'm done crying over you. You are the least of my worried now."

"You serious? It sure does look like you've been crying." He spoke, taking another drag of his cigarette.

"Yes, I am, Hargrove. I'm taken now. So whatever you think about me, you can take that opinion and shove it right up your ass!"

He chuckled, taking another puff as he stepped closer. "Jennifer Henderson -- dating King Steve? Wow, should've known you were a slut. Jumping from male to male."

"Actually, I'm not. You're the slut around here, Billy. Always going from one bitch to another."

Billy looked at her, annoyance prominent in his face. He chuckled.

Jennifer could tell Steve was agitated, but kept his cool as she rolled her eyes, standing her ground as she folded her arms across her chest. In front of her, Billy held this cigarette in between his lips, removing his jacket in a few seconds. Steve stepped off the porch to meet him halfway.

"What are you doing here, amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Amigo.”

“Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Huh, that’s weird. Jennifer is the only one here.” Steve turned to look at her.

Jennifer waved politely.

“Really? Are you sure? She’s small. Redhead. Bit of a bitch.”

Billy wasn’t buying it and Jennifer knew deep down something was gonna happen. However, she kept a straight face, staring toward the two males.

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry buddy.”

Billy removed the cigarette from his mouth. “You know, I don’t know, this-“ he sighed. “This whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“My thirteen-year-old sister goes missing all day. And then I find her, with you, at a stranger’s house. And you lie to me about it.”

Steve shook his head. “Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what? I don’t understand what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.”

“Then who is that?” He pointed to the window with his cigarette.

Steve and Jennifer turned to see Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max rushing away from the window. "Jesus."

Before Steve could get any other words out Billy pushed him to the ground. "I told you to plant your feet." He then kicked him in his gut.

With fear and anger coursing through her veins, Jennifer didn't have much time to whip up a plan as she watched Billy heading her way. He stalked up the driveway to meet her on the porch.

He tried to walk past her, but she stood in front of the door. "Come on, Jen, don't be like your boy toy -- just move."

"No," She crossed her arms, brows knitted. "I'm not moving an inch. You're not touching her, if you do, I'll kill you myself."

"Well, look who stiffened up. What made you so tough?"

"Getting over you,"

"Eh, whatever. You're just another bitch anyway," He declared, pushing her to the side, a little too hard as it takes her by surprise, losing her footing.

The male barges through the door, trying to shut it but Jennifer stops it from closing as she stepped in abruptly as she slammed the door shut behind her. The kids stood in a line, in the space connecting the hallway, kitchen and living room. "Well, well, well. Lucas Sinclair, what a surprise."

“I thought I told you to stay away from him Max.” He stared at her.

“Billy - go away.”

“You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me.”

“Billy--"

"I break things." He turned to grab Lucas by the shoulders, pushing him into the kitchen and against the wall.

"Billy, stop it!" Jennifer shouted. "Hey! Hey!"

Max, Mike, and Dustin shouted at Billy and Lucas. Jennifer was rigid, not knowing what to do next.

"Since Maxine won’t listen to me, maybe you will - you stay away from her. Stay away from her! Do you hear me?”

“I said get off!” Lucas brought us knee up to kick Billy in the groin.

Billy groaned, stumbling backwards. Jennifer stepped in to stand in front of Lucas. "You are so dead Sinclaire. You're dead."

Suddenly Steve appeared out of nowhere, only to grab Billy's shoulder and spun him around.

"No, you are."

Steve swung back and threw his fist into Billy's face. Jennifer guided Lucas around the two fighting to stand back with the other kids. She stepped between them, glaring at the long haired male. "You need to get out, right now. Get out!"

He clenched his jaw and shoved her away, rough enough that as she wasn't able to catch herself, she fell to the floor, smacking her head on the table along the way. She groaned. Jennifer lifted her hand, bringing it to her head, feeling something warm as she pulled her hand to look at her fingers. They were covered in blood before looking at the kids. She didn't care about herself, all she cared about was the kid's safety.

Billy laughs as the kids bring Lucas into their arms. His nose bleeds, getting in the other man’s face. Steve uses two fingers to gently push him away. He ducks as Billy swings then lands his own punch. 

Steve hits Billy into the kitchen counter where he grabs a plate and smashes it into Steve’s head, earning a pained groan. Max shouts her brother's name, hoping he’ll stop. Dustin moves away as Billy swings toward Steve again, pushing him towards the living room. Billy headbutts Steve to the floor. He straddles the male, throwing a barrage of punches at him. The kids scream as Jennifer tries to calm them, making them leave the room but they wouldn’t budge while she continued shouting at the two males to knock it off. Billy doesn’t stop as Max notices a syringe, grabbing it off the corner of a sewing table.

