𓆩♡𓆪

  THOUGH HIS SCREAMS FADED, Brooke's instincts were right. Not even ten feet in front of her, Steve is being eaten alive and choked out by the shrieking bats. Her chest heaves, her fists clenching when she realizes she has no weapon.

   Ignoring the pain in her cut arm, Brooke runs up to Steve and the bats. With a growl, Brooke kicks a bat off of Steve where it was biting him on the abdomen so hard it goes tumbling.

   The small relief of pain makes Steve look up at who did it and he wishes he could smile at her. The others quickly join her. Nancy takes the oar in her hand, smacking off another bat, "Hi," She says between pants. Penelope stands to the side, her fists clenching as her eyes close. Suddenly, a few bats explode with loud shrieks, blood getting all over the ground and some on the teens.

   "Holy fuck," Paisley curses. Pure adrenaline running through her, Brooke kicks another bat and another, letting none of them get close to Steve. Her sneaker is covered in bat blood and as much as she wants to puke, she keeps her cool, stomping on the head of another one. Brooke gasps, "The one on his neck!" She can't seem to get an angle on to kick it. "Quick! Hold it, Robin!" Nancy yells, running over with the oar. Robin gets a better angle, stomping on the tail of it, "I got it!"

  Nancy begins wacking it multiple times. "Kill it! Kill it!" Eddie encourages Nancy. More bats start to surround them, the shrieking getting louder and louder. Paisley spins on her heel, trying to process where they ended up. Her eyes land on a hoard of bats coming in. "Shit! Shit! More!" Paisley panics. The sky flashes red as the bats fly down.

    Eddie gasps, breaking the oar over his leg and giving the other end to Paisley. The bats reach them but Nancy and Robin are still struggling to get the bat off of Steve. "Penelope, I don't have a weapon!" Brooke screams. Her eyes stay on Steve though. "Come on! Please!" Robin pleads with the bat and the universe. "Nancy, behind you! Watch out!" Eddie yells. Penelope doesn't get a chance to do anything before the bat attacks Nancy. The Wheeler girl yelps in pain but now Robin lets go of the bat around Steve's neck.

   "Okay, okay!" Brooke takes a deep breath and her foot rises but something wraps around her calf, dragging her down to the ground with a scream. Everyone around her is being attacked, even Penelope who is cursing and continuously exploding the bats. Brooke is pulling at the creature around her leg, "What's with the leg injuries?! I'm tired of it!" The situation reminds her all too much of the Demogorgon attack from two years ago.

    Brooke grabs at the creature, clawing at it but it won't let up. She can feel her fingernails clawing at the flesh of it, drawing cuts but all it does is whimper.

  "Fuck!" Brooke curses very loudly. Hearing her best friend scream in pain, Paisley rushes over and stabs the bat with the broken wood oar. After a few times, the bat lets go, flying away from them. "Am I bit!?" Is Brooke's first question. Paisley rolls her jeans up, "No! Not again," Paisley laughs, helping Brooke up. The deep breaths both girls take are short lived. They lose their breath again when Steve is next to them, vengefully grabbing at the bat that nearly killed him.

   Chaos is all around them. Blood is practically dripping off of Penelope as she huffs and puffs. Their eyes glance over to Robin who finally gets a hold of the bat that attacked Nancy, slamming it onto the ground repeatedly. "Go to hell!" Nancy grunts, killing the bat.

     More bats fly down towards Paisley and Brooke but Paisley acts quick, smacking the bats before they can do damage to them. Between all the chaos, Brooke's eyes are still on Steve. His hands are wrapped around the bat's tail. She's never seen him this mad and that says a lot considering their wonderful past. Steve takes the bat, slamming it harder into the ground than Robin did. At this point, the bats seem to have dispersed but Steve is still angry. He groans, still smacking the bat into the ground. Blood splashes as the bat gets more and more injured.

    Once the bat is weak enough, Steve steps on the back of it. Brooke's eyes widened at his next move. His teeth clamp onto the tail end of the bat, pulling it apart with his teeth. Everyone stares at him in shock, never seeing Steve so angry. Sure, Brooke is shocked but the butterflies in her stomach shock her even more.

Steve spits out blood, panting as thunder booms around them. He slowly turns, his eyes immediately landing on Brooke. Her expression forms into concern.

   Steve looks so tired. Even in the darkness of the Upside Down she can see how bad his wounds are. They line his tummy and they look deep.

    "Steve!" Brooke runs over. "Jesus Christ. Jesus H. Christ!" Eddie shouts, his voice echoing. Penelope turns to him with a glare, "Shut up! You want those bats to come back?"

   "Oh, sorry. Didn't know I couldn't express my feelings about this FUCKERY!" Eddie shouts right back. The oar clatters from Eddie's hands. Ignoring her stressed out friend, Brooke's hands hover over Steve's injuries, "Are you okay? How bad do you think it is?"