She takes the cap off before pushing past Lucas and Mike. As Billy continues to wail on Steve’s bloody face, Max jams the needle into his neck. Billy staggers to his feet, confusedly, facing Max and the boys including Jennifer as fear washes over her face. Yanking the syringe out, he glances at it then at Max. He falls backwards onto the floor, laughing as Max grabs the bat and stands above her step-brother. 

“From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?” She says. 

“Screw you.” 

Max slams the bat on the floor between his legs then raises it again. Jennifer rushes toward Steve, grabbing his battered face before looking up at Max. 

“Say you understand. Say it! Say it!”

“I understand.” 

Billy’s eyes close as Max drops the bat, she turns and walks away as the boys stare at her. She walks around Billy and fixes his keys from his pocket, holding it up to her friends. A proud smile forms on her face. Jennifer glances at the redhead, tilting her head to the side annoyed and in pain.

“No, no. No. You are not driving. I’ll drive. Give me the keys.” Jennifer sternly says as Max hands her the keys. “Now, find some bandages and gauze, something to put over his wounds.” 

The kids scramble to look for something as Jennifer looks down at Steve’s unconscious body, frowning. She uses her strength and grabs him under his arms, dragging him towards the sofa, leaning him against it. His head rolls to the side as she holds it in place with her dry, bloodied hand. Max brings out a box of bandaids as Jennifer grabs them, taping each one to his face. They were a bit girly, but she didn’t care. The faster she gets his wounds covered, the faster they can leave. Once done, she and the kids load Steve’s insensible body into the back of the camaro. The kids pile in as she takes a seat in front of the wheel. In the back, Steve stirs, face battered and bruised as dried blood sits under his swollen nose. Panicking, he asks what’s going on and freaks out. 

“Everybody, shut up!” Jennifer shouts, looking at an unconscious Steve in the mirror above.

“Make a left, here!” 

Jennifer yanks the wheel hard, crashing into a mailbox before speeding down the road. Parked in the field of rotted pumpkins, everyone piles out of the car as Steve falls out of the Camaro and onto the ground as Jennifer and the kids pull on goggles and put bandanas over their mouths. Steve was conscious, staring at Jennifer as he started understanding what was happening. She glanced at him, knowing that this was the right thing to so, and she was also a bad influence. Steve leans against the car. Dustin and Steve started to bicker as he begrudgingly takes the backpack. Jennifer chimes in and manages to tell him that this was the right things to do, so they can try and help save Will. The blood on Jennifer's forehead began to dry as Steve noticed, rushing toward her and trying to examine it while she pushed his hands away.

"I'm okay, Steve."

"No, you're not. I remember him pushing you to the side as you fell and hit your head. You are not okay, you're injured."

"Steve, I said I'm okay. Now, are we gonna do this, or not?"

Steve sighed, annoyed beyond words. "Yes, come on."

Now, Steve and Jennifer enter behind the kids, dropping in the hole. White particles float around them as Mike reads a hand drawn map. Jennifer curses under her breath.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”

“You’re pretty sure, or you’re certain?” Dustin asks. 

“I’m 100% sure. Follow me and you’ll know.”

“Hey, hey, I don’t think so. Alright? If any of you little shits die down here, we’re getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?” Jennifer spoke in annoyance, standing in front of Mike. 

“From here on out, me and Jennifer are leading the way. Come on, let’s go.” Steve shouts.

They enter deeper and deeper through the tunnel, Steve eyeing the drawn map. Max, Lucas, Dustin and Mike are in front of Jennifer as Steve guides them. In her hand, she holds a gas can. The group forges on as Dusin stops. Suddenly, there’s a scream behind the group. Jennifer, Steve, and the kids approach him. 

“What happened?” Steve asks, panicked. 

“It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! Shit!” Dustin yells, wipering. 

He pulls the bandana down as he heaves on all fours before looking at everyone else. They point their flashlights as Dustin tells them he’s alright. Everyone groans and continues on while Jennifer's little brother follows behind. Steve flashes his light on the map as he comes to a stop. 

“Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub.” 

Jennifer, Steve and the kids flash their lights at the seven tunnels around them. White orbs float around helplessly, the tunnel dim with a blue tint. Vines stretch from across the ground as the group spread out. Lucas stands, spraying with a weed sprayer on the walls as the other’s pour out gasoline along the vines below. Jennifer tips her can of gas over, walking backward as she wets the rest of the vines.

In the chamber, Jennifer and Steve hold back with the kids behind him as he chucks a lighter into the gas soaked tunnel as it’s set ablaze. The fire spreads as they cover their faces from the heat. They flee from the tunnel, Jennifer is behind the kids until Mike falls behind, a vine wraps around his leg and traps him to the floor. Jennifer stops and rushes back as Steve follows and raises the spiked bat, severing the vine as it retreats from Mike’s leg. They get him up as they quickly exit the cave but get stopped when a Demo-dog approaches. Jennifer freezes as Dustin stands in front of the group, the other’s gawking at him to not approach. He does anyway, crouching down to the creature.