   He finally processes his own wounds, staring down at them as the adrenaline leaves his body and the pain comes, "Well, they took about a pound of flesh." Nancy walks over, "Let me see you," She softly says. She carefully assesses his wounds. A loud gasp leaves her mouth. "Nancy, what?" Brooke practically yells. The same loud gasps escapes Brooke. Deep scratch marks from being dragged go down Steve's back.

   Brooke's eyes line with tears but she sniffles, there's no time to sob. Steve can feel the scratch marks, he knows how bad it is. "But other than that," Steve continues, "yeah, never better." Brooke keeps staring at the marks, tilting her head to analyze them more. Steve turns though, forcing Brooke to stare up at him. The marks play over and over in Brooke's head. She realizes that they look like scars from ripped angel wings. The idea somehow eases Brooke, maybe because that's what Steve calls her.

   Angel.

   He almost turned into a real fucking one. Savior complex.

  Despite the pain in his body, Steve wraps an arm around Brooke's waist, bringing her closer to him and wordlessly placing a tender kiss on the top of Brooke's head.

    "Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?" Robin asks. "What?" Steve and Brooke ask at the same time. Robin is standing over a dead bat, her anxiety reaching its peak, "It's just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor soon. Because once the symptoms set in, it's too late! You're already dead." They all deadpan at Robin but after a few seconds Paisley walks up to her.

   "When you find the doctor's office here—with a doctor—let me know, Robbi," Paisley sarcastically smiles. Robin teasingly sticks a tongue out at her, Paisley doing the same action.

   Creatures chitter in the distance again. Red flashes on all their faces as the bats break through the clouds. The group gathers together, fear coursing through each of them as bats land once more near them. "Alright, there's not that many. Penelope, you good?" Steve asks, referring to her powers. Penelope nods, throwing her hands up, "Amazing."

     The bats shriek at them. Brooke puts her fists up, "We got this. We can take them."

    Suddenly, the thunder gets louder and there's a swarm that emerges from the sky. "No, no. I don't think we can," Paisley says. They're all silent for a moment, trying to decide their next move.

  "The woods. Come on," Nancy says, setting off towards the dark trees that line the lake. They all run after her and into the dark, scary woods.

   STELLA DOESN'T KNOW WHO to blame as she sits in the Wheeler family home surrounded by cops. Does she blame Max for her shitty plan or does she blame herself for not thinking of a better plan? Honestly, she'd probably end up the same. You know who would get them out of this?

  Casey and Eddie. Seems Machado has a type.

   Stella has only seen the kid's parents in passing. She's sure they don't even know who she is.

   "And what exactly were you all doing at the lake?" Powell asks. The kids and Stella all share a look, wondering who will start the lie first. "It's comp—"

  "We were—"

  "Well—" The kids stutter.

   Stella tries to hide her awkward stance behind the couch, "We went for a walk," She smiles. "Yeah, we went for a walk," Max adds on. "A walk?" Callahan questions, clearly not believing them, "At 9pm?"

   "To the lake. We were gonna......take a little swim," Dustin says in the squeakiest voice possible. Danny closes his eyes, trying not to show his disappointment in Dustin and his obvious tell. They all look at the officers, scanning their faces for their reactions but they're stoic.

   "Little night swim," Dustin continues with his squeaky voice.

    "Dusty!" Mrs. Henderson calls out, "Someone was just murdered there!" Stella presses her lips together, rolling her eyes at the accusation. "Yeah, we.....we didn't realize until we got there," Dustin nervously chuckles. "That's why we didn't swim!" Lucas adds. "Yeah, it all added up there," Danny smiles. The Martel name doesn't mix well with law enforcement and he suddenly wishes Hopper was here. This would've never happened. All they would've suffered was a stern yelling from him and they'd be on their way with help from the Chief.

   "And Nancy, was she with you at this night swim?" Karen, Nancy's mom leans forward. Stella scans over the room again. Oddly enough, she hadn't realized her parents weren't here until now, hearing how concerned Dustin and Nancy's parents are. Excuses develop in her head.

  They're at work or maybe no one contacted them. But, Stella's a minor.

  She accepts that just like Danny's missing parents, they just didn't care enough.

   "No."

   "Yes." Max and Dustin answer opposite each other. Danny sighs again, now holding his head in his hand. "We're not sure," Lucas tries to smooth it out. "She was only there for a bit and then decided to leave," Stella still smiles. "Yeah, it's just—all a little confusing," Danny presses his lips together, annoyed. "That's when you guys came!" Lucas shouts. "Right! And then they dared me to say what I said," Max says.

  The kids all fake a laugh. "You're lucky you didn't get shot," Ted Wheeler says. Stella rolls her eyes at his comment, realizing how annoying this man is. "Have you had any contact with Eddie?" Powell asks. Stella's mouth opens to say something, Powell's eyes digging into her. He surely knows that the teens are—whatever—but Dustin opens his mouth before she can say something.

   "That psycho......freak killer?! God, no! Absolutely not," Dustin lies horribly. Powell looks up at Stella, "How about you? I've heard you two are—"

   "I don't wanna be associated with him. We were barely dating. I guess...technically we broke up," Stella lies, a big part of her being hurt by her own words. They aren't dating, that's not a lie but the fact that she even has to lie like this makes her feel disloyal. "We barely know the guy," Lucas says.

   "Oh, that's a bunch of bull!" Erica Sinclair yells. "Erica!" The Sinclair parents yell at their child's language. Ignoring her parents, Erica goes on, "I mean, you realize they're lying. The whole couch is on fire! Just the facts." Danny sends glares into her. How can she not realize they're lying? They sound like they're blatantly lying.

   "Are you lying to these policemen, Dusty?" Henderson softly asks her nervous son. "No!" Dustin says in a high pitched tone. "Lying to the cops is a crime, son," Mr. Sinclair reminds his son. "I'm not lying!" Lucas defends himself. "The fire is consuming us," Erica adds. Dustin and Danny both give her a look, telling her to shut up and go along with this somehow.

   "Threaten them with a little jail time. Maybe that'll loosen their lips," Ted suggests. Stella throws her hands up at said suggestion, "Oh my God!"

   "You wanna send our kids to jail?" Mrs. Sinclair rightfully sasses Mr. Wheeler. Chaos ensues between the parents as they start yelling at each other. The arguments begin to overlap. The kids and Stella either watch in fear or annoyance.

  "Shut up!" Powell shouts after a minute of arguing. Quietness enters the room, all. eyes back on the officers. "We're gonna try a more civilized approach," Powell stands up, "One at a time. You first," He points at Max. "Wait, what? Why me?" Max quickly questions, "I'm not even in Hellfire!"

  "Do I need to cuff you?" Callahan asks, starting his power trip. "I'll punch you," Danny says louder than intended. Callahan widens his eyes at the threat, "I'm tired of you Martel's and your disrespect—"

   "Oh my God!" Max gets up, "Let's go!" She lets Callahan take her, knowing if she didn't, Danny would pull a Brooke and start an argument with him.

   A LARGE ROCK IS the teens cover as the bats chitter, unknowingly flying over them. Brooke's whole body is shaking as it tries to come down from her adrenaline boost but her sheer panic isn't helping. They all watch and listen carefully, waiting for the bats to disperse.

   After a minute or so, the shrieks fade out. "Oh...okay," Robin says as they emerge from under the rock. "I didn't mind bats before this, y'know? Thought they were kinda cute. Now....I fucking hate them," Paisley comments, worriedly looking up at the sky. "That was too close," Eddie adds on. Their breaths are all shaky as they pant and inhale.

   Brooke's hand finds Steve but the couple doesn't even get a foot away from the rock before Steve loses his balance. "Oh....sh...shit," Steve curses, losing his footing and bringing Brooke halfway down with him. Pulling him up, Brooke holds him up against the rocks, "Nancy, help me out here." You'd think after years of this mess Brooke would know how to analyze the injuries but all she knows is that it's bad. That's all she's got.

   The rest of their group whip their heads at Steve. "Jesus," Nancy panics, running over to them. "I'm fine. I'm fine," Steve tries to tell them. "Bullshit, pretty boy," Brooke hides her fear with a nickname. Paisley and Robin join them now too. "Dude, you're probably losing so much blood right now. We need to take a break," Paisley holds up Steve's right side. "Oh, you look fucked up," Penelope says. Steve presses his lips together, "Thanks, Bauman."

   Nancy carefully helps Steve sit, Brooke going down with him. The darkness covers the gore Brooke doesn't want to see but she still squints her eyes, somewhat wanting to see the damage to her boyfriend. "Is there anything we can even do right now?" Brooke asks. Steve grunts in pain, his brave face faltering. He removes his hand from one of the wounds. Brooke's hand flies over her mouth, "Steve...."

   "Oh...." Robin says. Paisley and Nancy share a look, it's much worse than they thought. "Hold on," Nancy says and begins ripping apart her sweater. Robin bends down at the same level Steve and Brooke are at, "Okay. So the good news is I'm pretty sure wooziness is not a symptom of rabies. But, um, if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling aggressive, like you wanna punch me, let me know," Buckley nervously rambles.

     Paisley rests a hand on Robin's shoulder, this time not interrupting her. "Robin," Steve says, wincing. "Yeah?" She responds.

   "I kinda wanna punch you," Steve says and you can faintly hear a small chuckle. Robin chuckles as well, "Sense of humor's still intact. That's a good sign."