Dart flares his face flaps as Dustin continues talking to it. He sets down a half piece of Three Musketeers before waving everyone forward as they, including Jennifer sneak past the creature. The small group stop in their path. Dustin takes the other half of the candy bar before trudging on, saddened. Dustin and the other’s move on. Running this time, the tunnel quakes as everyone loses their footing, toppling over on one another. Jennifer's arms wrap around Steve with the kids near by. A monster roars, turning and see shadows approaching before rushing toward the hole above, rope hanging. Steve hoists Max through the opening as she pulls herself out of the hole.

Jennifer and Steve then help Lucas out next, Steve lifts Mike as Lucas and Max help him up. He cups his hands together as Jennifer steps on his hands, grabbing the rope and pulls herself up and out. Max, Lucas, and Mike help her out as well, dirt rubbing against her already bloody pink and white polo shirt. They look down as Steve steps slightly in front of Dustin. A pack of demo-dogs turn their way. He covers his face before the dogs run past the two. Steve holds Dustin in one arm.

Soon, they stand above the hole. Jennifer wraps her arms around her brother. Suddenly the lights brighten as everyone covers their eyes from the beaming light before it dims. They open their eyes. 

It was over once again.

...Or so everyone hoped it would.

——

One Month later.

A week after Barbra Holland's funeral, Jennifer went her best friend's funeral, feeling very frail and vulnerable at the moment. Wilhelmina's funeral arrived faster than Jennifer thought. She's dressed in a black dress and pinned her hair back and wore short black heels. Jennifer peers down at the closed coffin. Since Wilhelmina's body was nowhere to be found, her parents — Lonnie and Joyce — decided on a closed casket. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she held the booklet in one hand and a red rose in the other — Wilhelmina's favorite flower. Jonathan and Will stood there too with tears streaming down their cheeks. Jennifer's boyfriend, Steve, stood beside her. He held her close with his arm wrapped securely around Jennifer, letting her head lean on his chest. In front of them, the headstone read Wilhelmina Jordan Byers, Born October 24, 1966 — Died November 4, 1984.

That night, Jennifer sits in the passenger seat in Steve’s car, needing a distraction as she leans in. She runs her fingers through his hair as their lips touch. He rests his hand on her waist, trying to bring her closer until he pulls away. 

“What? Everything okay?” Jennifer questions.

“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine. We gotta pick up your brother for the dance.”

“Okay. Then after, can we go somewhere private and continue?” 

“Yes,” 

Settling in the seat beside him, they buckle up as he starts the car and pulls out of the high school parking lot. He drives toward the Henderson house. Jennifer moves to the back as Steve exits the car, walking towards the door and rings the bell. Soon, Dustin walks out dressed up. They enter the car as he greets Jennifer. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I was with Steve, but we came to pick your ass up and take you to the snowball.” 

“I could’ve asked you, Jennifer, but you were gone earlier.” 

She gives him a look in the mirror as he sticks out his tongue. Later, Steve pulls up to the middle school entrance as a banner reads Snowball '84. Steve looks over at Dustin, who sits in the passenger seat as his hair is styled into a bouffant.  

“Alright buddy, here we are.” Steve says. “So, remember, once you get in there…” 

“Pretend like I don’t care,” 

“You don't care. 

“I don’t care,” 

Dustin looks in the mirror as Steve compliments him. 

“Good luck, bud.” Jennifer says. 

He clasps his hand with Steve’s before exiting, closing the door behind him. Jennifer slides to the passenger seat and buckles up, driving off. On the road, Steve parks in the carport of her house, entering as they greet her mom before entering her room. He sits on the bed as Jennifer closes the door, locking it before she removes her shirt. She walks toward him, crawling on the bed.

Jennifer straddles his hips, pressing her lips against his. She pulls away and sees the passion in Steve’s eyes as he grabs her waist gently throwing her on the mattress below, bringing her close as he sits up long enough to pull off his shirt, cupping Jennifer's face.

After, they lay together as the sounds of the news play from the other room. She lays her head on his chest, relaxing once his ars was placed securely around her shoulder.

“Laying here with you and enjoying the night of no kids or monsters trying to take over the world is the best.” 

“Honestly, let’s stay here. You can sleep here tonight. My mom won't notice. She'll be asleep in no time, but we do need to pick up my brother around ten.”

"Okay,"

She moves onto her stomach and gazes into Steve’s eyes, closing them as their lips press against each other. He plants another kiss or two before they pull apart, laying there and forgetting about everything else at the moment. The two enjoy the company, slowly dozing off.

[reyofluke-ocs]

OCs DESERVE BETTER -> Claudette Henderson (Stranger Things) FC: Katie Douglas "Look, if it was my brother... there's nothing in heaven or hell that would stop me from getting him back. So, you have my help - if you want it."

The older sister of Dustin Henderson, Claudette is like your average small-town girl-next-door: pretty, decently popular, cheerleader, good grades. Born with mild cerebral palsy, she has always been determined to not let her disability define her. Sure, she knows there are peers - even among her fellow cheerleaders - that laugh about her and talk about her behind her back, but she ignores it for the most part. Besides, she knows as soon as she graduates, she will be heading for university and leave the town of Hawkins behind except for visits to her mother and younger brother.

Then Will Byers go missing and Claudette finds herself joining Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler - two people who she only really knows through their younger brothers' friendship - in uncovering what really happened to Will and finding him if possible. Between discovering the existence of monsters and that the government is shady as hell, Claudette begins to think whatever is happening goes far deeper than anyone could imagine.

tagging: @endless-oc-creations@stanshollaand, @foxesandmagic , @hiddenqveendom , @arrthurpendragon , @cas-verse, @eddiemunscns , @far-shores, @oneirataxia-girl, if anyone wants to be added/removed or I accidentally forgot, please let me know!

[hoppers-babygirl]

Wounded

Author: Hoppers-babygirl

Word count: 672ish

Warnings: Tw blood mention.

kofi: https://href.li/?https://ko-fi.com/hoppers_babygirl

A/N: Just a little snippet based on a tiktok i found which inspired me. reposted by myself, trying to fix tags.

It was late at night when Cassie came home, her thigh wrapped up in a half assed bandage. Stumbling down the hallway she tried her best not to make too much noise as her mother had been asleep. Dustin came from his room to see what the noise had been all about, his face held a look of confusion before an alarmed look crossed his expression as he noticed the blood. Her hands quickly cradled his head as the other covered his mouth. Cassie ushered him back into his room and carefully closed the door behind them before she let him go. 

She whimpered quietly in pain as blood seeped into the bandage. Her eyes flicked from the mess up to Dustin’s face. “What the hell happened?” He whispered loudly, it wasn’t often he used an inside voice when upset. 

“Will you be quiet and get the first aid kit?” She hisses quietly as she moves to sit down on the end of his bed. Pain coursed through her leg even while she sat down. Dustin ran out his room and into the bathroom across the hall to grab the first aid kit. 

With a shaky hand Cassie undid the bandage to reveal three cuts on her skin, almost like a claw mark. She panted out a breath that she didn't realize that she was holding, Dustin grimaced at the sight of the sore. “Cas, what happened?” He asked as he moved to take the ruined bandage from her hands. 

“Just a bit of monster hunting with Jonathan. I got a little too close before he could light it on fire, I’ll be fine, just need to clean it up.” She hissed quietly in pain, as she held the first aid kit she looked through for any gauze but failed to find any. 

“Fuck..” Cassie mumbled under her breath. “Help me to the bathroom, I’m gonna pour some alcohol on the cut to help clean it out.” Tossing the kit onto Dustin’s bed she held her hand out for him to take. 

Dustin helped Cassandra to her feet once again, despite the slight height difference she wrapped her arm around his shoulders before the pair walked their best to the bathroom. Once inside he closed the door, Cassie tore her jeaned open a bit more. The denim is already ruined from the blood and disgusting mess the monster left.

“You should’ve used the walkie to call me or Steve..” His voice trailed off as he rummaged through the cabinet to find the rubbing alcohol she wanted just moments ago. “Yeah well I didn’t need you getting hurt plus Jonathan and I had it handled just fine.” Dustin handed her the bottle eventually and soon enough she grit her teeth and poured a good amount over the wound. 

She cleaned up the wound, dabbing it dry with a clean cloth Dustin finally found a bit of gauze and an ace wrap. Cassie waved him from the bathroom before she took the ruined jeans off to put the fresh bandage around her thigh. Once she felt strong enough she stood up, a muffled cry came from her lips as she put pressure on her leg. A whimper slipped past her lips as she stood in front of the sink to wash up her hands and face. 

Dustin knocked on the door, opening it just a crack. “Did you need anything else?” Tews tried her best to push into the bathroom to be included but Dustin shooed her away to which she meowed up at him. The sound made Cassie chuckle under her breath, “I’m okay, thanks for the help. Just get to bed before she wakes mom up.” With that Dustin went off to bed as did Cassie. 

Unfortunately flashes of the monster chasing her followed her even after she closed her eyes. As she laid in bed she gripped her stuffed bear that Eddie gave her a few years ago, close to her chest as she ran for her safety in her dark and dusty dreams. A roaring demogorgon stomped after her as she ran as fast as her body could handle. She woke up with a gasp, looking around tears began to spill down her cheeks as she rocked with the stuffed bear in her arms.