  "He's forever an asshole," Paisley laughs. Nancy finally gets the makeshift bandage off and hands it to Brooke, "Just—wrap it around him—tightly!" Nancy smiles. "Uh, okay, uh—" Brooke stutters, holding the material. She looks up at Steve and even in the worst conditions, her big brown eyes make Steve's heart skip a beat, "You're not gonna hurt me. I promise," He reassures her.

  Brooke bites her lip, "This is nothing like patching Danny's scratched knees. You ready?" Steve nods his head, yes and Brooke begins to wrap the shirt around his lower abdomen. With a wet squelch, Brooke is as careful as she can be. The groans of pain make her scowl, feeling terrible for Steve. She reaches around and ties it tightly, "Sorry," She softly says. "It's okay," Steve tells her, throwing his head back.

   Brooke tugs it and he groans, "Shit. Is it too tight?"

   "No, that's good. You got it, babe," Steve forces a smile. Brooke feels even worse. Even in horrible pain, Steve feels responsible for making Brooke feel better about it. He continues to groan and pant as Brooke secures it around the front of him now. Paisley goes on her tippy toes to look over Nancy's shoulder, "Is he gonna die?" Genuine fear in her question. "Paisley—"

  "It's a valid question, Nancy!"

  "He's not gonna die!" Nancy retorts.

   "Hopefully," Robin says from behind them. Paisley can see her slight shake as she stands there, watching their best friend get patched up from her severe wounds. Paisley curses to herself, "Rob, he won't die. I'm sorry."

    Brooke triple checks the security of the bandage. As odd as it is, the moment is almost intimate when the two make eye contact. Steve's chest moves up and down rapidly. Brooke smirks, "Isn't the first time we've been in this position." She has to break the tension with a joke, she has to find a way to calm herself down. Steve throws his head to the side, "Cut it out," Clearly teasing.

   Brooke steps away, "Please don't die," She says to him. "Didn't plan on it," Steve holds his hand out for her to grab hold.

   "So, uh," Eddie starts from the top of a rock, "this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?"

   "Pretty much," Nancy responds. "The Byers kid survived in this?" Penelope asks, "I must admit, he's pretty badass."

  "Will is a strong kid. With the help of his family and El, he made it out," Brooke smiles at the mention of them. Eddie goes to step down but Nancy quickly stops him, "Watch out for the vines. It's all a hive mind."

   "It's all a what?" Eddie asks.

   "All the creepy crawlies around here, dude. They're, like, one or something. Step on a vine, you're stepping on a bat, you're stepping on Vecna," Steve explains. Eddie looks at the vines below him, cursing as he moves around them. "Everything from our world is still here, right? Expect people?" Robin questions.

   "From what information we have, yeah, exactly," Paisley answers. "So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up these bats that are guarding the gate!" Robin almslt excitedly says. "I really don't think Hawkins PD has grenades, Buckley. Hopper would've used them the first time around. I would've used them," Brooke snorts. "But guns, yeah, sure," Steve adds.

   Penelope and Nancy share a knowing look. The blonde smirks, looking down at the ground, "We don't need the police station for guns." Nancy rolls her eyes as everyone looks at them in confusion.

  "I have guns.....in my bedroom," Nancy admits. Brooke widens her eyes for a second in surprise but remembers when she pointed her gun at Steve. Eddie hops down from the rock, "You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?"

  "Full of surprises, isn't she?" Robin smiles.

   "A Russian Makarov and a revolver," Nancy answers. "First one sounds dangerous," Brooke laughs. "You almost shot me with the revolver," Steve recalls. Penelope tilts her head, "Why didn't you?"

  "Because I was never gonna shoot him. Intimidation," Nancy shrugs but Penelope dramatically pouts. Suddenly, Steve is hit with. Eddie's denim vest, "For your modesty, dude."

  "Definitely his style. Thanks, Munson," Brooke laughs, holding over the top to help Steve into it. Eddie throws her a thumbs up.

   Their smiles quickly fall as the world begins to shake violently. A loud rumbling rips through the Upside Down. Steve grabs both Brooke and Nancy as the others all catch each other. The rumbling only lasts a few seconds like a typical earthquake. Brooke opens her eyes once the shaking stops, her arms wrapped around Steve's neck, "Are we dead?"

  She can feel Steve's heartbeat against her own chest and that brings her comfort, her brain catching up. A creature shrieks again in the distance, snarling and growling echoes.

   "So, guns seem like a good idea to me," Eddie says between pants. "Yeah, me too," Robin comments. "Alright, let's go get you guys some guns," Penelope dusts herself off, offering a helping hand to Paisley who still remains on the floor. Paisley raises an eyebrow at it but takes her hand, also dusting herself off.

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